Every
1st of October, thousands of Nigerians, from infant to the elderly
gather in their different attire, matching and parading the street corners,
jumping and dancing in their different costumes with obvious merriment in their
eyes and shouting at the top of their lungs “Nigeria is a year older!!” While on
the social media platforms you’ll see lots of hash-tags of young Nigerians
displaying selfie pictures of themselves and others at parade shows or graphics
showcasing Nigeria’s celebration of her independence. The elites in the urban
area attend comedy shows featuring A.Y or Basketmouth, laughing and having the
fun of their lives all in celebration of Nigeria’s new age. In other places,
men and boys are drunk with merriment, going to clubs, dancing their lives out
and picking up “babes”, laughing with their friends and apparently
“celebrating” their independence.
In
villages the entire place and masquerades are painted green white green with
children running around them in what is called their “best” ceremonial attire, dancing
the traditional dance while young adults throw knock outs, with teenage girls
giggling and having a merry time with their peers. In one corner you’ll see the
elders who are Yoruba, Hausa or Igbo speaking in their dialects being merry
while their wives serve them the local wine with local delicacies in
celebration of independence…
What
a fallacy! Meet this people any other day outside the 1st of
October, they would be the first to scream at the top of their lungs because
according to them Nigeria is a dying nation, the leaders are corrupt,
educational system is so poor it shouldn’t even be a system, salaries have not
been paid in ages, the roads are bad, no job opportunities, no electricity in
some places for what seem like donkey years and the list of wailing and
complaints goes on and on. So what then do they know they are celebrating?
Celebrating “Independence” without understanding the meaning of the word? Celebrating
our “independence” without acknowledging the sacrifices of heroes past which
brought us thus far? Of course, we are all “celebrating” leaving the clutches
of those whom apparently enslaved us but the question is, are we truly
independent?
HOW NIGERIA ATTAINED ITS INDEPENDENCE
The Beginning
After
years of slave trade in Africa, the Great Britain in 1807 outlawed international
slave trade, this was coming after the anti-slavery sentiments back in Britain.
Following this, was the establishment of the West African squadron which was
set up in an attempt to halt the activities of slave trade in Africa. In 1885,
British claims to a West African sphere influence received recognition from
other European Nations at the berlin conference. Sir George Taubman Goldie the
business man and Hewett the British consul persuaded the British government to
claim the Niger coast and the lower Niger as a British sphere of influence. On 1st
January 1901, Nigeria became a British protectorate, and part of the British
Empire, holding the foremost world power.
In the
late 19th and early 20th centuries, the independent
kingdoms (what would later be called Nigeria) fought with the British in
opposition of the British penetration to their kingdoms and in opposition to
the alien culture and rules that were to be imposed on them. Some of the wars
fought were with the Ijebu in 1892, Brass in 1895, Ilorin, Bida and Benin in
1897, Arochukwu in 1901-02 and the Northern Nigeria in 1900-04. In 1914, the
British Empire formally united the Niger area as the colony and the two
protectorates (Northern and Southern protectorate) were merged and called
Nigeria under the leadership of Sir Lord Lugard.
It has
been contended that the British people came into West Africa for their selfish
interest owing to the industrialisation that swept Britain and as a result they
needed a fresh and new market.
The Independence
All
through the British rule in Nigeria until the Second World War the Britain’s
were not willing to surrender political power to the Nigerians or Africans in
general. The most that was done was to fill the legislative seats with
Nigerians or Africans as the case might be, who were elected into power. This resulted
in sectionalism, where a certain generation of the elites were concerned with
bettering themselves within the colonial rule and another group of elite who
were interested in changing the system so as to become independent.
After
the Second World War, Africa was swept with a massive demand for independence
from the British and the first in Western Africa to attain independence was
Ghana in 1957.
In Nigeria,
the National council for Nigerians and Cameroons led by Nnamdi Azikiwe started
an Independence movement in 1944 but his independence movements was not so aggressive
in its demands or as organised as that which was led by Dr Kwame of the Convention
People’s Party (C.P.P) of Ghana. Following this, other parties emerged between
the North and the South. The period of 1954-58 was a period of adjustment of
interest between these parties and this resulted to the adoption of the federal
constitution.
When
the British recognised the drive for Independence, they steered Nigeria towards
self-governance. An executive council was formed which was made up of entirely
Nigerians and was led by Sir, Alhaji Tafewa Balewa. Nigeria attained its
independence on 1st October 1960 as a common wealth realm.
The
political division between the National Council of Nigerians and the Cameroons
who were mostly Igbo’s and Christians, Action Group (AG) made up of the Yoruba’s
and liberals, Nigerian People’s Congress made up of largely Hausa’s and Muslims
was so obvious and acute, this is still relatively felt even in present day Nigeria.
57 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE: Present Day Reality
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| photo credit: Victoria Ukpaka |
Over
the years during the British rule and after the rule, we lost our identity and our
very core nature and this was not tackled after attaining independence, rather
we embraced the culture, kept the colonial rule system alive even till this day
and over the years we developed the entitlement mentality. In the process of attaining
or achieving Self-governance, “self” has to be considered, “self” which is identity,
core nature and values.
The
concept of independence is also a mind-set and the first step to independence
starts with the mind and proceeds to actions which can be passive or aggressive
as in the case of the Americans and the Ghanaians.
This
brings me to the next question, what is the vision of Nigeria? Looking at the
1776 July 4th declaration of Independence by the American colony it reads
as follows
We hold these truths to be
self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their
creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty and
the pursuit of Happiness.
It’s apparent from the above that the fight for independence was made by a group who believed in the nation they were creating. The concept of independence was ingrained in the minds and hearts of every American person, the underlying word being “we” meaning every American person is liable to be self-evident, meaning every American was accountable to himself and his government. Independence wasn’t just for the elites, educated, minority, or majority but was for every American person and this was later seen in the civil war and other movement they had. This declaration crafted is the very core of America, which was later adopted by other institutions.
Can
we, as Nigerians say we are self-evident, has the scars the colonial master
left on us been erased or has it faded. Our independence was handed over to us
but are we truly independent. After 57 years, colonial laws are still governing
us (still a part of our laws), the U.S and other world power still has a say on
how we run our elections (granted we ran poor elections that weren’t free or
fair), after 57 years we are still fighting the battles and making the mistakes
of our heroes past, after 57 years the North and South cannot live as one (marks
of the colonial masters). This is a typical case of a dog that is in bondage
when it is finally released, it remains at the same spot because it does not
understand the concept of freedom.
The
celebration of Independence should mark the celebration of growth, celebration
of self-reliance of the Nation, celebration of confidence and belief in our
Nation. Until we change our entitlement mentality, have a mind-shift, define
our vision as a country and truly become self-reliant we are yet to be
independent.
Ian Espie and J.F Ade Ajayi; A Thousand Years of West African History, University of Ibadan 1965
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your comments, suggestions and ideas below and don’t forget to like, share and follow us.
Great piece
ReplyDeleteTrue words. As a nation we need to invest in people, develop core values and put effort in maintaining them.we should act like ones who are truly free, in other words, we should understand what "being independent" means.
ReplyDeleteVictoriaukpaka.blogspot.com
Such a great piece. One Nigeria. Everyone should do their bit in making the nation a better place for all.
ReplyDeleteYes totally agree with you.... We are all part of what's wrong with Nigeria
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