ON Saturday, the government and people of Nigeria marked the nation’s 56th independence anniversary. Though low-keyed in all respects, it offered all of us an opportunity for stock-taking and sober reflections on our journey as a nation so far. While those in government, especially the presidency, think that we are where we should be, most Nigerians believe that we are not where we should be.
And that is the crux of the matter for this article. We shall frequently return to this theme as the article progresses. It is tragic that at 56, we are stuck on how best to govern ourselves and other mundane things taken for granted in other nations, including those that we started this journey of self-rule at almost the same time.
Since independence, the young African nation has been battling with the cancer of corruption. If some of those at the helm of affairs in the First Republic could be said to be corrupt by 10 percent, the scourge has as well increased tremendously over time. The corrupt ones now eat the main yam and the seed yams we should reserve for another planting season.
Like the prodigal children of a rich father, we have squandered all opportunities to be the real Giant of Africa. We refused the save enough for the rainy day. For expert views on how those in government can save for the rainy day, consult the former Governor of Anambra State, Chief Peter Obi. He delivered an eloquent paper on this subject in Lagos recently so much that there is no need for me to dwell on it in this small piece.
We refused to diversify the economy. Since we discovered oil in commercial quantity, our problem was not money but how to spend it. That is why we relegated agriculture to the background. That is why we also neglected manufacturing.
And true to type, we ate as if there will be no tomorrow. We have reached the stage where our past appeared to be better than our present. Instead of forward looking and thinking that our tomorrow will be better, we are always backward glancing at our glorious yesterday. Most Nigerians look with nostalgia the golden period of the First Republic politics in spite of all its imperfections. That is why some Nigerians are calling for a return to the regional structure with its fiscal federalism of yore.
It is a fact that without oil money, our founding fathers, Awo, Zik and Bello built the modern Nigeria from the ashes of colonialism. They tapped on our agricultural products of cocoa, palm oil and groundnut. They gave us the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile- Ife, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, not particularly in order of coming into existence.
Undoubtedly, the military coups of January 15, 1966, July 29, 1966 and the Nigerian Civil war of 1967-1970 dragged the country backward by several decades. The country could have overcome some of its teething problems soon after the civil war but regrettably it could not due to the clannishness and parochialism of our leaders.
Apart from our founding fathers who were guided by the spirit of nationalism and patriotism, most of our later day leaders were myopic, self-centred and self-opinionated in their approach to political leadership. Our problem as the late foremost novelist Chinua Achebe said is failure of leadership. We lack, as Achebe pointed out, exemplary leadership. We lack messianic and charismatic leaders.
Agreed that the unwarranted colonial intrusion into our socio-political affairs contributed immensely to our ugly situation, we should stop the lamentations and face the reality. We have blamed our colonial masters enough for our predicament. It is time we blame ourselves for some of our self-inflicted tragedy. We were not alone in the slavery and colonial boats. We were not the only one that suffered from neo-colonialism.
India, Pakistan and Indonesia passed through these phases. Singapore and Malaysia also passed through them. Likewise Ghana, Botswana, Kenya and other African countries experienced all of them. Some of these countries have passed us. Although we call ourselves the giant of Africa, we are not yet there except in terms of our acclaimed big population.
We have virtually failed in all indices of development and good governance both in Africa and globally. We do not fare well in global rating by the United Nations agencies either in health, education or economy. We have also not done well with such rating agencies even in Africa. Our rating in the Mo Ibrahim Foundation index since its inception in 2007 is nothing to write home about.
It will be recalled that Mo Ibrahim, the Sudanese telecoms tycoon and billionaire, established Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) some years back to reward good governance in the African continent. Since its establishment, Nigeria has not fared better in all indices used to judge good governance by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.
Our recent rating by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation during the launch of IIAG should worry our political leaders and indeed all Nigerians, especially those that vote during elections. Nigeria is rated 36th out of 54 African countries against 95 indicators drawn from 34 independent sources with a score of 46.5 out of 100 in overall governance.
Even at this abysmal performance, the foundation said the nation’s score improved by +2.5 points over the decade and declined by -28.6 points over the course of the decade in national security. Available statistics showed that Nigeria ranked 41st in 2011, 40th in 2010, 35th in 2009 and 37th in 2006. No Nigerian leader has won the Mo Ibrahim Prize for Excellence in Leadership.
Past winners of the prestigious prize include President Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique, 2007, President Festus Mogae of Botswana, 2008, President Pedro Pires of Cape Verde , 2011 and President Nelson Mandela of South Africa (Honorary) and President Hifikepunye Pohamba of Namibia, 2014.
As Jay Naidoo, former chair of the Board and Partnership Council (GAIN) and founding Secretary, Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) advised during the 2016 IIAG event, governments in Africa, including Nigeria should ‘put into place correct policies, laws and regulations and create a future based on the opportunities and access and what is worth of Africa.’ We totally agree with Naidoo that if African leaders have the right leadership, policies and governance, young people will not make the often dangerous decision to leave the continent for Europe on very unsafe ship often organized by criminal gangs in order to find greener pasture.’ Nigerian leaders should renew their resolve to make Nigeria a better place for her citizenry.
Nigerian leaders should not be afraid of restructuring, fiscal federalism, opposing views and other suggestions that will make the country great. At 56, we should have solved our teething problems of existence. It is not yet late, we can start solving them now. Salvaging the nation is our collective responsibility. No one person or group knows it all.