Nigeria is in search for progress and
development, from October 1st 1960
when Nigeria got her Independence
from Britain.
The journey ought to be a transition from
bad people's and eventually it leads to the desired of good people, and that was
the desired of our founding fathers.
Independence broke the bonds of
Colonialism, freeing Nigeria to be a
sovereign, to practice free will and to
determine its own fate, 56 years after independent and 16 years of
democratic government, What has
independent produce?
Nigeria seems to be in extended infancy,
Official corruption, Vote rigging,
Assassination, Unemployment, Militancy, Terrorism and lots of evils in
our society.
October 1st 1960 was a dawn of new
hope in Nigeria. All was set to engender
a new beginning for Nigeria with the
demise of colonial masters, hope was high that all will be
well within a short period.
Independent Nigeria had its problem,
prominent was the civil war that
ravaged Nigeria, otherwise known as
"Biafran war". Eventually, Nigeria survived and the war ended.
The 70th's was the era of oil, the country
was so rich that the president then
declared that "the problem of the
country was not how to get money but
how to spent the money". As insane as the comment was,
truly there was so much money except
that it was eventually squandered.
In some years back in Nigeria, our
currency was so strong that it was more
valuable than the U.S dollar, But what do we have today? Our economy has
plummeted and our Naira is useless.
Nigeria of yesterday
excelled in all field, our universities
were all equipped and students received
the best education. We heard Of the exploit of the first generation
universities like Obafemi Awolowo
University, University of Ibadan, Adamu
Bello University among others, today the
glories of these schools are in decline.
One can only hope for a better tomorrow, we heard of huge amounts
budgeted every year for road
construction and maintenance for the
Health sector, Agriculture, Education,
Security etc... But there is nothing to
show for all these. Our health facilities are not improving, our roads are death
traps and our education sector is
collapsing, senior government officials
and politicians travel out for minor
headache, helpless Nigerians
are left at the mercy of our ill-equipped hospitals, Children of the rich school
outside the
country, while children of the poor
attend schools without facilities,
Politicians travel in bullet proof cars and
well protected mansions, while millions are at the mercy of armed
robber. Some of us grew up without
being able to differentiate Between
Christians and Muslims
because of religious harmony but today
the story is different. Sectional regional and ethnic groups were then an
abomination, but today we see Odua
People's Congress (OPC), Arewa Youth
Forum, Niger Delta Avenger (NDA),
Boko Haram, etc have all come together
to redefine our corporate existence. Everybody is obviously
dissatisfied with the state of things in the
country.
Our Independent and democracy only
increased the number of people to steal
our money, Yes, we all decried military dictatorship but it was
not corrupt as today's democracy.
There are few thieves during
military era, our elected and
selected thieves steal more because
they are more than the military thieves, worse still they represent nobody but
themselves.
Nigeria celebrate her 56 years of
Freedom from Britain today. But the
question is "are ordinary Nigeria truly
Free?" A retrospection of what Nigeria was and what Nigeria Is and what
tomorrow portend leaves much to be
desired.
What is the reason for independent
where few benefit and masses suffer,
we hope to see a truly independent Nigeria and a new Nigeria nation.
Let say there is hope for a better Nigeria
but I don't think we have a New and
Independent Nigeria yet.
Happy Independence Anniversary to all
Nigerians. God Bless Nigeria. By.Babatunde G. Adeola (Babs)