The Giant of Africa, as she is fondly called, has just clocked 63 years-old. Nigeria, our beloved fatherland and most populous black nation, joined the league of sovereign countries on 1st October 1960. Our beautiful land was one of the dozen African states liberated from the strangleholds of British and French colonialists, in that era.
At the dawn of its independence, the vision of the nationalists, who championed Nigeria’s self-rule bid, was, among several other things, to build a prosperous and egalitarian nation, that will become a hub for human cohabitation.
They envisioned that, in a few years to come, the then infant Nigeria will become a haven for citizens and foreigners, alike. The dream they also had for our beloved motherland is for it to become a Mecca of sorts for local and international investors.
But 63 years after, Nigeria is yet to achieve its ultimate purpose as a sovereign entity. The country is battling a litany of socio-economic issues, stunting its national growth. It is endemically infested with terrorism and widespread insecurity.
The set of leaders we have been having in our contemporary Nigeria, especially since the advent of the Fourth Republic, have been anything but visionary, patriotic and forward-thinking. Instead, they are those that only prioritise their narrow and selfish interests, above those of the masses and the nation.
No thanks to their insatiable greed and lust for graft. Nigeria, some few years ago, was labelled as a ‘Fantastically Corrupt’ nation by a former British prime minister. A recent report of the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, indicates that over 120 million citizens are multi-dimensionally poor and living in penury.
The nation’s education, health, transportation, infrastructure and business, among other sectors, are in a shambles, a stark reminder of the tragedy that has befallen our dear Nigeria – a nation richly blessed, yet poor in every sense of the word. On one hand, however, there are tales about our dear nation and its citizens that inspire hope for a beautiful, secure and prosperous nation.
Nigerian citizens have been making waves in literature, medicine, arts, music, technological innovations, academic scholarships, research breakthroughs, sports, to mention a few, in recent years. Our dear country, about two to three decades back, was the Big Brother for South Africa, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and several other African states, which were then politically unstable as a result of apartheid and armed conflicts.
Our gallant soldiers helped to restore peace and order in many war-torn countries in Africa. An eminent Nigerian, Prof. Wole Soyinka, was the first African to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986. Another of its writing sensations and a revered amazon, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, is also hoisting Nigeria’s flag high in the global literature circuit.
We have also produced many gifted artistes and decorated sportsmen such as Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Davido, Burna Boy, Asa, Kanu Nwankwo, Austin Jay Jay Okocha, late Rashidi Yekini, and Victor Osimhen, among a host of others. Democratically, our great nation is a model for many African states.
Since Nigeria’s return to democracy 24 years ago, there has not been any attempt to scuttle its evolution by the military. Most of our former heads of state and presidents like Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, and Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar (rtd), at some point, were appointed to chair ECOWAS’ Election Monitoring Delegations and Mediation Teams to some African countries.
Nigerian have also headed the United Nations General Assembly, World Court at the Hague, and even presently, we have Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Hajiya Amina Zubair as director general of the World Trade Organisation, WTO, and deputy secretary general of the United Nations, UN, respectively. No doubt, the coterie of socio-economic woes afflicting the nation would have prevented many citizens from basking in the euphoria of our 63rd independence; and most especially, the feats recorded by Nigeria, as a country, in the last six decades.
But as citizens, we must keep hope alive for a promising and brighter future. Surely, there is light at the end of the tunnel for our dear nation. What is needed is for us all, leaders and followers, to renew our individual pledge to national development, unity and progress. Those at the helm of our nation’s affairs now, particularly President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his cabinet, must resolve to fix the country, and reset it on the path of socio-economic advancement.
Till then, let’s all pop champagne, clink glasses and rent the air with a ‘Happy 63rd Independence Nigeria’ toast. There is every reason for citizens to roll out the drums and celebrate all the historic milestones our great nation has achieved in the last 63 years of its glorious existence.
Leah Nickaf,
Nasarawa State University,
Keffi [email protected].
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