Today marks the 59th year of our nationhood without external supervision and control. Today marked the 59th year when the Union Jack was lowered to paved way for the country’s Green-White-Green flag.
Nigeria as a country of over 250 ethnic groups has in these close to six decades have experienced coups and counter coups, experimented parliamentary system of government, adopted the presidential system, experienced civil war and economic recessions.
The last 59 years have been a bag of experience for the country. Yet Nigeria is not isolated in these crises. Other nations of the world had the same or similar experiences Nigeria had, yet they rose above the ashes of their national challenges.
Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, China and many other countries of the world have viable and enviable economy. Singapore in the 1960s was a third world country, South Korea emerged from the world war II poor and detached from its northern neighbour while China had the largest economically backward and poor people in the world. Today these countries are celebrated. China in the last thirty years successfully pulled 30 million Chinese from poverty level while South Korea has become a technology hub and a first world nation.
It is unfortunate that Nigeria in close to six decade has failed to match these countries in developmental stride. In spite the vast abundance of human and natural resources, Nigeria remains a backward nation even among the the third world countries.
Nigeria boasts of having the highest number of out of school children in the world, over 80 million Nigerians live in extreme poverty, unemployment remains a challenge with legions of youth both employable and unemployable idle all over the country. Nigeria is ranked in international stage as a failed state in spite the country not ravaged by war like Syria, Afghanistan, Libya and others.
In the face of these abysmal failures, the leadership seems less concerned. Or should we say believe the statistics do not represents the true picture of the state of the nation. The political class and the bureaucratic leadership have continued to milk the nation dry through corrupt practices, insincere leadership and unpatriotic actions and decisions.
In 59 years Nigeria now battles insecurity fueled bitterly by ethnic suspicion due to lackadaisical attitudes of the leadership. While Boko Harman terrorists ravage the north east, cattle rustling, banditry, envelops the northwest, and the north central, including the other parts of the country daily experiences farmers and herders clashes and kidnapping.
IMPACT NEWS notes that with this avalanche of challenges, the country is daily bestowed with opportunities to put the nation back on the pathway to development. Our problem as a nation is not the absence of ideas, plans and innovative approaches to enviable development rather it is the lack of sincerity and flagrant disregard to blueprint and government polices.
We challenge the leadership at all levels of government to work for the development of the nation. With the establishment of the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) we hope that meaningful and impactful development would tickle down to the grassroots and political leaders will exhibit financial transparency, responsibility and prudency in the management of our resources for national development. Like other Nigerians, we look forward to the 60th anniversary of independence with strong hope for success stories to tell.
