Does Nigeria Deserve Our Patriotism As We Mark Independence Day Anniversary?

Editor’s note: Best results are achieved when heeding constructive criticism. Acknowledging a problem is the first step to success. Let us be honest, at fifty-five, Nigeria is yet to unravel its great potential; so we have asked our guest authors to come forward and speak frankly on their feelings for our home country. Naij.com contributor Maximus Chukwuka opens the series of opinion articles dedicated to mark the fifty-fifth Nigerian Independence Day anniversary.

Nigeria, her name derived by Flora Shaw from the coast of the River Niger, is about to clock 55. Had Nigeria existed during the era of Abraham, the promised land of Canaan would have been the land of the most populous black nation on Earth. This is because my country has the most fertile soil in the world where farming is done almost without artificial manure.

Nigeria is blessed with minerals, and choosing some to harness has become a thorny decision for the government considering our limited resources. Dangote was able to do so and became one of the wealthiest black men on the globe. Iron ore is lying idle alongside columbite, coal, thin ore, talc, gypsum, bitumen, gold, gemstones, lead, zinc, asbestos and graphite. It is unfortunate that petroleum has taken the day. There are even uranium deposits in six states in Nigeria, majorly in the north. Nigeria has the capacity of becoming a nuclear energy player in the near future.

Market stimulates production, and with over 170 million people, labour is readily available for entrepreneurs. With the above-mentioned natural endowment and abundant human resources, nothing can impede the wheel of Nigeria’s development should the right track be followed. Residents of most African countries wish to have been born Nigerians because they see the viable potential most Nigerians don’t see. 

Tough love

It is true that the actions and inaction of past leaders may have affected the country’s image, eroded trust and built stereotypes within and about the country. Nigerians are perceived as corrupt; Nigerians in Malaysia or Singapore are drug dealers. One of my Indian Facebook friends noted that, upon coming to India, Nigerians sell one of their kidneys so as to raise capital for business. Nollywood, on its part, has promoted the misconception that every wealthy Nigerian is a ritualist.

But nothing hurts me more like the view that every Nigerian youth with a laptop is an Internet fraudster. Some years back, I travelled to Lagos to attend a job aptitude test. My cousin was to drop me off at Victoria island. On getting to a check point, we were stopped, and the police officers on duty asked me to power up my laptop. He was looking for spam mails and other materials that would have convinced him that I was in the “yahoo” business. I was treated and insulted like a criminal, and arrived late for the test.

Nigeria has let me down before. My voice is not alone in this echo of disappointment, it is evident that each citizen provides for themselves by themselves. You sink your own borehole, contribute with your neighbors to provide feeder roads and electric poles, employ a local vigilante network for your security, and pass through hell to pay school fees which have become very dear in government-owned universities. Of recent, the same government has enjoined us to provide jobs even when there is zero infrastructure, and the business environment is unfriendly. One wonders what the tax revenue is being used for.

We are prompted to be patriotic even when the country has failed to meet her own part of the social contract.

Waiting for breakthroughs

My pride in being a Nigerian is not derived from past actions or the present economic and political realities. Things are the way they are because my dear country is still under a particular generation of leaders; the generation of Obasanjo & Co has failed to turn the country into a beautiful bride.

I draw consolation from the strong faith that we will soon “get it right”. Africa is waiting for us to break through economically and politically. The role of the “giant of Africa” is a God-given duty that must be met. The success story of youths like Chinedu Echeruo, who sold his HopStop application to Apple for $1b, Nelson Njoku, and Ladi Delano are among the top ten youngand most promising African millioners, according to Forbes.

Many other Nigerian youths, both at home and in the diaspora, have shown the heights that the Nigeria spirit can reach if put into focus. The degree of human resources potential in the country cannot be quantified in numerical terms; oh yes, Nigeria is special. The new Nigeria will soon unfold.

Our numbers are up

Defending Nigeria is a hard advocacy role to play when talking to foreigners, as our leaders are now a major setback. I tried to assure my friends that it took America a hundred years to get it right. Development evolves in stages, Nigeria is just evolving to emerge as the beacon of the Dark Continent.

We celebrate yet another birthday as a nation. Let’s keep dreaming, let’s keep hoping with patience. According to Venerable Fulton J. Sheen: “Patience is power. Patience is not an absence of action; rather, it is timing. It waits on the right time to act, for the right principles and in the right way.”

The right time is about to come, and the right principle is to oppose corruption. Nigeria may not deserve our patriotism, but the country needs it to attain her full potential. The present generation of leaders has failed the youths, but we cannot fail the next generation.

Happy birthday, Nigeria…

Maximus Chukwuka for Naij.com

Mr Chukwuka is a graduate of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. 

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