A tempered National Day

The end of colonial rule and the enthronement of self-government were meant to mark the beginning of prosperity for the new nation and a better life for its citizens.  Fifty- four years on, the cycle of hope-despair-hope appears to be giving way to a long spell of despair. Two days ago, the administration decorated over […]

The end of colonial rule and the enthronement of self-government were meant to mark the beginning of prosperity for the new nation and a better life for its citizens.  Fifty- four years on, the cycle of hope-despair-hope appears to be giving way to a long spell of despair. Two days ago, the administration decorated over 300 Nigerians with National Honour. If anything, it demonstrated that despite huge challenges, there still is room and occasion to recognise illustrious citizens. But the general national mood cannot be one of celebration at this point in time. The harsh economic times for most Nigerians are one thing; poverty and inequality are rising, even though government officials often boast of a robust economic growth. Indeed, President Goodluck Jonathan was quoted only last week as saying that his administration had succeeded in cutting the poverty level among Nigerians by an incredible 50 percent. The stark reality, according to more accurate data, is that only a tiny group benefits from the government’s patronage, leaving the vast majority falling farther into poverty.  
 The heady days of the independence era, much shaken by the military intervention and the bloody civil war to crush a rebellion that followed, have today been replaced by sharper and more virulent variant of ethnic politics of the past. Corruption among governments is on the ascendancy and political and ethnic loyalties have replaced genuine patriotism and hard work.
Of course, there have been many undeniable highpoints, post-independence. Ending the civil war and reintegrating all parts of the country into a united Nigeria was a landmark achievement. In foreign policy, Nigeria was in the forefront of the successful struggle against apartheid in South Africa and the eventual institution of black majority rule there. Nigeria’s pivotal role in the liberation movements in Mozambique and Angola is one of the shiniest episodes in Nigeria’s post-colonial history.   The armed forces, fresh from a successful internal security operation at home, and the police, were a pride for the country in peacekeeping missions around the world.  Whether in the academia, legal practice, sports, medicine, literature, Nigeria has not been short of renowned talents that have contributed their quota to Nigeria’s international standing.
It is therefore something of a paradox that a nation so blessed with abundance of talents and natural resources cannot manage its own affairs.
 This failure is exemplified by governments at all levels enthroning mediocrity and cronyism above competence and service to the nation. It is seen in government employees stealing unspeakably huge amounts of money from public coffers, and obtaining political, sometimes even legal, cover, to escape liability. It is seen in the dangerous game played by politicians to exploit ethnic and religious differences among the people to keep them divided and at loggerheads with each other.
Yet, the politicians have not been able to eschew these divide and rule tactics in order rally the population behind them to tackle the nation’s greatest challenge yet, the insurgency in the North East that has festered for five years now and is tasking the military. That insurgency has wrought one of Nigerians’ most enduring nightmares, the kidnapping of over 200 schoolgirls from their dormitory in Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, on April 15, 2014.These girls are still in captivity, 170 days to the day.  Whatever celebration the government plans for today, even if low-key, this would be tempered by the absence of these girls, because they remind us of the nation’s collective failure.
 Today therefore is one for sober reflection on how to recollect where it all went wrong, and in that recollection, consider steps to make amends and get back on track.