Nigeria at 66

Nigeria’s journey to nationhood started on October 1, 1960 when the British Union Jack was lowered for Nigeria’s national flag. Every year, the country celebrates this milestone with mixed feelings. Despite some gains that have been recorded along the way, many Nigerians still feel disillusioned at the way things are going in the country.

Nevertheless, there are reasons to keep hope alive. The fact that the military has not intervened in governance for over 27 years despite the obvious hiccups in our democratic journey is enough to believe that things will get better. Our electoral system is not perfect, but the country has succeeded in transiting from one civilian government to the other since 1999.

Previous republics were marred by political chicanery and military interventions. The political crisis of the First Republic led to the first military coup in 1966. That coup precipitated a chain of events that culminated in the Nigerian civil war between 1967 and 1970. Millions of people perished in that war.

The Second Republic which started in 1979 after some years of military rule did not fare better. Politicians reveled in corruption, violence, and poor governance.  The military had reason to intervene again in 1983 when things were getting out of hand.

Unfortunately, the military made its own mistakes. It was highhanded and churned out draconian decrees to the detriment of the populace. Successive military regimes, including that of Muhammadu Buhari, Ibrahim Babangida and Sani Abacha, detained many journalists and pro-democracy activists and shut down some media houses.

Babangida annulled what has been adjudged the freest election in Nigeria’s history, the June 12, 1993 presidential election won by the late Chief Moshood Abiola. The crisis that trailed the annulment forced Babangida to step aside. Chief Ernest Shonekan came in as interim President. But a brutal Abacha shoved him aside not long after, and became the Head of State. Incidentally, he died in 1998. Abdulsalami Abubakar, who succeeded him, supervised the return to civilian administration, led by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, in 1999.

Obasanjo passed on the mantle of leadership to Umaru Yar’Adua in 2007. The leadership succession moved from Yar’Adua to Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, Buhari and to the incumbent President, Bola Tinubu.

It is pertinent to note that whereas the country’s peers like India, Singapore, and Malaysia now command great respect among nations, Nigeria attracts insults from different quarters. Her citizens are hounded and harassed, and sometimes killed in some countries with impunity. 

Regrettably, the three arms of government – the executive, the legislature and the judiciary – are mired in corruption. The country appears cursed with leaders who are extremely selfish, corrupt, nepotistic, and incompetent. It is poorly governed, ranking 112 in the 2026 World Economics Governance Index with a governance score of 33.9.

While the majority of the citizens are dying of poverty and hunger, the leaders relish in acquiring state-of-the-art cars, houses, aircraft and loans. As of June 30, 2026, Nigeria’s total public debt stands at N166.79 trillion, an increase of 9.4 per cent or N14.39 trillion from the N152.4 trillion recorded in June 2025.

Today, over 133 million Nigerians live in multidimensional poverty. Hunger is a present danger as cost of living is very high. Businesses are going through a lot of problems leading to the closure of many companies. The present government boasts of macroeconomic gains, but this has not translated into better life for the citizens. According to SBM Intelligence, 45.3 per cent of Nigerian households experienced job losses, business closures, or inability to find work in the past year.

The worst is that terrorists and bandits have made life unbearable for citizens. Thousands of people have been kidnapped. Some were killed while millions of others end up in internally displaced people’s camps. In the 2026 Global Terrorism Index (GTI), Nigeria ranked fourth in the world, a decline from the eighth and sixth positions it took in 2024 and 2025, respectively.

Health and education sectors are still in shambolic state. Many public hospitals lack the basic facilities required for diagnosis and treatment. It is disgraceful that the Ministry of Health got N36 million out of the N218 billion appropriated for its capital expenditure in 2025. Little wonder, over 50,000 Nigerian doctors relocated abroad for greener pastures. Those remaining in the country frequently go on strike to press home their demands for better welfare. 

Like health, the education sector is also in a shambles. Millions of children are out of school. Many public schools do not have the facilities like well equipped library and laboratory required for learning. Some classroom and hostel facilities are dilapidated.

Happily, the private sector has continued to make the country proud. Recently, a team of surgeons led by Prof. Obi Davies-Ekwenna, performed the first tele-robotic surgery in West Africa across 500kilomtres at the Redeemer’s Health Village (RHV) in Mowe, Ogun State. During the procedure, a surgical robot at Nisa Premier Hospital, Abuja, was connected through the internet to the robotic control system at RHV.     

Ultimately, Nigeria will be better if only the leaders could decide to change their ways and become transparent and accountable. They should deploy more resources to such important sectors as education, health, agriculture and security, and refrain from profligate spending. The citizens, on their part, should be alive to their civic responsibilities. They should endeavour to do things that will uplift the country from its current poor state to the height everyone desires it to be.