NIGERIA AT 100: WHAT EXACTLY ARE WE CELEBRATING?

It’s a very sad me typing this right now. Just when I was still trying to come to terms with the fact that $20 billion of our commonwealth had been stolen and we weren’t ever going to get it back, since the whistle-blower aka noisy CBN governor had been ousted, I learnt about the gruesome killing of over 50 teenagers in a Federal Government College in Yobe state by the Boko Haram sect with 20 girl children abducted in the process ( as I write this, I’m pondering with fear what exactly those girls, if they are still alive, will be going through right now). I lived in the boarding house of a Federal Government College for three years myself and I still remember vividly the few and far between times we heard stories like a man coming into the hostel to rape girls and the beating of some supposed  student witches by fellow students and the kind of fear those stories put me in for days and weeks. So I can’t even begin to imagine what those teenage students experienced that dark night. I was still in shock about the incident when I learnt the Boko Haram sect had invaded a village in Adamawa and slaughtered over 20 people. All these in less than one week! At that point, I wasn’t sure my heart could take any more bad news from Nigeria, preferring to just read about happenings around the world from CNN and co. Only for me stumble across a news item that the Federal Government had drawn up a list of 100 people for Centenary awards that will be handed out during the 100 years’ of Nigeria. Centenary what? I quickly found the list on the internet and on skimming it, it dawned on me that even after 100 years of being a country- and more than 53 years of being independent- we still don’t have a clue of what we are doing or where we are headed.

First of all, what exactly are we celebrating in Nigeria? The fact that we are still ethnically polarized even after 100 years? Or that we have had corrupt leaders over the years that looted our treasury silly and still refused to leave the scene? Or that our youths struggle to graduate from poorly funded universities and still have to depend on their parents since they can’t secure any meaningful job in our private sector? Don’t even bother about our civil service since you have to know an Oga-at-the-top before you can get in there. Or maybe we should celebrate the fact that we sell petroleum products to other countries but have to queue for at least 30 minutes (I can hear you screaming “30 minutes? That’s the understatement of the century!”) to get some for our use here.  Oh, sorry, how could I forget? We are most certainly celebrating our virtually non-existent health amenities that have killed many, death-trap roads that have swallowed hundreds, corrupt judicial system that vindicates the big thieves and severely punishes the small thief, flying coffins in our airspace, civil service that stinks to high heavens with more ghost workers than living ones, the terrorists, who are being sponsored by some of our own, rapidly turning the North into a desert and our almost-dead educational system! That’s quite a list if you ask me and maybe, just maybe, those are the things our government is celebrating.

So first question 'answered'. Next question is why are we celebrating these things now? I mean even if none of their own was a victim of these recent incidents, the people that make up our government do have human hearts. Why not delegate every man-power available to dealing with the Boko Haram menace once and for all? At least make finding the abducted FGC female students number one priority before any silly celebration. There’s still a long way to go before 2014 ends and any of the days in this year can still be mapped out to celebrate the Centenary- whatever it is we think we are celebrating about it- on. A government that cares for its citizens wouldn’t go on such jamboree while part of its citizenry is mourning such monumental loss. Or is it because it happened to the masses? Because I’m sure the students were killed by a plane crash, then we would have flown flags at half-mast, condolence registers would have been opened, the President and other dignitaries would have gone to visit the crash site and this Centenary ‘celebration’ would have been postponed. So why isn’t it being done for the people of Yobe and Adamawa? Or are the victims less Nigerians than any of us? While you ponder on that, allow me to pose my third and final question in this piece.

Who the heck drew up that Centenary awardees’ list? And what were the criteria for choosing those who names appeared there? I mean, even if the only real reason you are celebrating is the fact that we’ve managed to remain one country for 100 years- even if it’s only in name- then names like Babangida’s shouldn’t even be there because his actions after the elections in June 1993 could easily have led to the disintegration of Nigeria. Of course I laughed out loud when I saw Abacha’s name. I mean, was that supposed to be a joke? Abacha, who apart from all the inhumane atrocities he committed that drew the ire of even the United Nations, also disgraced us with the discovery of all the money he looted and hid in various foreign accounts! Plus how do you even include Obasanjo and Fawehinmi’s name in one list? It’s pun! Anyway, I learnt some notable people like Fela Kuti’s family, Gani Fawehinmi’s family, Abiola’s family and Wole Soyinka have already distanced themselves from the awards. And I expect other well-meaning Nigerians whose names are on the list to follow suit.

I’ll end with this excerpt from the rejection-of-award letter by the Fawehinmi family:

“Our late father was empathetic to the sufferings of our people, particularly students. In the last 72 hours, 59 innocent students were mowed down by the blood- thirsty Boko Haram terrorists in Yobe state, while 20 other girls were similarly abducted by these same band of terrorists. These girls are still in captivity while their fate is unknown. If our late father were to be alive, would he be wining and dining with all the glitterati at a Centenary celebration under these circumstances? Certainly no. Our late father was unrepentantly for the UNITY of Nigeria. However, with the level of profligacy in some of the events celebrating NIGERIA’S Centenary, our late father would have preferred these multi-million Naira expenditures channelled to our decrepit Teaching hospitals, than unproductive razzmatazz that do not improve the socio-Economic well-being of our people.”

Enough said.