The Nigerian is an optimistic and a happy being. He thanks God for the good, the bad, and the ugly. So despite the backwardness and the unfulfilled promises of the founding fathers of the country, many Nigerians still savoured the joy of the nation’s 50 years of existence. In his broadcast on the occasion of the golden jubilee celebration at the foyer of the Presidential Villa, Abuja on October 1, 2010, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan said: “This is the time to look forward to the great opportunities and challenges that lie ahead for Nigeria”.

 It goes without saying that since its inception 50 years ago, the Nigerian nation has faced acute challenges and navigated several turning points, many crossroads.

On January 15, 1966, less than six years after its independence, the Nigerian Armed Forces seized the powers of government following a coup d’etat which resulted in the killing of four of the country’s national leaders: Sir Abukabar Tafawa Balewa, the prime minister of the federation, Chief Okotie Eboh, the federal minister of finance, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sarduana of Sokoto and premier of Northern Region, and Chief S.L. Akintola, the premier of Western Region.

Thereafter, Major General J.T.U. Aguiyi-Ironsi, the Supreme Commander of the Nigerian Armed Forces abolished some aspects of the country’s first Republican Constitution, assumed governmental powers, and became the head of the federal military government.

On July 29, 1966, some disgruntled elements in the Nigerian Army organised a counter coup d’etat by which Major-General Aguiyi Ironsi and the Military Governor of Western Nigeria, Lt. Col. Adekunle Fajuyi were kidnapped and killed. Then on August 1, 1966, General Yakubu Gowon succeeded the late Major-General Aguiyi-Ironsi as the head of the military government and abolished the unitary system of government introduced by his predecessor.

But why did the military terminate the fledgling democracy in 1966 and subjected the country to its atrocious oligarchy for donkey years?

It was a known fact that the ruling political elite became perverse and left the polity floundering. They were accused of corruption and building castles and business empires for themselves and their cronies with public funds including 10 per cent of government contract values which they cornered to themselves. Worse still, they made the political landscae volatile resulting in the bloody crisis that left a catastrophic mark on the then Western Nigeria.

In the heat of the political wrangglings that swept across the length and breadth of the country, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and his aides were charged with treason and jailed.

All said and done, the developmental aspirations of the Nigerian people were not met during the country’s First Republic.

In the same vein, corruption, thuggery, political violence, unemployment, mass poverty, and other indicators of under-development brought the Second Republic which lasted only four years to its kneels in 1983. And what would have been the Third Republic, the 1989 Constitution, contrived by the General Ibrahim Babangida’s military administration did not see the light of the day as it was aborted before its birth.

Then May 29, 1999, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo received the instrument of office from the last military ruler, General Abdulsalami Abubakar as an elected president of the country. But when he handed over the mantle of leadership to the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua on May 29, 2007, would he say as the British conservative statesman and Prime Minister (1957-63), Harold Macmillan did about his country? Before Macmillan left office as British prime minister, he said: “Let us be frank about it. Most of our people have never had it so good. Go around the country, go to the industrial towns, go to the farms, and you will see a state of prosperity such as we have never had in my life time nor indeed ever in the history of this country”.

Yes, as the country’s president for eight years, many Nigerians can only remember Olusegun Obasanjo as a man who betrode  the nation like a colossus, fearlessly taking decisions, and not minding whether he failed or not, and whether such decisions improved the objective living condition of the people or not.

Apparently, Obasanjo’s eight years democratic governance did not yield to the nation any improvement in the areas of electric power provision, infrastructural development, food supply, employment, and poverty alleviation. The dividends of democracy accrued mainly to the elites, especially the political class and their cronies.

To the subordinate class, particularly the urban poor and the rural masses, the dividends of democracy were a mirage.

On May 29, 2007 the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua raised the hopes of all Nigerians when he said in his inaugural speech: “Relying on the 7-Point Agenda that formed the basis of our compact with voters during the recent campaigns, we will concentrate on rebuilding our physical infrastructure and human capital in order to move our country forward. We will focus on accelerating economic and other reforms in a way that makes a concrete and visible difference to the ordinary people”.

Strictly speaking, nothing significant has happened to improve the living condition of the ordinary people since the inspiring speech was made.

And the accrual from President Jonathan’s efforts at moving the national economy forward since he mounted the saddle on May 6, 2010 following the death of his predecessor, Alhaji Yar’Adua, is still in the womb of time.

In the final analysis, the truth is that the country’s 50 years journey has been indefensibly sluggish and tortuous, filled with frustrations and hiccups.

The golden jubilee should not just end with the pomp and pageantry with which it was celebrated and the endless and empty promises made by the powers that be. It should be seen as a decisive turning point in the life of the nation; a golden opportunity for the privileged and ruling elite to rise above their self-serving attitude and other perversions that have subjected the rest of the people to abject poverty and suffering in the midst of plenty.

Vincent Ochonma