Nigeria, my heartbreaking age mate, by Donu Kogbara - Vanguard News

Nigeria cast aside the shackles of colonialism and became an independent nation exactly 66 years ago. I am also 66; and as I have pointed out to anyone who will listen to me on every single October lst in recent decades, neither I nor the land of my ancestors are getting any younger or stronger. We are both fraying at the seams and struggling to stay standing and forge ahead.

My late mother, Anne Kogbara, told me that when I was born, my late father, Ignatius, would often hold me up skywards with outstretched arms and tell me that I was amazing and had a bright future. Daddy continued to encourage me in different ways throughout my formative years and I grew up with a rock-solid belief that I had a lot to offer the world and could achieve anything I wanted to achieve.

I thank my dad for his frequent votes of confidence because they imbued me with self-confidence – which is one of the greatest gifts parents can bestow on their offspring. I also thank my no-nonsense mum for bringing me down a peg or two if I got too big for my boots! ANYWAY, when I look back at Young Donu and look at Old Donu in the mirror, I find it almost impossible to come to terms with the stark difference between the dazzling dreams of my youth and the depressing realities I face today.

Sure, some of the heartbreaking disappointments that sometimes overwhelm me are personal and nothing to do with Nigeria’s shortcomings. But much of my despair is inextricably linked with Nigeria’s failure to fulfil its potential…for me and millions of others.

Nigeria’s life has been rather like mine. I have a copy of the Independence Day edition of the Daily Times newspaper in which the colonial masters who handed the reins of power over to us sounded like proud parents who had given birth to a child whose brilliance they didn’t doubt. This historic publication is full of warm congratulations directed at the newly independent country from senior Brits like Queen Elizabeth’s cousin Princess Alexander (who was in Lagos to attend the celebrations at the Racecourse) and the former and then current Secretaries of State for the Colonies, Viscount Lennox-Boyd and Ian Macleod.

UK companies also placed numerous adverts wishing us well and expressing faith in Nigeria’s ability to shine and prosper when it was freed from foreign rule and took charge of its own destiny.

Given how hard we’d had to fight to get Brits out of the corridors of power, were these goodwill messages sincere? Who knows? Some probably were. Some probably weren’t.

Suffice it to say that Nigerians, the stars of the show – politicians, entrepreneurs, traditional rulers, regular citizens – were elated and brimming with self- confidence and dizzy with high hopes. My parents told me that they and their friends were boldly certain that the sky was their limit and that Nigeria would become a truly impressive African giant if they worked hard and did the right things. Babatunde Jose, the Daily Times Editor, had so much to say about this momentous transition, including hailing “Two great assets we have inherited from the British – parliamentary democracy and the rule of the law. We shall firmly uphold these principles…[and] jealously guard the sanctity of our constitution and our fundamental human rights…”

“…I am editing,” he continued, “this edition of Daily Times from Racecourse Lagos. For here on this spot, history is being made. Representatives of more than 50 nations of the world are here watching the end of 100 years of colonial bondage and the beginning of freedom for 40 million people.

“I have in this 60 seconds, at 12 midnight, watched the sun of British imperialism setting, and a new moon destined to radiate all over Africa and penetrate to other parts of the world, emerging on the horizon.

“And I am happy. And I am sobbing. For I remember the Nigerians who lived and died during the bloodless fight for Nigeria’s independence…”

Alhaji Jose then rattled off a list of distinguished freedom fighters who had gone to meet their Maker. And I feel like sobbing too because I know that they and other now late idealists who followed them would have been as immensely disappointed as I am if they had lived to see the underperforming mess that Nigeria would gradually become.

The never-ending security nightmares, the failure to provide ourselves with round the clock electricity in the 2lst century, the multidimensional poverty, the near-total absence of integrity in public life, the fact that dubious characters would become uncontrollable emperors, the fact that good men and women would be marginalised. And so on. May Nigeria in 2027 and Beyond be better than Nigeria in 2026. 

I have a YouTube channel. It’s called DONU’S WORLD.

https://youtube.com/@donukogbara?si=bBm_IPdFZ_wUyKYq

NIGERIA UNFILTERED – spicy commentaries on Naija issues – appears Octinternational as well as local and covers a mish-mash of soft and tough issues around my personal life, my work and my worldview. Two days ago, in this week’s Nigeria Unfiltered video, I said that if I had been in Tinubu’s shoes, I would have come clean about my murky past and expressing remorse about youthful drug-related errors. Please check out my Donu’s World library (dating back to early 2024) on YouTube, plus the new videos I produce every week. I would love to hear your opinions and any constructive criticisms you may have to offer. And I will be very grateful if you “like”, subscribe and share!

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