Assurance Izevbizua in Jacksonville, Florida
Born in April 1958, the sixties to me was a period of exhilaration.
Nigeria got its independence in 1960; this was a new birth and the
potential for growth and greatness lay ahead. Ghana got its
independence two years earlier. A host of other African countries were
being liberated. There was joy and expectancy in the air. Our
destiny was in our hands.
On a personal level, I couldn't be happier in the 60s. My
earliest memories was that of great expectations, of grand opportunities
and possibilities. My Dad was heavily
involved in the Nigeria's first elections at the local government level.
He was a counselor, organizer and party stalwart. Earlier in his career, he was a
tax collector. My sisters Isoken, Esohe and Emwionmwan were
born in 1962. My brother, Endurance, was born in 1966.
Sister Akugbe in 1968, and Osadebamwen in 1970. This
definitely was a period of celebration. I attended Seventh Day
Adventist Primary School where I started in 1963 and finished at the
Government School, right across from Oba Market, and only about a mile
from the King's palace.
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The civil war between 1967 and 1970 put a damper on the hopes for the
people and for a new nation, but in my mind, as painful as the war was, I
believed the civil war was part of the growing pains of a new nation.
In spite of the early hopes, the Nigerian problem persists, gotten
worse, and the Nigerian state and economy are in tatters. A nation
endowed, but an economy in disarray. The Nigerian problem is simple:
Inability to get along. Inability to forge a national character that
puts the good of the country first and foremost. Inability to rise
above our ethnic clutches. Inability to put aside our personal and narrow
interests for the common good. The "followership" is just as
guilty as the leadership. Out of bad the followers come the leaders.
The Nigerian story is about a promise denied. In Benin City, my
lovely home town, the infrastructure is in decay. The roads are
impassable. Electric supply is infrequent. Crime is the order of the
day. People have barricaded themselves behind burglar bars in their own
homes. Our young ladies, this hurts, Bini women sell themselves in
the streets of Lagos, Italy, Holland and other parts of the world.
In Benin our penchant for superstition, worship of unclean spirits, and
the urge to get the material by any means necessary has not helped our
image; neither has it helped our socio-economic growth..
Today, survival is the order of the day in Benin City, home to one of
Africa's greatest civilization. Survival is the order of the day in
Nigeria, one of Africa's most endowed countries. Our oil wealth has been
appropriated and misused by a select few. Official records indicate
Sanni Abacha and his family stole billions of dollars from the national
coffers. The Nigerian problem persists. That much I learned.
A. Izevbizua |
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USA
