Today October 1st 2008 marks the forty eight anniversary of Nigeria's Independence from Britain. At forty-eight years, one would like to ask, is there anything really worthy of celebration by Nigerians? To which Icheoku says in response, except the plague of useless and unpatriotic "leaders" who have never inspired anyone nor endeavored to inscribe their names in the marble of good government. A crop of leadership who has repeatedly and respectively looted the country dry and helped in driving it further aground. These people are the albatross suffocating and choking Nigeria since her coming into being in 1960. From October 1st 1960 till date, Nigeria has never had a leader strictly so called!
On the occasion of this 48th Independence anniversary celebration, Icheoku calls on all Nigerians to spend their day, meditating on how best a good responsible government can be established and enthroned in Nigeria - and this by extension, means allowing a true leadership to merge through a free and fair elections. Moshood Kasinmawo Olawale Abiola's 1983 election showed that such a people's oriented leadership can evolve once a conducive environment is enabled for it to emerge. But it will not be easy as the cabals enjoying the loots of state will not midwife such!
Like the Orange Revolutions that swept through Eastern Europe few years ago and most recently the Musharraf Must Go Revolution in Pakistan, Nigerians should start seriously considering their version of a revolution - possibly a Green Revolution to demand for a real government of the people, by the people and for the people of Nigeria! A determined non violent mass movement have succeeded in other parts of the world and nothing stops it from succeeding in Nigeria once the people seriously desire it. A true leadership based government is the only thing that will turn around the fortunes of Nigeria and then and only then could there be something to truly celebrate on an occasion of her independence anniversary!
Icheoku asks, what is working at the moment? For instance, it is an unofficial state policy of successive Nigerian governments that a dilapidated bridge over River Niger should not be rebuilt because it will benefit the Igbo and one wonders are the Igbo not part of Nigeria or what? Further that Oji River power station should not be revived because it is situated in Igboland and one also wonders out loud, is Igboland in Cameroon or on Mars? If Igboland is no longer needed in Nigeria, let the powers that be let the people go. They did it with Bakassi which they freely gave away to Cameroon, so why not Igboland? As for the supposed Igbo "leaders" in Abuja, what other thing or sign are you waiting to happen before you start to shout on roof-tops that your people are being systematically forced out of Nigeria through blatant marginalization! Your silence is ominous and can only be interpreted one way and one way only - that you have a price and has been bought! Should the Niger Bridge collapse on or before December, how will you explain that to the millions of Igbo people who will be heading home for Christmas that their only means across to their part of the country where they are still truly welcomed, is a non existent boats/ferry services upon the River Niger; knowing fully well that not all of them can afford the prohibitive cost of air travel/flying in Nigeria?
Throughout the rest of the country including the tacitly-excluded Igboland, the condition of roads, water, schools, transportation, energy, economy, security, corruption, health-care and practically all that makes modern life livable are in dire depravity; and this is 48 years after Nigeria's independence from the then Great Britain! It is quite disheartening and this is not for lack of capable can-do heads and hands; no it is as a result of unyielding mediocrity of some self appointed cabals in the body polity of Nigeria who will not tolerate those that have the know-how and real patriotism to move Nigeria forward. How can these same people who have been blooding Nigeria up since her Independence continually be tolerated and enabled to recycle themselves every-time, each time into the power in Nigeria? They have failed the country; because they lack the know-how and are not patriotic enough to desire a better Nigeria. But why should they since they would rather jet out to countries in Europe or the Middle East or South Africa at the slightest feel of malaria or a joint dislocation or ordinary dialysis instead of developing medical facilities in Nigeria? They have the means and capacity, partly due to the looting they have done on the treasury over the years but do they care about the millions of other less opportune Nigerians who do not even have a passport because they cannot afford them? The only sol
ution that makes sense is that these bunch of marauders must be showed the exit before Nigeria can wake up from its stupor and state of malaise. One popular aphorism says that doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result is the best definition of lunacy. Nigeria cannot achieve greatness with the present bunch of criminal mediocre striding her since 1960. They do not know; they do not know that they do not know and that makes them a bunch of fools. Nigeria needs a total and complete rebirth for it to be able to lift itself up from a near abject want of everything to a place where people can thrive! Nigeria must move forward and the only means of bringing about this desired goal is a total overhaul of the polity. That is what a truly independent country does and until then, Icheoku says, today is just another October 1st!
On the occasion of this 48th Independence anniversary celebration, Icheoku calls on all Nigerians to spend their day, meditating on how best a good responsible government can be established and enthroned in Nigeria - and this by extension, means allowing a true leadership to merge through a free and fair elections. Moshood Kasinmawo Olawale Abiola's 1983 election showed that such a people's oriented leadership can evolve once a conducive environment is enabled for it to emerge. But it will not be easy as the cabals enjoying the loots of state will not midwife such!
Like the Orange Revolutions that swept through Eastern Europe few years ago and most recently the Musharraf Must Go Revolution in Pakistan, Nigerians should start seriously considering their version of a revolution - possibly a Green Revolution to demand for a real government of the people, by the people and for the people of Nigeria! A determined non violent mass movement have succeeded in other parts of the world and nothing stops it from succeeding in Nigeria once the people seriously desire it. A true leadership based government is the only thing that will turn around the fortunes of Nigeria and then and only then could there be something to truly celebrate on an occasion of her independence anniversary!
Icheoku asks, what is working at the moment? For instance, it is an unofficial state policy of successive Nigerian governments that a dilapidated bridge over River Niger should not be rebuilt because it will benefit the Igbo and one wonders are the Igbo not part of Nigeria or what? Further that Oji River power station should not be revived because it is situated in Igboland and one also wonders out loud, is Igboland in Cameroon or on Mars? If Igboland is no longer needed in Nigeria, let the powers that be let the people go. They did it with Bakassi which they freely gave away to Cameroon, so why not Igboland? As for the supposed Igbo "leaders" in Abuja, what other thing or sign are you waiting to happen before you start to shout on roof-tops that your people are being systematically forced out of Nigeria through blatant marginalization! Your silence is ominous and can only be interpreted one way and one way only - that you have a price and has been bought! Should the Niger Bridge collapse on or before December, how will you explain that to the millions of Igbo people who will be heading home for Christmas that their only means across to their part of the country where they are still truly welcomed, is a non existent boats/ferry services upon the River Niger; knowing fully well that not all of them can afford the prohibitive cost of air travel/flying in Nigeria?
Throughout the rest of the country including the tacitly-excluded Igboland, the condition of roads, water, schools, transportation, energy, economy, security, corruption, health-care and practically all that makes modern life livable are in dire depravity; and this is 48 years after Nigeria's independence from the then Great Britain! It is quite disheartening and this is not for lack of capable can-do heads and hands; no it is as a result of unyielding mediocrity of some self appointed cabals in the body polity of Nigeria who will not tolerate those that have the know-how and real patriotism to move Nigeria forward. How can these same people who have been blooding Nigeria up since her Independence continually be tolerated and enabled to recycle themselves every-time, each time into the power in Nigeria? They have failed the country; because they lack the know-how and are not patriotic enough to desire a better Nigeria. But why should they since they would rather jet out to countries in Europe or the Middle East or South Africa at the slightest feel of malaria or a joint dislocation or ordinary dialysis instead of developing medical facilities in Nigeria? They have the means and capacity, partly due to the looting they have done on the treasury over the years but do they care about the millions of other less opportune Nigerians who do not even have a passport because they cannot afford them? The only sol
ution that makes sense is that these bunch of marauders must be showed the exit before Nigeria can wake up from its stupor and state of malaise. One popular aphorism says that doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result is the best definition of lunacy. Nigeria cannot achieve greatness with the present bunch of criminal mediocre striding her since 1960. They do not know; they do not know that they do not know and that makes them a bunch of fools. Nigeria needs a total and complete rebirth for it to be able to lift itself up from a near abject want of everything to a place where people can thrive! Nigeria must move forward and the only means of bringing about this desired goal is a total overhaul of the polity. That is what a truly independent country does and until then, Icheoku says, today is just another October 1st!
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