NIGERIA AT 56: A CALL TO REFLECTION

At 56 years of age, a man is probably giving his daughter's hands in marriage; at that same age, a woman is probably carrying her grandchild in her hands. At any rate, both a man and a woman at 56 years of age should be able to lay down their achievements in life, as this age signals the beginning of the end for them.

This analogy seems over-stretched, because 56 years of nationhood is actually more or less like 56 days; it implies no more than the heydays of such nationhood. However, whether in the life of a man or a nation, 56 years no longer connotes infanthood; that is, such things as crawling, tottering and blabbing, etc., that are characteristic of infanthood become grave abnormalities at 56.

Unfortunately, Nigeria is, for all intents and purposes, sadly still a baby. Fifty-six years after independence, Nigeria is still faced with the same teething troubles you would expect from an infant nation like South Sudan. Fifty-six years after independence, Nigeria is still coming to terms with the reality of its nationhood. Forty-six years after the Civil War, Nigeria is still as divided as in the Civil War.

In the wake of Nigeria's 56th independence anniversary, the country's exigent problems include economic recession, ethno-religious tension, political fisticuff, unemployment and inflation, just to name a few. The Naira, an inanimate active player in the affairs of this country, has not helped matters by cowering before the dollar continually.

From all indications, the future does not bode well for the country; it indeed looks gloomy; for things could only get worse. But this pessimistic prediction can only come to pass if we do nothing.

In moments like this, the best we can do is to reflect on our life as a nation. How come we are still on the same spot 56 years later? How come, 56 years later, we are still crawling? Nations we started off the independence race together are out of sight. Nations who had not yet conceived their independence when we got ours are now fully grown. When Nigeria celebrated its 15th independence anniversary, Vietnam just came out of a destructive 20-year war, first with France and then with the US. Forty-one years later Vietnam is now a second world country and developing still with an enviable pace; but Nigeria remains a third world country and has never been ashamed to be one.

It is natural to hold our leaders responsible and easy to put the blame on them, calling for their heads even. Also, while the current presidency certainly deserve some sticks for their underwhelming performance so far, I believe our past leaders - none exempted - deserve as much criticism as our current leaders. Thus, in the spirit of the independence anniversary and in the process of reflecting, we should know that we have passed the stage of pointing fingers or apportioning blames. The least we can do now is to give the current presidency our support - it does not matter whether they deserve our support: we are together in this rickety ship that is Nigeria. As I see it, we either sink together ,or together, we forge ahead, weathering the storms.

Again, it does not matter which part of the divide you belong; it does not matter what religion you profess; it does not matter also what your political affiliation is; it really does not matter right now whether you want out of the Nigerian union or not. What matters right now is that Nigeria is sinking and every Nigerian has a role to play to bring it back onboard.

I call for a reflection today. I believe even at 56, it is never too late to cut the anchors, set the sails, and row hard to the Promised Land.

HAPPY 56TH INDEPENDENCE ANNIVERSARY!

Cc: Ladrang

Lalasticlala, Happy 56th Independence Anniversary!

happy independence

Pfft

fiizznation:
Nigeria's problem started in 1966 when some misguidedly junior officers took out the political leaders of one region and left theirs; here is were all Nigeria's problem began. Things were actually moving fine in our six years of achieving nationhood. Then all of a sudden, regionalism was destroyed, mutual trust was discarded, brotherliness was assassinated, and the most important one; our economy began to suffer.

Anyway we still hope and pray for a better Nigeria. A Nigeria of our dreams. A Nigeria were people won't cry about not having shoes anymore. We pray and we hope for things to get better for good

Amen. Happy Independence Anniversary.

No wahala