The centenary celebration of the
country started last week in earnest with pageantry at Abuja, the capital city.
Dignitaries came from all over the world to felicitate with Nigeria for
attaining this milestone. The amalgamation of the Southern and Northern
Protectorates by Sir Fredrick John Dealtry Lugard took place in 1914.Lord Fredrick
Lugard as famously called was the 1st Governor-General
of the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria between 1913-1918.Flora
Shaw who was the wife of the Governor at that time gave Nigeria the name that had stuck like a
leech to the country till present day. It is widely believed that the
amalgamation was done by Lugard for administrative convenience and was highly
opposed by the political class and the media in Lagos at that time.
Nigeria is a complex nation with
diverse cultures. This is a country with over 500 languages and the belief
system is very wide. The country has a large population of over 150 million people.
The country is also blessed with human resources who are doing well both at
home and abroad. In the last 100 years despite our strength and resources, we
have not done much better. However the country had achieved successes in areas
of sports, entertainment, human capital, sub-regional leadership and economic
growth. The major strength of the country is the human capital as shown in the
achievement of so many Nigerians in Diaspora. In many areas of human achievement
either in Medicine, Technology, Governance, Sports, you will find Nigerians
abroad doing absolutely well.
In the last 100 years, the growth
the country has been stunted by the clueless political class and celebration of
mediocrity. The country had been unfortunate to pass through terrible
leadership under military rules for over 28 years out 53 since independence in
1960.The sad tale is that politicians have not fared better under close
scrutiny of the past civilian presidents. The military plundered the nation
under many dictatorial regimes. It was widely believed in many quarters that
the military institutionalized corruption and bought it to public space. The
military were not done with the country and handed over to Chief Olusegun
Obasanjo who was one their own in 1999.Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was a former
military head of state of Nigeria appointed by Supreme Military Council after
failed coup of Feb 13, 1976 led by Colonel Dimka. Even though the military had
left the fore front of our political life, the corruption that came with them
have refused to go away. The cancerous ailment called corruption had grown so
much that all our national lives have been affected. The country has made so
much money from crude oil sales since its discovery in Oloibiri in 1957 yet we have
very little to show for it. The national wealth has now become an albatross.
Nigeria exports oil as the only commodity and we import just anything under sun.
The full potential of oil revenue do not accrue to the national wealth of the
nation because if it does our foreign reserve should be in region of $200b by now.
The Naira which is under constantly pressure would have been stronger based on
the strength of our foreign reserves and growth per GDP for average Nigerians.
The order of the day is crude oil theft, pipeline vandalization and absurd
records keeping for crude oil sales. The economic measurement of well being of
countries is the per capital income. In Nigeria of today even with massive sale
of crude oil, the per capital income is less than $100.Poverty level has never
been so high in the country.
There are many other daunting
challenges the country faces at this period of our national life. There are
problems of infrastructure, security, food sufficiency, mass unemployment, low
productivity and upsurge in crime rates especially kidnapping. Kidnapping is
fast becoming a means of livelihood for many youths especially in the southern
part of the country. Chief among the insecurity in land is the emergence of a
blood thirsty group called Boko-Haram. The group continues to maim and kill
Nigerians with reckless abandon. The rate at which the criminals destroy both public
and private buildings is unimaginable. The major targets of the sect are the
defenseless women and children. In the last one week alone they have killed
over 100 citizens in remote villages in Borno and Yobe states. This is a group
that started under the cover of Islamic religion but whose action and reactions are
unreligious, wicked and inhuman. In a state of total war, there are unwritten
rules which battlers must follow. This group spares no one not even those
taking refuge in the mosque. So what do they want? However what has been
agitating many minds is the approach of our military. It is unfortunate that
criminal group will hold the nation to a ransom. The president also needs to do
more than making unnecessary speeches and resort to praying. There is nothing
God cannot do but certainly He will not do what man should do. Surprisingly one
begin to wonder what our SSS and Military intelligence are doing. In guerrilla
warfare like we are faced with Boko-Haram, the solution lies in Intelligence
gathering from all security forces. The level of destruction being carried out
by the group can only be compared with a war situation. The group had been
offered an opportunity of a dialogue but they refused. The president needs to
work round the clock to make sure the group is defeated in all fronts. It is not
a bad idea if amnesty as mentioned before is offered to any repentant member of
the group. The issue of forest guards being proposed will not do much if we do
not have a means of monitoring criminals in our midst whether they are in
cities or remote parts of the country. We spent so much on Nigeria’s own
satellite, NIGCOMSAT that was lunched some years ago. Is it not possible to put
this into good use now? During this
trying period in our nationhood, all hands must be on deck to put an end to
this nightmare.
There has never been much to
cheer on the political class in the last 20 years. The success of the political
consciousness that we had in 1993 was thrown away with crisis experienced after
annulment of the election results of June 12, 1993 won by late Chief M.K.O Abiola.
Since then we have produced politicians that had always put their primordial interest
before that of entire nation. We have been seeing same set of re-cycled
political figure that had no depth of ideology or wisdom. Party affiliations
are tilted towards what individuals can grab from national treasury. It is a
common thing to continue to see politicians that have been around for 40 years
still parading themselves as powers that be. There is pernicious dearth of
political leadership in the country. Politicians could no longer distinguish
between national interest for survival of the nation and struggle for control
of power. The difference between all political parties in Nigeria is the difference
between twelve and half a dozen; that is the reason you will see aggrieved politicians
swapping parties at will. There have been so many defections from one party to
the other in last few months. The utterances of
some perceived statesmen and politicians are deplorable just to discredit the
party in power. The party in power has not much to assuage the sufferings of
the citizens. During national crisis period such continuous attacks from
Boko-Haram, we should be united in grief and in finding an end to the
insurgents but you will see an opposition party that would use that as an
avenue for snide remarks against the ruling party. Only true patriots as we had
during independence would unite to fight this naked terror as we have it now. You
could imagine the position late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr.Nnamdi Azikiwe, Alhaji
Tafawa Balewa on certain national problems. They would all be united to solve
the national malaise as we have now.
Beyond the celebrations of the centenary, we as
a nation should start looking at critical issue of nation building and how in
the next few years we all can be proud of our contributions towards making
Nigeria great. It is lofty goal but achievable by unwavering dedication and invoking
the Nigerian spirit in us that allow us perform excellently well in despite the
challenges. The major problem as we journey further from this centenary to
another is the issue of having the will to eradicate corruption in our nation.
We cannot gather much and still lose all we have gotten to corruption. We can put
an end to corruption when we all see it a major national problem and with the
help of a leadership that is ready to live by examples
The Centenary city being proposed
would surely open avenues for some to either make brisk business or make a fortune.
A centenary city will be built but at humongous cost. We heard from the government
that it will be private investor driven. We hope it will be a project that will
be benefit all Nigerians and that it will not be an abandon project. We saw the
other day the protest from the indigenes of the land where the city will be
built protesting the amount government is giving them to vacate their heritage.
Government should look critically at these protests. We believe in adequate compensation
for those affected. Looking at it critically do we really need a centenary city?
On the award given at the centenary, we believe the inclusion of funny names
like that of Late Sani Abacha took shine off the award. There are some notable
names too that are missing while so many military leaders who did nothing to
build the nation are conspicuous on the list. The only two Military Heads of
state that deserve the award are Late Muritala Muhammad and General Yakubu Gowon.
General Gowon has shown a high level of statesmanship since he left power. His speeches
are well guarded since he knows the implication for the unity of the country.
Nigeria as a nation of 100 years
should still take pride in our unity and celebrate even if the unity is like
that of a thread. One thing is for sure, we have no other country except this
one. The labour of our heroes past is worth celebrating only that we have not
added our own labour to lift the nation beyond where our heroes left them. This
is a national tragedy.
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