Nigeria at 53: We have a lot to celebrate

We have used tribal and religious idiosyncrasies on a very intelligent nation. We have killed and maimed our great nation’s leaders and potential leaders in the name of one truncated changes or the other. We have called ourselves to carry arms and ammunitions against ourselves to wage wars against ourselves in the name of God, […]

We have used tribal and religious idiosyncrasies on a very intelligent nation. We have killed and maimed our great nation’s leaders and potential leaders in the name of one truncated changes or the other. We have called ourselves to carry arms and ammunitions against ourselves to wage wars against ourselves in the name of God, Civil wars, ethnic cleansing, religious bigotry, and clandestine ethnic and regional agenda in this journey of 53 years. We have come to an ugly experience rooted in negative experiences that the killings, the dissipation of human lives, wasting of ourselves and so on, are all in vain as the only alternative to moving forward is DIALOGUE!
The lessons of these 53 years are numerous and enormous. Yet, many have not learnt a thing from our bitter past. Politicians are still boasting that they must fight to a finish! Yes, they have their freedom to fight but they should not carry or rope Nigerians into their fights with different motives other than the national interest!
Today we are still battling with corruptions when we least understand that what enters into our mouths as a result of corruption comes out as shit!
As the putrefying smell of corruption has eaten our seed money, destroyed investments, killed our factories, rendered our civil service comatose, made it possible to employ our youths and destroyed the future of our systems.
Today we have all become professional critics, ever lamenting, not knowing that lamentation is not a solution to our calamity today!
There is so much of jaw-jawing as we say more than what we can do!
If only we can walk half the talk of our present propaganda! We accuse, we point fingers – least understanding that we are guilty of the problems we accuse of others of!
Today we talk of rule of Law, internal democracy discipline, anti–corruption Slogans – when the proponents of these new slogans were negative agents of the so-called new deal yesterday. These were the same mouths of condemnations of military dictatorship and feudalism that are singing new songs and hobnobbing with their mortal enemies of yesterday! Oh what a nation of contradictions and ironies!
This great nation has a great prophetic destiny in spite of past & presents ugly realities! We should by now have learnt that ethnic, religious and regional politics cannot lead us anywhere!
Those still mouthing slogans rooted in ethnic, religious and regional clichés of our Land are analogue politicians that have nothing now to offer has their continuous relevance lies in these subjective and emotive factors!
We should by now have known that over recycling and recycling of expired and retired politicians is like putting new wine in old bottles. We should not expect new results from these dry bones as they had their opportunities before but they wasted all these in spite of the enormous good will of Nigerians.
Let these give way, or sponsor new brooms that sweep neatest! By this new broom theory, we are not asking or saying the new generation should begin another form of isolationist politics or governance! The world needs an-all-inclusive governance rooted in education and experience. Those without antecedents should not be empowered. This new generation of leaders that should take us to the NIGERIAN DREAMS must come from political parties that are non-regional, non-ethnic, non-religious in foundations. They should not be local ethnic or religious champions that are ever fanning the embers of discord as Nigeria is one, regardless of tribe, religion or regions!
These new generations of leaders must know that the good, the bad and ugly cut across all tribes, all ages, all groups, all religions and all leaders both in government and opposition of our land. 
They should know that the minorities of our land have equal stakes in the Nigerian project just like the majorities!
And even the Nigerian docile followers have a lot to learn! Are they not tired of ever following the cause of politicians with vaulting ambitions that are not rooted in National interest? Why won’t they resolve in line with Mr. Presidents dictum that no politician is worth the drop of blood of any Nigerian” and call they bluff of present pretentions to nationalism, patriotism and promises of a new heaven right here on the earth of Nigerian.
Today we see presidential materials heaping insults and abuses on the office of the president and you begin to wonder if these characters happen to assume the position that they are heaping insults upon will they take same?
Today we should be wise enough to know that Nigerians are shining their eyes now! Our unity should not be that some are making so much sacrifice for us to be one, while others are doing their best to tear us apart! We need a National Conference where the nitty gritty of our continuous unity will be resolved once and for all!
This is for all Nigerians, all the over 250 ethnic nationalities to be equal joiners of the Nigerian Unity project. This is also for us to be equal liability sharers of our project!  
No system is problem free!
No system is corruption free!!
No System parades angels as leaders!!!
Nigeria is a big system of diverse opportunities. It is not for noting that when we “Bad Mouth” our country and play slave roles within and outside the country, other nationalities are trooping in to invest!
We can build positives out of our negatives! Nollywood triumph in spite of lack of government patronage, resurrection of railways out of the death of the over 20years, public private sector initiative as embodied in the emulative efforts of the likes of Dangote, present survival in spite of tribal, religious and regional dissident, relative sanity in the face of mass illiteracy, graduate unemployment that is rearing unbridled procreation by irresponsible parents who have no responsibly in sending such children to schools, “almajirai” culture that is presently been exported from some state to other states without commensurate check on crimes & criminality, turning of our local airports into international ones that meet international models, our resilient culture that makes it possible to be collective governable, our very intelligent youths who can distinguish between old school analogue type of governance and the new school type of governance rooted in compliance world best practices, the four universities of my own time and the many universities that now turn our graduates of compliant disciplines-all these show that we have a lot to celebrate at 53!
Some of us will not join the mass-hysteria rooted in prejudice, mindset, subjectivities of the ethno religious mentalities of the majorities and neo-slave mentalities of the minorities of our land.
Dr. Shaibu (Jp) can be reached at: P.O. Box 2020 Area 10 Post Office, [email protected]