Fellow Nigerians,once again its another Independence day celebration in our country, Happy?Dancing? Definitely,that can't be the case with most Nigerians. Since Nigeria gained independence,we have never really had a true cause to celebrate any independence day. This Independence day wouldn't be any different from the past ones but I thank God I'm now grown enough to write about this today,few years ago I knew next to nothing. We need to examine our Past,Present and Probable future. Let's start with the colonial rule era. Are You Ready???
There's no need to waste much time here. Majority of us know the story of how Nigeria was colonised by british masters,how it all started when slavery was voted out by most of the world. Colonial masters penetrated through Lagos and ruled for many years. Lugard used "indirect rule" to control the country, the northern part was the weak link ,there was little gain for the country during his time. Clifford was a little better,some others came after him too BUT the British were never going to satisfy us. The british discovered how rich the country was in terms of resources and for their selfish agendum didn't want to leave anymore.
Around the 1930's and 1940's,the western education started to have effect on some Nigerians. There was emergence of very intelligent Nigerians who started to campaign for self-government,Nigerians became tired of the colonial rule. You definitely must know
Obafemi Awolowo,he's late now.
He led the struggle for self-government. Nigeria's tribalism problem was
caused by the british colonial masters. That's something I openly blame
them for,it was in our way while fighting for independence. Nigeria is
just too "LARGE",the complexity can't be estimated. The northerners
refused Awolowo's motion initially,they were backed by the colonial
masters. Eventually,on the 1st of October,1960 Nigeria gained
independence. The country entered another phase entirely.So,they precisely got what they wanted. A Balewa-Azikwe led government was installed. Immediately,the North started to dominate the Nigeria Politics,a trend which has continued till date. Very soon,the minimal dis-unity the Nigeria's Independence heroes had aggravated,Awolowo was incarcerated for inciting rebellion against the government.
The country was in a disorganised state until a new era began,"Military Rule". The soldiers' perfectly organised coup resulted in the killing of some of Nigeria's strong men of that time,Tafawa Balewa,Ahmadu Bello,Akintola and some others. Aguiyi Ironsi became the first Military head of state in 1960.
Tribalism became an issue again in the country in 1967,the easterners led by Late Col. Oju
kwu rebelled
against the government and formed their own republic,"Biafra Republic".
This led to Civil war,Ironsi had died during the coup that led to
Gowon's take-over of government. In 1970,the civil war ended when
"Biafrans"surrendered. Muritala in 1976,took over power from Gowon in a coup that wasn't bloody. He(Muritala)was showing signs of promise,Nigerians' Muritala dream was killed by certain ambitious men who assassinated him just three months after. Gen Obasanjo(Muritala's deputy)took over and was there till 1979. Then,another era began,a non-military one but Nigeria had not yet seen the last of Military.
Obasanjo became the first Military head of state to hand over government to the Civilians again after the people's quest for end of military regime. Shehu Shagari became the first Executive President in Nigeria. Unfortunately,it ended the same old story. Shagari was seriously incompetent and Nigerians didn't h much justification for having requested for Civilian government. The tribalism was an issue during Shagari's time too,the oil refinery was not put in the right place all in the name of satisfying his people. It took four years but the soldiers were patiently waiting,eventually Buhari and Idiagbon emerged in a bloodless coup,their excuse was Shagari's incompetence. Many Nigerians welcomed them.
Back to square one as they say,same Military!Nigerians had to settle for soldiers again. The
Buhari led
government was relatively okay,they instilled discipline in the country
and this administration will be rated later on as the least corrupt
Military one. But Soldiers will always be Soldiers!!!The economy started
to decline at a very fast rate during this administration. Babaginda
later took advantage of Idiagbon's absence and executed a bloodless coup
in 1985. Soldier go...Soldier come...Ibrahim Babaginda's ambition was the reason he planned that coup and not for the love of
Nigerians(I'm not afraid to say)he proved it anyway. He went on to led
one of the most corrupt government Nigeria ever had(Full of deception).
Nigeria had not seen the worst from Soldiers. IBB's corrupt government
will be forever remembered for the unjustifiable cancellation of June
12,1993 election between Alhaji Tofa and MKO Abiola. 
That single event
has gone a long way in deciding Nigeria's future,its one of the reasons
we are where we are today. I don't want to talk too much about this. MKO
Abiola and his wife died during this struggle(thanks To Sani Abacha).
I'm not even going to accuse IBB much,he's still alive,maybe later on he
can give a good explanation why he made his decisions. IBB is still
remembered for the alleged assassination of Media-man Dele Giwa and the
disappearance of several billions of dollars. IBB's eight years in power
was a complete waste in my own humble opinion,He further destroyed the
economy. His dubious interim government idea to shut Yorubas and the
rest of Nigeria and world up by appointing Shonekan was messed up by
Abacha who made another big impact on our Past,Present and Future.
Please don't get bored,Its Our Country!When,Abacha took over,he refused to give any recognition to the June 12 election which the whole Nigeria believed Abiola won. Abiola tried declaring himself and was arrested and didn't come out alive(God only knows the true story). Abacha's government was more than corrupt,it was a really brutal one. Human rights were thoroughly abused,many activists were openly killed(Saro Wiwa and others). There was no such thing as "Law"during Abacha's time. Abacha later supposedly died of heart failure in 1998 and his deputy Abdulsalami Abubakar filled in for him as acting head of state. Abacha would go down into history as one of the worst leaders ever and one of the biggest money-looter of the century. Don't even talk of the economy.
Abubakar later organised an election which saw a Yoruba man take power in 1999,I think we already mentioned his name,Olusegun Obasanjo. Nigerians were glad once again,their hope lifted,expectations high,Obasanjo had come out of Prison to rule.
Obasanjo's era is recent so we should still remember a lot. Obasanjo in my own opinion did
relatively "okay". He helped Nigeria to develop a lot and
made a decent attempt to fight corruption. But he was still the typical
Nigerian leader,we were the typical Nigerian people. He was never doing
enough and we were never getting satisfied. Any unnecessary attempt to
victimise OBJ might end up being defamation. OBJ almost got carried away
by the benefits of being the No1 Nigerian citizen(Sit-tight syndrome).
He wasn't perfect but its difficult to blame him,Nigerians did anyway
but I won't.Obasanjo had eight years in power as allowed by the constitution then he almost single handedly
chose his successor,Umaru
Musa Yaradua(They say it was for Shehu Yaradua). Yaradua was never a bad
or corrupt leader,he became the first and the only leader to have
declared his assets. Yaradua was not so healthy but in his little time
as President he showed Nigerians he really cared(a trait nobody had
actually showed). Yaradua had good intentions but his health failed him.
He's the only one among the past leaders and the present one to have
lowered the price of fuel causing a proportional decrease in cost of
living. Maybe...If Only Yaradua had being healthy,we may be telling a
different story by now. Rest In Peace Our Only
President-to-have-ever-cared! Goodluck Jonathan as Yaradua's vice started acting when his health cause his absence for months before he eventually died.
Fast-Forward to 2011...At last we are almost where we are!!!Nigerians choose Goodluck Jonathan(the man who had no shoes) to lead them. He won the election out rightly. The Belief within and displayed by Nigerians had not been seen since Independence was gained. Most Nigerians had no doubt this young man from a poor background was the messiah. His name is "Goodluck".
Fast-Forward once again...this time to 2012!!!Hmmm...our President who was shoeless as a child has been disappointing. No longer in good terms with most Nigerians?You really can't blame Nigerians,We are not asking too much of GEJ,he actually isn't doing anything. He hasn't showed Nigerians the kind of love Yaradua exhibited to us,he hasn't showed us the determination and bravery OBJ displayed instead he has told us "Babaginda"lies, exhibited Shagari's incompetence and displayed Abacha's inhumanity. Are you kidding me???Goodluck is the carbon copy of these three people rolled into one,Pathetic...Same lies again this morning,he claimed they have created millions of jobs for youths. Just how many Nigerians does GEJ intend to deceive,he presents a belief that is completely false this morning,a totally uninspiring speech. That aside, Do you really want me to take our time talking about removal of fuel subsidy???I don't think its necessary,we are still suffering due to that subsidy ish. Suddenly,Our Day Turned into Night,our light dimmed,our Joy turned into sorrow and our "Goodluck" we now call "badluck". This is where we are!
Where should we be???Suddenly its October 1st of 2012 and we are 52 already!!!Should we be smiling and cheering?Do we have any cause to cheer?If we wish to cheer,Would we be able to?52!!!Still no cause to be optimistic in the least,our hope fading away day by day and our belief dying fast. And we don't have anything to show for the independence we gained 52 years ago,our heroes' past labour completely in vain. We are not living the dream. Had Awolowo being here,What would he say,How would he feel? Nigeria isn't living the dream. We need to come out of our shells and face reality. Let's not even take pride in what some call us"Giant Of Africa"Its not for us as we are. We will need to do more to merit that reputation. Please do not compare Nigeria to some other inferior countries,don't think we are better than some other countries. Oh Nigeria!Arise from thy slumber!
How do you feel now?Great?I'm in tears as I write this. I don't know how you feel. My greatest fear isn't even our past neither is it our sad present but the future that doesn't look bright. They keep promising us stable power,good roads etc. This is no "animal farm". From every angle we look at the future,its not smiling at us. It definitely should not. Several predictions have been made that Nigeria will split. Politicians have been trying to cool the masses down about it. But its so obvious,isn't it?Even a 10 year old boy in the country will be looking forward to the 2015 elections,the hunger for power of some ambitious Nigerians(even past leaders)promises a terrible time in our existence. I expect even a 3-year old to know about a supposed terrorist group referred to as "Boko Haram"seriously threatening Nigeria's continued existence. Right now,the situation looks terrible. Even on this day,there is fear there could be bombings. Our tribalism problem has evolved into a live-threatening one,a long standing problem caused by the colonial masters and no leader has been able to get rid off till date.
There are times in life when You can't take a single step forward unless you take several steps backward which is the case for Nigeria. I know many patriotic Nigerians will not think this is a waste of time. Something needs to be done and very fast but What exactly is the way out of this mess???
Happy Independence day celebration anyway!Fellow Nigerians,once again its another Independence day celebration in our country,Happy?Dancing?Definitely,that can't be the case with most Nigerians. Since Nigeria gained independence,we have never really had a true cause to celebrate any independence day. This Independence day wouldn't be any different from the past ones but I thank God I'm now grown enough to write about this today,few years ago I knew next to nothing. We need to examine our Past,Present and Probable future. Let's start with the colonial rule era. Are You Ready???
There's no need to waste much time here. Majority of us know the story of how Nigeria was colonised by british masters,how it all started when slavery was voted out by most of the world. Colonial masters penetrated through Lagos and ruled for many years. Lugard used "indirect rule" to control the country, the northern part was the weak link ,there was little gain for the country during his time. Clifford was a little better,some others came after him too BUT the british were never going to satisfy us. The british discovered how rich the country was in terms of resources and for their selfish agendum didn't want to leave anymore.
Around the 1930's and 1940's,the western education started to have effect on some Nigerians. There was emergence of very intelligent Nigerians who started to campaign for self-government,Nigerians became tired of the colonial rule. You definitely must know Obafemi Awolowo,he's late now. He led the struggle for self-government. Nigeria's tribalism problem was caused by the british colonial masters. That's something I openly blame them for,it was in our way while fighting for independence. Nigeria is just too "LARGE",the complexity can't be estimated. The northerners refused Awolowo's motion initially,they were backed by the colonial masters. Eventually,on the 1st of October,1960 Nigeria gained independence. The country entered another phase entirely.
So,they precisely got what they wanted. A Balewa-Azikwe led government was installed. Immediately,the North started to dominate the Nigeria Politics,a trend which has continued till date. Very soon,the minimal dis-unity the Nigeria's Independence heroes had aggravated,Awolowo was incarcerated for inciting rebellion against the government.
The country was in a disorganised state until a new era began,"Military Rule". The soldiers' perfectly organised coup resulted in the killing of some of Nigeria's strong men of that time,Tafawa Balewa,Ahmadu Bello,Akintola and some others. Aguiyi Ironsi became the first Military head of state in 1960.
Tribalism became an issue again in the country in 1967,the easterners led by Late Col. Ojukwu rebelled against the government and formed their own republic,"Biafra Republic". This led to Civil war,Ironsi had died during the coup that led to Gowon's take-over of government. In 1970,the civil war ended when "Biafrans"surrendered.
Muritala in 1976,took over power from Gowon in a coup that wasn't bloody. He(Muritala)was showing signs of promise,Nigerians' Muritala dream was killed by certain ambitious men who assassinated him just three months after. Gen Obasanjo(Muritala's deputy)took over and was there till 1979. Then,another era began,a non-military one but Nigeria had not yet seen the last of Military.
Obasanjo became the first Military head of state to hand over government to the Civilians again after the people's quest for end of military regime. Shehu Shagari became the first Executive President in Nigeria. Unfortunately,it ended the same old story. Shagari was seriously incompetent and Nigerians didn't have much justification for having requested for Civilian government. The tribalism was an issue during Shagari's time too,the oil refinery was not put in the right place all in the name of satisfying his people. It took four years but the soldiers were patiently waiting,eventually Buhari and Idiagbon emerged in a bloodless coup,their excuse was Shagari's incompetence. Many Nigerians welcomed them.
Back to square one as they say,same Military!Nigerians had to settle for soldiers again. The Buhari led government was relatively okay,they instilled discipline in the country and this administration will be rated later on as the least corrupt Military one. But Soldiers will always be Soldiers!!!The economy started to decline at a very fast rate during this administration. Babaginda later took advantage of Idiagbon's absence and executed a bloodless coup in 1985. Soldier go...Soldier come...
Ibrahim Babaginda's ambition was the reason he planned that coup and not for the love of Nigerians(I'm not afraid to say)he proved it anyway. He went on to led one of the most corrupt government Nigeria ever had(Full of deception). Nigeria had not seen the worst from Soldiers. IBB's corrupt government will be forever remembered for the unjustifiable cancellation of June 12,1993 election between Alhaji Tofa and MKO Abiola. That single event has gone a long way in deciding Nigeria's future,its one of the reasons we are where we are today. I don't want to talk too much about this. MKO Abiola and his wife died during this struggle(thanks To Sani Abacha). I'm not even going to accuse IBB much,he's still alive,maybe later on he can give a good explanation why he made his decisions. IBB is still remembered for the alleged assassination of Media-man Dele Giwa and the disappearance of several billions of dollars. IBB's eight years in power was a complete waste in my own humble opinion,He further destroyed the economy. His dubious interim government idea to shut Yorubas and the rest of Nigeria and world up by appointing Shonekan was messed up by Abacha who made another big impact on our Past,Present and Future. Please don't get bored,Its Our Country!
When,Abacha
took over,he
refused to give any recognition to the June 12 election which the whole
Nigeria believed Abiola won. Abiola tried declaring himself and was
arrested and didn't come out alive(God only knows the true story).
Abacha's government was more than corrupt,it was a really brutal one.
Human rights were thoroughly abused,many activists were openly
killed(Saro Wiwa and others). There was no such thing as "Law"during
Abacha's time. Abacha later supposedly died of heart failure in 1998 and
his deputy Abdulsalami Abubakar filled in for him as acting head of
state. Abacha would go down into history as one of the worst leaders
ever and one of the biggest money-looter of the century. Don't even talk
of the economy.Abubakar later organised an election which saw a Yoruba man take power in 1999,I think we already mentioned his name,Olusegun Obasanjo. Nigerians were glad once again,their hope lifted,expectations high,Obasanjo had come out of Prison to rule.
Obasanjo's era is recent so we should still remember a lot. Obasanjo in my own opinion did relatively "okay". He helped Nigeria to develop a lot and made a decent attempt to fight corruption. But he was still the typical Nigerian leader,we were the typical Nigerian people. He was never doing enough and we were never getting satisfied. Any unnecessary attempt to victimise OBJ might end up being defamation. OBJ almost got carried away by the benefits of being the No1 Nigerian citizen(Sit-tight syndrome). He wasn't perfect but its difficult to blame him,Nigerians did anyway but I won't.
Obasanjo had eight years in power as allowed by the constitution then he almost single handedly chose his successor,Umaru Musa Yaradua(They say it was for Shehu Yaradua). Yaradua was never a bad or corrupt leader,he became the first and the only leader to have declared his assets. Yaradua was not so healthy but in his little time as President he showed Nigerians he really cared(a trait nobody had actually showed). Yaradua had good intentions but his health failed him. He's the only one among the past leaders and the present one to have lowered the price of fuel causing a proportional decrease in cost of living. Maybe...If Only Yaradua had being healthy,we may be telling a different story by now. Rest In Peace Our Only President-to-have-ever-cared!
Goodluck Jonathan as Yaradua's vice started acting when his health cause his absence for months before he eventually died.
Fast-Forward
to 2011...At last we are almost where we are!!!Nigerians choose
Goodluck Jonathan(the man who had no shoes) to lead them. He won the
election out rightly. The Belief within and displayed by Nigerians had
not been seen since Independence was gained. Most Nigerians had no doubt
this young man from a poor background was the messiah. His name is
"Goodluck".Fast-Forward once again...this time to 2012!!!Hmmm...our President who was shoeless as a child has been disappointing. No longer in good terms with most Nigerians?You really can't blame Nigerians,We are not asking too much of GEJ,he actually isn't doing anything. He hasn't showed Nigerians the kind of love Yaradua exhibited to us,he hasn't showed us the determination and bravery OBJ displayed instead he has told us "Babaginda"lies, exhibited Shagari's incompetence and displayed Abacha's inhumanity. Are you kidding me???Goodluck is the carbon copy of these three people rolled into one,Pathetic...Same lies again this morning,he claimed they have created millions of jobs for youths. Just how many Nigerians does GEJ intend to deceive,he presents a belief that is completely false this morning,a totally uninspiring speech. That aside, Do you really want me to take our time talking about removal of fuel subsidy???I don't think its necessary,we are still suffering due to that subsidy ish. Suddenly,Our Day Turned into Night,our light dimmed,our Joy turned into sorrow and our "Goodluck" we now call "badluck". This is where we are!
Where should we be???Suddenly its October 1st of 2012 and we are 52 already!!!Should we be smiling and cheering?Do we have any cause to cheer?If we wish to cheer,Would we be able to?52!!!Still no cause to be optimistic in the least,our hope fading away day by day and our belief dying fast. And we don't have anything to show for the independence we gained 52 years ago,our heroes' past labour completely in vain. We are not living the dream. Had Awolowo being here,What would he say,How would he feel? Nigeria isn't living the dream. We need to come out of our shells and face reality. Let's not even take pride in what some call us"Giant Of Africa"Its not for us as we are. We will need to do more to merit that reputation. Please do not compare Nigeria to some other inferior countries,don't think we are better than some other countries. Oh Nigeria!Arise from thy slumber!
How do you feel now?Great?I'm in tears as I write this. I don't know how you feel. My greatest fear isn't even our past neither is it our sad present but the future that doesn't look bright. They keep promising us stable power,good roads etc. This is no "animal farm". From every angle we look at the future,its not smiling at us. It definitely should not. Several predictions have been made that Nigeria will split. Politicians have been trying to cool the masses down about it. But its so obvious,isn't it?Even a 10 year old boy in the country will be looking forward to the 2015 elections,the hunger for power of some ambitious Nigerians(even past leaders)promises a terrible time in our existence. I expect even a 3-year old to know about a supposed terrorist group referred to as "Boko Haram"seriously threatening Nigeria's continued existence. Right now,the situation looks terrible. Even on this day,there is fear there could be bombings. Our tribalism problem has evolved into a live-threatening one,a long standing problem caused by the colonial masters and no leader has been able to get rid off till date.
There are times in life when You can't take a single step forward unless you take several steps backward which is the case for Nigeria. I know many patriotic Nigerians will not think this is a waste of time. Something needs to be done and very fast but What exactly is the way out of this mess???
Happy Independence day celebration anyway!
