When the oil price is standing far above $100 a barrel, it is tempting to think Nigeria is one very large part of Africa on which the world can safely bet. Its once formidable external debt is written off. Foreign reserves have expanded more than 10 times in as many years. A total of $55bn in oil earnings flowed into the treasury last year. As much as $76bn is anticipated in 2008. This is despite a slowdown in production caused by investment shortfalls and violence by militants vying for more power and wealth in the oil-producing Niger Delta.

If a shortage of funds were Nigeria’s problem, there would be grounds for a sigh of relief. The country from which one in five black Africans hail is undoubtedly in a better financial position than it has been for generations to rehabilitate its creaking infrastructure, revive state institutions corroded by prolonged misrule, and fulfil its promise as a continental leader.