Nigeria Is Not Yet Independent

By Casmir Igbokwe

From today, we will most likely begin to behold Nigeria’s national flag and colours, green-white-green, in many public places. This is in commemoration of Nigeria’s independence anniversary. On Tuesday, many of us will clink glasses and chant, ‘Happy Independence, Nigeria’. Our President will probably make a national broadcast to mark the day. Every October 1, we celebrate our independence from British colonial rule. But the question is, are we truly independent?

On a cursory look, it appears we are independent. But Like the Greek Titan, Prometheus, we have probably been condemned to eternal torment for our transgressions. Though we attained self-rule from Britain in 1960, we are yet to master the art of ruling ourselves effectively.Just imagine what happened in Edo State on Saturday, September 21, 2024, in the name of governorship poll. The election was anything but free and fair. From various accounts, it was systematically rigged. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) compromised in the collation of results such that the person who purportedly won the election may have been imposed.

Civil society organisations (CSOs), especially Yiaga Africa, made it clear that the election failed integrity test. A society which cannot conduct a simple election is not independent because election is the only lawful means through which the electorate can change an ineffective government. But in our own case, might is right. In the words of President Bola Tinubu, power is not given a la carte. You snatch it, grab it and run with it.

 

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje, had the effrontery to tell us that the party would use the Edo template to win upcoming Ondo and Anambra states governorship elections. Template of rigging! They can rig anywhere they like, but they should not try that with my state, Anambra. APC is not welcome in that state and no amount of rigging template will make it genuinely win election there in 2025.

Perhaps, they are banking on INEC and the judiciary. I wish them luck. It is shameful that at this age of our national life, some Nigerian judges can see white and call it black because of money. Most of those who are experts in rigging will tell you to go to court after rigging you out. Before you even make any move to get to the court, they would have told the judges what to do. You spend millions of naira in litigation only for your case to be dismissed with one technicality or the other. A country whose judiciary is not independent is not truly independent. A country whose electoral umpire can easily be manipulated is not independent.

 

A country where bandits, kidnappers, terrorists and sundry criminals share power and instruments of violence with state actors is not truly independent. In the North, Boko Haram terrorists share territories with the government. They have killed thousands of people and rendered millions of others homeless. Innocent students are not left out. Thousands of them have been kidnapped. Some returned to their parents after payment of huge ransom, while some did not return alive. Travellers always have their hearts in their mouths because one could be kidnapped from anywhere and anytime.

 

Going by air is not an option for many people because they cannot afford it. Even many of those who could afford flight ticket a few years ago cannot afford it now. The economy is in a shambles. Naira is in the league of the worst performing currencies in the world. From about N21.89 to a dollar in 1999, the exchange rate today is over N1,600 to a dollar. Aviation fuel is very expensive. Premium Motor Spirit or petrol is also not cheap. From about N185 a litre, the price jumped to over N600 a litre after Tinubu pronounced on his inauguration day on May 29, 2023, that “fuel subsidy is gone.” Today, the price of that commodity has reached N1,000 and above per litre. This has had a spiral effect on the prices of other commodities in the market, especially food items.

 

As of August 2024, headline inflation has reached 32.15 per cent while food inflation jumped to 37.52 per cent. A few years back, the rate of inflation was in single digit. We used to consider garri and groundnut as a poor man’s food. Not anymore. No food is cheap as food insecurity has had a firm grip on Nigeria. Poverty and hunger have had a debilitating effect on many Nigerians. There is nothing like three square meals again. Now, whoever could afford one meal a day is living in paradise. A country that cannot feed her citizens is not free. It is dependent on others for survival and cannot be called an independent country.     

 

Besides, a country where there is great mistrust among its ethnic groups and other constituent units is not independent. Rwanda under Paul Kagame has succeeded in obliterating ethnicity from its lexicon.  This came about after the civil war that ravaged that country in 1994. Nigeria today is sharply divided along religious and ethnic lines. Muslims are suspicious of Christians or vice versa. Different ethnic groups struggle to take control of the centre and grab as much resources as possible. Secessionist groups like the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have intensified their clamour for self-determination. 

 

We fought a civil war between 1967 and 1970. It was precipitated by the declaration of Biafra by the Eastern region. From the look of things, we have not learnt any lessons from that war. Rather, things have worsened. Any region that gets to power at the centre lords it over others. We have the federal character principle in the constitution. It presupposes that there should be fairness and equity in the allocation of resources and appointments in the country. But we observe that in the breach.

Former President Muhammadu Buhari made nepotism a cardinal principle of state policies. President Tinubu has followed suit without any qualms about it.

 

Ironically, when it comes to admission into unity schools, we adhere strictly to federal character principle. The nation is classified into educationally advantaged and disadvantaged states. A lot of hurdles are put in place for many of the states perceived to be educationally advantaged in getting admission for their citizens. And we say we are one nation, one destiny.

Nigeria is a crippled giant that has been overtaken even by many African countries. I laughed when Tinubu asked for debt forgiveness for Nigeria and other developing countries at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). How can we ask for debt forgiveness when we have not shown any atom of fiscal responsibility?

 

A nation that spent over $100m on a new presidential jet has no business asking for debt relief. A country that spent N21 billion on official residence of the vice-president is not a serious one. A country that frittered away billions of naira on luxury vehicles for lawmakers has a serious romance with profligacy.

We should stop celebrating this so-called independence until we are able to put our house in order. A good number of Nigerians have called for restructuring. Some have advocated for parliamentary system of government, as the presidential system is too expensive and has not given us what we want. Some have called for the convocation of a national conference where we discuss how to live together as one nation. Some say we should adopt the recommendations of the 2014 national conference which made far-reaching resolutions on how we can achieve greatness as a country.

 

All these are great interventions on how to make Nigeria great. It shows that the system we practise currently is not working optimally. And we cannot continue to operate what has clearly failed us. The government of the day must rise up to the occasion. It must take measures to implement any of the suggestions that has been made or make moves to institute its own solutions. We cannot remain this way. 

And until we take the bitter pill as already prescribed, we cannot receive any cure for our sickness. Until then, Nigeria is not independent. We should stop deceiving ourselves and the civilized world.

*Igbokwe is a commentator on public issues