EDITORIAL: Another Independence Day Marking Promises Unfulfilled

FORTY-EIGHT hours from now, we will be marking another day of independence from the colonial incursion. We love holidays, Independence Day this year falls on a Sunday meaning that the next day will be for the festivities. 

All well and good? In reality, it is bittersweet. Very far from Uhuru in reality, it is a mixed grill of promises unfulfilled. 

The sixty-third independence anniversary is taking place at a time when the chickens have come home to roost. The economy is belly up and the country is facing a terrible currency crisis, leading to the decimation of living standards. We are in dire straits and very painful policy options will have to be made. 

Sadly, today’s dishevelment was avoidable. The warning signals were obvious. It says a lot that no one needed the gift of intuition, let alone the powers of clairvoyance to have predicted this man-made disaster. 

It all went awry almost immediately. The aspirations of independence should have been consolidated by working out a national democratic agreement to deepen the federal arrangement and create a national identity, a geographical expression did not evolve into a national identity. 

The termination of the first republic and arbitration of the 1973 Republican Constitution laid the seeds of today’s crisis.  The country went from production to consumption and it has been downhill all the way. 

What Is To Be Done?

The new federal government under President Bola Tinubu is clearly aware of the issue. It must however walk the talk and resist the temptation of uttering sanctimonious sermons. Adversity must be turned into opportunity by putting the people first. The manifesto of the All Progressive Congress (APC) made a clear commitment to constructing a “social market”, this presumably refers to a German, Nordic type economy in which shared prosperity is anchored on macroeconomic stability.  A Social Market economy will certainly achieve both social and national cohesion and lead to a productivity economy. We hope they walk the talk not least by inducing a new form of industrial relations. 

The proposed strike on Tuesday, the third of October will have been averted if a mound breaking tripartite system of industrial relations had been stated from day one. This should still be done and the strike must be averted.

Nigeria must now up the ante on production and “export or perish’. The liquidity crisis distorting the value of the Naira can only be ameliorated through experts. To export, we need competitive ports and institutions! it must be done to stave off disaster. 

We wish the government and the great people of Nigeria happy Independence Day and more fulfilling decades of ahead.

National integration, unity and achievements

Long live the federal republic of Nigeria!