I didn’t remember Nigeria’s unfortunate independence; yes I said unfortunate because it is obvious Nigeria would have been better off without independence; until a friend called me to say, “the so called fatherland is 53 years old today.”  He went further to say “the useless father, the irresponsible father, the father that refused to take care of his children, the father that abandoned and condemned his children to penury, the father that institutionalised corruption and injustice in his own home, the tribal father that thrives on dividing his children, the  father  that couldn’t create harmony, whose children are always fighting and killing each other,  the father that steals money meant for the upkeep of his children, the shameless father that does not care how dysfunctional  his home his, the drunken father that loafs around while his home burns, the yeye  father that has no plans for his children’s future is 53 today. The father that is not worth being called a father, i pray he dies of a heart attack.”

When i reminded him that some refer to a nation as motherland, he snorted derisively and said “that even makes it worse, because mothers are supposed to be more sensitive to their children.” And then he added, “just sum up everything I have said replacing father with mother and include the unconscionable mother that refused to breastfeed her children.”  When a child wishes any of his parents a heart attack, you know there is a serious problem somewhere. This is extent of the opprobrium my friend poured on a nation that has succeeded only in failing.  I am not sure any objective Nigerian would find fault with my friend’s vituperations as it concerns Nigeria and neither do I. The Yoruba call it “Baba Agbaya,” the Igbo call it “Efulefu,”   both of which mean a useless and good for nothing  loafer/father. This no doubt, represents the perfect picture of what Nigeria truly is.

Nigeria is after all a shallow, deceitful nation that likes to take false pride in being a so called giant of Africa, yet once you look closer you discover that Nigeria has only been a giant in failure. A giant in the pioneering of genocide in Africa, a giant of  injustice, a giant of monumental corruption, a giant of  dysfunction, a giant of  lawlessness, a giant of impunity, a giant of  incompetence, a giant  of disharmony, a giant of poverty,  a giant of  tribalism, a giant of  leaders that hate their nation, a giant of  opportunism, a giant of  self destruction, a giant of  shamelessness, a giant  of  joblessness, a giant of mass killings/terrorism, a giant of ethno-religious strife.  This is the sum total of all that has made Nigeria a giant in nothing other than infamy.

53 years after independence,  Nigeria is like a nation without a government, lacking the most basic infrastructure. There is no pipe borne water, no electricity, no motor able roads, no functional hospitals, no functional schools, no social housing, no social security, no national airlines, no railway lines, no functional democracy, and no functional refineries.  In spite of being the 6th largest crude oil producer in the world, Nigeria imports fuel.  After colossal sums expended in building steel plants in Ajaokuta and Aladja, none of them is functional. The industrial base has totally collapsed.  A forbidden nation where children, the youths and the aged are totally ignored and left to their fate by the government.

The institutionalisation of corruption since the General Ibrahim Babangida era has erected a vastly criminal state where every institution and almost every individual is corrupt. The police, the customs, the armed forces, the banks, the ministries, the boards and parastatals, the permanent secretaries, the artisans, the local government councillors, the business men, the local government chairmen, the governors, the contractors, the legislators, the judiciary, the civil servants, the presidency, the schools and even religious organisations all reek of monumental corruption.  @ 53 Nigeria is the ground zero of corruption;  the shame of the black race, the giant of failure!

Lawrence Chinedu Nwobu
Email:lawrencenwobu@gmail.com