A short but deep question to ask on a Sunday morning, I guess. But it is worth pondering over without searching for answers. There was once a country called Nigeria where there was a powerful native authority at the local level, delivering excellent social services to the Nigeria people. We had the road overseers who ensured that the roads of those days are kept in proper shape. We had the state house of chiefs made of local chiefs who were answerable to the people and could commit suicide if his people wished so. We had the best regional governments that cared less about the federal government in Lagos. They controlled their resources based on the principles of derivation.

With groundnuts, Ahmadu Bello built roads I walked on in Kabba in 1991 as a kid, raised from the earth one of the most endowed universities – in infrastructural terms – in this country till this day, built institutions that stood the test of time, an educational system and scholarship scheme that saw my father – a northern Yoruba – educated all the way to Post Graduate Level at University of London and Fourah Bay College without paying a dime, and a Northern Nigeria that was content, secured and devoid of Islamic Fundamentalists even though he was a descendant of the famous Jihadist, Uthman Dan Fodio. With Cocoa, Obafemi Awolowo ensured a Cocoa house stands tall above its future generations and serves as a reminder to the glorious days of the western region, commissioned the first television station in Africa, built a massive football stadium even when we had not dreamt of winning the African Cup of Nations, took Ile Ife beyond the cradle of civilization to the center of education with University of Ife, loaded with structures that are masterpieces at this present age, and left behind an educated man in almost every household in the western region, free of charge. Do you remember the wonders Nnamdi Azikiwe did with Palm Oil? University of Nigeria, Nsukka is just one of many answers to that question. Long before these great men, the white colonialists laid rail tracks that made River Niger and Benue envy of the wonders of men, and this they did with what? Crude Oil, Gold, Silver? Far from it! They had nothing but brains and human resources!

And the 70’s was not that bad! We built refineries; laid thousands of kilometers of pipelines; sustained Nigeria Shipping Line; and ensured Nigerian Airways flew with pride and in good numbers! Those were the days of Gowon, Muritala Mohammed and Olusegun Obasanjo, when naira was smiling down at the dollar!

Do you remember?

The commissioning of the National Stadium in 1972 for the All African Games

The Nigerian Airways

The Nigerian Shipping Line

The Nitel building that stands as the height of corruption in Nigeria, thanks to Dimeji Bankole’s acquisition

The National Theater of 1977, now surrounded with filthy water and Igbo-smoking area boys

Paying 5 naira as a primary school pupil in a public school

Playing football as kids on a make-shift football field that is 5 kilometers away from your house while your parents bother less where you are

Rolling car tires on the streets without fear of kidnappers

The thieves who enter your house with fear and silence, running away just by shouting Ole!

Driving without fear of accidents and armed robbery on the highways

Shopping with Naira at the Harrods in London

Paying 100 naira for a hostel slot without having to bribe anyone

Writing SSCE without fear of failing and thought of micro chips

Holding your Nigerian passport and flashing it with pride at any airport in the world

Listening to the golden voice of Tafawa Balewa, the rich words from Obafemi Awolowo, the eloquence of Ahmadu Bello, all of who boast not of a PhD!

And to the old, corrupt leaders, do you remember stealing government funds with fear, in silence and without pride to flaunt your wealth in the open!

As the present generation of Nigerian leaders becomes noisier on their achievements, do they remember that they have done nothing, compared to where we came from? If they don’t, we must remind them that they have privatized our lives and yet will not do the little that is left for them to take care of. We must always remind them by voting them out as non-performers. The generations that voted in Ahmadu Bello, Nnamdi Azikiwe and Obafemi Awolowo were not as educated as the present generation, but honestly, they were more enlightened, more aware of how governance should be run and how to cast their vote wisely. It remains a shame to our generation we could not do what they did, preferring to vote people who just campaigned on the basis of no shoes, good luck, and public show of kneeling before a Pastor! And yet we worked in top echelons of the banks, manufacturing, telecoms; we know how to tweet more than the bird itself; we have in our files B.SC, M.SC, ACCA, ACA, CIMA, CISA, CCNA, PhD; and some of us are even Professors of Political Science!



2015 is shaping up, and it is our chance to shame our shame, and vote based on what we know of the past before these present crop of leaders, and what we expect of those who need our votes. Throw away the shame or we will all continue to take the blame!

Source: http://www.politikalnigerian.com/nigerians-do-you-remember/

Amnesia don catch us . . . . plus not all of us are old!

All I remember is a Nigeria that always been in decline . . .

If only, but then we have more brainless lot in Nigeria than in the past.

remember a time when there was no NairaLand for people to post thrash and spread religious bigotry and ethnic jingoism.

I personally did not witness that era but i remember my parents telling me about " that time when one naira was equal to one pound" and Nigerians could travel to Uk without visa. Well its not our fault, i blame our predecessors for not preserving those privileges for us.