ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to examine the paradox from a Nigerian perspective and explores the reasons why Nigerians are frustrated with their country, the influence of neo-colonialism, as well as the African outlook from the Diaspora. Ebegbulem argues that the near total collapse of social infrastructure and other institutions in Nigeria is traceable to massive corruption and leadership crisis exemplified by the failure of Nigerian leaders to stimulate Nigeria to the path of socio-economic and political development from independence until today. The paradoxes and contradictions in the search for a true African identity stem from the fact that on the one hand, Africans in homeland Africa have become obsessed with Euro-American values, cultural norms and languages. When materialism is coupled with the neo-colonial mentality where the national psyche of many Nigerians is conditioned to indiscriminately accept foreign cultures, values, products and services as being vastly superior to local alternatives, the consequence will invariably be the loss of the Nigerian identity.
