October 1, 1960: By an act of the British Parliament, Nigeria became an independent country. Late Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe was installed as the governor general of the federation and Sir Abubakar Tafa Balewa served as head of the democratically elected parliamentary government.
October 1, 1963: The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was adopted, thereby making Nigeria a republic. At the same time, Nigeria became a member of the Commonwealth and Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe of the NCNC took office as first Nigerian's first President.
January 15, 1966: A group of officers led by Lt Kaduna Nzeogwu overthrew the government and installed Major General Agunyi Ironsi as head of state; an act that initiated Nigeria into a series of military regimes and crippled the emerging democraticPLATFORM – THE PLATFORM which our founding fathers designed to govern the Nigeria state.
33 years of these nine military administrations (to include of the two puppet democratically selected administrations of Alhaji Shehu Shagari and Ernest Shonekan) radically altered the Nigeria nature to an extent that are challenged in institutionalizing an home-grown democracy.
Of them all, one of the most significant impact was the civil war, fought between 6 July 1967–15 January 1970, during the administration of Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon. After a period of unrest and ethnic clashes, the south eastern region of Nigeria (led by Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu) spearhead a secession from Nigeria into a new Republic of Biafra (an act violently resisted by the Federal Government of Nigeria).
The atrocities committed sowed a seed that militated against our vision of “One nation bound in freedom, peace and unity”. People began to see themselves as individuals, and communities, as nations divided by ethnic background. They believed that success is not dependent on collective effort rather “whatever would be, would be”. We lost hope and believed that we are dispensable parts of a system out of human control. The national character that resulted from these shocks was such that our communal identity and approach was completed transformed
- The emerged character was one which lacked vision; a character that still depends on guidance from the colonial masters in formulating rules and regulations
- The character was violence, rebellious and incapable of producing results; all our basic necessities are products that creative minds abroad
- it was one that traded it inheritance for a “morsel of meat”, one that trades its natural resources for basic comfort of life (instead of developing competency to provide such)
- it was one were intellectual content was divorced from national building; a nation where scholastic topics were excluded from discussions of the elite
A character that no longer trusted it inherent skills, no longer desired to understand its divine purpose; one that chased wealth without human emotions, moral justification or ethical backing.
Even in all these, there is redemption. We are part of bringing a new Nigeria that would deliver “what eyes have not seen, and ear have not heard”. As Nigeria turns 50, we are changing that character:
- We are pushing for a character revolution to challenges the current order. One not enforced by violence means, but by spirits relying on something greater
- We are forcing minds to rely less on institutions and look within for that still voice saying “this is the way to go, walk in it”
- we are collating hidden wisdom nuggets and working out ways to discover how they can be applied in our dealings of mundane issues
- We are encouraging all to see the beauty in the works of our collective hands; beauty that is revealed when we find our purpose and trust in the intelligence that crafted us, to help in accomplishing it
This is the new Nigeria. We are changing the PLATFORM!!!
October 2, 2010. Join us
