Nigeria at 64
Nigeria is 64 years old as a nation. Ruefully, it’s a nation in custody as a writer, Naiwu Osahon, succinctly described her some decades ago in a lurid hilarious work.
The challenge of nationhood has been enormous hobbled by a succession of inept, rudderless and totally visionless leaders since the October 1, 1960 flag independence. The country is totally on its knees in all spheres of life driven by kleptomaniac, greedy and monomaniac band of self-serving leaders who have captured state power.
Six years after independence, the country experienced first military coup and this was followed by succession of military juntas until 1979 when the military handed over power to the civil rule. In the intervening years, the country experienced oil boom, but the prosperity of the nation was mismanaged by the ineptitude and inexperience of the young elite coupists who had no idea of the direction to take the nation. What followed was the squandering of riches on a monumental scale. As civil rule took off in 1979 the politicians not only practiced chicanery and brinkmanship but totally paralysed the economy , taking corruption started by the military to a new height.
There were no clear cut development plans, ethnic sentiments and deep-seated faultlines that had taken roots before independence became more pronounced thus vitiating possibility of unified vision and development plans.
The former colonial power continued to exploit the lacuna of bad leadership to foster ethnic disunity in order to continue to further the cause of their economic interest at the expense of the country.
Using the instrumentalities of Bretton Wood Institutions such as IMF and the World Bank , gave advisories that continue to pauperize Nigerians and weaken the economy, a notable example being the infamous Structural Adjustment Programme of the Ibrahim Babangida era.
Education, social services, infrastructure as well as healthcare have taken a beating, with virtually all of these on the brink of collapse.
As at the end of 2023, many blue chip companies that formed the fulcrum of Fasting Moving Consumer Products have left the country, and the number has doubled in recent years owing bad management of the economy that created harsh economic climate for business. Among the departed companies could be counted, SmitheKline Beecham, Dunlop and others.
Since the return of the Fourth Republic in 1999, politicians have fleeced the treasury in brazen corruption as institutions to check them have become weak and ineffective, often at the mercy of a presidency that is as corrupt as other political actors and agencies of government. The principle of separation of power which is meant to act as a check on excesses of any the three tiers of government has been ineffective 6and beholden to a leviathan presidency. The National Assembly has disappointed the people they claim to represent, given the representatives’ monumental propensity to corruption, self-serving enactments of frivolous bills into law, leaving out deliberation of issues that could be of general benefits to the people.
In spite of this monumental failure of nationhood, the country has made some giant strides in some sectors such as the IT and Communication sector. The opening up of this sector has created enormous jobs for the people. In the area of music and entertainment, the country has made giant strides.The Nollywood is the third largest film industry in the whole world coming directly after the Indian Bollywood, raking billions, and creating jobs for the youths. The music industry has registered itself on the globe , and more than any other times before international music stars are seeking collaborations with Nigerian music stars.
NATIONAL WAVES calls on the current administration to begin the process of serious nation building. But this cannot be possible if corruption, sleaze and impunity are not seriously addressed. That is the only way to reverse a crawling nation at 64 and put it on a course of speed.
