I clearly remember that night, as a young student of architecture, armed with a
letter of introduction from my departmental head in the Nigeria College of
Arts, Science and Technology, in Zaria, I was able to gain admittance into Race
Course – now Tafawa Balawa Square – in Lagos to witness a once-in- a-lifetime
event.
The
lowering of the Union Jack and the raising of the Nigerian flag. It was the
night of September 30, 1960. By midnight, that night, Nigeria was born as an
independent nation, free from colonial rule and ready to take her destiny in her
hands.
The
pomp, the pageantry, the glamour, not forgetting the speeches, gave promise of
a glorious future. Armed with a Federal Constitution, we marched with
confidence into that future as Nigerian Citizens with a Common Destiny. That
today we speak mournfully of our fading glory suggests that indeed we had
attained a glorious height in the past which, today we have lost. So many
reasons have been advanced for this and so many depressing stories have been
told about the consequences of this loss that I need not dwell on them. But can
we not regain our past and climb to greater glories?
My
firm conviction is that we can if only we would agree to carefully examine, and
select for adoption those things that had helped us to greatness in the past.
To
me, the most potential elixir of our rise to glory was the federal constitution
upon which the country was founded. We should ask ourselves, if we had
continued the practice of true federalism which is anchored on self- reliance
and autonomy of the federating units would we have abandoned our cherished
agriculture, mining and indeed industries, rudimentary as they were; would our
groundnut pyramids have disappeared, would our cocoa farms, our palm and rubber
plantations been abandoned; by the time we exhausted the tin on the Plateau
would we not have turned attention to other solid minerals with which the
country is so abundantly endowed? Would we have stopped mining our coal; what
about our hides and skins, would we not by now be having a thriving leather
industry; would our textile industries have gone into extinction?
The
words of our previous anthem tell us that “though tribe and tongue may differ,
in brotherhood we stand.” There was no greater affirmation of our common
citizenship, our common heritage. This we need to assert in the strongest
possible terms. We should remind ourselves of a few things that made us great
in the past.
We
should remember that in 1950, before independence, Olorunimbe was the first
Mayor of Lagos with Mazi Mbornu Ojike as his deputy; in 1956, still before
independence, Mallam Umaru Altine was elected twice as the Mayor of Enugu. We
can say all these happened then but, even after independence, in 1961, Margaret
Ekpo was elected to represent Aba in the parliament.
All
these happened because they were citizens of the same country, living in those
respective areas. It had nothing to do with being an indigene or coming from a
particular local government area. It had nothing to do with religion or tribe
and in this was embedded the kernel of our budding greatness- Unity in
Diversity. To experience this potent greatness, we must allow this kernel to
germinate and bloom. We must not allow ethnicity or religion to divide us. The
only way to do this is to accept the fact of our common citizenship; also to
institutionalize and enforce the fact that Nigeria is a secular state. Our
attempt to make it into a Multi-Religious country has introduced religion into
our national constitution and created difficulties that have brought strife and
discontent.
The
concepts of quota, federal character, state of origin, religion, different cut
off marks, etc., have entered our lexicon and become our constant narrative
because of corruption and our inability to be fair, just and equitable. How can
we not see that even influence peddling is a form of corruption?
To
be great again, we must wage total war on corruption in all its ramifications.
We must exorcise the haunting evil spirits of ethnicity,
religious jingoism, looting and wasteful spending.
Having
regained our potentials for greatness, the country must then move on. To do
this, we must re-examine our national ethos. We must determine to bind
ourselves together with a sense of common nationhood. The thinking must not
continue to be me first, my people next and then maybe Nigeria last. We must
transform this country – this geographical contraption as some people want to
call it – we must learn to transform it into a nation with a common citizenship
and a shared destiny. I will be the first to admit that this is easier said
than done but it is something that must come if truly we want to attain our
highest height. Why can we not acknowledge our oneness by celebrating our
amalgamation day!
However
united we may become, and regardless of whatever sense of nationhood we may
acquire, we cannot grow to the attainment of our full glory without adequate
infrastructure. I must commend the current effort at Rail Development, but I
must insist that our most fundamental need in today’s electronic age is Power.
Without power, we can go nowhere. Next in my order of infrastructural priority
would be Roads. Without an efficient road network, the economy cannot move.
But
things cannot continue to be done haphazardly. There must be a rationalization
of federal roads. The situation in which minor village roads are designated as
federal because they were established more by patronage rather than by reason
or logic cannot be sustained.
Beyond
rationalization, the roads must interface with major rail, air, sea and inland
ports. The aim should be to establish a few major vertical and horizontal
Transportation Corridors or Backbones for the rapid and orderly growth of the
country.
The
most critical element in this particular endeavour is Leadership. A fair, just
and purposeful leader; a leader that will imbue in the citizens a sense of
belonging a sense of brotherhood; a leader that will give the people a sense of
adequate protection; a leader that will not only make everybody proud to be a
Nigerian but will consider Nigeria a country worth dying for; it is only such a
leader that can hope to accomplish this feat. Can we find such a leader in
Nigeria? Indeed we can.
Heights
of greatness reached and kept were not obtained by sudden flights, but we must
take those crucial initial steps for our journey of a thousand miles. It is
only then that we can ensure that the labours of our heroes past will never be
in vain. So let us resolve to serve with all our might one nation bound in
freedom for all, peace and unity. It is our only path to future glory.
Long
live a Great and Glorious Nigeria.
His
Excellency, Obong (Arch.) Victor Attah was the second democratically elected
civilian governor of Akwa Ibom State.
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