Nigeria is a country marked by extreme social and economic paradoxes. It is rich in material wealth but large swathes of its people are poor! Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has grown remarkably but its citizens suffer poor quality of life. It is a major producer of crude oil, with huge reserves of mineral and agricultural resources, the base for industry, but Nigeria’s manufacturing sector contributes little to its wealth. Nigeria is rich in human capital but it has little endogenous technological capacity. This country should boast very high living standards but rather its infrastructure is poorly developed and inequality is proportionally high. The promise at independence was that of prosperity but it has long been replaced with befuddling despair that characterizes fragile states.