Nigeria at 58

Today, October 1, 2018 is 58 years since the British colonial masters left and handed over governance to Nigerians. Ideally, it should be a time of celebration, rolling out of drums for the successes achieved and the great mileage attained. The central poser, however, is whether in 58 years, we have met expectations based on the potential endowed on us by our large population, human and ecological resources, etc. Alternatively, if we have not performed well, have we started the journey that puts us on the path of sustainable development and progress?

Reviewing Nigeria’s achievements at 58, the most common parametres for measurement could be the state of our governance, economy and major subdivisions of these key parametres. This discourse will use the political and governance parametres to review our progress so far. On the political and governance front, we have been through two key systems of governance, the elected systems and the impositions by military dictators. We passed through a brutal civil war to retain our unity and many will see the fact of our being one country after 58 years as an achievement. The jury is out as to whether, overall, we would have been more prosperous and successful if we had operated with may be, three or four different countries out of the big Nigeria. Some other countries like India had let their component parts become independent countries after some years of being together. But we are here together and the business of the day is to make the best out of our status as a united country. We are not the largest country in the world in terms of population, land area and diversity. Our challenge has been the management of our diversity which would have made us a very strong and potent force when all the positive attributes of the different components are welded into the service of the bigger whole. Fifty eight years down the line, those fault lines that appeared shortly before independence have refused to go away; rather they seem to be widening.

These fault lines so far have encouraged a race to the bottom rather than a race to the top, especially after we jettisoned federalism and started paying lip service to it. Based on these fault lines, which more or less benefited the elite and ruling class, groups and individuals who have found themselves on the corridors of power have mismanaged the common patrimony. The federalism of the First Republic (1960 to 1966) encouraged the spirit of progressive competition. It was a race to the top when the energies of the people were tapped for development within the context of unity in diversity. This period witnessed developmental strides and growth comparable to what obtained in other countries of the world at our level of development. But we mismanaged the First Republic and the military came in under the pretext of redemption – to fight corruption and unite the country but succeeded in setting us back.

The Second Republic showed that the leaders on mufti learnt and forgot nothing. They were democrats who did not believe in democracy. They subverted the will of the people and failed to allow the votes to count. The arrogance of power manifested in abuse of office, looting of the treasury and practically no idea for the development of the country. And the military struck again under the old pretext of redemption. They elevated abuse of office to new heights, starting from the gross disrespect of human rights and fundamental freedoms of the Gen Muhammadu Buhari regime. The Ibrahim Babangida administration took corruption to new heights and legitimised it; and its greatest achievement became the annulment of the free and fair June 12, 1993 presidential election. The Shonekan Interim National Government was too short and a lame duck to merit a consideration of its contribution to nation-building. Enter the most brutal dictator of our time, Sani Abacha, who looted the treasury with impunity whilst his killing squad unleashed terror and spilled the blood of the innocent on the land. Abdusalami Abubakar tried to restore some sanity in the land and within a short spell of time, handed over power to civilians and Nigeria started on a new note.

However, the military handed over to another former soldier who promised to take Nigeria to greater heights considering his age and life experience. Obasanjo had been in power before and was jailed by the Abacha regime for opposing his misrule. But the deliverables of his administration were far less than the big promises which Nigerians had upon his assumption of office. His regime was marred by a deconsolidation of democracy as he presided over massive electoral heists. President Umaru Yar’Adua’s administration was too short before he died. He promised a lot of reforms and started the process of reform before his death. Enter the man who had “no shoes” and who promised transformation and reforms. So much goodwill attended his election as the first university graduate leader of our time. Again, Jonathan’s administration fell short of the expectations leading to the man who had ruled before, to make a promise of the change agenda. President Buhari came on board in 2015 with promises of reforms of his first coming without its gross abuses of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Evidently, the jury is out on his performance. Under his regime, the traditional fault lines are getting wider as ethnic and religious tension is growing with massive insecurity.

In all of these developments, the voice of the people have not been heard, their needs have not been met and mainstreamed into the economic and social system, whilst the key resources have not been tapped as they have been left dormant. The resources include human, ecological, technological and financial resources. For ecological resources, beyond our oil, we have left other resources. Even the oil, we are simply extracting crude and selling same without refining and extracting other highly valued commodities. We still import refined petrol. The human resources have not been tapped for development as we have scientists who cannot convert their knowledge into technical resources to solve our existential problems. Our medical doctors have not been empowered to take good care of our health while wealthy Nigerians traverse other lands in search of care. We still have leaders who steal our money and take it out of the country whilst we look for money for infrastructure and other development needs.

A new paradigm of political leadership is needed. A lot of our leaders did not or do not understand development. Many were rulers and waited to be served instead of serving. For the youths of the country who have more years to spend and who have a greater stake in the country, it is up to them to endeavour to take over leadership, to demand accountability from the present and future leaders. The present crop of leaders do not care and have no dreams for Nigeria’s development beyond their entitlement to remain in the corridors of power. May God continue to bless Nigeria.

Happy Independence Day, Nigerians