BY REV FR GERALD
NWAFOR
Independence Day has always been a public holiday, and schools and offices are closed so that we can celebrate with our families and friends. In my memories, primary and secondary school students would go to the local government headquarters to participate in a marchpast. The local government chairperson would stand on a podium to take a salute when the commanding officer in the arena would shout ‘eyes right’. It was always a fun day. Local-made ice-cream, which was a mixture of water, sugar, and some coloring materials, sold at 2 kobo while the rich kids would buy FAN- ICE at 5 kobo, and the very rich kids would buy Walls ice cream at 10 kobo. The Boy Scouts and the Boys’ Brigade would be keeping peace by flogging and hitting us with their whip and sticks. It was painful but we saw the joy also because we crossed the red line in the bid to catch a glimpse of our schools marching on the arena or trying to see the governor or local government chairperson in real time. Nobody talked about economic hardship. Your parents would give you 5 kobo or 10 kobo for your pocket money if you planned to visit the stadium. After the marchpast results were released: the first, second, and third positions were given gold cup, silver cup, and bronze cup. The story would be all over the town. The president would give a long speech by 7 AM on that very day. Some people would be happy, some people would not be happy, but the government did not use lies and deceit the way they do now. It was a free primary education. Government parastatals had newspapers delivered to their offices for free. Cars were given to civil servants in grade level 8. University students received vouchers for their feeding from the government. Teachers and civil servants were paid when and at when due. The government was not so much a topic because things were standing well. Fast forward to 2024, and things are not standing well (ife amaro kwulu). All the benefits and the joy of the Independence Day celebration have evaporated before my eyes. I do not see FAN-ICE anymore. I do not even see the local mixed ice cream anymore. The cheapest ice cream I saw was 2000 Naira a cup. I nearly fainted because that was my father’s annual salary in 1982. I call up my friend to wish him a happy Independence Day. He said that the kids were at home because they do not have the privilege of visiting a stadium to watch a marchpast. After all, the local government said they did not have money to run the show. I cannot believe my ears. How much would it cost a local government to organize a marchpast? This is unbecoming of a nation that in 1960 during the independence was tagged the fastest growing economy in the whole wide world and was called the giant of Africa. Oil was discovered in the South-South, the cocoa pyramid was booming in the west and agricultural products were flooding the African and European markets simultaneously from the north. The south-east was producing palm oil and kernels in commercial quantity for export. The country was set on the path to great success. From 1960 to 2024 should be 64 years passed, that is how old Nigeria should be celebrating today. Let us look at the little achievement of the old man of 64 years under the guardianship of the political class. In sixty-four years, the Nigerian state has not solidified anything they inherited from the colonial masters. First was the democratic system of government which was truncated by the military in 1966, 1983, and 1993. In those sixty-four years, the military has been in power for 31 years and civilians for 33 years. Therefore, the foundation of the nation-state has not been stable. The military government was ruling with decrees while the civilian government was ruling with defaulted constitution. The cocoa production in the West has been abandoned by the government of the West because they want quick money from the oil. The agricultural surplus from the north has been disrupted by the unholy activities of bandits and terrorists. Even the crude oil money has disappeared from our international reserve because of the corrupt practices of government since the days of Tafawa Belewa. This begs the question: ‘Is our independence a curse or a blessing?’The only blessing one can see in the celebration of independence is that we have been given the power to take care of ourselves by ourselves. In a simple analogy, we have been given the power to kill ourselves by ourselves. Every other thing connected to this doesn’t look like a blessing to me. There was no joy or happiness in the faces of the people. No one is smiling on the streets of Lagos, Onitsha, Awka, Nnewi, Ekwuluobia, Enugu, and so on. There is no money in the pocket for the poor man to buy the cheapest bread. There was no fuel in the fuel station even though the price was astronomical. People walk around with gloomy faces. The only smiling face I saw was on the television where the president and his companions put up a show of shame by singing the national anthem twice because the president came late. The money they used to organize that ceremony in Abuja could have been used for something more important to the people at this time. I have never seen a sick person dancing and celebrating. The first thing is a visit to a good hospital and hope for the best. Nigeria is in a coma. Nigeria is sick. The only appropriate thing to do now is to visit the hospital and get good doctors to start taking steps to cure all the maladies and resuscitate the comatose nation. A man with lung cancer cannot be smoking, and a man with kidney failure should not be using alcohol for breakfast. You cannot be preparing medication for eye disease and use pepper (Ana agwo nsi odo anya ada etinye ya ose). The Nigerian leadership has been on the wrong side of history from day one of the independence. Until the people with a good sense of leadership arrive, the Nigerian state will continue to wallow in the wilderness of bad leadership and a reminder of the Independence Day would be a pain not a celebration of joy. The Nation is in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) and there was no doctor around except Quacks and Nurse Eliza.
