As Nigeria celebrates its 53rd Independence anniversary today (Tuesday), legislators who are privileged to serve in the Senate of the 7th National Assembly last Thursday, reviewed the state of the nation and charged leaders to eschew greed and selfishness, and pursue only those things that promote unity and peace among citizens. This followed the adoption of a motion sponsored by the Senate Majority Leader, Victor Ndoma Egba, and 10 others. The Senate lamented that Nigeria has gone backwards from a producing and exporting nation at independence to a mere consuming nation 53 years after. Senate President, David Mark, was more direct when he said ordinary Nigerians deserved to be congratulated for being so patient in the face of “frustrations occasioned by maladministration” experienced witnessed within the period. Mark said,” We are genuinely worried about our country; across political, religious and ethnic boundaries, we are truly worried because some key aspects of our values and traditions have been lost. “In the old National Anthem, we said ‘in brotherhood we stand.’ Do we still stand in brotherhood today? We used to be our brothers’ keepers, are we still our brothers’ keepers? The answer definitely is no. Instead, we do those things that hurt others now. “We need to look inwards and begin to search our minds. The ball certainly is in our court as leaders to do what we should do to reverse the trend. We must shelve the attitude of seeking power at all cost. We do not need to get desperate about getting to the top. At any level, we must be ready to contribute our quotas.” Mark who has equally been on the political scene first as a military officer, now as a politician also said it was sad that Nigeria was losing its abundant human resource to other nations largely due to the fact that the environment is becoming less attractive. Ndoma-Egba expressed the view that Nigeria deserved congratulations for surviving a series of challenges right from her pre-independence era through the civil war period to the long period of military rule and yet remained united. However, Senator Solomon Ita-Enang did not share the enthusiasm shared by his colleagues. He expressed disappointment that the nation had retrogressed into of developing. According to him, Nigeria had not done well in all indices of development. He said “there are things to look at in determining whether or not we are truly independent. First, what was the quality of our education and what is it now? What about our economy? “Frankly speaking, we need to take steps to reverse all these if we want to join other nations in the class of independent nations. “For example, at independence, factories were working well, but today, almost all of them have closed down and moved to neighbouring countries.” Also speaking, Senator Gbenga Ashafa called on Nigerians, especially the country’s past and present leaders, to reflect on how “we brought ourselves to this level. Before it is too late, there is need to restore Nigeria to a status where the ordinary man can get succour.” Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe saw things differently. He expressed the opinion that a major issue responsible for the setback Nigeria’s democracy has suffered is the absence of true democratic culture among politicians. Abaribe lamented that even those who call themselves leaders have failed to accommodate the views of people opposed to their positions. According to him, people see those few ones who accommodate opposing views as weak, and “this is why we need to commend President Goodluck Jonathan for being able to give a listening year to those opposed to his own ideas.” No matter which way it is viewed, Nigeria is perhaps facing more challenges today than it did 53 years ago. The population has more than quadrupled ever since, the security situation has worsened so is the state of basic infrastructure. On the security front, over 50 students were murdered in cold blood by terrorists masquerading as Islamic reformists seeking to establish Sharia law in the North. Perhaps for the first time in 53 years, students of Nigeria’s 78 state owned Universities have remained at home for close to three months due to a strike action embarked upon by University teachers. This strike is unique in the sense that, this is the first time Nigeria will be marking an Independence anniversary with this kind of situation as unsolicited an anniversary gift. Democratic institutions are still evolving even as some argue that less endowed nations who have similar challenges have grown pass the stage Nigeria is today. Those who see this way argue that Nigeria is simply a nation which has continued to behave like a teenager at 53. Most Nigerians look forward to a more prosperous nation as Nigeria prepares to celebrate its first 100 years since the amalgamation of 1914. Whether they are prepared to work towards achieving this goal is another matter all together.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Oct 2013 05:27:02 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015