We are like a slave whose master has given freedom but still living in his master’s house to survive. We became independent of the British polity but still organise our polity within the framework of the British Establishment. The problem with the British Establishment we inherited as our foundation is that it is not suitable for our multicultural society, and this keeps creating cracks we keep mending to prevent a disastrous collapse.
However, we have witnessed an awakened national consciousness on the need to build a new foundation that respects and integrates our diverse cultures.
The past 56 years have been periods of gradually breakings and reconstruction on the foundation we inherited. We have survived a civil war; we have had different military coups; and our national economy has witnessed serious downtime at different points. Many citizens have been deprived opportunity that could have allowed them live as truly free citizens. Millions have died in poverty and many millions still languishing in it. Young children have been infected by terrible diseases and their deaths have made their loved ones cry for weeks. In this, a few hundreds have looted money that could have saved the millions dying from poverty and without access to health care and portable water. But there is one great story after all: We survived. We did not have another large scale war of bullets and fire.
October 1 every year has always provided opportunity for Nigerians to think deeply about national unity, pray together, and celebrate our freedom from colonial master. On the streets, green-white-green makes it beautiful and reminds us of the Nigerian dream.
When I go through streets in cities and see hardworking people doing their best to survive a nation ravaged by corruption, I am happy that even without nothing to hope for, millions still see their lives and responsibilities to their families as inspiration to remain hopeful. Everyone is working to make the confused state become organised.
It is after chaos that orderliness comes. We have together gone through all these problems and we are still growing through it now. But we can’t blame no one because it is our collective responsibility to make Nigeria great.
Our past is a testament to the fact that nothing is enough to break us. Nothing is enough to bring greater division. If war could not, nothing can. If terrorism could not, then we can become stronger. Together, we have all survive the tragedy, and today is another reminder of the second war we are fighting: A fight for our second independence.
Our second independence is a complete freedom from the British Establishment by destroying it. We must do our best to complete the building of the new foundation for our national democracy. Certainly, there are more troubles coming, but by our hard work, faith, patience and persistence, we will have a lasting foundation to start building our nation’s future upon.
