Simon Kolawole
28 September 2008
column
October First. How we used to look forward to it those days! The march past, the drumming, the flag-flying, the rendition of the national anthem, the sack race, the public holiday!
We would cut out blank pages from our exercise books, paint them green-white-green, attach long broomsticks to them and waive them as our flags! On the TV, it was Independence Day celebration galore - military parade, speeches and documentaries showcasing Nigeria's history, pre- and post-independence, the glitz and the blitz! Images of Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and other iconic politicians reeled endlessly on the screen.
October First was something to look forward to in "our days". You'll be forced to ask how old I am to be talking about "the good, old days" - but that is the point. As young as I am, I have fond memories of what independence anniversary used to be. I was born in the Yakubu Gowon era quite all right, so maybe there was something about the military that made "patriotism" - exemplified by anthem-singing and flag-waving - a national mantra. In the days of Muhammadu Buhari/Babatunde Idiagbon, for instance, virtually every vehicle had green-white-green stickers and preached "love of fatherland" and war against indiscipline. Whether enforced or not, patriotism was a popularly acclaimed value in their days.
The 25th independence anniversary celebration by the IBB administration in 1985 is by far the most comprehensive and most memorable that I've witnessed. It was his first as military president and having come in with a message of national renewal, Babangida seized the occasion to launch what looked like the vision of a new Nigeria. He had taken over from Buhari whom many had described as too dictatorial; he abrogated Decree 4 which was generally criticised as anti-free speech; and he promised a return to civil rule. Indeed, the IBB message was that of hope for a new Nigeria and the 25th anniversary was the perfect stage to launch it. He couldn't quite sustain the momentum - but it was yet another proof that there was (and still is) a patriotic instinct in Nigerians waiting to be activated by visionary leadership. We're not as bad as we look or behave; what we seek is direction, some leadership from the front.
In our days (don't laugh), we looked forward to Independence Day celebration. These days, we look forward to "sober reflections". Whereas we had theoretical, if not practical, understanding of patriotism in those days, there seems to be no serious or symbolic effort towards such indoctrination anymore. At least, we mouthed it as kids. Not anymore. Every year, for quite sometime now, we always talk about "low-key" celebrations and "sober reflections" on October First. They sound quite pleasing to the ears, but I can't see the effect of any sober reflections anywhere. High key or low key, at the end of the day, does not mean anything!
Come to think if it, Nigeria will be 48 on Wednesday. And so what? What is there to celebrate? What have we achieved in 48 years to roll out the drums? Shouldn't we declare national mourning instead of national celebration? O yes, Nigeria was ahead of South Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia in 1960, but today we can't even see their brake lights. They are far ahead of us. O yes, we have moved from one crisis to the other, most notably crisis of leadership. O yes, there is so much corruption in the land. We've made over $400 billion from oil but our roads, hospitals and schools are rotten. O yes, o yes, o yes. We can go on listing our woes and what might have been.
But, pardon me, I don't think it is such a hopeless situation. I don't accept the suggestion that there is nothing to celebrate. I can list a million and one things that are wrong with our country - and I think I do a lot of that on this page on a fairly regular basis. However, I don't for one second think nothing good has happened to Nigeria in 48 years. I don't agree that in 48 years, we have absolutely nothing to celebrate. That would be an exaggeration taken too far! We can say Nigeria should be better than this. That is unquestionable. We can say Nigeria is moving at snail-speed. That cannot be denied. But to say it is finished for Nigeria, to say the country is doomed, or that it has always been a gory story, no, that's a bit overboard.
That Nigeria remains one country, in spite of our glaring differences and seeming incompatibility, is some food for thought. We can easily take this for granted, and even question if Nigeria should be one in the first place, but the Nigerian case is something the world has often come to marvel at. Recently I was watching either BBC or CNN, I can't remember which one now, and a British or American political analyst was saying something like: "The Nigerian situation should give us reason to be hopeful about co-existence in Africa. Here is a huge country of over 250 ethnic nationalities and 140 million with political differences, yet the country has forged on in spite of a lot of divisive circumstances. We need to study this and learn the lessons that can be useful to other conflict-prone countries."
I was excited. This is one of the arguments I am pursuing in the book I'm writing (which I hope will be published before I'm 90 as I have spent more time talking about the book than actually writing the manuscript!) I have not forgotten that we fought a very bitter civil war between 1967 and 1970 in which millions of people lost their lives. Yet, how many countries survive that sort of war and carry on the way we have? The Igbo will argue, in a somewhat convincing manner, that they have not been "forgiven" and "truly integrated" into Nigeria since the end of the war, but I strongly believe that some progress has been made in the last 38 years and it is only a matter of time for that issue to be redressed. I am aware of the challenges in the Niger Delta but, ironically, the oil-producing region is not asking to break up Nigeria.
Have you ever paused to think about the things that bind us together? Have you ever wondered how the Pidgin English evolved in a uniquely Nigerian way? This is peculiar to Nigeria (in Sierra Leone and Gambia, what they call Pidgin English does not compare to ours in terms of indigenous content). In Pidgin English, we are talking about a melting pot. You have contributions to the lexicon from virtually every ethnic group in Nigeria. There are times I get confused about the actual "owners" of some words - such as "gari" (is it Igbo or Yoruba?) and "boku" (sounds French, in fact). Some Nigerians have gone all the way to try and create a Nigerian language, such as Wazobia and Gousa, but none has survived apart from Pidgin, which was not created but evolved on its own. Believe me, there is something about Nigerians that defies political science and sociology.
We can further discuss a lot of things that bind us together - such as delicacies and attires which cut across ethnic divides. Even in politics, when everything seems to be heading for Armageddon and people say "Nigeria will catch fire", exactly when we're on the precipice, the politicians come back to their senses, hold an all-night meeting and we're back arm-in-arm. There is something to be learnt from this. A country that has produced Chimamanda Adichie, Philip Emeagwali, Dele Olojede, Samuel Peters, Globacom and Zinox certainly has reasons to celebrate. Compare 1960 with 2008 and you cannot convince me that we don't have far more schools, more hospitals, more roads, more private businesses, more private wealth, more car owners, more home owners. Agreed, life could be much, much, much better. Agreed, Nigeria is far behind its potential. But that is not the same thing as hopelessness! I have no doubt whatsoever that the day Nigeria is blessed with competent, visionary and patriotic leadership, we will get out of this mess.
Yes, there is nothing monumental to celebrate as a nation at 48. But, no, it is not a hopeless situation.
Where was the Vice-President?
So President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua couldn't attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York in order to devote his time to the seven-point agenda? Or, by another account, in order to carry out the famous cabinet reshuffle? Incredible. Incredible. In any case, why did Yar'Adua not send the Vice-President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, to represent him instead of the Foreign Affairs Minister, Chief Ojo Maduekwe? If Jonathan had been there, he would have addressed the assembly like other heads of state, but because we sent a minister, we had to take the back seat. Maduekwe had to deliver the address in a different league. I don't understand this logic. Increasingly, Nigeria's stature on the international stage is diminishing. On Zimbabwe, we were nowhere to be found. This is disturbing.
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