Nigeria @57: Celebrating the Birth of a Nation Amidst Unparalleled Misgivings.

"The country must first be secured. The economy must be re-balanced so that we do not depend on oil alone. We must fight corruption which is Nigeria’s Number One Enemy. Our Administration is tackling these tasks in earnest." President Buhari

I want to join hands with the President to wish Nigeria and Nigerians happy Independence. We have come a long way as a nation-state and we must not relent in our course for justice, equality, fairness, and egalitarianism.

Much as I am willing to share the President's optimism in the war against corruption or the need for re-balancing our economy, I beg to add that such task, arduous as it demands of all of us, may remain illusory in the absence of intelligent transportation network system. An Economy in search of diversification requires unhindered movement of goods and services. Period. That is a fundamental criterion. Unfortunately, we cannot reach that conclusion in Nigeria of today.

"The economy must be re-balanced so that we do not depend on oil alone." Well said, but we already know that. Most often, they keep emphasizing the importance of economic diversification and the need to shift from the crude-oil mono-cultural economy to agro-based industries. Over the years, that has been the slogan. Indeed, we are abundantly blessed with able and quality hands, we have the tools - though, crude in most cases - and we have a huge market for the produced goods and services. What is lacking is a reliable government - a government with the right mindset to match rhetorics with performance. 

That the President didn't address the deplorable state of our highways in his speech reinforces my concerns that the President and the Presidency are seemingly not at home with our realities. Nigerians are willing and are ready to work - to go to the field and till the land. In fact, they are already doing just that. But government must provide motorable roads for them to be able to move their products from the farm to the marketplace. That is a prerequisite. You don't need to have a Ph.D. in Economics to know that.

For instance, do you know the number of Dangote's Eighteen-wheelers and other vehicles, stuck in the mud with goods and farm produce, and abandoned inside the heartland of the Esan region, trying to avoid the now forgotten Auchi-Ekpoma-Benin City road axis? That is not how to re-balance the economy or energize one that is cascading dangerously to a recession. We are not interested in how much the government has recovered from thieving politicians. We want to see proof of real projects executed from the recovered funds.

We are not the problem. Government is the problem. Nigerians are very docile - easy to govern. And perseverance is their portion. In other words, they are very susceptible to appeasement, if the government is living up to expectations. The protracted demands for True Federalism and Decentralization of Power are traceable to the disconnect between Abuja and the rest of us. Anyway, happy birthday, Nigeria.