Nigerians continue to express their feelings on the 63 Independence Day anniversary and the realities of the present day..
Iliyasu Gadu is a Public Affairs Analyst. This is what he wrote
My perspectives on Nigeria @ 63
As I write this piece, there is no light in my area. In fact there has been no light for the past three days as a result of the transformer blowing up during a recent thunderstorm.
I have spent thousands to power my generator so as to power my house mostly at night and also to pump water from the borehole for domestic use.
This is one of the unfortunate realities of our present day Nigeria. You can find this situation in virtually every sector of our country.
Like many Nigerians, I share the belief that the country has been regressing. Compared to the days when I was growing up, there has been a lot of quantity in terms of many things in the country. But unlike in the past, this quantity has little quality. For instance we have many Universities and tertiary institutions now unlike before. But they hardly compare favourably with even the facilities and teaching staff of some of notable secondary schools and colleges of the old days.
I belief the main issue responsible for the regression in our country has to do with the low quality of governance. In those day governance from the Local, State and Federal levels were alive to their roles and responsibilities at their levels. Thus the Local Councils were able to provide primary education, health care, security and infrastructure. The states and Federal Government did theirs too. But now virtually every aspect of governance has been privatised to individuals who run these responsibilities at their whim. In doing so, they do not regard service delivery as an obligatory social responsibility, but as something of a privilege to the people. Governance is no longer seen as a benign responsibility touching their lives positively. It is seen mostly as a repressive and oppressive institution in the hands of the powerful and well-connected members of society. Thus more and more people are now facing institutional and social alienation. Government means very little to them positively and thus there is a resort to self-help in negative ways.
Nigeria can certainly be better. We have the resources and we are known to be resilient and highly resourceful. But only when our leaders and political elite reorient themselves to positive governance for the good of the country.
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For 21 – Year- Old Abubakar Sadiq ” Nigeria has always been a country led by corrupt leaders.
Sadiq,an undergraduate of international studies in sophomore year said the problem of Nigeria was cooruptiion in high places which he linked to the state of comatose of the economy.
” Economy is bad, Insecurity is also very bad. Bandits are everywhere.Nigerians are not happy especially,we the youths.
Though,we don’t have much confidence in what the present administration would do as a result of our experiences with past governments, we’re hoping that our country will get better.
Sadiq believed that when the economy is fixed, the youths who are the most populated would have jobs and refrain from deviant behaviour which ,at the end,dent their image and destroy them for life.
In her opinion,18 year – old Computer System Technology undergraduate, Magdala Nwuke said “the primary narrative of governance at 63 should be inclusivity -a practice where equal opportunities and resources are accessed by people who might be excluded.”
Her statement tilted Nigeria at 63, reads ;
“As Nigeria turns 63 I would like to see some changes in how the country is run. The needs of Nigerians as a whole should be considered rather than just the needs of the more affluent group in the population. There are people whose families have used up most of their resources to train their children, who, in a lot of cases, eventually end up unemployed because other job seekers have connections. It is demoralizing to people who work hard and embarrassing to see that a lot of people do not really have much, other than a fancy certificate to show their qualification for a job.
“Secondly, I would like to see a system where no one is above the law. Although that is written in the constitution, over the years the reverse has been proven to be the case, with so many public officials failing to be given adequate legal punishment even with some discrepancies in the national accounts. I think people that hold power need to know that if we are trying to reduce crime in the country it will have to start at the top. “Moving on, I really hope that as we celebrate our independence, more Nigerians will realize that we are one country, and that being said, ethnicity will play a smaller role in the voting results. Ethnicity will never make a good leader, but a good leader can be from any ethnic group.
- Magdala Nwuke
Happy Independence Nigeria.
On his part, a Graphic Artist and Teens Mentor, John Dabopuye AKA Jonny said Nigeria is blessed with so much resources and its diversity grown in strength.
However,he expressed regrets over the little attention given to the Education of children by successive governments
Dabopuye,who is the Chief Executive Officer of ” Positive Teens” a non governmental organisation that positively impacts the lives of over 200 indigent children living at Port Harcourt waterfronts with skills profficiency said ;
Nigeria, my beloved country.
At 63 we have grown from strength to strength in our diversity. As a people we are blessed with so many natural resources and good climate conditions.
For over 24 years our country has successfully been led by uninterrupted democracy that has done little or nothing in the inclusion of the youth positively, very little attention to education where we see teenagers out of school and parents paying little or no attention in the upbringing of their children morally. Because of this negligence on the part of the government and parents, the result is what our society is facing today morally.
WHAT I WANT THE GOVERNMENT TO DO
(1) Government should see education as a direct key to national development, by increasing the educational budget to 30-33%. This will directly affect the growth of public schools.
(2) The government should have a data base and clear plan of young school leavers, for example the government initiated the school- to land- program in the 1980’s, this deliberate act made young school leavers not to be lazy. The government should build industries and revive old ones for our teaming youths to get busy.
(3) National orientation Agency (NOA) should rise up to the challenge of orientating the teenagers and youths against the use of illicit drugs, cultism and other social vices. NOA should create programs celebrating teenagers that excelled in hard work, for example in education, sports and craftsmanship (handiwork). The government should stop rewarding criminality in the name of amnesty and corporate organizations should stop sponsoring on national TV programs promoting nudity and participants (adults) could not answer primary school questions like what is the longest river in the world, in which continent the tallest mountain everest located, what is 7 divided by 0, what is the full meaning of CAC, what agency is in charge of food and drug regulation in Nigeria… what a national disgrace.
NOA should sponsor jingles on radio and TV stations on how our teenagers should honour their parents and respect the elderly.
(4) Our legislators should enact a law to make it compulsory for every secondary school leaver to spend a year in skill acquisition before going to the university, like the National youth service corps (NYSC). This will make over 60% of students self reliant in the university.
A brighter Nigeria is possible!
Happy independence.
