Not too long ago, all the young people across Nigeria would have eagerly looked forward to this day. In Nigeria, Independence Day used to be a truly special day. It was a day of hope, a day of dreams in which we fantasized about our country and its great potentials.
With school uniforms very well starched and ironed, school shoes polished like no other day, the first day of October was a day to go to the stadium and join other young people to march with our flags, in salute of our nation. There were the colourful cups and plates and the special gift items we took home and cherished and the special independence rice with that tiny piece of meat that was just so delicious! There was also the hope that our school wins something in the march past and we get to be seen by our family and friends on TV.
Somehow, things have changed. Our children no longer talk about Nigeria with warmth, dreams and hope. To tell you the truth, a lot of them wish they were born somewhere else. And for many, if they can just grab a visa and a ticket, they would flee. Rather than be a day of hope and dreams, Independence Day reminds too many of our failures.
Who stole the hopes of our children and raped their dreams? Unfortunately, it is their fathers, mothers, uncles and aunties.
Nigeria shares the same Independence Day with the Peoples Republic of China. In 1960, Nigeria and China were both regarded as third world nations. Today, the Chinese are building our future airports and supplying all our consumer products. We are desperate to get some financial assistance from the Peoples Republic as our economy spins into recession and our currency nosedives.
Why are the Chinese where they are and we are where we are? Simply, the Chinese have worked and worked while we have prayed and prayed. While the Chinese were mastering the art of production, we were mastering the art of corruption. In our false religion sprouting everywhere, we have tried to hide our incompetence, greed, laziness and lack of any godliness in us. Crazily, this is the legacy we want to pass on to our children.
All may not be lost if in our present predicament, we truly understand that our future does not lie in our many battles over the sharing of wealth we have not produced but on the production of wealth that our children can share. And we can start a new day by apologizing to our children for terribly letting them down. That is the change that makes sense to me. Happy Independence Day, Nigeria.
See you next week.
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