On the 1st of October, 1960 la gb’ominira.
Omo Naijira a nyo, aa ndupe, kominira maa se di nira fun wa. Nigeria President, Nnamdi, Dr Azikiwe ni won da lola. Tafawa Balewa, ni Prime Minister lo lagbara O. Opposition leader ni, Baba Awolowo mi Obafemi. Baba Oluwasegun lawyer, baba Oluwole, oselu baba ni lkenne O.
15th of January, 1966. Ijoba bo s’owo awon oloogun, Aguiyi-lronisi lo di olori wa tuntun. Ohun naa tun se iwo die to le se, Iku mu lronsi lo, General Yakubu tun d’Olori wa tuntun. Nigbati General Gowon, llu nroju, ilu ntoro a nr’Owo naa O. Eniti O ri je pupo nje labele, a nse Alhamdulilah a ndupe. Odun Mesan lori alefa baa waa saaaaba! Ohun naa tun se iwon die to le se ki ijoba to bo sowo Muritala Mohammed to tun di olori wa tuntun!
Igba ti Muritala gori aga, awon NEPA O gbodo mu ina lo, awon water O gbodo mu omi lo. Osise to ba ko ti ko sise deedee kia ni yo yo si ibe ni were were, ayarabiasa maa ni Muri. On the 11th of February, 1975, iku pa Muritala mi orun rere, kirisiyu meje fun e Alhaji Muri.
Uncle General Sege lo tun di olori waa tuntun Obasanjo omo won l’Owu. Ajifewesere ni Obasanjo.
The lyrics above are the idyllic storytelling expertise employed by the late and indisputable founder of the Fuji brand of music Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister to document the progress of the Nigerian leadership trajectory from October 1, 1960 to the last military administration of General Olusegun Obasanjo who handed over to the second republic democratic experimentation of Alhaji Usman Aliyu Shehu Shagari which too sail on October 1st 1979 but was sacked on 31st December 1983.
Forget all the pretenders parading themselves as crooners after SAB, our historical journey was well documented by him and his closest rival of that generation – Alhaji Ilori Kolawole Ayinla aka Kollington. This was lighter years ahead of the eventual extrication of History as a subject in our national educational curriculum. I will recommend that you appoint an interpreter for the interpretation of the lyrics. You will be glad you did.
The illustriousness of the legacies of our journey to nationhood is embedded in the beautifully woven tapestries of our stories, that have been told from generation to generation from the days of our founding fathers and nationalists, and it’s endearing inspite of their imperfections.
Our beloved country is both rich and great in tradition, people and resources.
Today, as we celebrate Independence Day,
it’s a call to arms for us as individual citizens and collectively, that we are reminded to continue to cultivate and demonstrate genuine love for country, compassion for our fellow citizens, tolerance in our diversity, faithful performance of duty, honesty in life, discipline, diligence, self restraint in conduct and not least of all, a conscience-driven mindset. These are the ingredients necessary for us to rise above the apparent contradictions of our recent history and contemporary narrative and collectively build a thriving future for all of our citizens, living and dead.
And I am not extricating the glaring realities that it is a glaring case that we no longer have dedicated leaders/leadership across most of the stratagems of our existence willing to render selfish service in tow with the oath of allegiance and the charter to make the Nigerian people the epicenter of their focus, rather, pecuniary gains and personal interests overrides genuine commitment to service.
Leaving us with vast majority of self-centered leaders amassing wealth for their unborn generations at the detriment of true service.
But, it’s never too late to start all over.
I strongly believe that it is not too late for a rebirth at 64 but I am genuinely wondering
how it will happen and I am not a pessimist.
And as such, we won’t stop praying for Nigeria.
Now, it also behoves our generation to continue to sustain the positive storytelling, ones worthy of bequeathing to future generations with such aplomb inspite of our overwhelming and over-arching realities.
And like the President has opined in his anniversary broadcast, we wont break, rather we will emerge from these stronger.
Happy Independence Day, Nigeria
Congratulations Fellow Nigerians
Source:Lanre Arogundade Facebook wall
