By; IBRAHIM ADAMU, Kaduna
1st of October every year is marked as an independence day in Nigeria, a country of over 200 million people, unarguably the most populous in Africa and world’s most populated black nation.
Nigeria, a country endowed with abundant human and material resources still struggles after 63 years of self-rule to fix basic amenities of life such as; electricity, portable water, road infrastructure, health and education centres among other necessities that make life worthwhile.
Though, the people of Nigeria prior to colonial rule did not live as a single entity, but existed under various kingdoms some of which were enmeshed in wars with their neighbors.
The appearance of Europeans on the shores of this part of the world opened a new and deciding chapter in the history of a people who would later be brought together under a single political unit.
The southern and northern parts of the country were amalgamated in 1914 by Lord Fredrick Lugard and named Nigeria, for easy administration, following the scramble and partition of Africa by the colonialists, thus begining a journey of over a century of a diverse people with different cultures and religions but united by the “Master.”
Schools, hospitals, rail transportation and giant government structures were erected and nurtured by successive colonial administrations using the proceeds from raw material exports garnered from different regions of the country.
With Nigeria’s independence came the challenges of selfgovernance forcing many to hold the belief that the nation would have been better managed under the British due to decayed infrastructures dotting every sphere of the country.
Freedom is good because it gives one the leverage of decision-making, an important and by large extend uncompromised heritage of mankind in his sojourn here on earth.
The country practised and operated a parliamentary system of government with prime minister as the head from 1960 to 1966 when the military struck and seized power for the first time, culminating into a civil war that would rage between 1967 and 1970 after which the young republic and independent nation would remain under the control of men in uniform for close to a decade when it was decided that the country be returned to civilian mangers with first experiment of a presidential system of government in 1979.
The military struck again in 1983, toppling the civilian administration of President Shehu Shagari barely four years into the second republic thus began a series of one military administrator and the other until 1999 when the country again ushered in an elected president with fanfare and pageantry with a new dawn of hope and aspirations of a prosperous nation built on consensus of citizens through their elected representatives.
But alas! It was an unfulfilled dream 24 years of return to democracy as the country grapples from one governance-based challenge to another in quick succession with no timeframe for achieving set goals of making Nigeria a working democracy where welfare of citizens matters to the ruling elite.
The economy is in tatters with the naira on a free fall with resultant effects on prices of essentials getting out of the reach of the poor who are in majority in the country’s estimated population of over 200 million.
Quality and decent education which is the power of climbing up the ladder has remained the exclusive reserve of children from rich background as access to formal education has continually been monetized beyond the reach of the poor by same people educated through the grace of scholarship provided by tax payers. What an irony!
After 63 years, the country is still striving to steady electricity, an essential driver of modern economy absence of which has forced industries to relocate elsewhere, produce and send back finished goods at exorbitant prices for our consumption. We can’t just afford to live like this as an import-dependent nation when we have all it takes to be a manufacturing hub for export commodities.
Corruption and graft, particularly in high places must be blamed as our collective albatross, pulling us back in our quest for growth and development. Resources that would have gone round to make impact on people’s lives are cornered by few individuals who stash these funds in personal foreign investments for the benefit of their families who often become extravagant junkies with no regard for prudent management of resources. This confirms the proverbial phrase of; Come Easy, Go Easy.
Social vices have become the order of the day because ours is a morally bankrupt society where morality has been relegated to the background with inordinate ambition of getting rich at all means prevalent among the younger generations on whose shoulders our hopes of a better tomorrow are fast becoming a mirage.
Our young girls have become symbols of jamborees for men old enough to be their grandfathers all in the name of trying to cross the poverty line. Any girl who doesn’t expose her cleavage is seen as archaic. Physical contours of women are more appreciated by men than their brains. Any society that fails to give due attention to the female folk is headed for destruct. Women make or mar the home. It’s therefore imperative to raise the bar of high moral standard at the family level for our female children so it would permeate to the larger society.
Governments at every level must see itself as serving the people rather than lording it over them as it’s the case today with our politicians who ride on expensive automobiles blaring sirens in convoy of many cars tearing through the way and pushing off citizens to shoulders of the roads. This trend must change if we must leave a legacy worth emulating for the upcoming generations.
After all, all hope is not lost. I am an optimist with a positive mind that Nigeria will become great, despite being at a crossroads that requires a critical and timely intervention. However, greatness is not achievable unless we all work towards it by contributing our quota and be patriotic citizens. Patriotism, built on loyalty, honesty and faithfulness to country, above ethnic and regional biases.
Happy Birthday Nigeria!
Ibrahim Adamu writes for New Nigerian
