Rising Inequality and the Challenge of Change in Nigeria
Idike, Adeline Nnenna, A

Abstract
This paper presents a periscope of the incidence of rising inequality at the global and regional levels. It fundamentally highlights that the problem of rising inequality in Nigeria is ominously real. The paper decries the attitude of the Nigerian State when international rating and intelligence agencies submit critical reports about the reality of negative socio-political and economic developments in Nigeria. The paper argues that Nigeria’s reaction usually amounts to state-sponsored propaganda. However, in a globalised world of very many information and technology possibilities, effective action easily attracts international acclaim and credibility, while defective policies and plans, easily beget scathing international submissions; which propaganda does little or nothing to countervail. The paper postulates that the operative language of progress in Nigeria is change but what negates the change process is principally political elitism. Hence, the Nigerian political elite must be ready for change; action-oriented change that engenders positive national results. The alternative to this hue of change, the paper posits, usually comes in undesirable decibels. The paper recalls that when the American State alerted Nigeria that she was harboring terrorists, the State led the Nigerian people, in reacting with massive measures of propaganda. Terrorism later became a bitter Nigerian reality. Similarly, the World Bank alerts Nigeria about the prevalence of the global phenomenon of rising inequality in Nigeria and the State reacts with further propaganda. The paper recommends that the Nigerian State should eschew all forms of propaganda and join the rest of the global community in accepting the reality of rising inequality, at the various domestic fronts. The consequences of refusal the paper notes will be regrettable. The way forward is to run a people-centered, truly inclusive government.

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