THE PROBLEM WITH NIGERIA

When Nigeria gained independence in 1960, there was great hope and belief in this young nation that is richly endowed with human and natural resources that she will be the one who will put Africa on the world map of greatness.  At independence, Nigeria was at par in terms of development and economic potentials with other developing nations like

Brazil, India, and Malaysia.  Immediately after freeing itself from the shackles of colonialism, this West African nation spare headed many major liberation movements in Africa so as to help other African nations gain political independence from their colonial masters. These include support for Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress in south Africa, ZANU-PF in Zimbabwe, and also support for Angola’s liberation movement. Just few years after 1960, Nigeria proved to the world that it was indeed an independent nation when it openly challenged France by questioned France’s decision to test an atomic bomb in ‘Nigeria’s backyard’ (the Sahara Desert).

            This ‘honey moon’ of strength and greatness never lasted for a long period. January 15 1960 was the beginning of the end as the military truncated democracy when some young army officers staged the first coup in the country. This coup brought about mutual suspicion, hatred and anger among the major ethnic groups in the country because the coup was perceived by many as an attempt by the Igbos to hijack power. A counter coup was staged and many more lives were lost. The tension heightened and ethnic based politics became more rewarding for politicians.

            The fear of domination of some ethnic group by others gave birth to parochial policies such as quota system which jettisoned merit and embraced mediocrity and promoted nepotism. This totally destroyed the spirit of patriotism, hard work and reward in our national life  as people were treated based on their ethnicity or religion.  Unscrupulous politicians took advantage of this to plant more divisive tendencies in our hearts in order to prevent a national consensus from what we want as a nation thus killing the Nigerian dream. Today, whenever an issue is raised, religion and ethnic tensions over shadow its objectivity hence we have remained where we are; moving in a circle without making progress. We have remained divided and unable to speak with one voice while helplessly watching as the political class continues to mismanage our commonwealth. God bless Nigeria!