Happy Birthday Nigeria

Today marks a landmark achievement in the annals of history of our great country. Today the Federal Republic of Nigeria turns 49! Happy Birthday Nigeria! Coincidentally today, the Chinese communist party celebrates its 60th year in power. Though China can be described as a developing or an emerging economy, a “police state” with limited freedom (s), fraught with systemic corruption, yet a huge chasm divides these two countries in terms of development, as the Chinese economy has grown astronomically over the years while ours has tanked. But then again, a lot of us would wonder aloud what there is to celebrate about our status as a “failed state” A state that has failed its people in all respects! A state where corruption thrives! A state that has perpetually shut its ivory towers! A state that’s a paradox of democracy and freedom! A state that’s an anathema of class exploitation and oppression! An opulent state with most its citizens mired in poverty! October 1 in Nigeria is a day of joy or agony depending on whose views one sorts. It’s a time to sit down and ponder about the ills plaguing our society and also think about concrete steps needed to address them. Without further ado, this piece intends to briefly point out some of the challenges holding back our country from unleashing its full potential.

Nigeria gained her independence from the British precisely on October 1, 1960 through a bloodless transition of power. The Nigerian case is peculiar in some regard, because there was no cause to resort to violence to be emancipated from the claws of the colonialists. There were high hopes and optimism in the air as the country heralded this new dawn which can now be described as shattered or punctured. As expected in most birthday celebrations, people are happy, adorned in their best garments and ornaments, and exchanging pleasantries but the reverse seems to be the case in our country today as the vast majority of Nigerians are reeling from economic hardship(s), wearing long faces and adorned in sack clothes morning our dead and buried fatherland. Sometimes I wonder if our founding fathers were ill prepared to take on the challenge of leadership and nation building, or just wanted to join the band wagon of African “third world” countries clamoring for independence at that time. They (founding fathers) are best suited to furnish us with answers. However, I think most of them (Azikiwe, Awolowo, Balewa) were up to it given that they were mentored and groomed by the Brits and some of them studied in the West. Did the British know that Nigerians were incapable of governing themselves, and as a result of this gave in to the whims and caprices of Nigerians? I doubt if they had an inkling about this but they knew it was a tough job to administer a nation like Nigeria. Given this backdrop, it’s no surprise that our country continues to punch far below its weight and has failed to reach its full potential as envisioned by our founding fathers.
The sad reality is that we inherited a political structure that was partitioned along ethnic lines. This goes way back to the 19th century (scramble for Africa and Berlin Conference) when Africa was divided by the Europeans without recourse to our local culture, tradition and ethnic composition. This singular act was meant to serve the interest of the colonialists who were mostly interested (are still interested) in the natural resources that abounds in Africa. In Nigeria, this culminated into a nation of more than 200 ethnic groups and also a people who were robbed of their indigenous administrative structure and identity, and whose moral psyche was eroded. The after effect materialized after our independence in our political parties that were (are still not) based on ideologies but on ethnic allegiance. For instance, we had the Action Group (AG) which was predominantly a Yoruba party, the National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC) an Igbo Party and the Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) which was controlled and run by the Hausas. It’s little wonder political parties in Nigeria today continue to toe this line.

Tracing our sojourn since independence would be rather incomplete without mentioning the role of the Nigerian military that has intervened intermittently through coups and counter coups. Their reason for intervention is no different from other military juntas who intervene to ‘right the wrong in the system’. However, they never kept to their words as most of them turned out to be kleptomaniacs. Why is our case different? Countries in Asia such as South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia and Indonesia (to some extent) began their ascent up the ladder of ‘economic’ development under military dictatorships. Perhaps there are other factors that could help explain why our country took a turn for the worse under the military. These factors might range from role of institutions, culture, and leadership e.t.c

Furthermore, Nigeria has failed to conduct credible, clean and fair elections for the greater part of its existence as an independent country. The only election that is believed to be close to being free was that of 1992 that was annulled. The recent 1999, 2003 and 2007 elections that ushered in the Obasanjo and Yaradua administrations elucidates the ‘selection’ (not election) process of public officials that’s often characterized by thuggery, intimidation, and ballot stuffing. Nigeria needs electoral reforms, no more, no less! This will ensure that the voices of our people who brave the weather (sunshine and rainfall) to cast their votes are heard and not relegated to the bottom. Steps towards electoral reforms can only be actualized if independent candidates are allowed to contest for public offices, creation of an ‘independent electoral commission’ whose boss is not appointed by the President, pegging donations by individuals to political parties and candidates to a certain amount, and automating the voting system to deliver election results in real time. (Can’t be done under present circumstances with constant power failure)

There is a wide range of issues that Nigerians continue to grapple with even as they ‘celebrate’ and ‘mourn’ for their country alike. The indefinite closure of our institutions of higher learning for over three months ensuing from the deadlock in negotiations between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the government over pay rise puts a serious dent on our image as a country that’s ‘rebranding’ its image at home and abroad. Epileptic and interrupted power outage which is a long dead and forgotten issue in poorer neighboring countries continues to hunt us endlessly like a ghost. It’s ironical that we are the source of power to our neighbors yet we can’t provide for our own people. The scarcity of petroleum products and the frequent long queues in gas stations is abominable for a country that is “supposedly” one of the largest oil producers in the world yet has no single functioning refinery to refine crude oil. Lastly, the sorry state of infrastructure and social services in the country is a “no go area” that I wouldn’t dwell much on because our people are now acclimatized to this nightmare.

I believe we can awaken the resounding spirit of our people that’s needed to beat these odds. The question of transformation of our country rests on the shoulders of You and I. Let’s join hands and awaken this sleeping giant called Nigeria.