Birthday Blues

India is twenty years older than my wife- who coincidentally is having her birthday today- (warm wishes will not be totally out of place) and thirteen years older than Nigeria. Between the two countries, there are lot of shared history, heritage and antecedents. Both countries were colonized by Britain. Both are not just multicultural societies but also multilingual. They were both named by the British along riverbeds –Nigeria by the River Niger area, and India by the Indus River. This is however, where the similarities end.

We got our independence on a platter of gold when Pa Enahoro moved the motion for our independence at a tender age, before we went through a civil war that almost tore the nation apart. India, by the 19th century, had to endure years of non-violent resistance to British rule, led by Mohandas GANDHI and Jawaharlal NEHRU, before their independence was granted in 1947. Large-scale communal violence took place before and after the subcontinent was partition into two separate states - India and Pakistan. The neighboring nations have fought three wars since independence, the last of which was in 1971 and resulted in East Pakistan becoming the separate nation of Bangladesh.

At a time in the early 1970 and 1980s, the Indians migrated to Nigeria in droves as they were mainly found in our secondary schools as science teachers having fleed from the economic recession in India then. Tide has however turned full cycle now and India is firmly in the able hands of Indians. The Indian economy has picked up, their population exploded without negative consequences on their infrastructures and have been able to stay calm in their balance of payments. They have advanced exponentially in science and technology, as they are now joint medical center of the world with Cuba. They may not be competing with the Western World in the space race but they are definitely not lagging behind in nuclear capabilities. They started building their own automobiles two decades ago through TATA, and now have Suzuki, Mahindra, Jaguar and Land Rovers as subsidiaries.

They have been able to achieve this much because they kept their national identity. From their accents to languages and their cultural values, India has maintained national integrity, remain focused, planned and is extremely disciplined in policy implementation. The leadership strictly followed the ethos of their founding fathers, and Indians are better for it today. If it were possible to freeze India while we continue, do we honestly think we can be where India is in the next thirteen years?

As a matter of urgency, we must restrict religion to a private and not a national matter, close our borders against luxury items and be content with consuming what we can produce locally. As for the corrupt leadership, the led must be able to sort that out without recourse to the bureaucratic and stained justice system. The educational sector must be properly funded and result-driven. We should hand over the energy sector to foreign investors so as to jump-start the economy and encourage foreign investment.

Lastly, we must not celebrate any independence day until we are able to get close to where India is. 

As for my wife, she is allowed to celebrate. Happy birthday dear! 

 Show original message