Every October 1st, phone screens flash with routine “Happy Independence Day” messages while the President addresses the nation to mark another year of sovereignty. While it is taken as common knowledge that Nigeria gained independence from British colonial rule in 1960, a sober evaluation of our daily reality forces many to ask whether we possess the true substance of a free state. While we are undeniably liberated from foreign governors-general, can a country truly be called independent when its citizens cannot travel freely due to pervasive insecurity, or when political elites flee to foreign hospitals while local healthcare collapses? As the legendary pan-African theorist Frantz Fanon perceptively warned, “Imperialism leaves behind germs of rot which we must clinical-like detect and remove from our land but from our minds as well,” a truth expanded by the iconic Ghanaian leader Kwame Nkrumah, who asserted, “Thought without practice is empty, and action without thought is blind.” Today, let’s reflect on rethinking the true version of Nigeria’s independence.
Do you know that celebrating political freedom from external powers remains an empty ritual until our citizens experience internal liberation from structural oppression and economic hardship? True independence should not merely be about the lowering of the Union Jack and the hoisting of the Green-White-Green flag; it should involve the guarantee of basic human dignity, security, and democratic agency for every citizen. A nation cannot claim genuine sovereignty when the electoral process is widely perceived as a game dictated by political godfathers, or when state institutions operate primarily to appease those in power rather than serve the common man. It is a painful paradox that six decades after self-rule, millions of young Nigerians view foreign migration — popularly known as japa — as their only escape from poverty, bad governance, and failing public infrastructure. Furthermore, speaking of national independence sounds bitterly hollow to displaced citizens languishing in IDP camps who cannot return to their ancestral homes, or to families trapped in chronic hunger and darkness. Real self-determination requires that a nation can feed its people, secure its borders, educate its youth, and maintain courts where justice is neither bought nor unnecessarily delayed. Until the rights, security, and living standards of the ordinary Nigerian reflect true liberty, our independence may remain a formal title rather than a lived experience.
So, as citizens, we need to enhance our capacity to demand substantive internal liberation by shifting our civic focus from ceremonial patriotism to active institutional accountability. Every Nigerian must recognize that constitutional freedoms and civic rights are not gifts bestowed by political leaders, but fundamental entitlements that must be vigilantly defended through active democratic participation. We must reject the quiet acceptance of bad governance and stop celebrating bare-minimum achievements from public officers whose primary duty is to build an environment where citizens can thrive without needing to flee abroad. Political leaders at all levels must urgently embark on a national restoration project aimed at rebuilding the economy, revitalizing public education, modernizing healthcare, and securing communities so that displaced persons can safely return to their ancestral lands. Electoral institutions and law enforcement agencies must intentionally decouple themselves from political patronage and interference, proving through impartial actions that the vote of the ordinary citizen genuinely counts and that the common man does not become the victim of the ill-action and inactions of those who benefit from the commonwealth of the nation. By refusing to let short-term stomach infrastructure blind us to long-term systemic failure, we may force the state to convert the abstract promise of 1960 into tangible, everyday freedom for all.
As you step out each day, remember that genuine independence is measured by the quality of life, freedom, and security enjoyed by the average citizen rather than the grand speeches of political elites. Refuse to settle for a national freedom that exists only on paper while working actively to demand a society where every Nigerian can flourish in safety and dignity. May our collective determination forge a nation where independence is a lived reality felt in every home rather than a annual ritual celebrated by the political elites.
Esang Esitikot, a chemical engineer, is a professor of occupational health and safety. He is a public affairs analyst, UN Ambassador for Peace, and a pro bono lecturer at the Institute of Health, Safety, Security and Environment, University of Uyo and Institute of Safety, Health, Environment and Quality, Akwa Ibom State University, Ikot Akpaden. He can be contacted via 08035103559 (Whatsapp only) or email (esitikot@gmail.com).
