There is a hunger in Nigeria that no budget can fix. It is not the hunger for food, though that is real. It is a deeper famine, a dearth of humanity.

We have become experts at diagnosing our crisis as a “leadership problem.” And yes, leadership has failed us. But to stop there is to misread the patient. A bad driver cannot drive a car whose engine has seized. In our case, the engine is the human heart, and it is seizing all over the country.

The real crisis is that we have lost our neighbour. Walk through any market, office, or WhatsApp group and you will feel it. The default posture is suspicion. The conductor overcharges the passenger because “everyone is cheating me.” The civil servant delays a file until “something comes for me.” The youth calls the elder “thief,” and the elder calls the youth “lazy.” Bandit giveaway online (fellow Nigerians participate and request for money), with horrible videos of heinous acts been charaded all over the media space, with people requesting. Yahoo boys display their ill-gotten wealth, splashes cash around. Parents in fact tag it as "ounje omo". Politicians make their way into the Church and turn the sacred altar to spaces for political gimmicks and deceits. In fact, they sometimes even donate huge amount, in an attempt to buy the sacred space as a weapon for their inhuman desires. The danger is real, we no longer see a brother or sister; we see a rival, a mark, an obstacle. A dearth of humanity refers to a severe lack of compassion, empathy, and moral regard within a society. It often manifests as dehumanization, where individuals are viewed merely as means to an end rather than beings with intrinsic value

This is the loss of true human nature — ubuntu, omoluwabi, igwebuike: the idea that “I am because we are.” When that is gone, law becomes a game, religion becomes costume, and nationhood becomes a slogan. We are not governed by strangers from Mars. We are governed by ourselves. A people that cannot trust, forgive, or sacrifice for one another will always produce leaders in its own image.

That is why changing presidents, governors, or policies has not changed our story. We keep recycling the same hardness of heart. Until the human person is restored, nation building will remain architectural drawings with no foundation.

If we must build, then we must heal. How?

1. Re-education of the conscience, starting in the home

Nation building begins at the dining table. Parents must teach children that cheating in exams, cutting queues, or lying to get ahead is not “smartness” but deformity of character. Schools must re-introduce civic and moral instruction, not as a subject to pass, but as a way to live. We must reward honesty more than we reward “connections.”

2. Institutionalize empathy

 Create deliberate spaces where Nigerians meet as humans before tribe or class. Mandatory National Youth Service should be reformed to place graduates in communities different from their own for real service, not just camp.

Community policing, neighbourhood health outreaches, and interfaith service projects should be funded and celebrated. When you have nursed a sick person from another tribe, it becomes harder to wish them ill.

3. Justice that restores, not just punishes

Courts and anti-corruption agencies must be seen to treat the poor and powerful alike. But beyond punishment, we need restorative practices: public apologies, restitution, community service for offenders. When people see that wrongdoing has consequences but also a path back, cynicism gives way to accountability.

4. Economic ethics over ethnic politics

 We must deliberately patronize competence and integrity over “our son/daughter.” As consumers, professionals, and employers, let us refuse to enable sharp practices even when they benefit us short-term. A builder who uses substandard materials should be shamed, not celebrated for “hustle.”

5. Public leaders must model humanity

 Leadership still matters. But the leader we need is not just the one with a manifesto. It is the one who queues, who apologizes, who returns excess change, who visits the hospital without cameras. Nigerians are tired of rhetoric. We will follow character.

The choice before us. A nation is not built with cement and steel alone. It is built with trust, mercy, and a shared sense of destiny. As long as every Nigerian is an enemy to the next Nigerian, our bridges, roads, and constitutions will keep collapsing.

 

The dearth of humanity can be reversed. But it will not happen by waiting for a messiah in Aso Rock. It will happen when you and I decide, today, to treat the stranger at the bus stop as a person, not a problem.

 

That is the beginning of nation building.