Title: Nigeria: Echoes of A Century, 1914-2014 Author: Ifeoha Azikiwe Publisher: Author House, Bloomington Reviewer: Chyna Iwuanyanwu Reviewing a book of a hundred years in the life of a nation is not, to say the least amusing, more so when the book is of two volumes, each well over 400 pages. The author, Ifeoha Azikiwe is a well- known veteran journalist, prolific writer, diplomat and author of the internationally acclaimed title, Africa: Conflict Resolution and International Diplomacy. Therefore, it is a task I feel obliged to do, knowing his competence to handle the subject under discussion - Nigeria’s 100 years transition. This task becomes more challenging when I read the foreword written by His Excellency, Dr. Alexander Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme, Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1979-1983, and contributions from such erudite scholars as retired Justice Muhammadu Lawal Uwais, former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Professor Akin Oyebode of the University of Lagos and Professor Dakas Clement Dakas of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, among others. Published by Authorhouse, Bloomington, Indiana, USA, the book was presented to a cross section of Nigerian and international community at the prestigious Regency Hotel in Dallas, Texas, USA on April 21, 2013. The occasion attracted dignitaries, including the Nigerian Permanent Representative at the United Nations and the Nigerian Consulate-General in Atlanta. The contents of the book(s) are quite explicit and astonishing. From the “Amalgamation that never was”, the author reveals new facts and unpublished documents of Nigeria’s evolution. Nothing could be more revealing on the controversial amalgamation of Northern and Southern Nigeria than the hard copy of the speech delivered by Lord Frederick Dealtry Lugard on January 1, 1914 published verbatim, which was addressed to a congregation of European merchants and not to a gathering of Nigerians for whom the political pact was intended. Moreover, the book exposes, for the first time, how the British Government bought the entity known as Nigeria, including the untapped mineral resources of the “Niger Bend”, which from their estimation has the highest concentration of mineral deposits in Africa. The wholesale of Nigeria was negotiated, signed and sealed for a paltry £865,000.00 between the Royal Niger Company and the British Government with the tacit endorsement of the British parliament in 1899. Although Nigeria’s well over 250 ethnic nationalities have managed to coexist in a house built for them by the British on an anemic foundation, the author notes that, “the country remains changeless, but with severe internal contradictions that threaten the shaky foundation on which it was formed”. Contentions have often arisen from the unilateral decision of the British to lump autonomous kingdoms together to form a nation – an entity four times the size of the United Kingdom, without consultation or any agreement whatsoever on their willingness or otherwise to coexist. The fallout of that singular British colonial arrangement is what Nigeria suffers, 100 years after. The author raises some fundamental issues in Volume One. “Could Nigeria have done better as two separate entities as it were, before the amalgamation of 1914, or better still, as three separate nations as envisaged in 1957, against the encumbrances of its present structure, where trust is lacking and confidence progressively eroding among federating units?” Published to commemorate Nigeria’s centenary, the author chronicles Nigeria’s evolution from 1914-2014 (postdated). The first sentence of the book was written in 1990, “in the euphoria of General Ibrahim Babangida’s eight-year transition programme that crash-landed”. It went through thick and thin and has a history equally as tartan as Nigeria’s existence. While Nigeria has been in transition for 100 years, the book has been in progression for 24 years. It covers four major historical landmarks since the amalgamation of 1914. Each of the 23 chapters of both volumes deals with specific period of our evolution, tagged with exact time frames. These span through the colonial era, 1914-1960; the immediate post-independence years, 1960-1966; three years of devastating fratricidal war followed by 29 years of consolidated military dictatorship, 1966-1999, including however, sometimes significant reforms and inconclusive transitional agenda and the present civilian dispensation. Both volumes are spiced with over 1000 colour photographs and names of those “who shaped and or reshaped” the nation’s destiny since 1914 – a catalogue of saints and sinners but quite distinct from a national peerage. Take it as a pectoral encyclopedia of “who is who” in Nigeria, men and women, who have played roles in shaping and reshaping Nigeria in the last 100 years. Turning to specifics, Volume Two, in three chapters, deals extensively with the three arms of government in our three-tier federal structure, the executive, legislature and the judiciary. Equally of note are the 30 pages allotted to the Nigerian Press, generally regarded as the “Fourth Estate of the Realm” their successes and travails in Nigeria’s 100 years transition on Chapter Six. The book touches on all facets of our national life; the Nigerian women and their role in politics; Nigerian arts, literature, and entertainment and ends up with an honours list and pictorials of those who have made Nigeria proud in the field of sports and entertainment from the British Empire days to the winning team at the 2013 African Cup of Nations football competition. It is quite a comprehensive scholarly work, professionally packaged for the academic community and one that every Nigerian and general interest readers should have in his library. Yes, Nigeria is a nation in transition, economically stagnated and politically retarded these past hundred years. And the author sums it up thus, “At independence, we had our hopes, expectations and aspirations as a young democratic nation. But like a child pampered with a gold-plated glass mug, we had one but allowed it slip off our hands, dropped on a marble floor and shattered. Fifty-four years after independence, it has been extremely difficult for us to put the pieces together”. Harsh economic conditions arising from misappropriation and mismanagement of the nation’s vast natural and human resources over the years has pushed Nigeria down the ladder of economically prosperous nations. The author bares his thoughts on Nigerian economy in Chapter Eight of Volume Two with a recap of various policies and programmes initiated by successive administrations since the colonial times with a peep into a highly unpredictable future. You could draw your deductions from the depth of research work that went into this highly intellectual exploit and the impeccable revelations, whatever school of thought you may support. Chief Chyna Iwuanyanwu Veteran journalist and media consultant, Abuja. chyna.chaco@gmail Tel. 08033115958
Posted on: Sun, 11 Aug 2013 16:55:00 +0000
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