Lagos — This week, United States' Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton will be visiting Nigeria on her seven-nation tour of Africa and as expected civil society groups and opposition are bringing up issues she is expected to present to the Nigerian government.

Ordinarily, the visit of a foreign minister of another country to Nigeria would have been all about issues bordering on bilateral relations and the usual photo opportunity of a handshake with President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua but this seems different because of the status of the US as the strongest man of the world. Moreover, with the coming to power by US President Barack Obama, excitement is higher.

They are excited because Clinton is an emissary of Obama and just last month, the US president visited Ghana in what was seen as a snub by various opinion groups in Nigeria.

Speaking in South Africa last week, Clinton had given an insight into what her visit would try to highlight. She was worried that Nigeria being a producer of oil is importing oil and she made this situation parallel to corruption but there are more issues to address.

The problems of Nigeria are complex and the government's attempts to trivialise them meet with catastrophic outcomes in the long run. Apart from some civil societies that parade as one, the country seems to be lacking think-tanks and if there are any, one doubts whether policy makers would listen to them.

A think-tank should be able to tell policy makers that there is a weak government in place right now and that the bad election that brought Yar'Adua to power has a domino effect all over the country whereby elections and even policy executions in everywhere are rigged. Sincerity has taken flight from the country and as one foreign diplomat told this writer the other day, the government talks so much more than it works.

Clinton should be able to tell Yar'Adua that he needs an honest think-tank and that the system he is presiding over is very very corrupt and there is a long history of degradation, discrimination and poverty in the Niger Delta where oil is being produced. This has given rise to protests that have morphed between criminality and fight for freedom. To this end, something has to be done right now and fast.

Even after amnesty offer, no real development plan is coming out of all the talks.

The Secretary of State needs to inform Yar'Adua that domestic industries have closed down due to poor power supply and that the present situation is not attributable solely to the action of the militants in the Niger Delta but long years of negligence and insensitivity.

She should advise Nigerians to stop seeking material help but to develop from within like India did by tapping its vast human and material resources.

When Clinton went to Kenya last week, the law makers told her not to lecture them, though she went ahead to preach anyway, it would be good if she desists from doing likewise in Nigeria. There is a huge craving for investment here as opposed to growth and sermonizing and that is what the Obama administration really needs to get its hands around.

In actual fact, it is important to respect Nigerian government and leaders, to work with them to resolve problems and challenges that they have, and to engage and be able to engage on all the foregoing issues.

The administration of former US President George Bush achieved much in massive investment in HIV/Aids programmes and in fighting malaria but Obama's need to go further and encourage self dependency and industrialization.