Nigeria will be 65, as an independent country, on 1 October, 2025. That means the country has come a long way since its 1 October, 1960 Independence Day, and the country has had a chequered history. This nation has had high hopes. One of the key indicators of this hope was in the introduction of Nigeria on the floor of the United Nations Organisation on 7 October, 1960, prior to the speech of the Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. The United Nations compere said: “We are confident that as a member of the United Nations [Nigeria] will contribute much in making speedy solutions and wise solutions. We are confident that in our deliberations we will benefit from their wisdom, from their ingenuity of thought.”
The compere said further: “In this Assembly, we are sure that their entrance will give our deliberations more vitality and more speedy progress. Apart from that, Mr. President, we are also certain that Nigeria as an independent country, Nigeria, in facing their problems, Nigeria, solving their problems, will also give inspiration to all of us especially to the newly independent countries. The methods in which she is solving her problems, either politically, economically or technically or socially will certainly will be of great advantage for other nations, especially the newly independent countries or the technically underdeveloped countries.” The introduction received resounding applause.
In his speech, Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa said: “Mr. President, Last Saturday, the country which I have the honour to represent, the Federation of Nigeria, became independent and assumed the rights and the responsibilities of a sovereign state. Today, Nigeria has been admitted into the United Nations Organisation and assumed still more responsibilities. On behalf of my countrymen in Nigeria, I thank you all most sincerely for accepting us as a fellow member in this organisation.”
Moreover, the Prime Minister said: “First, it is the desire of Nigeria as I have said already to remain on friendly terms with all nations and to participate actively in the work of the United Nations Organisation. Secondly, Nigeria, a large and populous country, of over thirty five million, has absolutely no territorial or expansionist intentions. Thirdly, we shall not forget our old friends and we are proud to have been accepted as a member of the British Commonwealth. But nevertheless, we do not intend to align ourselves as a matter of routine with any of the power blocs. … Fourthly, Nigeria hopes to work with other African states for the progress of Africa and to assist in bringing all African territories to a state of responsible independence.”
Moreover, the famous United States President John F. Kennedy invited Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa to America on a state visit from 25 July, 1961. Watching the United States Information Service documentary of that visit, it is difficult not to be proud to be a Nigerian. The Prime Minister was received at the airport by US Vice-President Lyndon Johnson and American officials, with elaborate and colourful military honours. This was coupled with Sir Tafawa Balewa’s self-assured and rhetorically skillful speech delivery which justified his endearing naming as the “Golden Voice of Africa”.
But most striking of all was the spectacle of ordinary American citizens lining up to catch a glimpse of the Nigerian Prime Minister and waving as he arrived. Among other places of note, Sir Tafawa Balewa visited a number of American universities, which could have been motivated by his fascination with education.
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He also visited the Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, site of one of the 1863 decisive battles of the American civil war, and took photographs at the site. This is ironical, because six years later, on 30 May, 1967, a civil war broke out in Nigeria itself. The Nigerian civil war was a fallout of the unprecedented military coup of January 1966 which was an ill-advised reaction to ethno-religious disagreements. In that coup which was predominantly carried out by Igbo soldiers, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, along with many other non-Igbo leaders, was brutally killed. The virtually exclusively non-Igbo casualties of that coup stoked ethnic suspicions, and an ethnically-coloured retaliatory counter coup took place in July 1966. Ripples from the coups precipitated the 1967 civil war which went on until January 1970.
Considering the fact that some Nigerians are readily threatening war today if their demands are not fulfilled, it is important to look at some examples of the rhetoric of that war. Addressing Biafrans, the Biafran war leader Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu said: “Fellow Biafrans, on the occasion of your rally to demonstrate your solidarity with the struggles of your kith and kin back home, I send to you all fraternal greetings. As one who has been entrusted with the onerous responsibilities of guiding our young republic through these difficult times, I must confess that it is always a source of deep pleasure and encouragement to me to receive assurances of the support of the people and their continuing determination to persevere until complete victory is achieved.”
He went on: “You are all aware that for over four months now, Nigeria has been waging a war of aggression to destroy Biafra and her people. This invasion by Nigerian hordes was mounted because the people of the former Eastern Region of Nigeria were forced on May the 30th, 1967 to declare themselves the Independent State of Biafra in order to assure the security of their lives and property. … The inordinate ambition of the Hausa-Fulani oligarchy to continue to dominate the whole of what was formerly the Federation of Nigeria, the unrealistic desire to acquire the wealth and resources of Biafra while rejecting their people, the mad and homicidal desire to exterminate from the face of the earth fourteen million Biafrans drove Gowon and his clique towards unleashing a costly war to attain the unattainable – the subjugation of this young, but promising republic.”
He said further: “Even with the vast resources of the former Federation of Nigeria with which they prosecute the war, even with the active collaboration of those international opportunists, Britain and the Soviet Union, an unholy alliance of vested interests, even with their attempt to subvert our government by suborning some of our highly-placed military and civilian personnel, an attempt which was foiled at the nick of time, Gowon has failed to make good his boast to crush Biafra – a campaign which he bragged would take only forty-eight hours to accomplish has now dragged on for almost five months and will drag on for as long as it takes Gowon and his clique, both Nigerian and others, to realise that nothing can shake the will or crush the spirit of a determined people.”
Around two and a half years after that speech, Ojukwu, the Biafran war Commander, fled Nigeria, and Col. Olusegun Obasanjo, the Commander of the 3rd Marine Division received the instrument of surrender from Col. Effiong the Biafran Army Commander on 15 January, 1970; and the war came to an end. The occasion provided an opportunity for the Head of State at the time, Col. Yakubu Gowon, to respond to Ojukwu’s negative comments on him.
Gowon was asked by the media “Why do you think Ojukwu left Biafra?” He responded: “The foreign press seemed to know him better than we do. … You seem to give him all sorts of excellent qualities. … Ojukwu the gallant chap who said I will fight to the last man and I will be the last man to fall. What a pity! How are the mighty fallen and in such a cowardly way! If he had done a Hitler, probably [he could have been a man] of courage. He didn’t do a Hitler. Hitler took poison, died and ordered his body to be burned up.”
Some estimates put the number of Nigerians who died in that war at around three million. So, it was not an experience any patriotic Nigerian should wish for. This is why it is bothersome that a Chieftain of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Buba Galadima, said in an ARISE News interview on 16 September, 2025: “Come November, there are rumours all over the place that this [Tinubu] government is nominating a just retired Court of Appeal judge who is known for notoriety to be the Chairman of INEC. I wish it is not true, because if that man becomes the Chairman of INEC, be rest assured that this government is inviting a civil war in this country.”
Another dimension of the unpatriotic disposition of some Nigerians is that, ironically, a nation which the UN in 1960 hoped would provide a guide to other nations on how to solve their problems has now become seemingly unable to solve its own problems, and at every turn, some individuals or collectives of Nigerians have the tendency to invite foreign powers to help solve the country’s problems. One of the latest examples of this was former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s invitation of the international community to come and help the country out of Atiku’s presumed problems with the widely-commended 30 August, 2025 Rivers State Local Government elections.
One other obstacle to the fulfillment of the dream of Nigeria’s independence is the perverse promotion of negative narratives about the country by some Nigerians. It is heartening that as the ‘Niger-pessimists’ continue to sink deeper in their self-defeating obsession, new associations of ‘Niger-optimists’ are emerging. One of them is the Transformative Governance Forum (TGF) – a self-motivated and self-sustaining group of patriotic Nigerians of diverse professional callings within and outside the country.
The TGF specifies its philosophy as follows: “Conscious of the enduring socio-political and economic challenges confronting our people; challenged by the erosion of public trust in governance, and the dwindling spirits of patriotism; believing in the power of communal solidarity and grassroots democracy to transform society; recognising that the challenges of our time demand collective courage and unwavering commitment to progressive values in our polity; some Social Welfarists within the Progressive camps constitute themselves as the Transformative Governance Forum, to work for a social democratic Federal Republic of Nigeria; a nation where no child sleeps hungry, no elderly suffer unaffordable healthcare, and no talent is squandered by want.”
The interim National Coordinator of the TGF is Aare Mojeed Alabi, a Professor of Law and former Honourable Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly. Members of the Board of Trustees include Her Majesty Ambassador Dr Omolola Ogunwusi, Dr. Ademola Rabiu, CEng, Lady Nkechi Fidimaiye, Dr Abiola Oshodi, Prof Anthony Okoh, Lt Gen Abdulrahman Dambazau, Hon Kayode Adebiyi, Prof Amuda-Kannike (SAN), Aare Mojeed Alabi, and Hajiya Zainab Mohammed Pawa. The TGF has scheduled a range of activities, including the inauguration of its National Executive, for 22 to 23 September, 2025 in Abuja.
