As Nigerians mark the 53rd anniversary of their independence next October 1, there are probably good reasons to celebrate, but there are just as many good reasons to deliberate on the parlous state of the nation. All things considered, if the occasion calls for celebrations, the failure of leadership at all levels, particularly at the center, which has resulted in missed opportunities, shattered hopes, broken promises and unfulfilled aspirations, demands only one thing: sober reflection. Independence in 1960 created a groundswell of euphoria, hope and faith in the Nigerian project. It is indeed sobering that, 53 years later, the anticipated gains of nationhood envisaged by our founding fathers are still being awaited. It is time for Nigerian leaders at all levels to focus more on the Nigerian promise – particularly on what is standing in the way of realizing that promise.
The country is beset by many life and death challenges for anybody to dissipate time, energy and scarce resources on celebrating, especially given the current socio-political tension in the country. Serious issues of corruption and insecurity militating against the smooth running of the nation are yet to be addressed. Nigeria still groans under mass poverty, inadequate social services and unemployment among a legion of challenges. These are issues begging for attention, not celebration of a history Nigerians can neither unwrite nor rewrite. Honestly, independence has failed Nigerians; if for the only reason that it engendered political instability that culminated in one of the most grotesque campaigns of human savagery and barbarism with the civil war; which ushered military rule, characterized by absolute disregard for the rule of law, large-scale human rights violations, monumental corruption, economic mismanagement and decay of infrastructure.
With the return to civil rule in 1999, expectations were high. Against the impunity of the past, Nigerians expected the rule of law, where all are equal before the law; against a history of past election rigging, they expected that votes would count and the people will freely choose their leaders; against massive human rights violation, they expected the veneration of rights; against a history of assassinations even by the state, they expected to see respect for lives and dignity of man; against a background of poor social services, they expected to see working hospitals, well-paved roads, well-equipped schools and uninterrupted power supply. 53 years on, these expectations have, at best, remained forlorn hopes.
Today, a baggage of contradictions has emerged as the so-called independence has been compromised by unofficial pacts and backroom deals with political godfathers that threw up mercenary leaders; shackled to interests other than noble. At independence, the strength of the Nigerian project was its diversity, even if harnessing that diversity has in some ways become part of its problems. Power is sought for its own sake. This trend remains a blow to the goals of nationhood; as desperation for power has turned politics from being a contest of ideas to a life and death game in which the killer, of men and ideas, is the winner who takes all. Fifty-three years on, there is democracy, but true democrats are hard to come by; and it is hardly possible to point to a free and fair election ever held, except “June 12;” the milestone in Nigeria’s quest for its true identity.
June 12 was the epoch in the struggle against military rule and the return to democracy. It was the manifestation of the hopes and aspirations of all Nigerians to be governed by leaders chosen on the basis of democratic principles. On that day in 1993, Nigerians said goodbye to parochialism and primordial considerations that had governed the country. A Muslim-Muslim ticket was not seen as an incongruity; instead, the people saw only a Nigerian-Nigerian ticket. In a powerful statement of an end to the usual appeal to ethnicity and the dawn of a New Nigeria, they voted for Moshood Abiola and Babagana Kingibe, despite their religious affiliation. Indeed, a new nation was being born in which there was one ethnic group: Nigeria and only one religion: Nigeria
But the military junta led by General Ibrahim Babangida annulled that great movement of history and pulled Nigeria into the abyss of despair in which it still gropes today, 53 years after independence. It was probably the most wicked act ever perpetrated against this nation. Authoritarianism returned with a vengeance; a bestial culture of impunity again seized the foreground and in the process, a once united country was bifurcated along Muslim-Christian, North-South and East-West divides. It is just enough to say that with IBB’s annulment of June 12, Nigeria snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and the nation’s manifest rendezvous with destiny was halted by a mindless dictatorship. The result has been a Nigeria still questioned by many Nigerians; a nation full of promise but still in doubt of itself.
While the current administration basks in the euphoria of an economic growth, averaging over 6% in the last two years, all is not well with the economy. Growth in macro-indicators does not translate to development and remains unconvincing amid widespread abject poverty. A major concern has been the need to diversify the national economy. Fifty-three years after independence, economic diversification has remained a mirage while successive leaders bicker over the sharing formula for oil proceeds. Current global trends portend ill for the Nigerian economy. As more energy sources are being discovered, it is only a matter of time for oil earnings to plummet.
Even as reliant on proceeds from crude oil as it is, the economy is further gravely undermined by endemic and monumental corruption at its commanding heights. The country’s war against corruption has been haphazard and a pandering to agencies of global governance rather than a conscientious project. Existing anti-corruption agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), are comatose having themselves been inexorably enmeshed in corruption. Their efforts are selective and phony. The war against corruption, nothing more than a circus before now, has become a huge joke.
While Nigeria suffocates under bureaucratic overweight, political corruption, and a shaky economy, the country is now being asphyxiated by Islamic insurgency in the north. Sectarian in character, it has further deepened the ethnic and religious cleavages in the country. In response, President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe. These dissonances have meant impoverishment for the people. Unemployment soars amidst obscene display of opulence by the political elite. Of course, there is growing disillusionment among youths, which fuels the prevalent insurgencies in parts of the country.
On this 53rd anniversary, it is not too late for Nigerians leaders, to change and make democracy work for the people. And the job is simple: stop stealing from the common wealth, spend the people’s money on them, reduce cost of governance, entrench the rule of law, create employment opportunities, respect the rules of democracy and let a culture of service reign.
