By Chukwudi Nweje
The mixed feelings of euphoria, fanfare, anxiety, and indifference that greeted the celebration of Nigeria’s 63rd independence anniversary on October 1 did not come as a surprise,
The diverse feelings though had existed for a long time have become more pronounced since 2010 following the crisis that trailed President Goodluck Jonathan succeeding late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
Regardless of the diverse feelings of Nigeria’s different 200 million plus population on the independence commemoration, they agree that after 63 years of independence, 29 years of which was under military rule during which the country was plunged into a 30-month-long civil war, Nigeria is not where it ought to be, and definitely, not where the founding fathers envisioned the country would be.
The first Prime Minister of Nigeria, Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Belewa captured the vision of the founding fathers in the address he read on October 1, 1960.
His address read in part, “…This is a wonderful day, and it is all the more wonderful because we have awaited it with increasing impatience, compelled to watch one country after another overtaking us on the road when we had so nearly reached our goal. But now we have acquired our rightful status, and I feel sure that history will show that the building of our nation proceeded at the wisest pace: it has been thorough, and Nigeria now stands well-built upon firm foundations…”
The diverse cultural and political groups in Nigeria, including the Middle Belt Forum (MBF), Arewa Youths Consultative Forum (AYCF), Cultural Credibility Development Initiative (CCDI) and Coalition of Indigenous Ethnic Nationalities (CIEN) note that Nigeria is far from standing on firm foundations.
However, some others are optimistic that Nigeria is destined for greatness though it may take some time.
We managed to remain a united country -Shettima
President of AYCF, Alhaji Yerima Shettima said there is nothing much to cheer after 63 years but the fact that Nigeria is still one country and enjoys some degree of peace.
He said, “The only reason I will ask Nigerians to celebrate the 63 years of independence is that to an extent we are still together as a country despite the ups and downs and agitations in different parts, Nigeria still remains one country.
We have not made any headway but we have relative peace and we look forward believing that one day there will be light at the end of the tunnel that is why it is worth celebrating.”
People have lost confidence in Nigeria –Yunusa Tanko
Dr Yunusa Tanko, 2019 presidential candidate of the National Conscience Party (NCP), who in 2023 served as the spokesperson of the Labour Party (LP), Presidential Campaign Committee said Nigeria is still struggling over trivial issues, even as youths have lost faith in the country.
He said, “Ali Muzuri in his documentary said that while other nations are trying to build houses in the moon, we in Nigeria are trying to locate our villages. It is unfortunate that 63 years after independence, we are still battling with power supply; we are still battling with feeding ourselves; we are battling with insecurity; we are talking about a population we cannot carter for, we are talking about humongous corruption going on in all sectors of the country, we are only trying to survive by the whiskers.
“We have a dying country and economy where the youths do not have hope in tomorrow or believe in their leaders because everything rational has been thrown into the dustbin. Nigeria has not achieved anything after 63 years of independence; we definitely could have achieved more as a nation”.
Nigeria has produced legacy of failures –Pogu Bitrus
The President of MBF, Dr Pogu Bitrus lamented that the country continues to take one-step forward and two-steps backwards.
He said, “The 63 years has been difficulties. We have been making one-step forward and two steps backwards. When the military came in, in 1966, there were still some developments, when Gen Olusegun Obasanjo as military Head of State handed over in 1979, the manufacturing sector was still there. We had the Peugeot Assembly Plant, Volkswagen of Nigeria, Dunlop, and many textile companies. Today, our major institutions have crashed. Rather than making progress, Nigeria seems to be retrogressing. Our defence industry started at about the same time with that of Brazil but while Brazil is now producing aircrafts, that of Nigeria is still making furniture”.
For CIEN the way to go is to restructure Nigeria.
It said, “109 years after amalgamation of diverse ethnic nationalities of various sizes, cultures, and aspirations and 63 years after independence, Nigeria is still unable to live together in harmony or accept a common national identity.
“The country’s challenges are foundational and require ‘structural re-engineering to fix. Indigenous people should be constitutionally empowered by the regions to develop, control, and use their lands and natural resources. The right to regulate the entry of migrants, the right to stay in the territories, and the right to claim parts of ancestral land previously reserved for various purposes except those reserved and intended for common and public welfare and service should revert to the people”.
Nigeria’ll be great one day
–Adewole Adebayo
Prince Adewole Adebayo, presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the February 25, 2023 said that though the country falls short of the expectations of the founding fathers at 63 that there is light at the end of the tunnel, as “the ship of the Nigerian state will one day dock at the harbour of greatness.”
He said Nigeria can achieve greatness but it requires a collaborative effort of the leaders and the people to attain its full potential in the comity of nations.
He said, “We are not where our founding fathers thought we would be; our founding fathers thought we would become a superpower within a short time when they received the documents of independence. We have been at the bus stop for 63 years, there is delay in realising the dream but it is not dead, it is not lost.
“I have a hope and a very strong one that no matter what, Nigeria is destined to be great. One generation of Nigerians will definitely take us there. The work that I am doing is to encourage my generation to be that generation that will establish this. It is just like the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land, the journey was supposed to take 40 day but it took 40 years. One day the ship of the Nigerian State will definitely dock at the harbour of greatness”.
For Nigeria to move forward, Adebayo said elected officials must learn to take responsibility as “the man on the saddle”.
He said, “The man on the saddle must understand the purpose of the saddle. The saddle is not where you sit and talk to your enemies. The saddle is where you sit and spur the horse to win the race. You should know that you are like a member of the relay team. There are maybe five of you selected to run. However, you are actually running the race for the country.”
He also charged Nigerians to stop blaming the years of military interregnum for the shortcomings of the democratic government.
“Any reference to military rule should be in reference to what happened in the past, it is an accountability for the past not an excuse for present failures.
“Some of the militaristic attitudes occasionally interfere with our democracy, there is a militaristic interference, in our democratic language, and I think we have to agree to some basic standards for governance, for citizenship, for holding public office, and all of that. If we do not win that battle in our mind, we will be struggling with the most basic thing,” he said.
We must work together to save the country -Uwazuruike
A lawyer, Ide Goddy Uwazurike, who is President of CCDI agrees that Nigerians must work together to save the country.
He lamented the collapse of virtually all sectors of the country and urged President Bola Tinubu to assemble the best hands from every part of Nigeria to fix the country.
He said, “It is annoying that Nigeria is a paediatric 63 years old man. It is even nauseating that Nigeria prefers to wallow in mediocrity… The government of Tinubu has dragged what Buhari damaged to the edge of a precipice… Today, propaganda is the major tool of APC’s Nigeria. Education has been decimated; dropping out of school seems to be the objective of the government of the day…
“The choice before the President today is to assemble the best brains from all parts of the country to form the government and map out the way forward. The economy, respect for human rights, separation, and division of powers are landmarks the President must pay attention to if the 63-year-old Nigeria must learn to walk.”