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Nigeria at 60 :A house Divided against Itself.

                  
 
 The shouts of Happy independence is all we are going to be hearing throughout the day of today, yes I agree, it’s a milestone year; Nigeria @ 60. But the big question here is; can we comfortably look back and ask what we have achieved as a nation in those sixty years? If we were to do a self evaluation, will we be proud of where we find ourselves?
 
From a personal stand point, I don’t think so; this is drawing from the fact that we have never reached a point as a nation where we can agree that we have ever been united, coming together to fight a common goal, and against a common enemy. It’s either the effort of the few who are fighting for a better society is being discouraged or that selective few are fighting to enrich their selfish goals.
 
Many would disagree with this but I can say not all Nigerian past and present leaders in this 60 year period have been corrupt, but most times, it’s the cabinet makeup that gives the leader a bad name.
 
Let’s take for instance the immediate past administration of Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, this was a man who had the welfare of the masses at heart, a man who wanted the piece of the nation, but what was his undoing? The same people who he brought with him into office where the ones who committed the crimes that drew his name to mud, majorly the minister of petroleum who looted millions and today is hiding in a far off land leaving us to our misery. 
 
The fight for unity and a peaceful society should be the fight of every man, but not so in our beloved country, we find ourselves in a society where a man who fights for what right is being considered the bad guy simply because he doesn’t wants to follow the crowd in perpetuating evil.
 
Before the 2015 general elections, many Nigerian politicians crossed from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressive Congress (APC) simply because they knew the former was going down and losing support of the masses, I mean, who doesn’t want to be in the winning team, so they all went as sheep without a shepherd. They sided with the presidential aspirant of the all progressive congress; General Muhammadu Buhari.
They spoke good about the man, stressing the fact that he was leading the true agenda for change in the Nigerian society, many endorsed him and put their finances behind him, worthy of note is the fact that:  this wasn’t just support that you believe in an agenda but they were all doing this because of what they thought they stood to benefit once he got into office.
 
Fast-forward to four years later and this same men were against their formal best man, why was this? Most of these men owned companies which never paid taxes and they never wanted it to be revealed, but when the  president insisted they pay tax as every business owner  does, they flared up and began bringing up different propagandas just to see that he doesn’t get a second term. It was even so bad that His own senate president had to defect to the Peoples Democratic Party just to see that he can get a ticket to run for the presidency against his formal boss  but he couldn’t even make it past his party’s primary because he wasn’t even trusted at that level.
 
So what point am I driving at in this narrative? For us to move forward as a country, we need to unite in the fight against bad leadership and corruption in the Nigerian society. Even the bible stated it that a house divided against itself can’t stand, it would certainly fall. So as we go out today with the screams of happy independence, let’s learn to be united, putting aside our various differences and uniting as one to make Nigeria the nation we have always wished it to be.
 
Happy Independence Day!!!!!
 
 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR 
Orim Moses Arda hails from Obudu local government area in cross river state. He is also a year two student in the faculty of law, university of Calabar. A dedicated member of LIFIN  who is always willing to help whenever the call comes knocking. This article is born out of my love to see my beloved nation Nigeria come together and unite to fight corruption and bad leadership, because it’s only in unity that we can stand.
 
 
 
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For knowledge and Justice
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