Nigerians have, up till now, not witnessed any independence celebration in which they did not receive series of promises on the Nation’s long-awaited glorious future and the efforts of incumbent administrations to bring them to pass. The problem has always been with implementation, as the promises appear to fizzle out as soon as they escape the lips of our leaders.
Unfortunately, long and fruitless waiting for fulfillment of promises makes the heart weary. These are certainly not my words. You will find statements to that effect in the Bible, but the situation aptly depicts many Nigerians’ attitude to assurances from the nation’s leaders. Our leaders always promise us the moon and the star, but the questions on the lips of ordinary Nigerians are, when shall we be in a position to eat three square meals a day? How shall we give our children the best of education and wherewithal shall we and these children be gainfully employed? When will stable electricity supply become reality rather than a pipe dream, and when shall we stop going to abroad for medical treatments? When indeed, will Nigeria be self sufficient in food production? As the nation’s leaders celebrate the nation’s independence in Abuja, we, the people will find ourselves asking one another these questions once again, as we have been doing in past years.
The older ones among us will recall the decades gone by when celebration of independence had so much cheer, with flags, exercise books and little gifts distributed to pupils during assembly time in primary schools.
The nation’s 52nd independence anniversary is yet another opportunity to reassess our nationhood, to think of what might have been, and to individually resolve afresh how we can rekindle the hope of those days and launch a better way forward for our country.
Although, the federal government has planned a low key celebration compared to last year’s 51st independence anniversary, which gulped several millions of naira, it was still important to consider our 52 year journey to see how the nation can truly be put back on course. ###
previous post
