But after independence there have been other forces at play. The role of big business collaborating with NORTH government to achieve local advantage in the SOUTH is a massive problem. And yes, there are many examples of high officials of SOUTH governments getting paid for to authorize some advantage, and that is considered corrupt. But the recipient of the advantage is a party to this same corruption. And yes, there is the argument that “If this beneficiary had not paid up, then some other organization would have, and we would have lost competitive advantage.” is probably true, but no more right.

One day somebody will write a definitive story of corruption in Nigeria. The scale of this corruption is difficult to appreciate, but it is huge and the might even be legal. The big international oil companies are deeply implicated in Nigerian behavior but cannot easily be held accountable. The idea that the late President Abacha was able to accumulate a fortune alleged to be $4 billion dollars in four years is remarkable. And while this is going on the peoples of the oil producing areas of Nigeria are as poor as almost anyone in the world. It makes no sense.

But while national level governance has had its problems, there are other aspects of governance that should not be ignored. Local government and community organizations are very important in the regulation of society. In the eyes of the official development assistance (ODA) community local governance is downplayed. But it is the quality of local government that determines how good the quality of life people can have. It is said that “all politics is local” but it is even truer to say that ”all life is local”.

In broad terms it can be said that “value adding” from the perspective of the individual associated with government is the highest at the community level. The national level is more involved with projects that have a value destroying characteristic