‘It is disheartening that I am still struggling at 56’
FOR 56-year-old Jimi Christopher Pyne, the approach of his birthday every year is always a mixture of good and bad feelings.
“The approach of my birthday brings both good and bad feelings to me,” Pyne said.
Lafiaji, Lagos State-born Pyne, who sometime ago suffered a partial stroke, was born on October 1, 1960, same day that Nigeria obtained her independence.
At 56, like his beloved country and birthday mate, Pyne, who claims to be a builder, confessed that he is still struggling.
“It is disheartening that I am still struggling at 56. The truth about this is that I wish that I, and indeed Nigeria, are better off than we are today. The main problem that is besetting our nation is leadership.”
However, despite his parlous state, Pyne is happy for life. “I am happy to be alive. Even though life is tough, I still give God the glory for keeping me alive,” he said with a sense of thanksgiving.
Sharing birthday with Nigeria makes me special —Tonia Obiageri Ologwa
Tonia Obiageri Ologwa looks forward to every October 1st like a young girl looking forward to her first date. For sharing birthday with her country, Tonia sees herself as special. “Yeah, I am special,” she said excitedly.
However, Tonia wishes that Nigeria has done better than it is presently doing. She is sad that at 56, an age she said any human being would have qualified to be a grandfather, Nigeria remains a toddler.
“As a man or woman, at 56 years old, you should be talking about your grandchildren. But, when you are like Nigeria who is still crawling at 56, how would you realise that dream?,” Tonia asked.
Tonia, who is still single, believes that the situation of the country has made it almost impossible for prospective husbands to realise their dreams.
“The men are no longer up and doing like they were in those days. Before now, a job is waiting for you immediately you leave the university. They give you a decent apartment, car and all those things that would make your life good.
“But, the story is no longer the same. There is no job for the teeming youths who leave higher institutions every year. They continue to remain dependent on their parents, same way Nigeria remains dependent on foreign countries for survival.”
Asked if her high taste and those of other young ladies is responsible for driving young men away, Tonia said she would rather blame the situation on the economy, which she said has incapacitated most young men, thereby discouraging them from settling down.
“I am a home-grown lady. So, you cannot say that I am single because of my high taste. The truth is that the economy is not really friendly to young men. Most young men are incapacitated and cannot even dream of settling down, not to talk of marrying for now.”
Despite her reservation, Tonia is happy to share her birthday with Nigeria and has decided to celebrate the day the way she can.
October 1st is the best thing to happen to me —Maureen Amaka Dike
MAUREEN Amaka Dike is excited at the approach of her birthday and she is determined to mark the day with her baby and husband in a special way. For her, the talk about sharing her birthday with Nigeria is the best thing.
“It is the best thing to happen to me,” she said excitedly.
Her excitement, she confessed, is laced with the optimism that the future is bright for her and Nigeria.
“Whenever I tell people that my birthday is October 1st, they look at me with some special interest. What that tells me is that I am special. For me, I am very sure that the future is very bright for my country and for me as well.”
‘My dad used to tell me how important I was because of my birthday’
YETUNDE Joseph, born after independence, is always happy any time her birthday comes up. Right from the early age, she had been made to feel important because she shares the same birthday with Nigeria. “I feel elated to be sharing the same birthday with my country, Nigeria. As a child, my dad always told me I was very important and my birthday was recognised by the president, that was why we got a public holiday and everyone was at home to celebrate my birthday with me, although I never had a big birthday party. Aside the public holiday we all get, as a child although not vividly, I remember being crowned as Miss Independence Day when we went for a programme at the NTA 2 Channel 5 back then.”
Joseph is hopeful that someday, things will definitely turn around for good for the country. She posited that if Nigeria could attain the present feat at 56 when compared to the first world countries that are older in ages, then there is hope that things will definitely get better. She is optimistic that “Things will turn around for good.”
She also believes that for the country to achieve the desired greatness, all hands must be on deck, and has resolved to be part of those who would bring about the greatness. “As an individual, I aspire to contribute my quota to the country’s development, by giving voice to the marginalised in our society, so that everyone can maximise their potential, irrespective of whether you have a disability, an orphan, widow, abused and others.”
Joseph wished for a corrupt-free Nigeria, where everybody has access to basic amenities, quality living, good leadership, and employment opportunities.
Asked if she would have preferred to be born on independence, she said: “No, because I would not have been born through my mum. She was a child at the time of independence. I cannot trade to have another woman as my biological mother,” she said.
She is looking forward to Nigeria with humane leaders, constant power supply which is already gradually trending, quality education, improved employment rate and better standard of living for all.
“We should all continue to love our country and ourselves during the good and bad times, irrespective of our tribe, religion or cultural differences, and let’s all work towards building our precious home Nigeria, since there is really nowhere like home,” she said.
‘Independence connotes freedom and it helps my mindset’
I FEEL honoured sharing the same day with my country, a great country with blessed people.” These were the words of Leigh Tolulope, as she spoke excitedly to The Nation.
She further said: “Well, the date actually makes me feel exceptional at times, but I can t recall any day I enjoyed any kind of special treatment, when I mentioned my date of birth.”
Tolulope realised early that his birthday celebrations were always an holiday for the family and usually so exciting.
His aspiration is to be an accomplished surveyor and to contribute his quota to national growth and mankind. “Missed opportunities avail you new methodology to accomplishments. So, I dwell less on that, but focus more on the next,” Tolulope said.
As the nation celebrates her 56th birthday, Tolulope is looking forward to a great nation , “where you have that conviction that you are where you see your dreams come to pass, a country we will all be proud of.”
Unfortunately, he is not happy that the country is still far from where he had wished it was, despite the fact that it has what it takes to be great.
If he comes another life, Tolulope would still want to share national day with his country because, “independence connotes freedom, it’s so symbolic, it helps my mindset, like I was born to be free, so when life comes with its challenges, I don’t flutter, , I know I l be free of such situation soon.”
For this country to unite, he is of the view that we have an all inclusive government where everybody is adequately represented. “It gives a natural sense of belonging and responsibility, that makes us know it belongs to all of us, but if there’s a subconscious sidelining of a particular region or group, it won’t foster the love cum unity we all crave for.”
Looking forward to a better nation —Funmilayo Oyatayo
FUNMILAYO Oyatayo sees herself as a privileged citizen because she shares the same birthday with her country.
“It is a great privilege sharing the same day with our great country and I feel really excited about it,” she said, before adding: “Nigeria is the pride of Africa, a country with beautiful people and diverse cultures.”
She recalled how the hospital gave her mother loads of goodies for being an Independence Day baby.
“My aspirations include becoming a successful surveyor and I look forward to providing solutions to global issues that border on my area of expertise. I will rather learn from missed opportunities and make the most of the next opportunity that comes my way,” she said.
While Oyatayo is happy to be born on October 1st, she would prefer nature take its course. “Yes, I love the Independence Day feeling and the circumstances surrounding the date, because it connotes a day when the nation received her freedom. Although the breakthrough in medical science have made it possible for parents to decide exactly and plan when they want their children to be born, I’ll rather prefer nature take its course.”
On the occasion of Nigeria’s 56th independence, she is looking forward to a country that will shift from being a consumer nation to a producer nation.
“I hope to see a country where the green passport will be the most sought-after, a country where everything works because the giant of Africa is a land of endless possibilities, blessed with abundant natural resources that can translate to personal wealth for her citizens. We have a lot of untapped potentials and I can see individuals, private organisations and other corporate bodies working tirelessly to see this country attain that height once again. The process seems slow and steady, but I see us getting there. I’m really looking forward to it,” she said.
It’s good fortune sharing birthday with Nigeria —Chief Dozie Kaidi Obiaku
FOR Chief Dozie Kaidi Obiaku, being born on Nigeria’s Independence Day is a mark of good fortune. “I have the good fortune, yes, good fortune, of sharing birthday with my beloved country Nigeria.”
Though many Nigerians seem to have lost faith in the country, Chief Obiaku remains resolute that the country has the potential to be great.
“Many Nigerians seem to have lost faith in the country and have only negative sentiments towards the nation. But I really consider that sad for our great country. Nigeria is, at least, potentially great. Like Nigeria, I have also grown in age, only just two years younger.”
Speaking with The Nation, Obiaku said: “I started out well enough in life, born to parents who one would really neither describe as rich nor poor. I was a brilliant boy who made distinction in both my primary and secondary school education.
“I gained admission in 1980 to study mass communication at the famous Institute of Management and Technology, IMT, Enugu. I could be rightly described as a bourgeois student because, by the time I graduated in 1985, I had used two cars on campus.
“I went to Ibadan for my National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme between 1985 and 1986 and earned a Masters degree from the University of Ibadan in 1992. Three years after I got married. I also had a bit of my education overseas. Today, I live in Lagos where I am struggling with the prevailing economic recession in Nigeria.
“Life was a whole lot easier for me as a young person growing up in Nigeria in the 1970’s/1980’s than it is now as a middle-aged parent. Now I can hardly provide for my own children the things I took for granted when I was their age. Life in Nigeria has indeed been increasingly difficult, and I blame it all largely on misrule or massive corruption if you like.”
‘I feel that my fate or my life is tied to that of Nigeria’
SHARING his birthday with Nigeria is a refreshing experience for Yinka Oyegbile. For the veteran journalist and his household, October 1st of every year remains an unforgettable day on the calendar.
“Well, it makes me feel that the day is a day that I will never forget, and a lot of my friends don’t forget. One, because I am not a man that is given so much to marking birthdays, but whether you like it or not, even before the advent of Facebook.
“I remember in primary school, the very day I was registered, when my teacher heard that I was born on October 1, it became an annual thing, and every October 1, they will remind me, telling me ‘Happy birthday’. So, because I share the same birthday with Nigeria, it makes me remember it is my birthday.
Secondly, it gives you some sense of satisfaction and at the same time, a sense of burden. You feel satisfied in the sense that you share the same birthday with your country and you know that almost everyone will remember. A sense of burden because you look at Nigeria, you feel that the country should have moved forward more than were it is. On a personal note, I feel that my fate or my life is tied to that of Nigeria.”
He believes that the fortune of the country has rubbed off on him, like it has done on every other Nigerian.
“Personally, if there is any Nigerian who feels that the fortune of the country has not affected him in one way or the other, that person must be a Nigerian who either has been privileged to hold government office, or near someone who holds government office, or his or her parents hold government office.
“Come to think it, in terms of achievement, many will feel that if your country has succeeded, you will also have succeeded, because the way I see it is that, the success of Nigeria is the success of its citizens. I have, within the resources available to me, struggled enough. I am happy and I thank God as I am. One would have expected that someone like me, born almost at the same time as the country, in terms of year and date, perhaps I would have enjoyed scholarship, enjoyed bursary, but I have never in life had any government scholarship or bursary.
“So, if I did not have, with the way the economy is going now, is it my children that will have government bursary or scholarship? But at the time we were growing up, we knew people who were getting scholarship who were at the same pedestal with us, but because their parents wielded some influence, and that is very unfortunate. Nigeria has not been able to give every man a chance to prove himself,” he said regrettably.
I rarely celebrate my birthday on October 1 —Lagos bizman Asiwaju Agwunobi
CONTRARY to what many may expect from a man who shares the same birthday with his country, Lagos-based businessman, Asiwaju Martins Agwunobi, has never been enthusiastic about celebrating his birthday.
“I rarely celebrate my birthday. That I was born on a date which marks Nigeria’s freedom from the British colonial authorities gladdens my heart, but it has turned out to be just like every other day to me for many years.’’
The 46-year-old Chief Executive Officer of Utmost Global Resources Ltd attributed his disposition toward the birthday to his childhood days which he said were devoid of celebration of his birthday.
‘’I was born on October 1, 1970 in Isunjaba in Isu Local Government Area of Imo State, but I left my hometown for Lagos to live with one of my uncles, who is late now. I was brought to Lagos before the age of five and I did not have the privilege of being celebrated on my birthday.”
Growing up, his birthday was never a special event to talk about around his uncle’s home.
“ I did not enjoy any special treat, because my uncle hardly remembers his own birthday, talk less of mine. The situation was like that till I finished my primary and secondary education and subsequently travelled to Germany where I spent over 20 years.”
Sharing his experiences, he said that providence played a part in his relocation abroad at a younger age, which also marked a turning point in his life.
”My stay in Germany marked the turning point in my life. I did not know anyone there when I travelled to the country. But I quickly adapted, studied their language and got married before too long because I lost my mother a few months after I left Nigeria.”
