The very fact that the government is not rolling out the drums and celebrating is an uncomplimentary testimonial of the country's self-assessment 48 years today since it gained independence from Britain. Instead, as has been the practice for many years running, the government opted for a low-key celebration with a concomitant call for sober reflection. In the light of the many difficulties that still bolt the country down, it is easy to appreciate the sombre mood on this occasion. While Nigerians continue to hope for a brighter day, the national condition worsens from year to year. There is virtually no sector, or aspect of our national life, which offers cause for good cheer.
It is now in the very distant past that Nigerians remember how the independence anniversary celebrations went. Children who have come of age do not have the foggiest idea of the celebrations of yesteryears. Those, of course, were the good old times, or when things had not degenerated tragically from bad to worse to unbearable. Although celebrations should take place in a meaningful context, the recurrent low-key independence anniversary is inadvertently fostering a dysfunctional socialisation of the younger generation. They are being taught that there is nothing to crow about with regard to the country. The obvious danger is that it breeds and reinforces a sense of faithlessness in the country. Is it any surprise, therefore, that the youth do not see any future for themselves in the country, and are thus eager and willing to take grave risks just to get out of Nigeria?
Nigeria at 48 is an unhappy milestone. Missed opportunities, continuing failures and rising lamentations are the more visible features of the country today. There is practically no sector about which there is happy news. Indeed, the country's persistent difficulties are well articulated in the contemplated solutions proffered by the seven-point agenda of incumbent President Umaru Yar'Adua. All over the country, with the scandalous exception of Abuja, infrastructure under the care of Federal, state and local governments is in utter decay. Roads are cratered as if bombed out in a prolonged war. Where Nigerians are not in darkness, individual power generators are polluting the environment with noise and deadly fumes. Poverty is deepening in the midst of an unprecedented boom in crude oil receipts. The life of the average citizen is worth practically so little, as indicated by the alarming level of insecurity in the country. Health care is atrocious, and leaders who should see to its efficacy frequently seek the escapist option of flying abroad for their own medicare needs. For a nation that has made a slogan of striving to become one of the world's 20 most developed economies by year 2020, the appalling state of education mocks that otherwise laudable ambition.
However, while Nigerians are entitled to be harsh in their assessment of their country, it may not be bad news all around. Nigerians have not lost their creativity, their resilience, and their forbearance. On the basis of the capability of the average Nigerian, the country should be up there among the big players on the globe. It is hardly surprising that Nigerians who have been choked out of the country readily establish themselves as achievers in their adopted abode abroad. Which goes to show that, combined with the country's vast natural resources unmatched anywhere on the continent, Nigeria can truly be great. But that is the usual refrain of merely celebrating our potential, rather than the translation of such potential into achievement.
The greatest challenge that Nigeria faces is precisely how and when to catalyse its abundant human and natural resources. It is a paradox that a country, which has done so well for itself abroad, is so dismal in its domestic performance. In spite of its immense local challenges, Nigeria has often validated its self-assigned role of the Big Brother in Africa. This was exemplified, for instance, by the country's landmark contributions to the continent's decolonisation process. In Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia and, lastly, South Africa, Nigeria was at the forefront in boosting the independence and freedom struggles in the remaining bastions of colonialism on the continent. More essentially, Nigeria put its money where its mouth was.
In many respects, Nigeria's dogged engagement in the continent's decolonisation process marked the golden era of the country's foreign policy, which very appropriately earmarked Africa as the cornerstone of its diplomatic exertions. It is fairly certain that, without the firm and active support provided unhesitantly by Nigeria, the liberation struggle in the Southern African sub-region might have taken much longer with the attendant consequences of frustration.
Furthermore, as a wave of internal strife ripped through West Africa in the 1990s, creating one deadly civil war after another, Nigeria also sacrificed its men and resources in pacifying and stabilizing the troubled sub-region. These selfless efforts paid off handsomely with the return of Liberia to normalcy after a 17-year civil war. The icing on the achievement was that Liberia then produced Africa's first elected female President. The story of contribution has been the same for Sierra Leone. Nigeria also played a significant role in steering Togo from the precipice in the post-Eyadema crisis. In addition, Nigeria's peacekeeping role in Darfur, Sudan, is the latest among many such earlier endeavours in Lebanon and elsewhere. Indeed, Africans have Nigeria to thank for its regular contributions to the sustenance of continental and sub-regional institutions, such as the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
What remains worrisome is Nigeria's disconcerting inability to convert its international goodwill and experience into revving up its domestic accomplishments and profile. With the multifarious challenges that the country faces, many are understandably despondent about Nigeria's capacity to make meaningful progress. But we must be hopeful, because the country is not in a situation that is altogether hopeless. Nigeria's situation, with its array of resources, can be likened to one in which a chef has all the ingredients and condiments that he needs to prepare a tasteful and healthy meal. We have always got it wrong. But we would get it right when we catalyse our resources.
Barely two months ago, we berated ourselves over the country's woeful performance at the high-stakes Beijing Olympics. We did not prepare, and we did not achieve much. Yet, it is beyond argument that there is virtually no sport in which Nigerians cannot be world-beaters. Whether it is in swimming, canoeing, archery, shooting, gymnastics and a range of events that at present look arcane and forbidding. Look around you, and the evidence is glaring that the country possesses the raw talent to excel in these sports, as in many other areas of human endeavour. But we must plan; we must be focused on the ultimate goal of planting ourselves among the very best. If we make the effort, we would soar to the heavens.
The role of leaders as catalysts cannot be overemphasised. In this sense, leadership in politics, in government, in business and other critical areas is germane to harnessing the country's abundant talents and opportunities. Sadly, political and governmental leaders have been well below par. More than nine years since the advent of democracy, very little has changed positively for the people. If anything, the political class treats the people with disdain. Voters do not matter, because political leaders would rig elections anyway. Those in government do not feel accountable to the governed because political office holders do not have a sense of obligation derived from a true mandate. One obvious consequence is widespread corruption and large-scale underdevelopment. With rampant cases of graft, it seems the country is more a kleptocracy than a democracy.
Instructively, our leaders do not have a shortage of good examples from whom to borrow. Singapore and other Asian tigers with whom Nigeria was ranked pari-passu in the 1960s, have long since left Nigeria behind. But they provide abiding lessons in how Nigerian leaders should roll up their sleeves and get on with the urgent assignment of reinventing the country in a manner that gives real significance to the independence which the country attained 48 years ago today.
