Today, October 1, 2019, marks Nigeria’s 59th independence anniversary. It should be a day of celebrations.
However, as the day dawns. Nigerians are weighed down with a lot of challenges.
From the North to the South, East to West, it is stories of woes. The ordinary man on the street is burdened with how to have food on his table.
Insecurity and crime have taken new dimensions. Infrastructure has decayed, social amenities are almost non existent and the government at all levels seem overwhelmed.
Many state governors owe their workers several months of unpaid salary and are at a loss where resources to offset the debt will come from.
The case of pensioners is even more pathetic. The list of woes is indeed unending.
Still, independence day is here and Nigeria is here. Should Nigerians celebrate? Is there any reason, anything to celebrate?
Mr. Tompra Abarowei, a Media Consultant said: “Today October 1, 2019 Nigeria becomes 59 years old as a republic. Ordinarily we should celebrate and thank God for holding the fragile union, which was put together by the British, our colonial masters, in 1960.
“Yes, anybody born on earth and has survived the vicissitudes of life would mark each year that he/she passes through as he or she grows older. As it is with humans, a country should be able to look back and assess how far or how well she has developed economically, politically and socially.
“Since independence, Nigeria has grown physically in size and population. But can we say the same of its economy and society? At independence, the country had conscientious people who worked without compulsion. The civil servant, the teacher, the farmer and the petty trader. There was commitment and healthy competition among the various economic strata of the society. Growth was slow but steady. Morality was at its best with every ethnic group being governed by code of ethics arising from each culture.
“Infrastructural growth at that time depended on how well the various regions were able to exploit their natural resources, especially through agriculture. There were the groundnut pyramids which were a beauty to behold in the northern part of Nigeria. The cocoa plantation of the western region as well as the cassava and plantain plantations in the East.
“Then came the oil boom and military intervention in governance. Money started to roll in at a pace we never imagined. Like the prodigal son, our nation began spending without strategic thinking. We spent money on skyscrapers and unproductive projects. Power which is supposed to be the pivot on which most other infrastructure should rely on was neglected.
“For many years the power infrastructure for the national grid was left unattended. Instead we continued to spend billions to import generators annually to provide for the nation’s needs including the seat of power.
“Rail transport which remain the cheapest means to move goods around the nooks and crannies of the country suffered the same fate. The resultant frequent failure of our road infrastructure is due to the regular transit of the heavy trucks on the highways.
“Our penchant for reckless spending became legendary that a former military head of state was quoted as saying ‘Nigeria’s problem was not money but rather how to spend it.’
“Corruption began to creep into national psyche. The country now began to learn about inflation of contract, monetary kick backs and outright stealing.”
Further lamenting the woes of the nation, Mr. Abarowei blamed governance as a major problem for the country.
He said: “Governance has continued to be a problem even with the arrival of democratic rule. Morality in our public and private life has continued to slide downwards. Despite our huge population and huge revenue from oil, the living condition of the average Nigerian is appalling.
“The scourge of corruption has affected every aspect of our national life to the extent that parents hire people to write exams for their children in secondary schools.
“In celebrating or making our 59th independence anniversary, we should go back to the basics.
Every family should do a soul searching of our individual selves and ask the question “where, when and how did we go wrong in development?” This applies to our morality, our economic, political, infrastructural as well as technological development. Truthful answers to these questions by individuals, government officials, leaders in the private sectors and politicians, will perhaps, lead us to solutions for socio political and economic development.”
Mr. Muyiwa Akintunde a Public Relations Practitioner said that Nigerians should celebrate not because all is well but because there’s still a country called Nigeria.
“Our remaining one country 59 years after independence and 105 years post-Almagamation is worth celebrating. Several countries didn’t survive civil war but we did.
“But beyond that, this moment calls for introspection and sober reflection. Given the natural endowments and human resources we possess, our country should be in the league of developed nations. We have no business being poor or rated low in human development indexes.
“Countries that are less gifted, including Rwanda which survived an internecine war, have been transformed into first class environments while we still live in primitive time. And our people too seem to be content with fighting on the sides of the political leaders who have failed us over the years.
“This anniversary should be a time for us to look at ourselves in the mirror and fix every aspect of our national life,” Mr. Akintunde said.
Dr. Jide Jimoh of the Journalism Department, School of Communication, Lagos State University, LASU, is also convinced that the fact that the country has remained one in spite of numerous challenges calls for celebrate.
His words: “Of course, there’s reason to celebrate in spite of the serial disappointments from our leaders from independence till date.
“First, it’s an achievement that we are able to weld the polity together against all odds. There’s strength in numbers as economic and political forces.
“The big disappointment, however, is our inability to convert them to positive use. It’s easy to blame the present leadership but the roots go farther to the beginning. Various administrators have failed to actualize the dreams of this nation. Our diversities should be a source of strength but our leaders weaponize them for selfish reasons.
“Let us celebrate ourselves at this critical juncture while we jointly fight corruption which is the bane of our country. Notice the higher level of awareness on issues of corruption. Some time soon, a consensus will be built on how we go from here. We will not continue like this.”
Mr. Buchi Njere, an advertising practitioner equally hinged his reason to celebrate on the fact there is still a country called Nigeria.
Beyond that, according to him, the country had failed. “The only reason to celebrate is the fact that the geographical expression called Nigeria still exists in the map. The country qualifies as candidate for failed state,” he said.
However, Mr. Njere holds out some hope that things can change.
He said: “But there is still hope. Hope that some magic will happen that will bring about the real change.
“Since independence, we have failed to get our leadership right. Things got worse after 1966.
We are still paying the prize of allowing a bunch of semi-literate control our lives.
“The black world hopes on Nigeria. The world awaits the giant that might arise.
But the time is not now, not with the crop of leaders that we have and those queuing behind to take over.”
The concensus among many Nigerians is that beyond maintaining the status quo as established by the Britlsh colonialists, Nigeria has not achieved anything worth celebrating.
Their advice, therefore, is that the leaders and the led should spend this day to reflect on the journey so far and ammend their ways so that going forward, October 1, would always be a day to rememner.