Then And Now

Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was Nigeria’s first and so far only Prime Minister. He was a man of dignity and simplicity. His oratory earned him the sobriquet “Golden Voice of Africa”. Although at independence Nigeria was not very rich in terms of money, oil being very insignificant then, Nigeria was well respected across the world largely due to the personality of Sir Abubakar as well as the relatively stable and peaceful domestic environment then. Globally, Nigeria was consulted on all major issues. During his state visit to the US in 1961, Sir Abubakar addressed a joint session of the US Congress, an honour no other Nigerian has had since then.

Today, Nigeria is so diminished that, even to have a meeting with its immediate neighbours, France had to host it for those neighbours to attend. The only consultation any nation has with Nigeria is to ask how the country is coping with its magnifying challenges. Even low-level diplomats from places like US have access to the highest level and are held in awe by Nigerian officials. The country has lost policy autonomy as it is always dictated to on what to do about her economy, polity, and even health policy. The nation’s government officials wait, beg and lobby to even get photo audience in the White House.

Six years after independence, a section of the country felt unhappy with the federation and decided to opt out. That section declared itself the Republic of Biafra with full complements of sovereignty: a flag, an anthem, a currency, armed forces, a civil service, a head of state and full government. Under Gen. Yakubu Gowon, it took Nigeria less than three years to bring an end to the Biafran secession without borrowing a kobo to do that. Nigeria united and the whole world was amazed at the pace of integration and reconciliation. It earned Gen. Gowon the sobriquet “the Abraham Lincoln of Nigeria”.

Today, the Nigerian armed forces is so mismanaged that many soldiers are deserting the field instead of fighting for the country. It is almost six years since an insurgency by a rag-tag Boko Haram terrorist group but the end is not yet in sight. They are taking over territories and declaring a so-called caliphate but it appears there is very little challenge from the government to reverse and take over these places. Citizens live in fear; innocent people are being killed daily. Places of worship are being attacked and worshippers are not spared with the incapacity of the government to confront and bring an end to their terrible senseless deaths and destruction for over five years now. Many Nigerians are moving away to neigbouring countries. Nigeria is no more safe for anybody.

The Murtala/Obasanjo administration is always referred to as the golden era of Nigeria‘s foreign policy. Nigeria was the fulcrum around which the liberation efforts for African countries which were still under colonial rule revolved. Nigeria’s Angolan policy was the defining moment. Murtala gave one of the most inspiring speeches ever at the extraordinary OAU Summit in Addis Ababa in January 1976, a few weeks before his death. Obasanjo sustained the struggle. He nationalized the British Petroleum and British Baclays Bank, among others, to force the British to speed up the process of decolonization in Zimbabwe and the rest of southern Africa. Africa was indeed the centre-piece of Nigeria’s foreign policy and all the citizens were mobilized on this.

Today, Nigeria is not only an appendage of the Western powers but indeed the lapdog of France as far as Africa is concerned. Here in West Africa, France intervened to change a government in Cote d’Ivoire. France intervened to save Mali from disintegration. France is the major power doing and undoing in Burkina Faso recently. Even in non-Francophone Africa, France was at the forefront for the ousting of the Gaddafi regime in Libya. As far as Africa is concerned, Nigeria is impotent even in its immediate backyard of West Africa.

To undercover this fact graphically, recall that when some soldiers overthrew the elected government in Sao Tome and Principe in July 2003, President Obasanjo singlehandedly intervened to restore the overthrown president. Compare that with the adventure of young officers in Burkina Faso after the resignation of Blaise Compaore recently. The Nigerian president along with Ghanain and Senegalese presidents went to Ouagadougou on behalf of ECOWAS. Col. Zida was just looking at them with confidence. He never immediately responded and was instead trying to buy time.

Then, there were fewer schools but the quality of the products cannot be compared to today’s. Even primary school pupils then had better education than today’s university students, who are in most cases practically unemployable. Then, there were fewer hospitals than now but the quality was such that nobody knew anything about medical tourism — travelling out for medical attention. For each General Hospital there was an ambulance attached 24/7 with very good medical personnel and quality facilities and medicines.

Then, development efforts were based on the five-year National Development Plans. These plans were based on scientific indices. They were prepared by home-grown professionals such as Prof. Adebayo Adedeji, who later became executive secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa. The plans and annual budgets were implemented to the letter with great patriotism and transparent accountability. Today, we have the 7-Point Agenda which metamorphosed into a “Transformation Agenda”. No one is sure when this “agenda” will lead to a meeting to take decision and implement them.

Are we really moving forward? It reminds me of the Fulani saying that “when you refuse the one that does not fast, you will get the one that does not pray”.