Opinion: Nigeria at 55, What Needed To Be Done

Nigeria At 50, What Needed To Be Done

October 1st of every year is a day set a side for the celebration of Independence Day in Nigeria from the old British Empire.

Nigeria came under the colonial rule of the British during the second half of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century.
The United Kingdom conquered the territory of the present day Nigeria,except for the section of former German-controlled Kamerun in several states.

The British dependencies of Northern and Southern Nigeria were merged into a single territory in 1914 by Sir Lord Luggard, and a legislative council, initially with limited African representation was created in 1922.

The name Nigeria was coined from  'Niger Area' and naming Nigeria was done by the wife of Sir Lord Luggard, Flora Shaw.

Traditional rules, however, administered various territories under the supervision of colonial authorities. In 1947,  Federal system of government was established under a new Nigerian Constitution introduced by the UK.

This system was based on three regions:
Western, Eastern and Northern. The idea was to reconcile and integrate the regional and religious tensions as well as accommodating the interest the interest of diverse major ethnic groups. The major ethnic groups are; Yoruba in the West, Igbo in the East and the Fulani and Hausa in the North.
But the fact is that Nigeria has over 200 ethnic groups.

Nigeria was granted full independence on the first of October, 1960 (1/10/1960) as a Federation of three regions (Western, Eastern and Northern) under a constitution that provided for a parliamentary form of government.
Unlike the Bi-Camera system that we now operate (Upper Chamber - Senate and Lower Chamber-House of Representatives)

Under the constitution each of the three regions retained a substantial measure of self-government.

I can't but commend the doggedness of our past heroes as to the way the fought towards the realisation of what we now celebrate today.
People like Anthony Enahoro, Obafemi Awolowo, Usman Dan Fodio, among others have written their names in gold as to the making of Nigeria as a country.

The reason for this post is not to celebrate the past but to assess the present and juxtapose if indeed the dreams of our founding Father have been achieved or not. 

A large percentage of Nigerians will agree with me that we are no where close to where we ought to be, some of the reasons for that are;

1. Corruption:

Corruption can be said to be the bane of our country's underdevelopment, it has eaten deep into every sectors of the economy. In the global world, I think another name for Nigeria is corruption. 

Immediate past president, Goodluck Jonathan even added icing on the corruption's cake of our dear country with his statement on a National Television that stealing is not corruption and that people blown it out of proportion. 

Permit me not to make reference to some of the financial misappropriation that took place during his time as the president. 

Thanks to the last general election that brought Gen. Muhammadu Buhari into power. People voted for him massively because of his antecedent as an ambassador of anti-corruption..... If he will be able to fight it head on, only time will tell. 

Curbing or reducing corruption is a must, this will redeem our image in the international world and also have multiplier effects on our economy, industies and development at large. 

Our Leaders should be made to be accountable to us. 

2. Terrorism:-

Terrorism is another threat to the unity and development of Nigeria as of today. The activities of the dreaded Boko haram should be condemned by all and sundry. People loose lives and properties on daily basis in the North-East part of the Federation. 

This is alien to the history and our way of life in Nigeria. It must be said that the present government is doing its best as to tackling the menace, going by the three months ultimatum given to the service cheifs. 

The should not be allowed to hold the country into ransom....  Enough is enough!

3. High rate of unemployment:

Another salient point that is posing a threat to the development of the 'birthday country' is the humongous rate of unemployment, this has made many youths with very bright future to engage in social vices. 

Over 75% of youths are jobless and even some that claim to have jobs are underemployed. That is a visible problem to our economy and development because youths falls into the area of active workforce of any country. 

Prostitution, rituals, kidnappings, armed robberies, among other social vices are now the order of the day.

The present government should please make creation of jobs a priority and this will go a long way in making Nigeria a better place for everyone. 

Idle hand is the devil's workshop.

4. Epileptic power supply:

The supply of electricity is nothing to write home about, power affects almost every sectors of the economy, from residential to industrial and private to public sector. 

Premium should be placed on power generation as against power distribution. Policy formulation and implementation should be given a pride of place. 

Our economy should be diversified and priorities shouldn't be misplaced any longer. It is high time we stopped relying solely on oil, we have other sectors that can help our dwindling economy like agriculture, tourism, human resources, just to mention but few. 

Conclusion 

I will conclude with these quotes:

1. It only in our country you will have P. Hd holders applying for the posts of truck drivers.

2. It is only in Nigeria as well where you will see governors that are owing their workers several months salary, still have the money to send some of his loyalists to pilgrims..... Hmmmmm

Mouth sealed

I celebrate with all Nigerians all over the world this day. 

Nigeria Will Be Great. 

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY 

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