It was a country that has a very bright future; others were patiently waiting for this ‘sleeping giant’ to wake up and take her rightful place economically in the comity of nations, unfortunately 52 years has rolled by she is still sleeping and instead of running, she is still crawling at 52! Leadership in the country is a product of the system that produces the poor, youths, super rich and the likes; this simply means there is no difference between the behavioural dispositions of the rich and poor as far as Nigeria is concerned. The only stark difference here is one (the rich) is opportuned to be in a place of power over the other (poor)! Invariably, the major clog to the wheel of progress remains the monster, “corruption” with a human face! The only solution to curb this monster is, ‘strict adherence to the rule of law and upholding the tenets of equality before the law’! Corruption has robbed this country of trillions of dollars since 1960 and you expect that kind of a country to develop? No way! Corruption is what we are known for all over the world, we flaunt it at will shamelessly!

Below is my TIME LINE of the entity called, NIGERIA:

• October 1st 1960 – January 15th 1966: We practiced with Parliamentary Democracy with a Prime Minister at the helm of affairs for 6 years; the new government looked initially like a beacon of hope but was later characterized by electoral malpractices, favouritism, gross corruptions, ethnic-powered violence, and lack of direction. By the 6th year (January 15th 1966) it collapsed. Why? Corruption!

• January 15th 1966 – July 29th 1966: A short-lived military regime under the rudderless Supreme Commander, General Aguiyi Ironsi, operated for 6 and half months, rendering a big imbalance (unitary system of government) to the structure (federalism) on ground, eventually it collapsed. Why? Gross ineptitude and lack of focus!

• July 29th 1966 – July 29th 1975: The longest serving Head of State in the history of the country emerged, he ruled Nigeria or 9 years. During his time, we engaged in an unfortunate Civil War and practiced with dual leadership at the same time between May 30th 1967 – January 12th 1970 on one hand was General Ojukwu as Head of State, Republic of Biafra (Eastern region of Nigeria), and on the other hand was Major General Yakubu Gowon, Head of State Federal Republic of Nigeria at the end of the siege over 2 million Igbos (military and civilians) were wasted. Gowon returned Nigeria back to federalism abolishing the unitary system of his predecessor, unfortunately, it was a ‘pseudo-federalism’ that favoured a particular region and he also split Nigeria into 12 States an imbalance that set the foundation of Nigeria’s present predicament! As usual, it collapsed. Why? Corruption and Indecision!

• July 29th 1975 – February 13th 1976: Another short-lived military regime under the command of General Ramat Murtala Mohammed re-surfaced, he drafted the moving of the federal capital territory to Abuja with the rider, “Lagos is becoming congested”! He promised to hand-over to a democratically government within one year, by 6 months in operation it was aborted! Why? Corruption and marginalization!

• February 13th 1976 – October 1st 1979: Lt General Olusegun Obasanjo the 2nd man to the slain Murtala Mohammed emerged as the new Head of Government, he promised to maintain in the structure his predecessor has laid down and also declare that civilian rule will emerge by 1979, even though the citizens were indifferent to his regime despite the fact that many foreign companies were Nigerianized and countries whose foreign policies seem harsh to Nigeria were avoided, he kept to his promise of a hand-over date to a democratically elected government of civilian rule on October 1st, 1979. As usual the government came with its vagaries that range from anti-people policies, corruption and disobedience to the rule of law!

• October 1st – December 31st 1983: The Second Republic was brought to life by the emergence of Alhaji Shehu Shagari, it tends to be a conciliatory one at the initial stage, but like the usual antecedents of past administrations, it veered off the track and embezzlements of public funds and strict political marginalization were the order of the day, violence across the western part of the Nation as a result of electoral malpractices and the attendants effects in the second phase of the republic gave the Military the excuse to come back. Why? Corruption in all spheres of the country!

• December 31st 1983 – August 27th 1985: The iron-rule regime of Major General Muhammadu Buhari and Brigadier General Tunde Idiagbon was hailed as the new hope of the masses. Its anti-corruption stance was firm and direct; it was purely an autocratic system of the deepest dye with various Decrees that make government leaders and their officials lords. For 20 months it held sway and collapsed as usual. Why? Too rigid and egocentric!

• August 27th 1985 – August 26th 1993: The new regime promised to return Nigeria to the Promised Land but ended up being the most corrupt regime in the history of the Nation. His regime witnessed two abortive coups, one (Mamman Vatsa’s coup) was an attempt, although not carried out while the other (Major Gideon Orkar’s coup) was carried out. Under this regime ruled by General Badamasi Babangida, corruption assumed an institutional status and till date Nigeria is yet to survive the killing blow of this regime. He (Babangida) annulled what was considered the freest and fairest election in the history of the country and chose to ‘step down’ putting Nigeria in the care of a ‘caretaker government’ headed by a civilian!

• August 26th 1993 – November 17th 1993: The caretaker government (a transitional council) that constitutes civilian and military leaders headed by Chief Ernest Shonekan, was one characterized with gross ineptitude and a jittery one. It eventually collapsed after just 3 months in power!

• November 17th 1993 – June 8th 1998: The ousted Interim National Government of Chief Shonekan through a palace coup by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Sani Abacha returned Nigeria to full blown military rule which was characterized by total lack of respect for human rights and anti-citizens policies. Unfortunately, Nigerians woke up on the 9th of June only to be told Abacha had died of cardiac arrest in the late hours of the previous day, June 8th 1998!

• June 8th 1998 – May 29th 1999: The sudden death of the maximum ruler, General Sani Abacha on June 8th 1998 paved the way for the former defense chief of staff, Major General Abdulsalam Abubakar, the new Head of State. He quickly promised to restore Nigeria to the path of democracy by May 29th 1999 (a date that has been recognized as the National Democracy Day), on the 8th of July, Chief Moshood Abiola, the widely acclaimed winner of the June 12 election annulled by Babangida suddenly died in detention in suspicious circumstance. Many prisoners were released and by May 29th 1999 a new civilian President was presented to the world!

• May 29th 1999 – May 29th 2007: Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was sworn in on May 29th 1999 and many bogus promises were made as usual, despite the many funds and grants at the disposal of this new democratic government, the outcome of the administration at its expiration on May 29th 2007 was not encouraging economic and security wise! He handed over power to another civilian government!

• May 29th 2007 – February 9th 2010: Umaru Yar’Adua was the next in line, he was alleged to have not been of sound mind before he was elected, but being the country we are (a land where anything goes) he emerged. His first two years look promising especially with the amnesty program he extended towards the Niger Delta militants group, unfortunately because of what was thought to be a rumour (his ill-health) he died while he was in his 3rd year in far away Saudi Arabia paving way for his Vice-President, Dr. Ebele Goodluck Jonathan, a South-South indigene to emerge as the President.

• February 9th 2010 – May 5th 2010 (in acting capacity): The son of a canoe maker, a former deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Dr. Ebele Goodluck Jonathan, who had never contested in any elections to an office was hand picked to be Yar’Adua running mate, after his boss developed a strange illness and flown abroad for medical attention he was conferred with the power of Acting President on the 9th of February, 2010 till May 5th 2010 when his boss President Umaru Yar’Adua finally gave up the ghost. After the demise of his boss on May 5th 2010, he assumed the exalted position of The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the 6th of May, 2010.

• May 6th 2010 – Till Date: His inaugural speech was loaded as usual and laden with many promises. After serving out the allotted time of his boss for a first term ticket, he contested under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and he scaled through the primaries and was duly elected on May 29th 2011. From that time till now, the country has been made ungovernable for him by an Islamic fundamentalist group called, Boko Haram. In his time, power generation has been steady compared to what we used to have in the past. Really, the saboteurs in his government have been a great worry for him

Going through the checkered history of Nigeria, one can almost conclude that from 1960 till date, Nigeria is largely dominated by a particular region (North) and this particular region have produced Head of States (either as military or civilian) for 38 years out of our 52 years of Independence! The creation of States by Yakubu Gowon and the mapping out of Abuja as the new Federal Capital Territory under the Murtala regime of 1975 was a killing blow to the newly found wealth of Nigeria through the discovery of oil in the late 50s. The country had witnessed 9 (or 10 if the phantom coup of 1997 under Abacha was to be added) coups till date. It is almost certain that all the leaders we have paraded right from inception till date are ill prepared for the project Nigeria, the more reason when things go awry they are incapable of fostering working solutions that should steer the Ship of State to the land of hope! The challenges range from insecurities, lack of basic amenities, soaring unemployment rates, price hikes of basic commodities, homelessness, uncontrolled rural-urban migration, man-made environmental disasters, surging populations and the biggest of them all, corruption! At 52 years of Independence can Nigerians give thumbs up for their past leaders for jobs well done or the other way round?