Nigeria Independence Day: Blessing Or Curse
Happy independence day to the Giant of Africa. I'm always proud of my nation and I have never regretted to be born and brought up in this country because it's obvious that the resources which every citizen need to survive exists beneath the soil which the citizen trek on but countless time I have regret being ruled by the individuals who call themselves government who intentionally destroy the future of Giant of Africa's citizens by diverting the funds which are meant for public and generations yet unborn to their personal account for their personal use and benefit.
Today, Nigeria, my country is celebrating her 64th years of freedom from colonizers but we need to ponder over our current situation and pose three questions to ourselves that
- Have we improved
- Is our independence a blessing or a curse
- Are we truly free or we are still in bondage
The above two requires would surely requires thorough study of Pre-Independence and post-independence days of Nigeria.
Through this thorough study of these periods, we can ponder and conclude two things which are - Do we really have problem, if yes
- Since when have we been battling with the problem and what's likely to be cause
The philosophers and all scholars of knowledge agree to a fact that solutions can only be proffered or provided when problem is/are established. Having studied our Pre-Independence and post-independence and accepted the fact that our nation is facing huge problems ranging from economy to insecurity then proffered solutions to the established problems can then be discussed.
Let's quickly take a journey back to the Pre-Independence periods specifically in the mid-sixteen century which the Europeans invaded our continent of Africa to enslave our fore-fathers. Permit me to confess, I have no negative intention to instill hatred to the mind of any reader reading this write up but the history of Nigeria and most African countries can never be completed without mentioning the incidence of the most brutal slave trade in the history which is the trans-atlantic slave trade. Materials and write-ups on this subject have never been brought down from internet, locations where slave are kept and brutalized have been preserved as museum till now. A typical example is a place in badagry, southwestern part of Nigeria which is known as point of no return in which a slave who has been taken or dragged to the point or location can never go back home. Tears will roll down from the eyes of anyone who have the blood of human flowing through him or her. In a nutshell, slave trade ended towards the end 19th century but europeans never lost interest in the continent of Africa came up with Berlin conference in 1884 which was chaired by Otto von Bismarck
Africa continent was carved out and shared among European countries without ay regards for existing ethnic, cultural or linguistics boundaries. Some countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, south Africa, Kenya were given to Britain and some were also given to other European countries like Germany, France, Belgium and Portugal.
Fast forward to 1914, Nigeria got her name from Fredrick Lugard who was the then Governor sent by Britain by authoritatively merging the Southern protectorate and northern protectorate without seeking the consent of the true owner of the land and carved out the nation we are celebrating today without any regard to ethnic, cultural and religion diversity. Dear reader, Nigeria problem had been created since 1914 because ethnic bigotry or tribalism is tye root of our today's problem.
Moreso, fast forward to 1960, we appealed for independence and after much consideration we were granted by the same strangers who brutalized our ancestors and ruled over our land. Seeking independence was a nice idea and move by our heroes but in my opinion, they failed to project into the future and ask how are we going to utilize this independence after been granted in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious background or society. Due to lack of understanding among the ethnicities in Nigeria, seven years after independence, a civil war broke out because some tribe felt entitled to power while some tribe felt being marginalized.
Fast forward till today, ethnic diversity has given birth to countless corrupt practices and corrupt individuals who are holding public offices thereby making corrupt appears normal and aspired for by the younger generation.
Independence indeed is a divine blessing from the creator but the leaders of this nation as turned the blessings to curse by embezzling the wealth of present and future generations, looting of national treasury and accumulating ill-gotten wealth. Our leaders due to their selfish interest lack the wisdom to discover human resources among their citizens so that they can convert the our natural resources for human use and benefit. Today, we are where we are because of our leader's greed and today Nigeria is facing insecurity challenges because the youth that government has refused to take care of are forcefully taking care of themselves.
Therefore, our society is suffering from the chaos our leaders has created for us through their greed which has given rise to unemployment among the youth, we all know that an idle hand is the devil's workshop.
Indeed, there are a lot unemployed youth outside there who are finding it difficult to make there ends meet and seeing corrupt politicians living peacefully and comfortably in the society.
The proffered solution is that our leaders should shun the act of greediness so that the citizens of the nation will be proud of being born as a Nigerian.
Lastly, happy independence day to all Nigerians and specially my boss
@moremoney28, for being a good mentor to me as regards the perfect training he has given to add to my value as a Nigerian.
God bless Nigeria.