BY JACOB BRIGHT
Naturally, anyone celebrating his 61st birthday should roll out the drums to announce his achievements to the world. He should look back at his chequered existence and appreciate, if he has any, whichever deity he serves for the positives that helped shape his life. Thus, while many believe that Nigeria, the once called giant of Africa has come a long way in her nationhood, and deserves a pat on the back as she attains the enviable age of 61, many more believe that the country has sunk deeper into irrelevance and chaos.
Nigeria gained Independence on the 1st of October, 1960, from the British Empire. Prior to that time; the colonial masters were in the saddle. In 1914, they had merged what was then known as the Northern and Southern Protectorates to form the land area known today as Nigeria. After Independence, their style of government became the template the new government in Nigeria adopted. Three prominent regions were also in place. These were Northern, Eastern and Western regions. In 1963, a fourth region, Mid-West, was added.
Today, however, there are six geo-political zones, which comprise of 36 states and a Federal Capital Territory in Abuja.
After Independence, there were so much promises and expectations. The citizens had high hopes for the future, and with the crop of intelligent nationalists, like the late Nnamdi Azikiwe, Ahmadu Bello, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Obafemi Awolowo, Anthony Enahoro, Michael Okpara etc., at the helm of affairs, that vision for a prosperous Nigeria was seemly non-negotiable and on course.
Sadly, 61 years down the line, the dreams of our founding fathers and the labours of our heroes past, seem to have evaporated and jettisoned. 61 years down the line now, there are no clear cut plans for national development. Each succeeding administration, for the flimsiest of reasons, usually boycotts most of the agenda and plans of the previous one, and for that, Nigeria keeps running round this vicious cycle of underdevelopment.
“More than ever, as Nigeria approaches 61, calls by secessionists for a breakaway from Nigeria have become loudest today”
And what was to shape the young nation’s history ever since then occurred. Barely six years into her nascent democracy after Independence, the first coup d’état in Nigeria, led by the late Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, took place in January 15, 1966.The prime minister, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, together with many other top politicians and army officers were killed. The coup was thought to target the North. And the late Gen.
Aguiyi Ironsi emerged on the scene.
Six months later, like a time bomb waiting to explode, there was a counter coup led by then Lt. Colonel Murtala Muhammed, a northern officer, now late. The retaliatory events and pogrom that ensued, where Igbo were killed, would later plunge Nigeria into a 30-month old bitter civil war of 1967-1970, known as the Biafran War. To her credit as a country, 51 years after that war that saw fatalities reaching 3 million on both sides, Nigeria has done well enough to avert another war, and despite the provocations and tribal coloration of most national issues flying around, Nigeria has remained one as a country.
At 61, Nigeria has been plagued by corruption that has ravaged every aspect of her national life.
Unfortunately, the war against corruption is far from won. In fact, corruption is still alive and thriving, and Nigeria is not doing enough to confront this hydra-headed monster. Institutional corruption has become the bane of her development. In the 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index published by the Transparency International, Nigeria attained her worst ranking ever. She dropped to 149th from the previous year’s ranking of 146th. The ranking puts her only better than Guinea-Bissau as the most corrupt in West Africa, with Ghana, Senegal, etc., ranked higher. With 2021 winding down soon, the country’s score card for 2021 may still be nothing to write home about, and at 61, she may continue to be the laughing stock of the world.
Not to be outdone, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicly, Garba Shehu, had dismissed the rankings of TI. He stated that President Buhari was diminishing corruption, and that the sources of data used by TI in arriving at the rankings were questionable. In spite of this defense, corruption has become a cankerworm eating deep into our national fabric. What with the new cases springing up almost on a daily basis, and painting her in bad light among the comity of nations. For this, the Buhari administration needs to restrategise and deliberately equip, with the right tools, the various agencies like the EFCC and ICPC saddled with the responsibility of uprooting corruption.
More than ever, as Nigeria approaches 61, calls by secessionists for a breakaway from Nigeria have become loudest today. Claims of marginalisation, nepotism, ethno-religious favouritism have been cited as some of the reasons why the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra and Yoruba Nation agitators, spearheaded by Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Igboho respectively, have stood their ground against the Federal Government. Though Kanu is in a Department of State Security’s detention facility in Abuja and Igboho is still incarcerated in Benin Republic, the various protests and sit-at-home orders instigated by their loyalists are still far from over.
Some commentators have blamed the stand-off between the Government and activists on Nigeria’s kind of federalism. According to them, after independence in 1960 when fiscal federalism was in place, each region controlled their natural resources and developed at their own pace. However, the adoption of a unitary federalism, where everything is centered around the Central Government and it dictating to the sub national governments have been blamed for the country’s stunted growth and warped development. They claim that nowhere else is Nigeria’s type of federalism practiced in the world. This became a catalyst for the emergence of the secessionists groups.
It is shame that accountability remains a word that is foreign to Nigeria’s national lexicon. Otherwise, how can one explain a situation where, for 61 years, no past leader, the military especially, had ever been summoned to give an account of their stewardship and they obliged to make an appearance? It is true that Nigeria is in a democracy, but it is also true that 29 years out of the 61 years were presided over by military dictators. While they held sway, they promulgated decrees, and no one dared question their authority.
The few who did were either incarcerated or extra-judicially killed. The Oputa panel was commissioned in 199? to investigate human rights abuses during the military regimes from 1984 to 199. Regrettably, no former military president appeared before the panel, and Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, in his book, “Witness To Justice, An Insider’s Account Of Nigeria’s Truth Commission”, described their absence as the height of impunity.
Nigeria’s economy is in shambles. Sadly, the country’s currency, the Naira, is also in free fall and has shown no sign whatsoever of recovering from its downhill decent. As at the time of filling this report, the exchange rate was around $1 for as much as N575. N550 to 1 Dollar . Also, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) don’t usually align with the realities on ground and what the average Nigerian is experiencing. Food prices have skyrocketed, and several household items have gone beyond the reach of many Nigerians. Prices of commodities like bread, a staple meal, have soared by as much as 25%, and government officials seem to be oblivious and doing nothing to objectively tackle the inflation in food prices.
In 2017, the Federal Government set up a task force on food security. It was mandated to look at the causes of increases in the prices of food items in the country, amongst other things, and address them. Then, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information, had voiced Government’s concern about the unfortunate rising cost of food items, and assured the nation that the task force would bring down the prices of food items. Sadly, four years later, that task force seems to have lain comatose.
Also, Nigeria went into economic recessions that, ordinarily, could have been avoided if not for mediocrity and the “square peg in a round hole” syndrome.
At 61, Nigeria has the potential to grow, flourish and realise her dreams. Unfortunately, all that now lay flat face-down, shattered and scattered and now below par in everything – industry, education, health, agriculture, infrastructure, science and technology and even sports.
Whether the indefatigable ‘can do’ Nigerian spirit that is predicated on hard work and hope can propel her people to lofty heights remain to be seen.
But quality, visionary and pragmatic leadership, endowed ideas, will-power and charisma, the lack of which has been Nigerians bane, must first be sorted. And this is where the next round of general election comes in. Nigeria must use that opportunity to fix it.
