NIGERIA AT 53
By the time I’m 53 years old, I hope to have achieved so many
things among them being happily married to a wonderful woman; having adorable
children to be proud of; being retired after a fruitful medical career; having already visited some
exotic places in the world with others in the offing. If I can achieve these
basic things, then I will see myself as an immense success. These are things I
hold dear to my heart and my birthday would have been an appropriate occasion
to talk about them.
Today, October 1st, marks
the 53rd anniversary of the birth of an independent self-ruling
nation. Nigeria existed prior to that but just as a device to maintain
enough order and structure to facilitate the siphoning of our immense resources.
That is simply my opinion but prior to that, Nigeria was ruled by
foreigners with the participation of only a handful of Nigerians. On October 1st
1960, for the first time, the ship of the Nigerian State was manned and
captained by Nigerians. That, by its own merit, is worth celebration.
Many people are quick to point at the
terrible things happening in Nigeria. The manic zeal with which labour unions
take strike actions; the fact that Nigerians now get killed in their sleep and
the perpetrators may yet get away with it; a president who appears unable to
comprehend the magnitude of our situation; I could go on and on listing these
problems but that’s not my aim. I only wish to remind us that we need to start thinking
of a solution and how to execute such a solution. By ‘we’ I mean those of us too
young to have witnessed any coup d’état or perhaps too young at the time to
have known the meaning or implications.
I have a dream that one day in
Nigeria, political aspirants will debate ideas and not trade insults,
accusations and counter accusations; our educational institutions will provide
soundly educated minds; justice shall prevail; the kidnapping industry boom
will be a dark chapter in our history; northerners and southerners will see
themselves as partners in progress; Christians and Muslims will live peacefully
together; the super eagles will win the world cup. Above all, I hope to see
that day when Nigerians will stop seeing Nigeria as a golden goose, when
paramount on our minds will be “how can I lift my nation higher?” and not “what
benefit will I gain from Nigeria?”
If I were alive on that historic day
when we began our self-directed journey, my dreams would have been different. I
would have dreamt of the time when Nigeria will call the shots on the
international scene, in Africa and beyond. I still hope that day will come and
if I’m lucky, I may witness it.
Let us all remember, as we mark
today’s anniversary in our different ways, that our situation requires us to be
willing to do whatever is necessary to take over control of our country from
those who will exploit us. As we celebrate our Independence from Britain, let
us all start working, in our own little or great way, to make Nigeria truly
independent and awaken this sleeping giant from its slumber.
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY ANNIVERSARY
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