Monday, October 08, 2007

47 Years Less from Uhuru

So Nigeria celebrated 47 years of independence on Oct 1st, 2007, there was fanfare, hosts of conglomerate chief execs felicitated with the federal and state governments, cellphone service providers bombarded subscribers with “Happy 47!” phone spam (the buggers never figured to ‘dash’ us free credit?), and in an odd twist, radio stations were agog with request programs mostly deluged by syrupy messages between lovers who took advantage of the season of goodwill to rekindle the spark of Valentine-type romance that might have been doused by the throes of hard-knock living through the past 9 months.

The euphoria was markedly palpable, and why not? Nigeria has been getting good rep lately in the international media, no less for an uncanny coincidence of noteworthy exploits by its nationals. First you’ve got the Super Eaglets carting away the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in impressive style, then Samuel Peters the ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ (or is it ‘Pride of Africa’?) snags a version of the World Boxing Heavyweight Championship belt from Oleg Maskaev in a walk-over and defends it admirably against McCline, albeit for the interim, then former Finance Minister Okonjo-Iweala is installed as one of only two Managing Directors at the World Bank. Even more significant is the heralding of Nigerian diplomats into the world arena with the statements and actions of UN representative to former Burma Ibrahim Gambari being updated to-the-minute by global networks in tandem with the harrowing civil rights crisis there, which he has been mandated to resolve. By all means, it felt quite in order to pop the champagne, belt the National Anthem and coo susurrations to loved ones in the dead of night, all in the name of patriotism.

It’s been 7 days since, though. The confetti’s been swept away and, most unfortunately, we’re back to business per usual, with our attendant hydra-head of problems not even showing signs of a half-decent haircut. The usual candidates of corruption, unemployment, ethnic conflict, ill-advised state policy and human rights violations are daily reflecting the unusually adaptive and resourceful mind of the unscrupulous Nigerian, assuming more cumbrous forms of late. In fact, these hot-zones of societal crisis have begun networking in true Web 2.0 style. To illustrate, statistics today indicate that 8 out of 10 varsity graduates that hit the employment market turn up empty-handed. In time this has only served to swell a teeming academy of literate criminals gagging to showcase their expertise in advanced free fraud, armed robbery and cyber crime, with reports of these felonies skyrocketing nationwide. These highly-trained idlers have also played into the hands of dodgy politicians, who employ them to rig elections, intimidate voters and erase opponents, leaving a laundry-list of unsolved assassinations in their bloodthirsty wake. But more recently, they’ve spawned the abduction lottery in the name of armed activism, extorting expatriates and other wealthy victims of millions, to the lurid delight of their greasy gaffers and the undisguised envy of late starters looking to cash in. The spate of clashes between rival gangs in the Niger Delta has been the macabre result, and because militarization of the region only appears to be biting barely, the state government is attempting an ungainly reclaim of its dropped trousers by announcing the planned demolition of riverside settlements, which they assert to be a “haven for criminals,” unwittingly victimizing a swarm of innocent and underprivileged creek-bed dwellers as a result. Meanwhile, a quartet of individuals (2 Germans, 1 American, 1 Nigerian) evidentially conducting a journalistic investigation into the matter are being unjustly detained under charges of espionage. Did I miss anything? Oh and there’s the reason the Eleme gas flares are the only lights visible in space from the heart of the Dark Continent - perennial and protracted power cuts.

If in spite of all these seemingly intractable problems, Nigerians were giving each other high-fives on the morning of October 1, I’m afraid we’re decades yet from Uhuru. Maybe by another 47 years…