‘We must not despair despite seeming hopelessness’

AS we celebrate yet another October 1, the government has a duty to ensure that it creates a conducive environment for the people to live a good life in the country, as it obtains in most parts of the world. It must consolidate the safety and comfort of Nigerians. While doing that, it must keep an eye on its role as the vanguard of the Black race resurgence.
Our concern should be how to establish a viable Nigerian state that would be able to pursue a pan-African vision, to look after every black person. So, we must create a viable economy and have a vision for Africa.

To achieve this, we must grow our geo-political strength. Our country must stand for Africa having been tested during the liberation struggle shortly after our independence. This should be Nigeria’s posture and the path to our greatness having been tested during the liberation struggles in the continent. This is the posture God has designed for the country, which is why it has been provided abundance of human and natural resources.
The emancipation of African states from colonisation had many characters but a leading light emerged in the form of Nigeria as a spearhead and has been making laudable strides since the death of colonisation.

With her performance during the liberation struggles and the continued pan-African expression, her natural and human. we must ensure that we do not despair in the face of seeming hopelessness and fading promises that our nation held at the independence. the United States of America, Britain, India and China did not get to where they are today without the agonies of nation-building. We must calibrate our progress and expectations with balance. We must find solace in the fact that we are making progress; even if we make mistakes, there is always a process of nation-building resources endowment, she is naturally and psychologically equipped to chirp out an African perspective and interest.
It is indeed the manifest destiny of Nigerians and Nigeria to chaperon the advancement of African and the Black race towards making the right sacrifices for the next 100 years of global enterprise.

The other states that may compete with us, apart from South Africa, are states like Egypt and Algeria. But they are not intrinsically black. The black race has been maligned over time by slavery, colonisation, debt burden, and the like. Somebody has to help Africa’s course, so it could take its rightful place in the world. I am talking in terms of, maybe, 100 years from now. For instance, America which had been in existence for long, only became a world power after the Second World War. That is a long span of time.
We should not be disturbed by the on-going noise suggesting that Nigeria may split. We can have all the fights, but Nigeria must not divide because of the role it would play in leading Africa and indeed, the Black race. Nigeria would grow from strength to strength, and would be seen as an African satellite for the Black race.
We must ensure that we do not despair in
the face of seeming hopelessness and fading promises that our nation held at Independence. Sometimes, we under-rate and castigate ourselves for what nature brought unto us.
The thing is, at independence, we had just about 44 million people to cater to. Less than 60 years after, we have grown to over 200 million. Not many nation states have this sort of growth. The United States of America, the British, the Chinese and the Indians didn’t get to where they are today overnight. We must calibrate our progress and expectations.
We must find solace in the fact that we are making progress; even if we make mistakes, there is always a process of nation building. Going forward, there must be objectivity in assessing ourselves as a nation. The human spirit is capable of doing a lot of things. And one nation that has given indication that it can lead the continent and the black nation is Nigeria.
However, it is very important for us to develop architecture for our national security, growth and development, and economic prosperity, just as we preserve our customs and traditions. This would help restore Nigeria’s stolen history and the replacement of Blacks’ achievement in a world dominated by bigotry, greed and ancestral preferences. Otherwise, Nigeria’s greatness will be stillborn by the year 3020.
* Alli is a retired Major General of the Nigerian Army and member, Editorial Board, The Guardian