Nigeria At 63 – Frank Ofili

I see myself as a positive, pragmatic, and realistic person. I do not dwell on the bad side of things. I choose to see the good side of every situation. If something does not go my way, I re-assess and see how I can make the best use of the situation.

I do not dwell in the past either, no matter how unpalatable it was. It is pointless to do so. For me, it is always forward ever. And so, at Nigeria’s 63rd Independence anniversary I choose to be positive, even though things, as they are now with us today, do not give cause to be positive.

I reflect on Nigeria and her journey and challenges as a country in the past 63 years, and even though I was not born then, I cannot but conclude that, yes, it has been a tale of disappointments, dashed hopes and aborted dreams, but we are nevertheless surely not a basket case. I see our journey to nationhood in three main epochs – the traditional/indigenous era, the colonial era, and the post-colonial era.

The post-colonial era is further sub-divided into military and post-military. We have successfully navigated four of these trajectories safe for last- the post-military era. And this is where we seem to be stuck.

To achieve true Independence and nationhood, the Nigerian people have two challenges facing them in the post-military era – upstage elite autocracy/hegemony and conquer internal cultural contradictions. We are presently at the stage of elite autocracy in which our leaders lord it over us and impose their will on us by hook or crook, whether at the polls or elsewhere.

These same elites are disciples of the decendants of erstwhile agents of colonialists and sl*ve macherchants who had devised fancy socio-political and economic theories that would ensure sustenance and perpetuation of their hold on us and the entire Global South from generation to generation. Our elites need these foreign agents to come to power, and they also need them to retain it, fancy speeches to the contrary regardless. That is why our votes never count.

The next and final trajectory Nigeria must navigate on the road to true nationhood is cultural. This has to do with conquering her ethnic and religious prejudices. This cultural factor is what essentially defines our personal and collective disposition on election day. It is why vote-buying is prevalent. It is why rigging will not stop irrespective of the sophistication of election technology we deploy, and it is why our electoral umpires and judicial arbiters will not be neutral.

The challenge before Nigerians in leadership recruitment, then, lies not in political parties and their ideologies, if any, but in electing people with good content of character. As things are now, we will not get it right unless we amend our constitution to provide for partiless (independent) candidates whose values disagree with the norms in extant political party system.

But before then, we must purge ourselves of ethnic and religious bias in favour of national interest. We must do our bit in our little corners to promote national interest, not just in words but also in action. We must insist on it at all costs. While on it, we must also insist on merit, character, competence, and capacity. The idea of federal character may have its merits, but it will not take Nigeria far.

All said and done, it is my belief that we have cause to celebrate and that the future is bright, our current challenges nonetheless. To sustain a marriage contracted since 1914 and to nurture a child to 63 years of age is no mean feat. There were countries that existed at Nigeria’s Independence 63 years ago, but which today no longer exists. They died on their way to true nationhood, splintered into various fractious states , and have remained perpetually unstable ever since.

There are those who may make a case for genuine mutual disintegration based on agreement. Disintegration may well have its virtues, but may I remind its proponents that the United States of America, exemplifies a country with various fractious autonomous tribes that was brought together into one giant indivisible prosperous country through the vision and shrewdness of its founding fathers. United Arab Emirate, UAE, is another example of different kingdoms that came together to form one indivisible whole. But we saw the effect of disintegration in the Bulkans in Europe.

That aside, in today’s world, interdependence is a far greater proposition than independence. That is the reason for the current ongoing moves, though slowly, towards what Prof Adebayo Williams calls The Continental Nation State; that is the reason for the EU, the ECOWAS and such other emerging economic unions.

The way things are going, a continental political union to replace the current nation-state paradigm may not be ruled out altogether. That indeed would be the ultimate destination. Surely, there is strength in numbers. You can not ignore numbers. That is why China, India, the United States of America, and Indonesia have strong voice in the world. That is why even Nigeria still has a voice in the comity of nations, even with our imperfections.

But how do we avoid the mortal dilemma of a failed or once-existed state? How do we ensure genuine national unity?

It is not rocket science. We must pursue and promote merit as a state policy. We must de-emphasize tribe and religion in appointments in favour of merit, competence, capacity, and content of character. Federal character as a state policy will not give us national unity insofar as it is implemented in the breach as we have it today.

We must also deliberately promote our diversity while at the same time promoting justice, fairness, and inclusivity in statecraft. Justice, fairness, and inclusively will address the tendency to move away from the Union. It will address the phenomenon of Biafra, Oodua, Arewa, and similar centrifugal forces.

Finally, the state must also respect the rights, aspirations, and expectations of Nigerians, individuals, political and corporate. No one, or group of people will commit themselves to a system in which they are alienated, neither respected nor their contributions recognized. Such will always breed negative emotions and illwill.

A sincere and deliberate pursuit of these imperatives will redirect our country on the road to true nationhood. In the meantime, congratulations to Nigeria on achieving 63rd Independent anniversary is in order.

Happy 63rd Independence anniversary Nigeria.