Bright Sunday
Every October 1 reminds Nigerians the day they ceased to be under the British colonial control, when the country gained the authority to make its laws, elect its leaders, manage its government and institutions, and determine its foreign policy and international relations in its own name.
However, the true question is whether October 1 should be a mere celebration of independence or a day of national assessment of how well Nigeria is fulfilling the promises and responsibilities of independence.
Independence for a country should mean more than political sovereignty. It should mean the ability to manage its administration, develop its resources and productive capacity, meet the daily needs of its citizens, and make meaningful decisions about its economic and national affairs.
Nigeria has not remained where it was in 1960. It has recorded progress in maintained democratic continuity since 1999, expanded beyond its traditional agricultural base, benefited from oil revenues, experienced significant growth in telecommunications and ICT, and witnessed an expansion of entrepreneurship, visibility in creative industries.But how well have these translated into sustained development and consistent improvement in the lives of its citizens?
While independence is worth celebrating, the measure of Nigeria’s progress should not be how much it has accumulated in 66 years, but how effectively it has improved the lives of its citizens. Independence Day should be more than a celebration. It should be a time to evaluate what the country has achieved, and assess how well it has met the demands and responsibilities of an independent nation.
Nigeria is often described as the economic giant of Africa, but how well has that position been sustained? Nigerians are recognised for their intellectual capacity, but what can we really say about the state of the country’s education system today? Democracy has continued since 1999, but can we truly say that electoral practices are free, fair and consistently respected by the people? The issue of sustainable development should therefore be central to how an independent country evaluates itself whenever it reflects on its sovereignty.
Nigeria’s experience with oil also raises questions about the sustainability of its development. The oil boom of the 1970s brought significant economic gains, but the country’s continued dependence on oil revenues has exposed the weakness of relying heavily on one sector. Nigeria’s progress cannot depend entirely on whoever occupies political office. A new administration should not automatically abandon useful projects simply because they were initiated by its predecessor.
The fact that no country is completely self-sufficient, and that nations need to partner with one another to address areas of insufficiency, is understandable. But what can we say of a country that possesses abundant natural resources and is a major crude oil producer, yet for years depended heavily on other countries for refined petroleum products?
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria imported 20.30 billion litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, and 4.94 billion litres of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), or diesel, in 2023.
If independence gives a nation greater control over its resources and economic affairs, why should Nigeria remain so dependent on external refining capacity to meet a substantial part of its domestic energy needs? The question is not whether Nigeria should trade with other countries, but whether it has sufficiently developed the capacity to add value to its own resources.
Nigeria also has enormous agricultural potential and produces crops such as rice, cassava, maize, yam, cocoa, palm produce, soybean, millet, beans, vegetables and fruits. Yet the country continues to import significant quantities of food and agricultural products. In the fourth quarter of 2023 alone, the NBS recorded agricultural imports valued at ₦711.14 billion.
Why has a country with such extensive agricultural resource not developed sufficient agricultural productivity, processing, storage and value chains to reduce its vulnerability to imported food products? The challenge, therefore, is not simply production; it is the ability to build systems that transform production into sustainable economic value.
Nigeria should stop measuring independence only by the fact that colonial rule ended in 1960 and begin measuring it by what Nigerians have been able to build, protect and sustain since independence.
Freedom from colonial rule should be a starting point, not a destination. Independence Day should be a national checkpoint, a moment for Nigeria to examine not only how far it has come, but also whether it is building a country capable of sustaining its progress and able to translate that sovereignty into sustainable development and a better quality of life for its citizens.
