By Comrade Kunle Sodipo, ANIPR
ckswritings@gmail.com
Let us tell ourselves the truth today, 1st October 2026.
Nigeria at 66 is a story of immense blessings wasted by consistent irresponsibility. We have no business being poor, insecure, or disunited. We chose this path.
*THE FACTS THAT SHAME US*
At 66, after earning over *$1 trillion from crude oil since 1960*, Nigeria cannot boast of 10,000 megawatts of electricity for 230 million people. Togo and Ghana are more stable.
At 66, we have *133 million Nigerians living in multi-dimensional poverty* according to NBS, in a country with 34 million hectares of arable land lying fallow.
At 66, we still import refined fuel after 4 refineries and billions of dollars spent on turn-around maintenance. We export crude and import poverty.
At 66, our best brains are not in our hospitals, universities or industries. They are at foreign embassies queuing for visas. The “Japa” syndrome is not because our youths are unpatriotic; it is because the nation has failed to give them a plan.
At 66, elections are still about tribe and religion, not about manifesto and competence. We vote for who will give us rice, not who will build factories that will produce rice.
This is the shame.
*HOW DID WE GET HERE?*
We got here because we killed merit.
A young Nigerian cannot get a job, promotion or contract without “who you know.” A country that buries merit will bury its future.
We got here because we made governance too lucrative. When a Senator earns more than a Professor, and a Local Government Chairman controls more cash than an industrialist, politics becomes war, and everyone wants to go to war.
We got here because we have zero consequences. People steal billions and are celebrated. People fail in public office and are re-appointed. When there is no punishment for failure and no reward for excellence, shame becomes normal.
*HOW DO WE TURN SHAME TO FAME?*
We must stop deceiving ourselves. Independence Day speeches will not fix Nigeria.
*1. Restructure the Economy of Politics:* Cut the cost of governance by 50%. Part-time legislature, merge MDAs, stop paying ex-governors pensions while pensioners die without gratuity. Use the money to fund education and health.
*2. Return to Merit and Production:* No nation develops by sharing money. Nations develop by producing. Give zero import waivers to what we can produce. Give tax holidays to industries that employ 500 Nigerians. Give automatic employment to First-Class graduates. Reward excellence.
*3. Enforce Consequences:* Until a big thief goes to jail and stays in jail, and his loot is publicly auctioned to build schools, corruption will not stop. We need strong institutions, not strong men.
*4. Invest in People, Not Just Infrastructure:* Roads are good, but humans build roads. A nation with 20 million out-of-school children is building a time-bomb, not a future. Free, compulsory basic education is not a favour; it is survival.
*5. Fix Power, Fix Nigeria:* No nation became an industrial power with generators. Declare a state of emergency on power and solve it in 24 months. What China, Egypt and Ethiopia did is not rocket science.
Nigeria’s fame is still possible. We have the population, the market, the talents, the land, and the resilience. What we lack is disciplined, selfless leadership and responsible followership.
The 1960 dream was not that we would become a big-for-nothing giant. The dream was that we would become Africa’s pride.
At 66, we are old enough to know better. We are strong enough to do better.
The choice to turn our shame to fame is ours. Not Buhari’s, not Tinubu’s, not Obi’s, not Atiku’s. Ours.
The nation is watching. History is recording.
*Happy Independence Day, Nigeria. May our tomorrow be better than our yesterday.*
*Comrade Kunle Sodipo, ANIPR*
Public Affairs Analyst and Security Strategist
Abeokuta, Ogun State
1st October, 2026
