As Nigeria becomes senior ‘citizen’

Nigeria as an independent country is sixty years old; graduating in to ‘senior citizenship’ in the Commonwealth of Nations. Nigeria’s 60th birthday on October 1, 2020 began at 7am with a nationwide broadcast by President Muhammadu Buhari. This was followed, few hours later, by the main event of the independence anniversary at the Eagle Square in Abuja where President Buhari inspected guards of honour mounted by the armed forces and took salute from their match past. Simultaneously, there was colourful air display by men of the Nigeria Air Force around Eagle square; venue of the anniversary.

This 60th independence anniversary reminds me of how the same occasion was marked when I was growing up as a school boy. If the eve of the Independence Day was a school day, lessons were ended earlier than normal closing time. Pupils were asked to go home after the second break (also called short break) of the day to enable them wash and iron their school uniforms (for those who had charcoal iron), shave or plait their hair, and cut their nails in preparation for the match past of the following day; October 1. On such days, schools opened early at 6.30am even though some school children at time walked over long distances (3 or 4 kilometres) to reach their schools in neighbouring villages. At 7am, the headmaster would give every pupil a handy piece of Nigerian flag which we all waved at the Divisional Officer (later called Divisional Secretary, DS; and now Local Government Chairman) as he arrived the town’s football field to take salute from the match past by school pupils. The DO who stood on a wooden box to take salute was usually supported by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) who stood by his side.

Aside of parade, events of Independence Day at the parade ground in those days (like the annual children’s day) included traditional dances by cultural groups and guilds. Prizes were awarded to the best school in match past, neatest school, most well-behaved school, best singer, and best cultural group. A novelty match between senior officials of the native authority and pupils of a lower class (sometimes primary three or four) was usually the evening event of Independence Day in my place, Agaie. Independence anniversary became more exciting when (between 1977 and 78) the town had the presence of an army battalion. The army band and its leader’s circuitous demonstrations with his staff added colour to the independence festival. This was the culture of independence celebration in most part of the country for more than two decades. It actually used to be a day of eloquent and inspirational speeches to Nigerians by their leaders at community, provincial, regional and federal levels of governance.

Things began to change radically in the past twenty years during which period the anniversary was either low-key or without any activities to mark the occasion. Today, the anniversary no longer hold at state and local government (LG) levels; robbing school children of not just the pleasure but also of the national consciousness and patriotism that come with Independence Day celebration. Many of the 36 state governors (some of them younger than the country) would prefer to listen to President Buhari’s speech than to be listened to by the people whose mandate made them governors. How do you, similarly, expect LG chairmen to be part of any national day celebration in their respective domains when they have become fugitives to the headquarters of the council they head?

At 60, man is expected to personify everything that is virtuous and remain in the farthest distance from anything bad or unrighteous. However, Nigeria as a country at 60 is yet as if it were a child; displaying childish and self-indulgent behaviours. Indeed, it is not just foreign visitors who have not visited Nigeria in the past 60 years that would find the country different from what it used to be as alluded to by my senior colleague, Malam Mahmud Jega in his write-up “Nigeria has changed beyond recognition”. In fact, even the country’s founding fathers (if they were to figuratively have a second chance to return to Nigeria again) are likely to be the mostamazed by the stories they would be told about recent and unfortunate declines in nearly all the institutions they struggled and made sacrifices to establish.

Malam Muhammadu Ribadu and Alhaji Ibrahim Tako (Galadima Bida) who were respectively Federal Minister of Defense and Minister of State for Defense in the First Republic would be shocked by how a service chief for many years collected over N500 million monthly from the funds meant to purchase weapons and ammunitions. Alhaji Aliyu (Makama Bida) who was the Minster of Finance for the Northern region would wonder at the recent disclosure by the Independent Corrupt Practices and related offences Commission (ICPC) that N2.5 billion was diverted by a senior official of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in to private accounts just as the Commission also traced another N2.67 billion that was meant to feed students of federal unity colleges into private accounts. The diversion of the school feeding funds was done during the lockdown period when all schools were closed and students were in their parents’ homes.

If Nigeria’s First Prime Minister Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa were to return today, he is likely to be dumbfounded by how a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke laundered tens of millions of dollars through Fidelity Bank and purchased properties within and outside the country. If Jaja Wachukwu were to come back to know how the House of Representatives which he led as Speaker in the First Republic had fared in the past 60 years, he may have to request for a legislative encyclopedia to search for the meaning of some new terminologies that were non-existent during their time including ‘budget padding’ and ‘third term’. Honourable Justice Adetokumbo Ademola who was Chief Justice of Nigeria from 1958 to 1972 may similarly have to look for the current edition of Nigeria’s dictionary of legal terminologies to understand the meaning of ‘plea bargain’ and how it is applied.

The Premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello (Sardaunan Sokoto) would be baffled by how today’s leaders and their family members live on and feed fat from government resources. Although Sarduna never used his official vehicle if he had a cause to travel from Sokoto to Rabah for a private reason while he was the region’s premier, he would wonder at how family members and aides of public officers now travel (whether by road or by air) at government expense including journeys undertaken for private reasons.

Nigeria is now a senior ‘ citizen’ but disappointingly without the attributes that come with that age. As arguably posited by President Buhari in his speech, Nigeria would be greater and stronger if we remain together. However, that togetherness should reflect not only in our hopes and aspirations but also deliberately in our values and commitments. May Allah (SWT) guide us in our togetherness to lead this country to greatness so that Nigeria will rightly become a respected senior ‘citizen’ in the Commonwealth of Nations, amin.