Arise, O compatriots, Nigeria's call obey

To serve our fatherland

With love and strength and faith

The labor of our heroes past

Shall never be in vain

To serve with heart and might

One nation bound in freedom, peace and unity.

Oh God of creation, direct our noble cause
Guide our leaders right
Help our youth the truth to know
In love and honesty to grow
And living just and true
Great lofty heights attain
To build a nation where peace and justice
shall reign.

In October 1, 1960 Nigeria gained her independence from the British colonial rule, three years after Ghana’s independence. The independence of Ghana and that of Nigeria in many ways mirror the persistence of certain problems facing these two African nations. Both countries are presently developing their own historical trajectory in the African historical map. Nigeria has the largest population but her demographic strength which has become a source of pride and a bone of contention simultaneously. Exploited by some Nigerians for petty gains, the ethnic pluralism of the society has often been used to weaken the political effectiveness of its leadership.

During the early days of African nationalism in the 1950’s and 1960’s Nigeria had powerful political leaders with Pan African claims but these men such as Nnamdi Azikiwe, Awolowo and Aminu Kano were denied their rightful place in African circles largely because of the nature of political rivalry within the country as well as the limited engagement of the national leaders with things African Forty-seven years is not forty seven days of independence. After these years we may ask who are we, Nigerians with one voice and one spirit are. Or do we still see ourselves as the Ibos, the Yorubas or the Hausas? I wonder whether there are any serious Nigerians who really doubt about the viability and reality of Nigeria

Being Nigerian in African circles is too obvious to be missed by an outsider. Wherever they are Nigerians are noted for their decibels and their unwillingness to play second fiddle to anyone they perceive as equal to them. This attitude was not lost to the first generation of African leaders and Nigeria’s role and place in African affairs and their political grand styles Although a North /South rivalry made it impossible to generalize about all Nigerians, the forty-seven years have created such an atmosphere that living together has made all Nigerians a human computer with three important components derived from the West, East and North.

Here are some tid-bites from different ethnic groups. From the North a sense of Nigerianness that celebrate certain ways of using one’s hand and wearing certain head dress to punctuate and affirm one’s self respect at home and abroad. From the East is this strong interest in college and university degrees as compensations for any lack of royal pride enjoyed by Northerners or Westerners. From West has arrived the deliberate exercise of the hegemony of culture that puts to sleep the demon of religious conflict among Yorubas and others following their line of adjustments to globalization and cultural adjustments of this post independence era.

Our emerging political and social vocabulary is being gradually imbibed with Hausa, Ibo and Yoruba neologisms. Taking place simultaneously is the gradual penetration of the national consciousness by elements from the different minority groups. Such cultural transformations of the Nigerian cultural scene are inevitable because the common humanity of all Nigerian groups would be consciously or unconsciously promoted by domestication of the particular and the nationalization of the global. Nigeria has all the odds on their side if they could build up a stable and working political system while at the same time purging out of the social and political systems all elements of corruption and bad behavior. This moral and political change is the well out of which the beautiful gardens of Nigerian success are watered. The immediate danger to poor performance of Nigeria is the demon called 419.

Again, forty-seven years of Nigerian independence, if Nigerian were a guy he would at this become grand father. But here he is still trying to figure out which way to go politically. A case in point is the area of human development in the field of food sufficiency. Secondly is the development of Research and Development in the field of science and technology; the third is the resurrection of moral man in Nigeria from the quicksand of decadence and deception. If our country is going to count and there are tangible proofs to show she could, then her colleges and universities must receive blood transfusion greater than anything they had before. Under the present administration all Nigerians should put pressure on them to fish out and apprehend all the political and economic vampires who have made it their habit to bleed dry the national resources meant for the teaching and training of Nigerians for economic development.

Clearly, in research and development one must make two things clear. Without money for research Nigeria will be left behind. Once upon a time Nigeria was ahead or on the same racing ground as Korea and Malaysia. Almost fifty years later we are trailing far behind these nations. Not only are their industrial products arriving on our ports but our colleges and universities are yet to develop to the point of being visiting centers of learning for Asians and others around the world. We Nigerians are everywhere as students and sometimes faculty. When will we be the home of the foreign minds and the source of gratifications for their thinkers and their knowledge seekers? I pray to the Creator to bless my nation, my all Nigerians of good will.

Robot  Villager

# 1 ...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 02.10.2007 04:58

Oghre  Villager

# 2 Well thanks for the write-up but I am afraid I’ve heard it all before, please propose solutions to ameliorate some of the issue you highlighted. Your article should for example tell us how Nigeria can once again claim its place among the likes of Malaysia or how we can again become a symbol of leadership and good governance like the Awo and Zik days. I personally don’t believe these leaders were any different from current politicians, if anything they kick-started the tribalism and rivalry that is today’s Nigeria. Too many documentation of the situation and no solutions proposed, that is the problem of Nigeria. The people who highlight the issues are themselves part of the issues. Posted by Oghre| 02.10.2007 05:40

Uwaa Sef  Villager

# 3 Your article should for example tell us how Nigeria can once again claim its place among the likes of Malaysia or how we can again become a symbol of leadership and good governance like the Awo and Zik days. ...and what will you do with or about what you're told? Later Posted by Uwaa Sef| 02.10.2007 09:38

Gentle Angel  Villager

# 4 Oghre, If you had read this article surely you would have noticed the following, "If our country is going to count and there are tangible proofs to show she could, then her colleges and universities must receive blood transfusion greater than anything they had before. Under the present administration all Nigerians should put pressure on them to fish out and apprehend all the political and economic vampires who have made it their habit to bleed dry the national resources meant for the teaching and training of Nigerians for economic development." By the way, what do our our so called leaders do with the retinue of adviser they surround themselves with? I am sure some of them do give good advice and the author highlights the basic ones amond others. Posted by Gentle Angel| 02.10.2007 09:54

ezyvic  Villager

# 5 I believe we are gradually getting back on track. When we all agree there is a problem, it is a big step in the right direction- say 30%. When we put down the path to which we have to follow in alleviating or eliminating the problem, thats another milestone- say another 30%. The balance 40% would be given to implementation and concrete execution of these steps, which of course should be home grown solutions. I sometimes wonder why we think solutions that worked in Malaysia or Singapore would work in Nigeria. Anyway, the President seem to be winning over the confidence of a 'reasonable majority' of Nigerians towards implementing workable solutions to meet the short and long term needs of Nigerians. Having felt the pulse of some randomly selected people, issues such as the Niger Delta face-off (kidnappings), the religious conflicts in the north, double face approach to corruption war, strategic solution to energy supply (electricity), and above all Leadership, are the main bottlenecks to the final take off of a progressive Nigeria. The education sector which would bring about a robust research and development channel was however not mentioned as a priority, meaning that, it is the distractions from the central issues mentioned that have had a spiral effect on other sectors. It took the OBJ administration 4 years to carve out the direction of its government. Well, a government is as good as its cabinet. The last four years of OBJ leadership was focused on having technocrats fill up cabinet positions (strategic) rather than politicians which characterized the first four years, and this led to certain reforms which were not clearly 'spelt' out or did not bother to carry the masses along. Today, Yar'Adua is in a similar situation as OBJ first four years in office, as he is 'indebted' to greedy and affluent politicians who dictates those to be put into certain juicy offices on the cabinet and who get what in ambassadorial appointments. In my humble opinion, the people must have unconsciously left out the damaging effect of 'godfatherism' which is played out at every strata of Nigerian politics, even as far as to the selection of traditional rulers. Which way NIGERIA? Forty-Seven years after independence is a question that should be placed before Nigerians in an open forum, call it 'National forum', call it 'Independent National conference', call it whatever, an opportunity to define and re-define, design and re-design the present and future of our Nation is long over-due. An opportunity to re-write our constitution, to meet the aspiration of every citizen of our nation. The process is just wrong, and the continuous 'patch-patch' approach of individuals, when government is a continuum that belongs to the people will never ever work. Happy Independence day to all well meaning Nigerians. Posted by ezyvic| 02.10.2007 10:23