OPINION: Nigeria at 57: Long Road to Real Independence By Dr. Abdulmumin Yinka Ajia

Date: 2017-10-01

More than any other time in our history, Nigeria's 57th year of being an independent country separate from the United Kingdom should have been one of service and less of celebration. At 57, our performance in the human development index is pitiable and belies a nation that was birthed with so much hope and promise. If you care to look up the most recent Nigeria's HDI data, you can find it here: http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/NGA. The saddest data among the uninspiring lot is the one that showed Nigeria losing more than 10 percent of our kids before they turn age five due to amongst many other reasons – our weak healthcare infrastructure.

To Restructure or Not to? Two events in my opinion defined 2017 even as we still have close to 92 days left before the end of the year. The first event is the insolent agitation for Biafra Republic led by Nnamdi Kanu while the second is the Igbo quit notice issued by one Yerima Shettima and a coalition of Northern Youth Groups. In the two instances, we failed as a people to A. arrest the unruly actors and B. to turn the events into a teachable moment.

While every ethnic group has a right to self-determination, Nnamdi Kanu's disrespectful and almost violent approach does not have a place in a genuine struggle. The Nigerian state mishandled IPOB from the beginning and today, Kanu has vanished into thin air. The aftermath of Kanu's insolent behavior and the Nigerian government's incompetence is that many of the gains that we made as a people since the end of the civil war has been lost because of the actions of a few misguided individuals and government lethargy.

The most egregious display of incompetence by the Nigerian state is that Yerima Shettima and his co - northern youth group leaders are still walking free after declaring a major ethnic group in Nigeria as persona non grata! I must however commend Governor Nasiru Ahmad El – Rufai for his leadership on this matter as he continues to work to bring Yerima Shettima and his co – travelers to justice. So what are the two teachable moments? One, as wrongheaded as Kanu is, we ought to use the Biafra debate to A. acknowledge that the Biafra question has not been adequately settled in Nigeria and B. Nigeria's legislature should have risen to the occasion by taking a critical look at the present composition of the Nigerian state and work to re – organize it into a more equitable and functional state.

The second teachable moment should have seen Yerima Shettima and all of his co – travelers in jail. By dilly dallying on Shettima and co, we are setting a bad precedent – one that will haunt Nigeria sometime in the future.

My take: We are better off as a nation but with a clear understanding of our situation. We cannot continue to live a lie because Nigeria is not an ideal nation in the real sense of it. And our democracy as evident from some of our states - is a sham. Routine elections do not in itself make a democracy. In order to build a more perfect union, I join other Nigerians who have proposed that Nigeria embrace a regional form of government that allows each region to move according to its own pace and in consonant with its culture and values.

The author can be reached at abdulajia@yahoo.com

 

Cloud Tag: What's trending

Click on a word/phrase to read more about it.

The Herald     Hamidat Sulyman-Yusuf     Ahmed Ayinla Jimoh     Joseph Yemi Ajayi     Farouk Salim     Najim Yaasin     Kunle Suleiman     Ayinde Oyepitan     International Aviation College     Akeem Olatunji     FERMA     Abdulkadir Akanbi-Oke     Ajasse-Ipo     Lateef Alagbonsi     Obasanjo     Abdulrazak Shehu Akorede     Ganmo Electricity Sub-Station     Yusuf Abdulraheem     Adam Abdullahi Al-Ilory     Abubakar Bature Sulu-Gambari     Tunde Oyawoye     TETFUND     Abdulkadri Ahmad Alaiye     Ghali Muhammed     Leke Ogungbe     Idi-Ape     Ahmad Uthman     Principal Private Secretary     Ethical College     Dairo Kunle Paul     Bareke     Federal Road Maintenance Agency     Sheikh Ridhwanullah El-ilory     Mahee Abdulkadir     Emir Of Lafiagi     Mumini Ishola Hanafi     BECE     Amuda Bembe     March 28     Olatunde Oyeyiola     Folorunsho Erubu     HICA     HAMFAT Clinic And Maternity     Muhammed Akanbi     Sheikh Hamzat Yusuf Ariyibi     Muslim Media Watch Group Of Nigeria     Halimah Perogi     Afeyin-Olukuta     KFA     Emir Of Yashikira     Mohammed Kamaludeen     Communication Network Support Services     ER-KANG Mining     Special Agro-industrial Processing Zone     Muhammad Sirajo Aliyu     Kwara State University Of Education     Reuben Paraje     Akorede     Lanre Issa Onilu     Nigerian Medical Association     College Of Health     Maimunat Oloriegbe     David Adesina     Nurudeen Muhammed     Barakat Community Secondary School     Abdulganiyu Oladosu     Kaiama     Offa Metropolitan Club     Tunji Arosanyin     Owu Fall     Agor Market     Monsurat Omotosho     Kumbi Titiloye     Gbenga Adebayo     Muhammad Ghali Alaaya     Kawu Baraje     Ita-Ore    

Cloud Tag: What's trending

Click on a word/phrase to read more about it.

Baba Issa     Hussein Olokooba     Rotimi Oyedepo     Undergraduate Bursary     Musa Yeketi     Mohammed Kamaludeen     Emir Of Kano     Mukhtar Shagaya     KWTV     Ita-Ore     A.O. Belgore     Ahmad Olayiwola Kamaldeen     Joseph Bamigboye     Sherif Sagaya     Yekini Adio     Sa\'adu Salahu     Ajakaye     Facemasks     Ojo Fadumila     Kwara Apc     David Oyepinola Adedumoye     Kamaldeen Kehinde     Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital     Olatinwo     Ilorin West/Asa Federal Constituency     Rapheal Ashaolu     Tunji Olawuyi     Magaji Erubu     Lanre Aremu     Olabanji Orilonishe     Saeedat Aliyu     Lateef Ademola Olatunji     Ilorin West     Alapansapa     Emir Of Shonga     Chief Imam Of Offa     Muhammad Yahya     Ganmo Electricity Sub-Station     Durosinlohun Atiku     Oloruntoyosi Thomas     Oko-Olowo     Dankaka     Yahaya Jibril Usman     Sheikh Alimi     Abdulazeez Arowona     March 18     Baba Adini Of Kwara State     Kisra     Ibikunle Ogunleye     Adamu Ibrahim Sabi     Maigida     Ayeyemi Sulaiman     ARMTI     Aisha Ahman-Pategi     College Of Education     Kwasu     Susan Modupe Oluwole     Gbugbu     IHS     Ilorin East/South Federal Constituency     Aliyu Kora Sabi     Aisha Buhari     Balogun-Ojomu     Ike Ekweremadu     Adamu Atta     Frootify     Tsaragi-Share     National Pilot     Crystal Corner Shops     Lanre Badmas     Esinniobiwa Quareeb     Aliyu Salihu     Suleiman Abubakar     ANCOPPS     Salau Kabiru Abdullahi     Sulyman Abdulkareem     Eleja