--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think Nigerians got it wrong from…" description: "\"I think Nigerians got it wrong from independence as people became so conscious of the divisions because we wanted so much to satisfy the plurality of i..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d2/wole-soyinka-1587_conscious_i-think-nigerians-got-it-wrong-from-inde_663509.jpg" --- # I think Nigerians got it wrong from independence as people… ![“I think Nigerians got it wrong from independence as people became so conscious of the divisions because we wanted so much to satisfy the plurality of interests. I will say, we neglected the importance of real value, human value and the quality of potential in human beings and we contrived phrases…” quote by Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d2/wole-soyinka-1587_conscious_i-think-nigerians-got-it-wrong-from-inde_663509.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d2/wole-soyinka-1587_conscious_i-think-nigerians-got-it-wrong-from-inde_663509.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d2/wole-soyinka-1587_conscious_i-think-nigerians-got-it-wrong-from-inde_663509.jpg) > “I think Nigerians got it wrong from independence as people became so conscious of the divisions because we wanted so much to satisfy the plurality of interests. I will say, we neglected the importance of real value, human value and the quality of potential in human beings and we contrived phrases like geographical spread, regional quota, etc and allowed mediocrity to reign. I think that is the problem that we are dealing with till today.” [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Neglecting genuine human value and potential leads to divisive policies like quotas, fostering mediocrity and ongoing societal problems. **In simple terms:** Ignoring real human worth creates division and mediocrity. Key Takeaway Prioritize human value over superficial quotas. Themes social justice politics human development Mood reflective hopeful Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - policy making - education reform - community building - leadership training - social advocacy Key Concepts value theory potential diversity management Questions to Reflect On - What alternative approaches could honor diversity without quotas? - How can societies nurture human potential? A Different Perspective Quotas can address inequities if designed with genuine inclusion. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Africa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/africa/) [Conscious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscious/) [Division](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/division/) [Etc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/etc/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Human beings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-beings/) [Human values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-values/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Importance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/importance/) [Independence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/independence/) [Independence People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/independence-people-318732/) [Interest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interest/) [Mediocrity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mediocrity/) [Neglected](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neglected/) [Neglected Importance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neglected-importance-5283444/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Phrases](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/phrases/) [Problem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problem/) [Quality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quality/) [Quota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quota/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Real value](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-value/) [Reign](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reign/) [Spread](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spread/) [Think Nigerians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-nigerians-4805907/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) [Wanted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanted/) [Wrong Independence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wrong-independence-5283443/) ## Related quotes > [All power within the microcosm of my world was held and wielded by people who look like me. Plus, I think Nigerians all have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-abani/all-power-within-the-microcosm-of-my-world-was-held-and-wielded-by/) [Chris Abani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-abani/) > [“it was the first mass act of independence by a people who were in bondage in this country for far longer than they have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/it-was-the-first-mass-act-of-independence-by-a-people-who-were-in/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [In marriage a little licence, a little independence there must be between people living together day in and day out in the same house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/in-marriage-a-little-licence-a-little-independence-there-must-be/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [Aid leads to more aid and more aid and more aid and less independence of the people that are receiving aid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kagame/aid-leads-to-more-aid-and-more-aid-and-more-aid-and-less-independence/) [Paul Kagame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kagame/) > [“When an independent company undertakes to travel across the plains, they are generally too independent for their own safety and good. There never was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigham-young/when-an-independent-company-undertakes-to-travel-across-the-plains/) [Brigham Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigham-young/) > [I know this independence is what people like most about my brand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raf-simons/i-know-this-independence-is-what-people-like-most-about-my-brand/) [Raf Simons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raf-simons/) > [“For in marriage a little licence, a little independence there must be between people living together day in day out in the same house;”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/for-in-marriage-a-little-licence-a-little-independence-there-must-be-2/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“In Pakistan when women say they want independence, people think this means we don’t want to obey our fathers, brothers or husbands. But it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malala-yousafzai/in-pakistan-when-women-say-they-want-independence-people-think-this/) [Malala Yousafzai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malala-yousafzai/) > [“These countries formally achieved independence ,but they didn't achieve real freedom, since freedom of any kind is primarily spiritual.the independence of a people which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alija-izetbegovic/these-countries-formally-achieved-independence-but-they-didn-t/) [Alija Izetbegović](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alija-izetbegovic/) > [“For in marriage a little licence, a little independence there must be between people living together day in day out in the same house;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/for-in-marriage-a-little-licence-a-little-independence-there-must-be/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [I am from Jammu, but I studied in Chandigarh in sports quota.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mukesh-rishi/i-am-from-jammu-but-i-studied-in-chandigarh-in-sports-quota/) [Mukesh Rishi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mukesh-rishi/) > [We fall into the old stuff of textuality, and almost everything becomes safe because nobody wants to talk about what is not safe in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fady-joudah/we-fall-into-the-old-stuff-of-textuality-and-almost-everything/) [Fady Joudah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fady-joudah/) > [It will afford me unfeigned satisfaction if my kingdom can add its quota toward the successful accomplishment of the most important astronomical observation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kalakaua/it-will-afford-me-unfeigned-satisfaction-if-my-kingdom-can-add-its/) [Kalakaua](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kalakaua/) > [It was right then and there that she'd realized there was no quota on misery for people, no quantifiable threshold that once reached, got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-ward/it-was-right-then-and-there-that-she-d-realized-there-was-no-quota-on/) [J.R. Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-ward/) > [ Skilled shortages in America exist because we are shielding our skilled labor force from world competition. \[Visa quotas\] have been substituted for the wage… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-greenspan/skilled-shortages-in-america-exist-because-we-are-shielding-our/) [Alan Greenspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-greenspan/) ## More by Wole Soyinka > [Writers and intellectuals have a duty to humanity. It is to insist that the human entity remains the primary asset in overall development; thus,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/writers-and-intellectuals-have-a-duty-to-humanity-it-is-to-insist/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [When I tried to create a new political party, which I stressed that this is not my party. I believe very much that there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/when-i-tried-to-create-a-new-political-party-which-i-stressed-that/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [Each time I think I've created time for myself, along comes a throwback to disrupt my private space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/each-time-i-think-i-ve-created-time-for-myself-along-comes-a/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [I began writing early - very, very early... I was already writing short stories for the radio and selling poems to poetry and art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/i-began-writing-early-very-very-early-i-was-already-writing-short/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [My horizon on humanity is enlarged by reading the writers of poems, seeing a painting, listening to some music, some opera, which has nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/my-horizon-on-humanity-is-enlarged-by-reading-the-writers-of-poems/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [Under a dictatorship, a nation ceases to exist. All that remains is a fiefdom, a planet of slaves regimented by aliens from outer-space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/under-a-dictatorship-a-nation-ceases-to-exist-all-that-remains-is-a/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [The phenomenon of creativity, we know, is closely related to the ability to yoke together separate, and even seemingly incompatible, matrices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/the-phenomenon-of-creativity-we-know-is-closely-related-to-the/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [One, a mass movement from within, which, as you know, is constantly being put down brutally but which, again, regroups and moves forward as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/one-a-mass-movement-from-within-which-as-you-know-is-constantly-being/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [One has to confront history honestly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/one-has-to-confront-history-honestly/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [We wasted a lot of creative energy in that immediate post colonial era, when there was a struggle between, you know, the Cold War…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/we-wasted-a-lot-of-creative-energy-in-that-immediate-post-colonial/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [I have a kind of magnetic attraction to situations of violence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/i-have-a-kind-of-magnetic-attraction-to-situations-of-violence/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [The Egba kingdom was one of the very last to be ceded to the British protectorate. It remained almost an independent entity within what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/the-egba-kingdom-was-one-of-the-very-last-to-be-ceded-to-the-british/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [One's own self-worth is tied to the worth of the community to which one belongs, which is intimately connected to humanity in general. What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/one-s-own-self-worth-is-tied-to-the-worth-of-the-community-to-which/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [I was born into a Christian household, in a parsonage in fact, so I grew up in sort of a missionary atmosphere but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/i-was-born-into-a-christian-household-in-a-parsonage-in-fact-so-i/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [The problem with literature, with writing, is that it works sometimes in terms of correction of social ills. Other times, it just does not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/the-problem-with-literature-with-writing-is-that-it-works-sometimes/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) [Explore all 225 Wole Soyinka quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) ## More Africa quotes > [“We ought to know the history of our ancient ancestors.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/we-ought-to-know-the-history-of-our-ancient-ancestors/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [Africa, being the major target of colonial plunder, therefore becomes a major source of conflict.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-horne/africa-being-the-major-target-of-colonial-plunder-therefore-becomes-a/) [Gerald Horne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-horne/) > [I'm in 'Madagascar 2.' I'm Testy the Lion. The franchise moves to Africa, and Bernie Mac is also in the film. I loved working…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-lister-jr/i-m-in-madagascar-2-i-m-testy-the-lion-the-franchise-moves-to-africa/) [Tom Lister, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-lister-jr/) > [South Africa needs a second liberation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-mugabe/south-africa-needs-a-second-liberation/) [Robert Mugabe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-mugabe/) > [There's a place in Botswana where there are 100,000 elephants living in a single population. Think of the amount of space they need. Remember,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-bergin/there-s-a-place-in-botswana-where-there-are-100-000-elephants-living/) [Patrick Bergin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-bergin/) > [If you followed the media you'd think that everybody in Africa was starving to death, and that's not the case; so it's important to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/if-you-followed-the-media-you-d-think-that-everybody-in-africa-was/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [Africa for the Africans... at home and abroad!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-garvey/africa-for-the-africans-at-home-and-abroad/) [Marcus Garvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-garvey/) > [In Africa, animals and the natural landscape allow local communities to support themselves, as there is a constant source of money from tourism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lidington/in-africa-animals-and-the-natural-landscape-allow-local-communities/) [David Lidington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lidington/) > [My mom is from Ghana, and my dad is from Detroit, so I would go back and forth to Africa a lot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-richardson/my-mom-is-from-ghana-and-my-dad-is-from-detroit-so-i-would-go-back/) [Sam Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-richardson/) > [I've never been invited to do an exhibition or do a talk in England, except once, about 10 years ago. I've given talks all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-wildsmith/i-ve-never-been-invited-to-do-an-exhibition-or-do-a-talk-in-england/) [Brian Wildsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-wildsmith/) > [I represent my country, but I also represent the continent of Africa when I play in Europe. That's why it's important to try to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yaya-toure/i-represent-my-country-but-i-also-represent-the-continent-of-africa/) [Yaya Toure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yaya-toure/) > [What we need in South Africa is for egos to be suppressed in favour of peace. We need to create a new breed of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hani/what-we-need-in-south-africa-is-for-egos-to-be-suppressed-in-favour/) [Chris Hani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hani/) > [I was learning to track rhinoceroses in Africa and tracked right up on an animal that really I thought was going to kill me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-beck/i-was-learning-to-track-rhinoceroses-in-africa-and-tracked-right-up/) [Martha Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-beck/) > [I am interested in bringing Africa to the foot of the Cross.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhard-bonnke/i-am-interested-in-bringing-africa-to-the-foot-of-the-cross/) [Reinhard Bonnke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhard-bonnke/) > [My mother is a huge fan of my work. I told her about 'Coraline' long before the film was made, and she got the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-selick/my-mother-is-a-huge-fan-of-my-work-i-told-her-about-coraline-long/) [Henry Selick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-selick/) [Browse all 1,665 Africa quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/africa/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think Nigerians got it wrong from independence as people became so conscious of the divisions because we wanted so much to satisfy the plurality of interests. I will say, we neglected the importance of real value, human value and the quality of potential in human beings and we contrived phrases like geographical spread, regional quota, etc and allowed mediocrity to reign. 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