HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!

Experience they say is the best teacher. A country as old as Nigeria must have acquired a lot in terms of administrative leadership for the past 55years. Nigeria as a country is blessed with abundant human and natural resources which can be exploited for the betterment of humanity. It's a country with 774 local government areas with different ethnicity and culture, 36states and a population of over 140million.
After 55 years of freedom from the shackles of colonialism, what can we offer? Nigeria still remains a nation on reverse gear, a nation in the hand of the elite, a nation where security of live and properties is nothing to write home about. The many years of bad governance and failed leadership gave rise to an entrenched system of corruption, mediocrity and impunity. Public offices have now become an avenue for fund embezzlement and brazen disregard for law and order. The prolong unemployment and our present insecurity nightmare have turned our country into a republic of bullets, bombs, blood and tears. The educational sector of our country keeps abdicating day by day and nothing is being done to rescue the situation. All our leaders know is to build schools for the citizens but none of their children or relatives attend such school. Who is fooling who? The poor masses are crying, their number keeps reducing day by day because they have no means of sustenance for themselves and their families. When they are sick they cannot afford to go to the hospital or to procure medication. They can't afford to pay the school fees of their children and they are unable to pay their house rent. Our youths keep roaming about the streets like sheep's without a shepherd perverting social vices.These are not numbers; they are human beings like us whose dignity have been bruised and battered because of the burdensome weight of life’s unbearable challenges. Our leaders have failed us! In every sector of our economy, the prevalent trend of corruption is visible and it keeps increasing each day. Each year, billions of naira are being budgeted, but our Social infrastructures are in their worst state. No accessible roads, no power supply, no clean water for the masses. Workers are not paid as at when due. Imagine a scenario where a family of seven all depend on the breadwinner of the family, who happens to be a civil servant. How will the family survive if he is not paid? We obviously do not need a soothsayer to tell us how poverty, hunger, disease and want are decimating the lives of millions of Nigerians on a daily basis. Our brothers in the North are being slaughtered like fowls in their father's land all because they don't profess Islam. Is freedom of worship no longer a basic human right? What is it that we need that God has not blessed us with? Check out our landmass, the rich diversity of cultures, languages etc. See the huge quantity of precious mineral and natural resources that God has deposited in this country. What about our human resources? Today, we celebrate our freedom and liberty but most of us are yet to experience this liberty. We live in a country where brother no longer trusts his own brother, husband no longer confide in his wife, chaos and incessant strike has become the order of the day. The independence anniversary for many nations of the world is a privileged time to celebrate progress and prosperity, but for Nigeria, it is always a sober moment for lamentation. A man of 55 years is no longer a kid!,We are yet to shed all manner of brazen wrongdoing from corner cutting, queue jumping and rule breaking that have made this country a republic of organised anarchy. We are still living with a culture of militarisation where the security agencies of the state continue to terrorise hapless citizens with the might of their guns, sirens and uniforms. After 55years of independence, what have we harvested and what can we account for? Absolutely nothing. All we have reaped is a false start and flawed foundation, over 10 military coups, a bloody civil war, a prebendal political class, a rentier economy, incessant strikes in every sectors, a series of half-baked and poorly-conceived policies and, above all, a Leviathan state and government. After 55 years of independence, Nigeria has no single world-class university, airport, tourist attraction site, industry or product. Our leaders still travel out of the country for medications yet we have a whole lot of medical practitioners. How can a nation rise on the ladder of social prosperity without these trappings of modern economic development? Just like Martin Luther will say, "I have a dream...", I strongly believe that the future of our dear country is bright, but how can we achieve this? Not until we begin to fight corruption in every sector of the economy, then we are still dangling in the shackles of oppression. Not until our leaders begin to have the interest of the poor masses at heart, then we are absolutely moving nowhere. Not until we elect leaders with human piety, leaders who are committed, competent, and courageous; leaders with a core vision and sense of mission and willing to sacrifice for them by taking on vested interests and anti-democratic forces, then Nigeria will be a better place for you and me. Now is the time for us to love one another irrespective of our diverse ethnicity. Now is the time for us to reclaim our country from the hands of political marauders and thieves. Now is the time for us to shun corruption, mediocrity and impunity that have held our country down for many decades. Now is the time for us to channel the blessings of our diverse ethnicities, cultures and religions for the service of the common good. If all these are put in place, then both the old, the young, the aged, the sick, the poor, the rich will all stand up with our right hand on our chest and recite the "I pledge to Nigeria, my country" Then, we will be united in love and Nigeria will be a better place for us. May God bless our Country!! HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!! © Anthony John.