Hurray! 50 big cheers to Nigeria!!!

“Today is independence Day.” – Alhaji Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Nigeria’s First Prime Minister on October 1st 1960

About 50 years ago, the quote above rent the air as the first sentence, and first line of the speech presented by Nigeria’s first and only Prime Minister –late Alhaji Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa on the ceremony of the Independence of Nigeria as a sovereign state.
Nigeria is situated in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the West, Chad and Cameroun the east, and Niger in the North. In the south its coast lies on the Gulf of Guinea, part of the Atlantic ocean. With a population of over 140 Million, it is known as the most populous country in Africa and the eighth in the World.
This wasn’t so about 50 years ago. It had about 25,000,000 people that made up the population. According to the late Prof. Stephen Leacock (Dec. 30, 1869 –March 28, 1944 –former lecturer, head of department of Economics & Political Science and Professor Emeritus at McGill University, Montreal), “The climate never varies; each day is awful. White people cannot live there; those who survive go home.”
About 50 years ago, there were all in all 5,000 whites, but a large proportion of them were missionaries, nurses, and teachers, holding down a job, not a country, along with the clerks and traders of the steamship companies and the Staff of the Government House. Three guns (31/2 inches each), Four battalions of infantry, one mortar and a signal school class, make up the whole National Defence of Nigeria. Even at that the whole army was black, except the officers. Someone said if there was to be mutiny at that time Nigeria could rise up and kill all the white officers, but why will they do that at the first instance?
Before independence, there was real government, the Government House was at Lagos. With mostly the Nigerians running the state. Those in the inland govern themselves through their Chiefs, Emirs and such relevant titles their people know them with. This was the indirect way of ruling the whole regions put together.
About 50 years ago all the revenues raised in taxes cannot keep Chicago running for six months, but today there is Petro-dollar, Human resource, Solid minerals and recently ICT that is doing wonders in the development that even led to the relocation of one of the headquarters of a GSM company from South Africa to Nigeria.
Today, Nigeria has earned to herself the credit of constructing the fastest growing federal capital city in the world. The federal Capital was moved from Lagos to Abuja. It started with three-lane roads, now it’s embarking on six-lane roads in order to manage vehicular traffic.
About 50 years ago, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa said, “ In these days of rapid communications, we cannot live in isolation, apart from the rest of the world, even if we wished to do so.” Today, there is the Internet, The GSM and the easier accessibility to air Transportation.(There are 22 airports in Nigeria with paved runways, and 21 Airstrips).
About 50 years ago, the late prime minister closed his speech with “God save our Queen.” But today; to utter ‘God’ has been replaced by ‘Allah.’
About 50 years ago, Nigeria “emerged without bitterness or bloodshed” but today it’s sad to say that many lives have been lost in cold blood and vehement bloodlettings.
About 50 years ago, the late prime minister opened a “new chapter in the history of Nigeria and of the commonwealth and indeed, of the world.” Today, we have a recorded history of 14 previous and current Leaders after Independence, 10 past and present senate presidents, 11 Past and Present Chief Justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. 7 Speakers of the Federal House of Representatives (past and present). Today, we have six geopolitical zones, 36 States including the Federal Capital Territory, 774 Local Government Areas, Today, we have 8,540 elected councilors, 1,205 House of Assemblies. 24 well-consolidated banks. We have 27 federal Universities, 31 State Universities, 33 Private Universities.
Today, We have 13 different organizations concerned with security in the Military, Paramilitary, and Agencies. With the Nigerian Police divided into 12 zones.
To say Nigeria has not grown and developed does not need consulting the late professor of Economics, Stephen Leacocks in his grave but to compare his penned thoughts with what is tenable today in Nigeria.
With doors opened to the world, Nigerians are listed among every 5 blacks around the world. Today, we have the Philip Emeagwali (a Nigerian), who Bill Clinton (former president of United States of America, the most popular democracy in the world) addressed as the Bill Gates of Africa.
This same Bill Clinton recognized the resilience in Nigerians as the most happiest people on the planet earth. Click www.drgenesis.com/hurray.htm to read more on Nigeria at 50

Go sit down one place.