We have celebrated Nigeria’s 49^th independence on the 1^st of October 2009. I believe in Nigeria and even in most Nigerian diplomatic missions cut independence cakes were cut. In some places, uniforms were also be made to commemorate the occasion. Money has been spent to celebrate how old we have become. After all, amnesty appears to have succeeded in some way in getting the revenue up as the boys have reduced their antigovernment activities. As one of the musicians in Nigeria will put, ‘we have made the money, the problem is how to spend it’. So there have been clinking of glasses to toast and celebrate the success so far. Yes success! It does not matter what anybody thinks or calls it. Success is it! But I think this is a time for sober reflections. How far have we come? Where are we going to? What is the yardstick we should be measuring our success with? We can appear successful if compared to some countries that do not know their directions. The typical Nigerian is an achiever in any location we find ourselves and the world knows it. When I was discussing Nigeria’s age with a friend, he came up with the consolation of a sermon he listened to recently. He told me the pastor said that it is not the number of mountains one needs to climb; it is not what is on the other side of the mountains but the climb itself. This is the philosophy of Nigerians. That is why we are who we are.

With the current state of doubt in the minds of many Nigerians about our level of success and what is on ground in terms of development, I have always wondered how old my country really is. Do we really know Nigeria’s age? Are we claiming the wrong age for the sake of other African countries? Are we really as old as we think? Have we displayed our right age in our actions or is this 49^th year of independence really 49 or 419? Have we been fooling our selves? Many of our leaders are parents. I wonder what they would have done if their 49 year old son or daughter is behaving they way Nigeria is doing now? Do we have a condition called Intra-uterine growth retardation (IUGR)? Are we small for our age?

To buttress the fact that we may be claiming the wrong age, I have tried to look back at our actions in the sphere of sports. Nigeria has been known to decrease the ages of players to compete in younger age grade competitions. Quite recently, MRI was used to assess the age of footballers for the world cup event because of doubts on declarations. We have been known to present older players who have claimed to be younger. We have tended not to be sincere to our selves. If and where people shout out, it may be construed as not being patriotic. It is public knowledge that this is a country where leadership and follower ship appear to have both failed. But how I wish our leaders should have been able to act older! It is evident that the converse seems to be the case with our leaders. They have tended to steer the country like children who have been given too much responsibilities i.e. responsibilities beyond them. We have all behaved in Nigeria as if we are younger than what our age is. So at 49, I wonder which of these names best qualifies the country for now-‘Small for gestational age’, ‘wasted and stunted’, ‘Intra uterine growth restriction’ or ‘foetal growth retardation’.

Medics know that Intra Uterine Growth Retarded (IUGR) babies are likely to be susceptible to infections because of impaired immunity. Is this any different from Nigeria? The growth that occurs after birth can not be predicted with certainty. Of course what are seeing with our development and growth? IUGR babies are more likely to remain smaller than those of normal birth weight. They will usually need special attention in primary health care, nutrition and social services during infancy and early childhood. These are all the things that Nigeria needs as a country but have been missing for Nigeria since independence.

In the context of the long-term social and economic consequences of growth retardation, the reduction in developmental capacity and any carryover of this factor to later years is the key direct outcome. Catch up of retarded growth can occur, but does not usually do so because of the continued presence of the retarding agents. In Nigeria, corruption seems to be the major retarding agent. As in human growth retardation, studies are showing that relative deprivation and the accumulation of socially patterned exposures are important in some societies. The case is not different in Nigeria.

I believe that with a change in mindset and our attitude through putting in place transparent and sincere interventions, there will usually be a definite catch up. The consensus in the world seems to be that corruption and other aspects of poor governance and weak institutions have substantial, adverse effects on economic growth. This appears to be the case with Nigeria since we took over the reigns of governance of ourselves. We have paid a lot of lip service to fighting the ills that hinder our growth in our country, that is why there have been internal interferences every where and whenever attempts are made to strengthen our institutions. Nigeria therefore seems to be unable to improve the very institutions that will enable both the public and government curb corruption. But we all know and our policy makers have long recognized that institutions matter in determining economic performance. This is why they are quick to discuss and explain on our television networks whenever they have the opportunity. But they have never matched their words with action.

So for now, another round of elections is coming up soon. But the promises made earlier are yet to be fulfilled. We are not sure how many people will die from election related violence. Our leaders are not sleeping well. Many of them can hardly go to their villages. They are not at peace with themselves and they know it. As George Bancroft said “The best government rests on the people, and not on the few, on persons and not on property, on the free development of public opinion and not on authority”. At 49 it is obvious that Nigeria is still a baby. We are governed by a select few who have recycled themselves over and over again. Nigeria appears to be a private enterprise. In the words of Franklin D Roosevelt “The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it comes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism - ownership of government by an individual, by a group. So by the next time we think about celebrating another additional year in our independence, let us at least ask ourselves the question ‘Are we small for age?

Robot  # 1 | 08.10.2009 07:17

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