On October 1, 1960, at midnight, the Union Jack, the British flag, flew for the last time over Nigeria. Green White Green was raised and has fluttered as strongly as the wind would carry it for going on 64 years now through good times and through bad times like three painful years when brother warred against brother leaving 3 million dead in its trail.
“Nigeria we hail Thee,” was given to us as our National Anthem. We no longer needed to sing God save the Queen. The British could save their Queen by themselves. We sang our new anthem with great pride.
We now had our Independence. Our people were in charge. We had our destiny in our hands. We would no longer have anyone to blame for our woes. Just ourselves. That was as far as hope went.
But did we really learn anything from the British?
Let us together examine that question and see if we can answer it as we take a journey together beginning from October 1, 1960.
We will be traveling 5 years at a time.
1960-1965.
A young nation begins to take root with great pride and enthusiasm with a stoic gaze into a future full of hope and dreams. Up until Independence, we had three Regions, the Northern Region, Eastern Region and Western Region. Between 1952 and 1960, a scholarly, studious and disciplined Chief Obafemi Awolowo held the reins as Premier of the Western Region. In those 8 short years, he built a legacy that the entirety of Nigeria has not been able to match. He achieved many firsts. He built Liberty Stadium, a world class facility, Cocoa House, the first Radio Station in Africa, and the first Television station in Africa.
He had running water across his region and built Agricultural Settlements second to none anywhere in the world. He built prosperity in the villages using Agriculture Extension officers, brought healthcare to people’s homes and created a network of roads that no one has cared to maintain in the last 64 years. You could say, and you would not be wrong, that Awo attained the status of deity among his people.
He is still a reference point for what is possible in any political discourse today. He had no peers. If Western Region were a country at the time that Awo presided, it would have been classified as First World.
Without a doubt.
But he was not a man without flaws.
To be continued on Friday. Please share and subscribe. At Egogonewshub, we are on a journey to be your reference point for great content.
By Michael Ovienmhada.
Publisher/Editor-in-Chief,
Egogonewshub.com.
