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Nigeria is a country of abundance in everything. In population - one can easily see - it's the most populous country of Africa by the sheer size and density of crowds in the market places. In number of cars - the traffic jams we experienced in Lagos and Ibadan lasted hours. In households - the shanty suburbs of those two cities seem to be endless. Even in the tropical torrential rain: such intensity we hadn't seen anywhere else in West Africa.

There are smaller signs of that abundance. For instance the number of check points - immigration, police, drug, health and later environmental - that stop and check your different social faculties when you first cross the border of this country. Or the number of churches, working in southern Nigeria: Baptist, Evangelical, Pentecostal, Catholic, Presbyterian, Mormon - you name it. And the signs on the highway directing towards them are really appealing: "Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Church", "A Happy Day Church", "Lucky Start Church". A local friend of mine showing me those signs, said "Here there are more churches than schools".

God was generous towards Nigeria, giving it abundance in oil too. But many here say it became a curse for Nigeria, which dilapidated the rest of the country's industry and agriculture. Though the oil makes Nigeria the wealthiest country in West Africa (GDP per head is nearly twice as high as in Ghana), the abundance of poor and unhealthy people (life expectancy here is the lowest - around 46 years) shows that the wealth is concentrated in the hands of the few superabundantly rich.

One of them, who has ostriches and peacocks in his backyard, as well as a mobile telephone mast, hosted us for a cocktail party. He admitted that the level of corruption and the level of problems Nigeria faces, is also abundantly high.

If you ask me which sign of Nigeria I'm taking with me as a token from this country, on the road between Lagos and Ibadan I saw several petrol stations called 'Adeyemi and Sons'. This is my sign for Nigeria so far. Sons will inherit all the blessings and all the curses of Nigeria's abundant oil boom.

PS Are they up to that challenge? Maybe I'm going to discover it at Ibadan university, which is the first and best according to its motto, where I'm going now for the discussion about the future of Nigeria.