Collapse of patriotism among Nigeria’s political class and the fate of youth in an ‘Orphaned Republic’

Nigeria today appears to be experiencing one of the darkest moral and political moments of its post-independence history. Public discourse often explains national decline through corruption, electoral manipulation, or failures of governance. However, the crisis extends beyond failed leadership. Nigeria is also witnessing a gradual erosion of patriotism itself, the weakening of the shared emotional, moral, and civic commitment to the Nigerian project. What is increasingly unfolding is not only political dysfunction, but the collapse of national