| Our dreams •
Senior citizens lament Nigeria’s fate at 44
By Femi Adesina
Friday, October 1, 2004
Like a triumphant host, they felt they were leaving Egypt,
the land of bondage and servitude, for Canaan, a land flowing
with milk and honey, that day 44 years ago when the Union
Jack was lowered for the last time, and the Nigerian flag
hoisted, fluttering proudly in the morning breeze.
But sadly, and to their chagrin, they are still marooned in
Egypt four decades and four years later. Confined. Confused.
Cabinned. Cribbed. Sorrows and lamentations.
As the nation marks the 44th anniversary of her independence
from colonial rule today, the songs coming from senior citizens
are not melodious. They are not soothing to the ears. In fact,
call it a dirge, and you would not be wrong
They were people who had dreams, dreams of a strong, virile,
prosperous Nigeria. Today, they are still alive, but their
dreams are dead. Their dreams died before them. And they are
not happy. Disconsolate, you may say. Senior citizens with
aches in their hearts, pains for motherland Nigeria.
The man who moved the first motion for independence, Chief
Anthony Enahoro, laments what he calls the derailment of the
dream he had for a sovereign Nigeria.
“We, the nationalists had always thought that independence
could be won fairly, quickly, and that democracy could be
fairly established within a reasonable time after that,”
says the Uromi, Edo State, traditional chief. “We thought
a new and modern nation could be built in our lifetime….But
today, democracy has eluded us.
“The momentous development in our public life in the
past 44 years has the emergence in 1966 of the Army as a critical
factor in our political equation. That was when we began to
lose the dream. Before 1966, no body in public life in Nigeria
associated the Nigerian Army with any thought of political
power… oh yes, they are responsible for the derailment
of our dream. When we were fighting for independence, at no
time did the possibility of a take-over by the military enter
into our considerations.”
First Republic Minister of Aviation, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi
is another distraught nationalist. In fact, he is so disenchanted
with what has become of the nation that he calls for a national
conference to “examine the whole basis of our federation
objectively, scientifically, study and digest our idiosyncracies,
our peculiarities, our problems, and draw up a constitution.”
When exactly did the rot set in, you ask this elder statesman.
And he says: “When independence came, the people felt
free to elect their rulers. They elected us, and we went from
nationalists to politicians. We started running the affairs
of the country. Naturally, there would be mistakes here and
there, but the military struck in 1966 and destabilized the
nation.”
At 44, Amaechi bemoans how Nigeria has treated her remaining
nationalists: “They want to re-write the history of
Nigeria. If it is possible for them to delete us and our era
from the political history of this country, they are prepared
to do that.”
Chief Jerome Udoji, retired civil servant, reformist and consultant
never ever thought Nigeria could come to this sorry pass.
Brimming with patriotic fervour and optimism at the threshold
of independence, he had defended his nation stoutly before
some colonialists who thought Nigeria would not be able to
manage her independence. Today, the man moans:
“I go to Britain every year. We have a club, all those
who served Nigeria before independence, we have a luncheon
every year. When we meet, those alive keep on asking me is
the country they administered still the way they left it,
because of what they hear. I tell them that it is still the
same country but that the difference is that people do not
obey the fundamental law of civil service. That is really
our sickness.”
On democracy, Pa Udoji, now in his 90s, says: “Is there
democracy in Nigeria? What Prof. Chike Obi, my good friend
says is that he does not believe Nigeria is ripe for democracy.
That what Nigeria should have is benevolent autocracy….
Simply put, democracy is to do the wish of the people by serving
them. And it is the people who are supposed to elect these
people who will rule them. The truth is that if there is no
free election, there is no democracy.”
Chief Emmanuel Akwiwu was the Deputy Speaker, Federal House
of Representatives between 1960 and 1964. Today, he’s
a sad man. Unhappy at the state of his beloved nation.
“In our days, we were all very optimistic. We expected
Nigeria to be greater than what it is today. A lot of things
were expected. The type of things that are happening today
were never thought of.”
Pa Joseph Enakhena, 82, says: “I was in Asaba with Dennis
Osadebey in 1960 during Nigerian independence. At that time,
we were happy at the dawn of self-rule because we thought
that Nigerian leaders would follow in the footprints of the
white.
“If I am given a choice, I will vote for colonial rule
again because no Nigerian leader is truthful. In any case,
I don’t want to bother myself about the country any
longer. I’m finished. Where I’m going is dearer
to me.”
Abayomi Ojikutu, 63, and immediate past president of the Nigerian
Institute of Management, says only a thorough clean up can
save Nigeria.
“The only hope is for someone who is not tribalistic,
who does not see himself as Hausa, Igbo or Yoruba to do a
through job, clean up the mess.”
H.W Longfellow wrote of dreams, saying life itself “is
but an empty dream. For the soul is dead that slumbers, and
things are not what they seem.”
Nigerians who had lofty dreams 44 years ago will surely agree
with Longfellow.
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