FEATURE ARTICLE



Chike E. Okafor
Friday, October 19, 2001



Nigeria at 41: What is there to celebrate?


My administration has failed so far�
-President Olusegun Obasanjo

t has dawned on me that Nigeria is getting older, unfortunately, this year's independence celebration has been obscured and over shadowed by the lethal incident of September 11, 2001 where human beings and three airplanes were used as cannon ball in one of the worst terrorist attacks in modern history. As if that was not enough, the whole world have since been subjected into a heightened alert as the Islamic State of Afghanistan has sustained military poundings primarily from the United States of America and Britain. The USA attack has precipitated verbose and threats of reprisal by the Talaban leadership and radical Islamic fundamentalists around the globe.

It is that time of the year when some Nigerian perverts embellishes their patriotism or lack of, by flouting their love for Nigeria through newspaper congratulatory advertisements. It is also one of the times of the year when the Nigerian news media capitalize on such euphoric atmosphere and sentiment by making money, by selling more advertisements in a country where scholarship and running of newspapers does not equate to richness.

That said, it is pertinent to review the status of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which turned forty-one on October 1, 2001. There have been many colorful writings on the press that showered the country with ebullient jubilation for surviving the twentieth century and still kicking in the early twenty-first century. Considering the circumstances faced by Nigeria today, one might ask - does Nigeria deserve the effervescence with all the attentions and congratulatory wishes that have been showered on her?

In the view of this writer, Nigeria is like a newborn baby. At infancy, the baby is taught how to say mommy and daddy. From there, the child would undergo developmental processes such as learning to crawl, taking the first step and touching things around him or her. The parents are the primary guide whose job is to help the child develop into a better and a productive citizen in the future by learning the proper way of doing things, learn the virtue and the vice, and finally being protected from danger.

At the age of three, the child is enrolled in a pre-school program where trained professionals would continue the process of educating the child. From pre-school, the child would blossom and perhaps proceed to collage - which is every parent's dream. There are other alternatives to pursuing collage education such as private enterprise or farming. The point is that the child is being propelled into becoming responsible adult with the hope that all the virtues that he or she was taught would transcend and manifests itself into his or her adult life.

At eighteen and in accordance to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the child can register and exercise his or her constitutional right to vote or hold some elective office. He or she can now enter into a contract as an adult. He or she can make decisions with or without consultation with his or her parents or legal guardian. He or she is therefor considered capable of making an informed decision and to live with whatever is the outcome of such decision. At forty, he or her is considered a full grown adult. However, if at forty an adult fails to live up to the expectation, it is said that: a fool at forty is a fool forever. Unlike the child development, in Nigeria there is no organized way of doing things. Nigerians has the tendency of jumping from one end to another thereby skipping the entire process of learning. They do not have the perseverance to wait for the process to flow naturally.

Nigeria has reached the milestone of adulthood. According to some calculations, the country is forty-one years old. This calculation is based on tabulations dating back to October 1, 1960 when Nigeria was presumed to have detached itself from the British control, or has she? As we progress into the twenty-first century, the country has found itself overly dependent on Britain and other foreign governments for sustenance in all facet of life. Thus, could it then be said that since Nigeria has not attained and sustained the level of civilized development that a country of comparable status would attain, that Nigeria is a fool at forty one, or possibly, going to be a fool forever.

What is Nigeria celebrating? Is she celebrating apathy and hopelessness of its citizens who suffer from malnutrition, disease, and poverty and decaying of its infrastructures? Are they exulted that the country is retarded, could not make good decisions for its citizens, or the fact that a few individuals have capitalized on this retardation by exploiting and exporting the national treasures to foreign countries? Are they jubilating because of it's over dependent on Europe for survival? Are they enthused because of their lack of will power to reverse the downward slope of the country's social, moral and economic fiber?

Are they holding honor guards with gun salutes in the public because the country is at peace? How about the Bin Ladenization of Nigeria by radical Islamic fundamentalist that would stop at nothing until they achieve their goal by creating complete chaos and anarchy, rendering the country ungovernable? This bunch of buffoons cheered the display of human aberration by terrorists that killed innocent civilians in the United States of America. Nigeria has been engulfed by one man made tragedy over another. Are they celebrating because of what Mr. Usman Suleman said that he saw in Kano? He saw " a helpless woman burned to arches. The (Islamic fanatics) pulled her out of her car, cut her neck and set her car ablaze, just because she came from a different tribe." (Washington Times. October 15, 2001.)

Last year, Kaduna State was engulfed with ethnic and religious wars. A few months ago, Plateau State experienced the same violence that is currently happening at Kano State. All these turbulence occurred in the northern Nigeria where anger has flared up too frequently since that section of the country lost political control at the national level. To compound these tragedies, the government of Olusegun Obasanjo has not paid serious attention toward solving these problems. Are they happy because the citizens of Nigeria are not on the driver's seat dictating who should rule them and how they would be governed?

In the past forty-one years, Nigeria has seized to advance. It has become a stagnant society where everything except the crooks, were left standing and mobile. The little achievements attained prior to the take over of government by the Nigerian elite on October 1, 1960, has either been defaced or decayed. Nigerian roads have turned into mousetraps waiting for defenseless and powerless souls to perish. To compound the citizen helplessness, there are drunken drivers; some of who obtained their driver's licenses through bribery, in effect was licensed to murder people on the road with impunity by creating avoidable accidents.

Nigerians celebrated October 1st for what? The other day, I had a discussion with a gentleman here in Chicago about the lack of development in Nigeria. Since the Nigerian so-called independence, the Nigerian government from Tafawa Belewa to Olusegun Obasanjo developed only one city. This does not include the expansion of an existing city beyond its boundaries. We are talking of a development of a barren area from scratch, such as Abuja, which happens to be the only city developed by Nigerians and at an astronomical cost. It is pointless to discuss the cost of developing Abuja since in Nigeria, keeping accounting records has come to be an accepted taboo. That is Nigeria my Nigeria, our beloved country.

Then we stroll down to the economic front by visiting the sources of Nigerian wealth. We are told that the OPEC assigned its member states a certain percentage of daily oil output known as quota. Nigeria being an OPEC member was assigned a daily production quota. However, what we are not told was whether the Nigerian oil exploiters and extractors met their daily quotas on a regular basis. We are not told nor do we have a published record that outline what was produced, from what oil well, by what oil company and to whom these oils were sold to and at what price. Yet, the Nigerian government would not shy away from spending our money, the people's money recklessly as if it belonged to them. They spend the money like retards that lack understanding of the value of money.

Now comes the United States of America's coalition led attack on Afghanistan and the people are watching with intensive eyes regarding potential revenue derivation from oil windfall. They hope that what happened during Gulf war windfall would not apply to operation Enduring Freedom. Like the saying goes, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. Moreover, in mid 1980s to early 1990s, the Nigerian government introduced oil trade by Bata. This is a pre-nineteenth century system of commerce introduced by our military leaders in late twentieth century. Like the rest of government transactions, the people were never told what was exchanged with our precious oil.

A nation that turned forty-one without vision, agenda or guideline for the future is a fool and perhaps, forever. Looking at it differently, according to 1999 CIA World Fact Book, the average life expectancy for Nigerian men was 52.55 years, whereas that of women was 54.06 years. The 2000 CIA World Fact Book listed the average life expectancy of Nigerian males at 51.07 years percent and that of women at 51.07 percent years. The average general percentage for 1999 was 53.0 years, whereas in the year 2001, it was estimated to be 51.07year percent. This is a drop of 2.23 percentage from two years before. The GDP per capita purchasing power in 1998 was $960 and from 1992 to 1993, it was estimated that 34.1 percent of Nigerian citizens lived below poverty line, in 2000, that figure jumped to 45 percent.

Furthermore, the White House (USA) Fact Sheet on Nigeria released on August 26, 2000 stated that 60 percent of Nigerians earn $1 per day. The Nigerian infant mortality rate, according to 2000 CIA Fact Sheet was 69.46 deaths per 1,000 births. The White House Fact Sheet listed such at 87 deaths per 1,000 births. That put Nigeria at 15th highest in the world. In essence, if Nigeria is a child, at forty-one according to the life expectancy rate given above, it would be close to the grave without any achievement and that is pitiful. The overall quality of life at this juncture in the Nigerian development puts the country at the brink of becoming a fourth world nation, where one find such countries like Haiti.

Nigeria has so many opportunities to reverse her perilous path, but chose not to. Some people have argued that Nigeria is a coursed society, which I must beg to differ. I am a Nigerian, look very much like a Nigerian and would never apologize for that just because a few unpatriotic and scrupulous individuals chose to leave their ugly residues on the mantle of Nigerian government. Mostly, these malodorous officials pursue government-sponsored festivities because it affords them an avenue to siphon public funds through inflation of contracts.

Since these officials think that they are clever, we should celebrate their ingenuity and exploits, which they find convenient because Nigeria is retarded. Nigerians should celebrate the elite's' eagerness to kill those that oppose their wicked dispositions. They should be given a pat on the behind for being the brain behind the underdevelopment of Nigeria. They should be congratulated for under-developing the Nigerian medical system, which they do not give a vote of confidence. Yet when their teeth hurts, they would board an airplane and escape to England for dental check up. They tend to trust the European doctors, not because of their expertise, but because they are of different race, and therefore, must be respected and patronized. The people should celebrate the elite's lack of self-respect and inferiority complex for not believing their own capabilities and that of the black race. They should be praised for being Nigerian modern day Judas, eager to sell their brothers and sisters to the highest bidder.

I refuse to join the defective carnival called Independence Day that perpetuate misery for too many. One wonders if there is any hope for Nigeria in the twenty-first century? What benefit does lavishing millions of dollars on an event that is meaningless to the man on the street? What are Nigerians celebrating - unity or disunity? The Washington Times of October 4, 2001, stated that "long standing enmities between mainly Muslim Hausa north and southern Yorubas and Igbos, who are Christians have added to the divide�" Is it maturity and religious tolerance? Is it freedom to live and pursue things of interest to ordinary citizens? Is it equal justice to all? Is it equal access to employment and other legal means of livelihood? Is it responsive and responsible government that listens to the people and does what the citizens wanted?

At forty-one, I am still waiting for someone to call me and tell me that Nigeria is one nation and not just a cheap rhetoric of one nation proclaimed by those who do not understand or believe in it. They just shout one nation because it sounds good and makes a good sound bite. We celebrate the birth of a child, we celebrate success, and unfortunately, Nigeria is among a few countries that celebrate failure and on this note, the ghost of late K. O. Mbadiwe's comment - "forward never, backward ever" would continue to hunt Nigeria until they do away with their nemesis. If any one doubts this, the person should remember that Nigerian mode of transportation progressed from bicycles to motorcycles (Honda 175), to cars and airplanes. Now, Nigeria has gone back to five decades. The popular mode of transportation in major cities now is the "Okada", or motorbikes. There is few or no taxi to ferry people from one place to another. The few cars found are so dilapidated, raggedy, and in such bad shape that they posse serious life threat to their occupants.

Finally, even Nigerian leaders share the view that Nigeria is a sinking ship with a bleak future. According to the Washington Times of October 4, 2001 "in a speech broadcast at dawn, President Obasanjo said hope for a better future was rising, but he admitted that his administration has failed so far to lift most Nigerians out of poverty or end violence." I have asked too many questions and I do not expect to have an answer, but let me conclude by asking one more: who is a Nigerian and what is the celebration for?