|
  |
|
|
Redependence, not Independence
By Lateef Oladeji of Gem Business Ventures
It was October 1, 1960, the day Nigeria gained independence from the British colonial masters. Every citizen was overjoyed and full of dreamland fantasies about a sweet future. Yes, we were highly justified to feel so. After all, the rule by our own people was supposed to be more in our favour than that by the departing colonial rulers. Our local leaders had told us that the colonial masters had come to enslave us in another form and pillage our resources. Looking back now 50 years after, with a wide disparity between our expectations and what we have got in reality since independence, one is at sea as to the real import of a political independence which has failed to meet the lofty expectations of life of ease and abundance – as the then national anthem had indicated. Instead, what we have had so far has been a constant erosion of opportunities and means of livelihood, brought about by inept and corrupt leadership. High crime rates, infrastructural failure, unemployment and mass poverty have become the order of the day. Obviously, these were not our expectations at independence. How and why did things go wrong? The problems largely stemmed from our historical and cultural backgrounds. The master-servant relationship that had existed between our traditional rulers/leaders and their subjects still held sway. The resulting age-long culture of docility among the subjects, coupled with certain religious requirement of submission, has consistently emboldened the rulers/leaders to act with impunity. Looked at from another angle, the problems could also be traced to the supposition that our traditional rulers and leaders had never at all liked or loved us. Why then would they not misrule us? Their claim to love for us, if at all, could be likened to the type reserved for domestic animals being reared for commercial purpose. This explained why they did not feel any pinch of conscience selling us into slavery to the whiteman in those days. Even after the whiteman’s conscience had forced him to stop the inhuman slave trade, our own traditional rulers and leaders needed to be granted generous incentives in cash and in kind to sway them off the inhuman trade in fellow humans. After slave trade came colonialism.. The indirect rule system adopted by the colonialists, in an attempt to save on the cost of administration, further strengthened the positions of the traditional rulers and leaders. As the colonialists ruled through them, most of the accusations of tyranny leveled against the former ought to have been placed at the door step of the latter. Meanwhile, the privileged standings of the traditional rulers and leaders gave them an edge in giving their children and wards higher education, as well as in placing them in top administrative, economic and military positions. On attaining independence, therefore, Nigeria was in reality returned to the exclusive grip of the traditional rulers and leaders. The moderating influence of civilization and modernity exhibited by the colonial masters had thus got withered away with our independence. The cultures of impunity and docility had become re-established with fuller force. As impunity and docility breed corruption and misrule, the reasons for the failure of our independence to produce the desired results are now placed in sharp focus. Admittedly, our nationalists have all along made great efforts and sacrifices to attain and sustain meaningful political independence for our country. However, they have always been overwhelmed by the more powerful influence being exerted by the reactionary forces that stand to lose in the event of any change in status quo. To them, there must always be people to hew woods and draw water at very low or no cost. I wish my country men and women sober reflections on our 50th independence anniversary. May the future ones deserve true celebrations.
|
Contributor's Note
Article contributed by way of sober reflection on the 50th independence anniversary day.
|
|
The Nigerian Flag
PLEASE VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S WEBSITE
GemHomeBiz
an avenue for social and business links
gbolly54.apsense.com
|
|
No reactions yet.
Please login or sign up to rate this intel.
Please login or sign up to add a comment.
Thank you for sharing this information on Nigeria, Lateef.
One would think that this type of countrywide greed could be removed from society today. The world is watching, yet nothing is apparently done to correct the situation.
Best to you.
Frederick
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
Fred, I share your hope as well. Unfortunately, in all the countries that have secured their freedom from oppression, including the US, the fights have always been initiated and executed by the people themselves. No outsider, not even the U.N.O., can do much for anybody. But we need your goodwill and prayers, please. Thanks and God bless.
The copyright for this content entitled "Redependence, not Independence" has been specified by the contributor as:
Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0
Details 
This content may be copied and distributed (but not modified), as long as the original author is acknowledged with a link back to the content page.
If you use this content according to the license specified, you must link to the following URL:
http://gembiz.qondio.com/
|
 |
|
This intel was contributed by gembiz
gembiz
|
May, 2012
2008
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2009
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2010
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2011
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2012
January, February, March, April, May
|
|
Not a member yet?
Qondio is a powerful network for making it online. If you have a website to
promote, we can help.
Sign up and get in on the action.
|
|
Welcome to Qondio! Discover the awesome power this network can deliver by going to our About page. Or you could skip straight to the Sign Up form.
|
|
