In Wole Soyinka’s The Lion and the Jewel, Sidi’s choice between Lakunle’s hollow modernity and Baroka’s cunning traditionalism mirrors Nigeria’s developmental crossroads. The nation, much like Soyinka’s heroine, has long vacillated between imported shortcuts and self-serving nostalgia, each path deepening poverty and inequality. Yet China’s metamorphosis — from an agrarian society to global powerhouse — offers a blueprint for transcending this false binary. The answer lies in constructing and emphasising three interlocking infrastructures: cultural, political, and trade. Together, these form a bridge between tradition and progress.