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Nigeria celebrates five decades of existence as
an independent state on October 1, 2010. Its first chance to show whether the
next fifty years will be an improvement of its first fifty years will come in
early 2011 when Federal and state presidential, gubernatorial, and
parliamentary elections will be held. All of us know what is wrong in Nigeria:
the tremendous venality of public officials and politicians, for one; the
maddening maze of inefficient state monopolies over large swathes of the
Nigerian economy for another. How for do?

To help me figure that out, I have been thinking
about the traits of Nigeria which were evident at its birth to determine what
can be expected realistically from Nigeria over the next five decades. Let me
start with that most notorious of allegedly Nigerian traits-a thirst for
corruption. The American journalist-John Gunther-visited Nigeria and the Gold
Coast in the mid-1950s.

His impressions were recorded in a book entitled
“Inside Africa” that was published in 1955. Despite the limitations of relying
on a visitor’s perceptions of a country, Mr. Gunther’s observations are useful
as a record of the common views of that pre-independence era.

Listen to Mr. Gunther’s commentary on corruption
in Nigeria and the Gold Coast.

“It was in Lagos that we first began to hear
about the worst thing in Nigeria, corruption. A tip or gift is known as dash,
and “dashing” exists almost everywhere. This phenomenon is probably unavoidable
in any community like Nigeria, convulsed as it is by the most violent
fermentations, and where people thrown up from the bottom suddenly find themselves
able to exert power through money.

Nevertheless, it is regrettable…A boy in a
hospital will have to “dash” the nurse a penny to get a bedpan. Horrible, of
course.

” … Corruption is another characteristic [in
the Gold Coast], although I had the feeling that Accra was not so sensationally
corrupt as communities in Nigeria…. We asked several prominent Gold Coasters
what they thought the country needed most. Answers: (1) More honesty in the
public service. Abolition of corruption”.

In a manner reminiscent of babies born with the
HIV/AIDS virus today, Nigeria and Ghana were born with the “corruption” virus.
Like HIV/AIDS, it has spread and mutated over the years into a horrible
debilitating disease sapping our polity and economy. It is time for us to admit
that our leaders and politicians are a reflection of us. As we change, so do
they. Not the other way!

If we want a sober and honest Nigerian
administration, the quiet majority of ordinary people must show first, by their
deeds, that they will accept nothing less from Nigerian politicians. In a way,
Nigerian attitudes towards corruption and incompetent government remind me of
St. Augustine’s cry to God: “Give me chastity; but not yet.”

In the same vein, Nigerians want a prudent
government, but only tomorrow.

Permit a small example. Nigeria’s political class
proposes to spend 17 billion naira to celebrate five decades of independence.
Outrage has been expressed in several quarters. But, is there a movement to boycott
all celebrations or commence hunger strikes to stop such palpable profligacy?
Nothing of the sort! Rather, mere bombastic words of sound and fury signifying
something, but we know not what! Can it be a surprise that President Jonathan has
not objected to this wanton waste of public funds? Why should he when

Nigerians are unwilling to endure pain for a
modest celebration, befitting Nigeria’s mediocre experience of independence to
date?

There is an old saying that Nigeria is a place
where the best is impossible but where the worst never happens. There can be no
doubt that its first 50 years of existence have confirmed the truth of that
saying. The road ahead is to turn Nigeria into a country where the best is
possible.

The journey on that road should start at the
level of daily life-the states.

Reformers must build their vision of Nigeria at
its best, state by state. It is an arduous mission that will take the better
part of two decades. Lagos State seems a good place for reformers to create a
microcosm of the new Nigeria. It has an independent tax base, a vigorous
economy, a large population and a respected reformer as governor. Other states
which should be targeted now to show the benefits of reform are Plateau State, Kano
State, and Rivers State.

The road to a resplendent Nigerian centenary
celebration starts in the Nigerian states.