The Tanzania High Commission Mr and Mrs Peter Kallaghe chatting to the Gambia High commissioner in the UK
The Tanzania High commissioner with the Mayor of Waltham Forest
NIGERIA @ 50: FRUSTRATION AT PROMISE UNFULFILLED
When the British colonial masters lowered the Union Jack in Lagos on October 1st 1960,Nigeria was Africa’s greatest hope in terms of talent ,mass of fertile land and oil..The same promise had lived on 50 years later , having survived a civil war , military dictatorship, economic mismanagement and social turmoil. Today , the demands of a restless population of at least 150 millions people press more urgently. There is an election around the corner should Nigeria start digging their trenches early
However, if anyone looks at Nigeria’s performance since 1960, no one can say that it has been an unqualified success. The high promise held out for Nigeria at independence has not been realised. Countries like Malaysia, India, Brazil, and even Ghana, with whom we were in the struggle for economic emancipation have all overtaken Nigeria.
Nigeria scores low on almost every index of human development. Education is in crisis with 80 per cent failure rates recorded in public exams, but the children of Nigeria’s rulers attend fine schools abroad.
Despite these negative developments, Nigeria continues to make substantial progress with its human resources. Nigerians are giving a good account of themselves all over the world. In almost every field of human endeavour there are Nigerians contributing their quota to world development. But the atmosphere in their home country is often disappointing and hostile so that many in the Diaspora remain abroad.
The Nigeria police have participated in about 20 international peacekeeping engagements since 1960. Between the two forces Nigeria ranks fourth or fifth in the world among the 130 UN contributing countries for peacekeeping. Nigerians have served in places as widely scattered as Bosnia Herzegovina, Iraq, Kuwait, Western Sahara, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Angola and Rwanda.
Nigerian troops have also served in Somalia, Mozambique, Cambodia, The Congo, Chad, Darfur, Lebanon, India, and Pakistan (Kashmir). Nigeria has been an active player on the African scene. In 1965, Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa hosted the Commonwealth Heads of State Meeting in Lagos – the first CHOGM to be held outside London – to discuss the Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) independence crisis. Subsequently Nigeria played significant roles in the independence of Angola and Namibia, the dismantling of apartheid in South Africa and the restoration of peace in Sierra Leone, Cote d'Ivoire and Liberia. It is regrettable that Nigeria’s contributions in Africa have not always received full acknowledgement even by the beneficiaries. Nigeria is the spearhead of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) whose activities have helped to stabilise the sub-region.
But arguably, Nigeria’s greatest achievement is its determination to make democracy work and it is more likely that Nigeria will keep finding reasons to stay as one Nation
