Nigeria, from tomorrow henceforth

COME tomorrow, October 1, 2010, Nigeria clocks 50. It is the Golden Jubilee of the independence of the most populous all-Black nation on earth, even though the country is actually 96 years old. Forty six of those years were spent under British colonial rule.

I have yet to come across a Nigerian who is happy and proud of our achievement as a nation at 50. But government is rolling out the red carpet to justify over N16 billion which the National Assembly appropriated for a needless jamboree.

About 50 years ago, three countries that had just emerged from colonial rule were marked down for greatness in the near future. These were India, Brazil and Nigeria.

These three countries shared a lot in common. They had massive, well-watered territories, large populations of great ethno-cultural diversities, whose emerging local elites had performed very well in the preparations to take over from the colonialists.

But, what do we have today? India has met the expectations of the world. As the former colonial powers of Europe are burning out their fuels of greatness like dying stars in the solar system, India is on the ascendancy. Indian companies are buying up British conglomerates even in Britain. The same applies to Brazil, the fastest rising economy in the two American continents.

What about Nigeria? Fifty years down the line, Nigeria is on the brink of failure as a state. We have been told by several prognostications (the latest being that of a former American Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr John Campbell) that the coming elections of 2011 might mark the end of the Nigerian experiment if we get it wrong once again.

Story By Ochereome Nnanna

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