She is supposed to be an elegant lady that ought to be radiating all the attractions usually associated with beautiful females.
The much talked about lady is called Nigeria and, interestingly, she celebrated her 58th birthday anniversary on Monday. Her big day is popularly which is regarded as Independence Day.
Whereas many nations of her age have many positives things to show for their celebration ; whereas such other nations have good leaders whom they are proud of, and solid institutions that make things work, alongside citizens that are patriotic and disciplined, Nigeria’s case is different. She stands out in the comity of nations often times for the wrong reasons.
Economically, she is regarded more as an international beggar with larger percentage of her citizens living in penury (reference Bill Gates and British Prime Minister, Mrs. Theresa May, during their recent economic assessment of our country).
Only recently, Nigeria, became an object of ridicule with the NYSC certificate forgery saga of the former Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun. She was found to have forged her NYSC discharge certificate. Her case was so bad that she was shielded for months before being virtually escorted out of the country to escape prosecution.
For most of Nigeria’s 58 years as a country, she has not known real peace. It is on record that no year passes without serious issues of insecurity rearing its ugly head in one shape or the other . Few years after her independence celebration, she plunged into a civil war that lasted between July 6 1967 and January 15, 1970.
The genocidal war claimed over one million lgbo lives. The war, known as the Nigerian civil war or the Biafran war or secessionist war ravaged the entire south eastern states, resulting in massive destruction. Unfortunately, the major issues that triggered the war are yet to be addressed. Issues like marginalization, lopsided-ness in political appointments, income inequality and unfair sharing of national resources.
These minuses are still prevalent in the country. It is painful that successive governments have continued to pay lip service to the mirage of ethnic, political, economic and religious problems facing the country by not providing lasting solution to them. Not easily forgotten is the controversial preacher from Cameron called Mohammed Marwa, better known as Maitasine. His activities, especially his inflammatory sermons, led to the death of over 5000 youths in Kano and hundreds of policemen.
Despite all these, our country still behaves like one without past experiences to learn from. What with the long-term ethnic conflicts that have rampaged virtually every state in the country. What with the political instability that has helped to further weaken the fragile ethnic fabric of the country. Looking back into the history brings sorrowful memories. Many citizens have different stories to tell. How can the people of Niger Delta region forget how multinationals raped their land because of their God-given gift of oil and their sons pushed to the wall of militancy in a desperate bid to fight for their right. Yet, their land remains a sorry sight.
The same with the lgbos believed to have been short-changed and are not catered for by the government. The same story with the Yorubas and the Middle Belt region. All have pathetic stories to tell. Worse hit is the North Eastern part of the country which for over the last ten years has been turned into a huge battle field by terrorists who wantonly kill, maim, abduct and destroy without blinking an eye. That is talking about the misguided elements called Boko Haram.
These criminalities and open insecurity witnessed across the country portray our country in dark colours. They do not speak well of our country. In his three and a half years in office, President Mohammadu Buhari always celebrated Nigeria’s independence anniversary in low key. This is because the insecurity situation in the country does not allow joyful celebration. In the President’s first term, Nigerians were deprived of their hard earned independence celebration. One therefore wonders what has suddenly given the government the courage to declare a celebration, as it did on Monday, in the face of insecurity.
The question on the lips of average Nigerians is: “was this not the same insecured situation in the country years back that informed the non-celebration of our independence?” So, what is the difference between 2015 and present security situation?”
Insecurity in any land speaks volume about the leadership and the security apparatus. Since 2015 the country has not known internal peace, yet the president feels comfortable working with his police chief who flagrantly disobeys his orders. Again, the president seems not bothered about the implications of bringing a rusty and retired personnel to head a sensitive organization like the Department of State Service (DSS).
The major insecurity the country is experiencing is internal. Insecurity issues like the ravaging Fulani herdsmen, political kidnapping, robbery, highway attacks, etc. These are under the purview of both the Police, Civil Defence and DSS. That the military is seen handling internal insecurity could only be out of deep patriotism for the country. It is interesting to note that the Nigerian military has been the only security institution that has continued to attract national and international applause for its operations despite some unfriendly remarks from unfriendly international organizations. Their anti-terrorism fight has amply restored hope to the country.
After a critical evaluation of the internal security situation of the country, one cannot but come to the conclusion that the government’s decision to celebrate the 58th independence anniversary of the nation could be a show of bravado since it’s the administration’s last year in office. Or, could it be a political celebration of insecurity? One, therefore, wonders why the government went the whole hog to celebrate this year’s independence anniversary but was completely reluctant to do the same in the previous years.
No matter how brilliantly we clad the 58th independence anniversary, popping champagne and rolling out the drums, no matter how we shade the anniversary by flying all the jets and helicopters in breath-taking acrobatic air displays, no matter how we deodorise the political space to give the impression that all is well, we cannot cover the truth that we were celebrating insecurity. Reason being that over 100 Chibok girls are still in Boko Haram’s captivity. A pall of uncertainty still hovers over Miss Leah Shuaibu.
Adding all these up, I submit that Monday’s independence celebration was tantamount to insensitivity. Full Stop!