Nigerians and Independence

NIGERIANS AND INDEPENDENCE
Come the morning of October first, Nigerians will be entertained to another national broadcast by the nation’s number one citizen to commemorate the independence of the nation forty-nine years ago, as is the tradition. Many grounds and stadia are also expected to come alive with parades before the chief executives of the nation’s thirty-six states who will afterwards read out lofty prepared speeches. How much of importance attached to the president’s speech and the speeches of their state governors is a question that is most likely to depend on several factors among which are individual perceptions and political distributions. Nigeria as a nation will be celebrating her independence from Britain but whether Nigerians will be celebrating or will sense a need for celebrations is left to be seen.
The nation may be celebrating her freedom from colonialism but it’s incontestable that several Nigerians do not have an idea of when they will be able to celebrate their liberation from the many ills that have manacled many. Through the breadth and length of the nation, there are obvious traits of corruption, widespread poverty, comatose health facilities, daily rising cost of goods that daily inflicts hardship on the people, bad roads, absence of potable water, lack of power supply, falling education standards among many other heart-breaking situations. One therefore cannot but wonder if the people can still find a reason to celebrate in the midst of all these. Perhaps, as usual, they will find a reason to appreciate God for still being alive. However to say that the woes of the nation have only arrived since the last hope-inspiring independence speech would mean staying very far from the truth.
Nigeria as a nation has experienced both good times and bad times but in the reckoning of many, she has tasted more of the latter than the former. One of the happiest moments the nation has known and perhaps the most important has to be the moment Nigeria after a long period of agitation, was declared an independent nation by an act of the British parliament. For the first time, the nation had an indigenous Governor-General in the person of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe who was later to transform into the President of the Federal Republic when Nigeria became a republic in 1963. However, the good times were not to last for long as allegations of corruption and political crises soon rocked the nation, among them being the Western region riots that cost over 2,000 lives and property worth millions of Naira, as well as the alleged treason case that earned the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Anthony Enahoro ten years imprisonment each. The political instability prevented the people from reaping the dividends of democracy and soon provided an opportunity for aggrieved members of the military led by Major-General Chukwuma K. Nzeogwu to stage what they would describe as a revolution to rid the nation of corrupt and incorrigible politicians and have them replaced with true nationals. That purge led to the elimination of the then Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa; Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh, Federal Minister of Finance and Chief Ladoke Akintola, Premier, Western Nigeria. The leader of the coup, Major Nzeogwu later surrendered power to General J.T.U Aguiyi Ironsi at a short ceremony on 20th January, 1966. The refusal of Gen. Ironsi to punish those who took part in the war, most of them being from the Eastern region like himself, angered the northern soldiers and Gen. Ironsi’s subsequent inability to properly manage the brewing crisis resulted in a counter-coup that claimed his life and several other top army officers of Eastern extraction. That marked the beginning of transitions from one military administration to another and with that came unprecedented levels of corruption, mismanagement of funds, questionable economic policies and the sinking of the nation into huge debts. Also worthy of mention is the civil war that cost the nation well over two million lives.
Hope returned to the nation in 1979 when the then Head of State, Lt-General Olusegun Obasanjo handed over to a democratically elected President, Alhaji Shehu Shagari but that was not to end the nation’s woes. The corrupt incompetence of the Shagari administration soon gave the military another opportunity to intervene and Major-General Muhammadu Buhari came in in 1983 after which the nation experienced a few good times again but recorded an alarming rise in cases of human rights abuse before Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Babangida overthrew the government in a peaceful coup. Under Babangida’s administration, the nation witnessed the introduction of some laudable policies and economic reform but corruption and embezzlement of public funds were also at a high. Babangida also announced plans for a transition to civil rule but when things had reached climax, he annulled the results of the presidential election which was adjudged the fairest in Nigeria’s history. That led to nationwide riots which cost many lives. In the midst of the chaos, Defence minister, General Sanni Abacha stepped up to take over and forced Chief Ernest Shonekan, the head of installed interim national government, to resign. Despite Abacha’s promises to return the nation to civil rule, nothing of such was to happen until General Abdusalam Abubakar who took over after Abacha’s sudden death, made it a reality when he handed over to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, a civilian president on May 29, 1999. However, between then and now, there has been a record peaceful transition from one civil administration to another but hardly can the nation be said to have fared better. There have been many glowing speeches that raised the hopes of the masses but frequently as well have their hopes been dashed. The people have continued to wallow in abject poverty while mind-boggling sums of money are daily reported to have been released for several unimplemented projects or projects that have no positive effects whatsoever on the teeming population.
Many have called press conferences, identified the ills of the past and called for probes, many have yelled, many have marched and many more have cried but sincerely, none of that has in any way provided the common man with potable water or bread nor has it added a layer of lasting asphalt on the gaping potholes that have reduced many roads to death-traps. Thus, it may be preferable to focus on the current administration and what promises it holds for Nigeria, if any.
True to the Nigerian spirit of doggedness and ‘never say die,’ it is not strange that a lot of Nigerians still hold the belief that things can turn around for the better under the current administration notwithstanding its much criticized slow pace so far. The hopes of the people cannot be said to be misplaced for the President, Umar Yar’Adua during his inauguration on May 29, 2007 read out to the people his lofty plans to resuscitate the dying fortunes of the nation using his seven-point agenda. Many of the people may not be able to say off-hand the constituents of the seven-point agenda but anywhere it’s mentioned, it reminds the people of hope. In his inaugural speech, the president adumbrated his seven point agenda as consisting of the following:
Seven Point Agenda
1. Power and energy
2. Food security and agriculture
3. Wealth Creation and Employment
4. Mass Transportation
5. Land Reform
6. Security
7. Qualitative and functional Education

No doubt, the list above is capable of instilling hope in any Nigerian no matter how seemingly unpatriotic. Almost everyone associated to politics soon took to the press to identify with the laudable policy framework but how much of that enthusiasm has transferred to the lives of the people is left to be seen. A quick overview of the promises that each of those poignant points held perhaps may help one understand the frustrations of many who feel let down by the seeming non-implementation of those policies.
Starting with the first point on power and energy, it’s an undeniable fact that one phenomenon that has for decades been a source of justifiable worry for many Nigerians who are daily bogged by tales of uninterrupted power supply in less endowed nations. The power situation in the nation has killed off several small businesses, depriving their operators a means of livelihood as a result just as many suffered job losses as several established businesses folded up as result of their inability to keep up with the cost of running their businesses. Industries such as the textile industry collapsed as a result sending several Nigerians into the labour market. Thus when the president promised a declaration of a state of emergency in the sector, he no doubt raised many hopes. Perhaps, the only strand of hope left the people can cling to is the paltry 6000MW promised to be available by December, of course provided it’s not overtaken by events like every other planned government project as the Niger Delta and gas are already beginning to be cited as possible causes of delay.
.To be continued.