I think we all need to keep talking about the shame for it to really sink in. I definitely feel the shame and we all should feel it 'well, well'! There is something wrong with a population this size that cannot find a few individuals of good intent that can do us good.
Do the people that 'rule' our country now feel any embarrassment? Can they understand that they cannot steal everything for self and party elections and leave absolutely nothing for development? The problem is that many politicians are not enlightened. A man steals billions, but can't relate that activity to the fact that there are no emergency services to save him from a heart attack, for example. They have 20 cars, but no good roads to drive on. They can't even feel safe driving in them.
They think they will always have 'MOPOL' to drive with them. They don't even understand that even now, they look wretched and ridiculous with personal MOPOL protection and will one day when they are out of office, lie on the very bed they made.
Then they send their children to schools abroad; but what quality of life can their children have on returning home, without educated citizens to provide quality services. Can these politicians feel any link between their actions and the quality of life here in Nigeria? Don't they feel embarrassed that the president cannot get medical treatment in dignity, here in Nigeria?
As simple as it sounds, I believe the missing piece of the puzzle that accounts for the main difference between our country and Ghana is 'universal good-quality education.' The individuals that will lift this country up will come not from the select few that get a decent education, but from the ordinary people that form the majority.
Unfortunately, these children are killed even before they get any chance in life (at birth, hunger, disease, riots, ritual killers, etc, to mention but a few) and those that survive are denied basic education, so that they get nowhere near their potentials. Imagine if Jerry Rawlings never had the opportunity to go to school or if he had died of a simple fever in childhood; charlatans would have replaced him and Ghana would, most likely not be where it is today.
Education is the foundation of everything else. If all get basic education (primary/secondary), it will result in an enlightened majority that will in turn, value good education and make good choices.
It is the ordinary people that end up producing 80 percent of politicians, but the politician that is well educated will value education and have better priorities. But with the barely educated politician (as we have several), the reverse is the case. They don't even know what good-quality education is. Lasting change will come only when the general population that throw up these decision makers, get good basic education. The person that will invent something, spearhead reformation or find a cure that will benefit even the politician's family in the future will come, most likely from the majority.
This is why it is important to invest in the common people of Nigeria. In summary, by providing good-quality education for the general public, we will be educating adequately every potential decision maker/politician in the country. The potential pearls must get a chance to grow and be harvested for special use, and for the benefit of generations to come.
How can Ghana be ahead of us in almost everything? If we continue to be inattentive to education, it can and will get far worse. We must all understand that good education is the key that will empower the many potential 'saviours' to rise out of this teeming Nigerian population and increase the chances of producing the individuals that will do this country good.
We will only ignore good-quality education at our own peril.