Coincidentally, I read this book just as we're celebrating our 62nd Independence as a nation. On completing this book, my heart was filled with gratitude- it gave us an opportunity to go back in time and understand why Nigeria, our elegant nation, is the mess she is right today.
This book strikes me as a diary. Achebe is giving personal accounts of major events that happened in the formative years of Nigeria.
As a nation, we served as a beacon of brilliance to the whole of Africa. We bred experts in various fields. Our educational system aimed for excellence and as such produced excellent individuals.
Nigerian schools, namely King's College, Queen's College, Government College Umuahia, and Government College Ibadan, were some of the very best secondary schools in the British Empire.
Many citizens had their PhDs completed in the UK and returned to Nigeria to serve in various positions.
Intellectuals ran our country.
We operated a meritocratic system, and we flourished
Multiple sectors and not just oil brought revenue into the country.
Where did it all go wrong?
Let's go back in time to the late 1950s, the period just before independence.
Nigeria’s march to Independence was not an easy one. It might not have been as difficult as some other countries before us, such as India, but it was a fight nonetheless. The irony was that victory was given to us and not taken by us.
Initially, the British resisted any agitation for Independence often by handing out stiff jail terms for sedition of the disturbers of peace. They knew the value of their colonies and the natural resources they possessed- in Nigeria's case oil, coal, gold, tin, columbite, cocoa, palm oil, groundnut, and rubber, as well as the immense human resources and intellectual capital.
Surely Great Britain had no plans to hand all these riches over without a fight. But by the late 1950s, they had rapidly begun to accept the inevitability of independence. Britain was financially and politically exhausted by the end of world war 2 and this weakness was exploited.
We became more aggressive in our fight for independence.
Intellectuals of the highest cadre led this fight. A man regarded as the father of Nigeria’s independence Nnamdi Azikiwe referred to by admirers as ‘ZIK’ was a preeminent political figure, a man who was endowed with the political Pan-Africanist vision. He had help no doubt, from several eminent sons and daughters of the soil.
As independence drew nearer, British officers began to retire and return home to England, vacating their positions in Nigeria's colonial government. Literally, all government ministries, public and privately held firms, corporations, organizations, and schools saw a majority of their expatriate staff leave.
Something unusual and suspicious happened during this time. As expatriates were leaving, Britain changed the governor-general of Nigeria. They brought a Sir James Robertson. He was to play an important role in overseeing the election (or lack thereof) at independence, throwing his weight behind Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, who had been tapped to become Nigeria's first prime minister by the colonizers.
Sir James Robertson was to oversee the rigging of Nigeria’s first election.
The British made certain on the eve of their departure that power went to the Northern conservative part of the country.
In the six years following this tragic colonial manipulation, Nigeria became a cesspool of corruption and misrule. Public servants helped themselves freely to the nation's wealth. Elections were blatantly rigged, magistrates were manipulated by the politicians in power who themselves were pawns of foreign business interests.
Nigeria was rocked by one crisis after another in the years that followed independence.
Nigeria was not ready or willing to face her problems. Her leaders refused to approach their duties with humility. This led to the coup of JAN 15, 1966.
News began to seep through- we heard that the prime minister was missing, the Sardauna 'Sir Ahmadu Bello' - the most powerful of the premiers had been killed, Samuel Akintola the premier of western Nigeria was also killed. These events thrust Nigeria into a state of shock for a long time.
The coup was tagged an Igbo coup- this won’t be a surprise because part of the way to respond to confusion in Nigeria is to blame those from the other ethnic group or the other part of the country.
It was a desperate time. Soldiers were being used by elements of power to commit several crimes against Igbo's especially those in high positions of power. A notable one was the attempt made on the life of Dr. Okechukwu Ikejiani, who was the chairman of the Nigerian coal corporation. He escaped the shackles of death by dressing up as a woman and crossing the Nigerian border to Dahomey (today's Republic of Benin).
There was an increase in the existing resentment against the easterners, which lead to subsequent massacres and brutality. Summarily there was a counter-coup, a quest for secession, then the Biafran civil war on 6th July 1971. That claimed the lives of over 3 million Igbo's women and children included.
We adopted a detrimental system, where achievers are kicked out and replaced by less qualified individuals from the desired ethnic background. This bizarre government strategy transformed the federal civil service, corporations, and universities into centers for ethnic bigotry and petty squabbles. They dismantled the structures in place for meritocracy in favor of mediocrity.
From that time to now, corruption and indiscipline in Nigeria have grown exponentially primarily because it has been highly encouraged and unreprimanded.
Nigerians are corrupt because the system we live in today makes corruption easy and profitable.
Corruption in Nigeria has passed the alarming and entered the fatal stage, and Nigeria will die if we continue to pretend that she is just slightly indisposed.
How do we combat corruption?
A strong component in the fight against corruption is accountability. If you commit a crime, you should be brought to book. Hold people responsible for misconduct and punish them if they are guilty.
The Nigerian solution will come in stages;
First, we have to nurture and strengthen our democratic institutions- and strive for the freest and fairest elections possible. This will place the true candidates of the people in office. In the presence of unadulterated democracy, a free press can thrive, a strong justice system can flourish, and the laws needed to curb corruption will naturally find a footing.
As citizens and leaders, we need to develop a new patriotic consciousness, understanding that we all have a role to play to move Nigeria forward.
Achebe will live on as an intellectual phenom we were privileged to have. A good breakdown of the Biafran war is given in the book and a comprehensive summary of Nigeria’s history.
Happy Independence Day.