New Telegraph

Nigeria @ 62: Don’t worry, be happy!

For millions of Nigerians, both within the geographical expression of the country and those in the Diaspora, today should be a day of wining and dining in celebration of the 62nd birthday of the most populous Black nation in the world. Unfortunately for many, rather than being a day of rejoicing, eating sumptuous meals, they will be at home wondering when they will eat their next meal as the nation that began with so much hope has failed to live up to the hype of October 1, 1960. The nation’s notable founding fathers, including Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Sir Ahmadu Bello (Sultan of Sokoto), among others, will undoubtedly be turning in their graves wondering how the nation derailed so far away from their dreams.

The foregoing founding among other arrowheads that fought to secure Nigeria’s freedom from the British to enable us rule ourselves never made wealth acquisition their goal, but were more concerned with improving the lot of the people who had high hopes in their abilities to lead the nation to the Promised Land. Consequently, even with their meagre resources (when compared to the money available now), they were able to lay the foundations of projects and programmes that are still being spoken about decades later.

Thus, in the South West, the first regional broadcasting station known as Western Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (WNBC) Radio, which was followed by the first television station in Africa, the Western Nigerian Television (WNTV) were both birthed in 1959. Other marvels like the 27-storey Cocoa House, completed in 1965 at a height of 105 metres, was once the tallest building in Nigeria and West Africa; and the Liberty Stadium (now Obafemi Awolowo Stadium) was opened in 1960. But perhaps one of the standout achievements of that area was not the physical structures but the free education available to the people of Western Nigeria five years before independence in January 1955.

The North saw the establishment of various institutions, including the Northern Nigeria Development Corporation (NNDC), Bank of the North and Northern Nigeria Investments Ltd (NNIL), Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria and Ahmadu Bello Stadium, among others. Nigeria’s first cement factory, the Nigerian Cement Company Limited (NIGERCEM) was established in Nkalagu in the present-day Ebonyi State in 1958 and it commenced production the following year while the Nigerian Breweries chose a beer factory at Aba, a tobacco and glass-making plant in Port Harcourt, Golden Guinea Brewery, Umuahia (1960) alongside coal mining in Enugu.

These were some of the notable investments located in the Eastern part of the country in the early days of our independence. In terms of education, the East had the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, which even pre-dates independence having been set up in 1955. Back in the day there was pleasant rivalry between the three regions with all of them trying to outdo each other.

Thus, after the Western Regional Government established Western Nigeria Broadcasting Service (WNBS) in 1959, the Eastern Regional Government followed by establishing the Eastern Nigeria Broadcasting Service (ENBS) a year later. Only God knows what the trajectory of the nation’s development would have been if the parliamentary system of government had not been truncated by the military in 1966, which subsequently did away with federalism for a unitary system of government that concentrated all the powers in the central government. However, before the advent of the ‘Khaki boys,’ it is undeniable that the four earlier mentioned political leaders were not soiled by massive graft or corruption allegations.

I cannot recall ever reading of Sir Balewa, Dr Azikiwe or Chief Awolowo and other politicians of their era, being identified with mansions, fleet of cars and other indications of wealth as is the norm with their latter day counterparts, who flaunt their opulence in the faces of the same suffering people they had promised to make their lives better. But even under the military, the nation was developing with many of their signature projects still much around. For example, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway (the first dual carriageway in the country), Benin-Sagamu Expressway, Enugu – Port Harcourt and Kaduna-Abuja expressways. Incidentally, rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, which was built from scratch in 18 months and completed in August 1978, is yet to be completed since it was awarded more than 20 years ago, during the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo.

We can also point to many of the nation’s airports, such as Murtala Muhammed, Lagos; Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Aminu Kano, Nnamdi Azikiwe in Abuja, and many others. While it is an incontestable fact that the civilians have also left their own imprints with such things like the roll-out of the Global System for Mobile Telecommunications (GSM) in 2001 under Obasanjo, and construction of railway lines by President Muhammadu Buhari, among others; we cannot but also acknowledge that consid-ering the huge revenue that has accrued during their tenure the nation has been short-changed by the political elite.

From being one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, with a burgeoning middle-class, the once self-acclaimed ‘Giant of Africa’ has become a pale shadow of the colossus that once dominated the continent, playing a major role in freedom struggles, especially ending apartheid in South Africa and minority white rule in Zimbabwe to checkmating insurgency in Liberia and Sierra Leone through Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG).

Sadly, for more than two decades, our once proud military has been unable to checkmate insurgency in its own backyard, with the Boko Haram insurrection, which was largely confined to the North East, spreading exponentially across many parts of the country. The inability to put a lid on this militant group has indirectly emboldened and encouraged the growth of other non-state actors who are now the ‘authority’ in many parts of the country. As is the norm, President Buhari will address the nation today, trying his best to keep hope alive for millions of his traumatised citizens, who on two occasions – 2015 and 2019 – placed their faith in him and his party to help better their lives. He will not be alone as other politicians, including party leaders, governors and religious leaders will also send out their own various goodwill messages.

Unhappily, for decades, we have heard such messages of hope with our situation getting worse instead of getting better every passing October 1. However, we can take solace in the lyrics of Bobby McFerrin’s 1988 hit: “Simple Pleasures,” where he sang: Here’s a little song I wrote You might want to sing it note for note Don’t worry, be happy In every life we have some trouble But when you worry you make it double Don’t worry, be happy. So, in spite of present predicaments, we should still find time to merry – after all – today is Nigeria’s birthday.

Happy Independence anniversary!

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