Nigeria, We ‘Fail’ Thee

“…our flag has become a sad symbol that “truth” has long been laid to rest in the cemetery of lies, incorrigible lies, about the country by people in power. The same people have shamelessly caricatured, murdered and cremated “justice” without qualms or remorse. And, if anything, what they plan “to hand on to our children”… is a banner so full of the stain of injustice, corruption, nepotism, mismanagement, tribalism and other symbols of national decadence that cannot be wiped clean or purified with hyssop in several generations to come.”   

BEFORE Arise, O Compatriots, Nigeria, the country that was formally and globally hailed as the Giant of Africa, had a national anthem that began with, Nigeria We Hail Thee. That anthem, with lyrics ironically written by Lillian Jean Williams, a British expatriate lady, heralded Nigeria’s independence in 1960. But by 1978, patriotic Nigerians had had enough of that relic of British colonialism and the anthem was replaced with a more indigenously composed national song, Arise, O Compatriots. When the new national anthem was introduced, there was mass jubilation that at last, Nigeria had shaken off the final vestige of British imperialism, because her compatriots were now in charge and would rise to the challenge imbued in the new anthem. 

National anthems are both aspirational and motivational. So, the new anthem presupposed a great deal, from willfully and exuberantly calling ourselves “compatriots” to what has since turned out to be an utterly laughable and fallacious assumption that we are “one nation bound in freedom, peace and unity.” So, inasmuch as it sounds unpatriotic to walk back in time to what Lillian Jean Williams composed for Nigeria, that is exactly what I intend to do; walking back to see if Nigeria has lived up to the aspirations of the old anthem. If the aspiration was that of Nigeria We Hail Thee, the reality of the moment is that of Nigeria We Fail Thee.  

Decades ago, Professor Wole Soyinka poignantly lamented and mourned Nigeria’s wasted generation. His reference was to his peers who were at the helm of power in Nigeria’s governance. It was also some form of self-indictment that his generation upon whom everyone looked to catapult Nigeria to the orbit of greatness, had woefully failed to do so. Well, the same people and generation he castigated, are still in power. And, given what we now see about the once exemplary nation in Africa, it appears that the truth is not just that Nigeria has had a wasted generation, the country itself is a wasted nation that is rapidly cascading into a failed nation-state. 

I bet that very few Nigerians, especially those born after the year 2000, know that there was once upon a time when the Naira was much stronger than the US dollar ($1= 60 kobo). This did not happen when the biblical Adam and Eve were created and enjoyed nature’s lavishness in the Garden of Eden, but as late as in the 1980s and 1990s. That was also a time when any Nigerian foreign minister commanded more respect and integrity abroad than the presidents of many African countries. I can attest to this because, as a journalist with the Vanguard newspaper, I was a witness to how our foreign ministers were respected and treated at international conferences. These are now very distant memories that appear like tales of out of fictitious, bedtime storybooks for kids.

Back to the national anthem, Nigeria We Hail Thee, with a textual analysis of the lyrics. Here is the first stanza:

Nigeria we hail thee

Our own dear native land

Though tribes and tongue may differ

In brotherhood we stand

Nigerians all, are proud to serve

Our sovereign Motherland. 

The zeal and fervor of independence most appropriately engendered the feeling of “hailing” Nigeria as “our own dear native land.” Notice the emphasis on “our own” and “dear native land.” In truth and in all honesty, how many Nigerians of today might be willing, from the depths of their heart, to associate themselves with such emphasis on ownership of the country that is dearest to their hearts? Ask any victim, or relatives of such victim, of the rampant kidnappings that go on apparently unabated in the country and hear what he or she has to say about “our own dear native land.” Yes, we all still believe and hold firm that Nigeria is our “native land,” but the “dear” qualifier is another matter altogether. 

“Though tribes and tongue may differ, In brotherhood we stand.” Nigeria has always had hundreds of “tribes and tongues” that are undeniably different. That is given. But, how about the aspirational “in brotherhood we stand?” The combustible nature of the lack of “brotherhood” in Nigeria clearly manifested itself during the Nigeria-Biafra civil war of 1967-1970. Among other things, that war was a huge evidence and warning that the country was capable of an implosion if “brotherhood” was not positively cultivated and harnessed. With the “no victor, no vanquished” post war policy of the head of state, General Yakubu Gowon, the expectation was that an effort was being made to promote “brotherhood” in Nigeria, in spite of “tribes and tongues” being different.  

But, fast-forward to today, with all the pockets of agitation for autonomy all over the country, and you will easily recognise that our leadership has done a disastrous job of fostering brotherhood. If you doubt this, take another look at the “brotherhood” backgrounds of people in power, especially in the security and defense agencies. How much of nation-wide “brotherhood” do you see there? How much sense of “brotherhood” do you find among various Nigerian communities where people justifiably feel terribly marginalized and left out in the nation? It is obvious that what is obtainable after Nigeria’s sixty-one years of independence is not “in brotherhood we stand” but “in brotherhood we stand divided!” 

And, how about “Nigerians all, are proud to serve Our sovereign Motherland.” Yes, “the sovereign motherland” is still there, although it is precariously perching on the brink of collapse due to a motley of centrifugal forces that imperil the nation. If you call it a façade, you may not be far from the truth. Unless you are one of the few top government officials and legislators and their hangers-on who are “proud to serve our sovereign motherland,” you are condemned to belong to the millions of underprivileged Nigerians for whom survival is a matter of minute-by-minute prayer and supplication to God almighty. If you recall, when Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu and his co-radical military officers carried out Nigeria’s first military coup d’état, the major lambasted the clique that milked Nigeria dry and foisted corruption on the country. In his January 15, 1966 broadcast on Radio Nigeria Kaduna, Major Nzeogwu said this about members of this cabal:

“Our enemies are the political profiteers, the swindlers, the men in high and low places that seek bribes and demand 10 percent; those that seek to keep the country divided permanently so that they can remain in office as ministers or VIPs at least, the tribalists, the nepotists, those that make the country look big for nothing before international circles, those that have corrupted our society and put the Nigerian political calendar back by their words and deeds.”

Poor Nzeogwu. If he was still alive, he would have realised that his 1966 tough speech underestimates the tribulations of contemporary Nigeria. Today, the percentage demanded and grabbed by the corrupt jiggers that are deeply etched inside the toes of the nation, has significantly grown beyond Nzeogwu’s “10 percent.” And their membership has become even more exclusive. They are the only people who are “proud to serve” Nigeria because of their unrestrained opportunity to engage in unbridled lootocracy.  

The second stanza of the anthem exuberantly proclaims that:

Our flag shall be a symbol

That truth and justice reign

In peace or battle honour’d,

And this we count as gain,

To hand on to our children

A banner without stain.

Yes, our flag has remained a symbol, but not about what Ms. Lillian Jean Williams had in mind and wrote about. It has become a sad symbol that “truth” has long been laid to rest in the cemetery of lies, incorrigible lies, about the country by people in power. The same people have shamelessly caricatured, murdered and cremated “justice” without qualms or remorse. And, if anything, what they plan “to hand on to our children” if at all they think about Nigeria’s children, is a banner so full of the stain of injustice, corruption, nepotism, mismanagement, tribalism and other symbols of national decadence that cannot be wiped clean or purified with hyssop in several generations to come.   

Finally, the third stanza is more of an invocation and supplication to God. It says:

O God of all creation

Grant this our one request.

Help us to build a nation

Where no man is oppressed

And so with peace and plenty

Nigeria shall be blessed.

Like people of various religions across the globe, most Nigerians, irrespective of their specific religious belief, still beckon on the “God of all creation” to intervene and “grant this our one request” to start afresh and “build a nation where no man (or woman) is oppressed.” But, this is where the lunatics or Vagabonds in Power (VIP), as Fela Kuti would call them, have a different set of prayers. They understand that if Nigeria is blessed with “peace” and good governance, such blessings will no doubt signal the end of their socio-economic terrorism against Nigerians. Their supplication to the “God of all creation” is to continue to “grant this (their) one request” for the country to continue to wallow in the abyss of cutthroat corruption, jackleg government, official criminality, and all stained symbols of national ruination. For, that is the putrefying habitat in which they tend to thrive; a situation in which Nigeria shall continuously remain unblessed. 

While the argument here is not that we collectively owe the author of “Nigeria We Hail Thee” an apology for prematurely transitioning to “Arise, O Compatriots,” it appears that we might have unwittingly jumped the gun from the former to the latter. The late Chief Sam Mbakwe, erstwhile governor of Imo State, once announced openly that Nigeria should be handed back to Britain for re-colonization and cleansing before returning it back to Nigerians for a fresh start at being independent. This may be an extreme view but given the bizarre happenings in modern Nigeria, Chief Mbakwe was making a fundamental point that aligns with the topic of this discussion; that the systemic rottenness that afflicts Nigeria is ossifying beyond cure. In Nigeria, Arise, O Compatriots has become the opium of the poor. The rich and powerful revel in squandering the fortunes of this once vibrant nation. 

Ms. Lillian Jean Williams may have wished Nigerians well with the sense of patriotism embedded in Nigeria We Hail Thee. Unfortunately, the reality after over three decades of independence is sadly different. It is about Nigeria We Fail Thee. 

*Professor Onyebadi is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of NaijaTimes