Musing on Nigeria’s 65th Birthday after reading John Onyeukwu’s solemn panorama of what’s at stake
Cornelius Hamelberg
Stockholm
Sweden
Our Peoples’ Planet
4th October, 2025
Martin Buber’s “The Way of Man” begins dramatically with exploring the implications of the question that the Almighty asks Adam in Genesis 3:9 :
Buber goes on to explain that the question is directed at each and every one of us today. It's also a matter of individual responsibility - Adam / Nigeria, I gave you all these resources, where are you - how far have you come? :
http://www.maaber.org/issue_february09/spiritual_traditions1_e.htm
The way of man according to the teachings of Hasidism
If Fela Kuti was alive, what barricades would he be shaking / assailing / assaulting today, at 87 years of age ?
And Nigeria’s founding fathers ?
Ginsberg : Holy the cocks of the grandfathers of Kansas !
The undeniable fact is that Nigeria has come a long way since 1st of October 1960 when the Nigerian population was 45 million souls. It’s now .234,573,603 souls…
4th October, 2025 and the very last book that I read before flying to Nigeria in 1981 , Guy Arnold’s Modern Nigeria ( published in 1977) isn't just behind the times, it’s woefully out of date !
The way I see it, an Independence Anniversary, be it the 6th of March ( Ghana) 27th April (Sierra Leone & South Africa) the 4th of July ( United States) and Nigeria’s on the 1st of October, it’s always, inevitably a time for jollity - celebration - Jollof Rice - let’s face it, we’re not supposed to cry on our birthday, wedding anniversary, coming of age at 21, Freedom Anniversary, and happily this year, it’s not a funeral and not exactly a time for unlimited levity either, but a time for serious stocktaking and a pep-talk from our beloved visionary and pragmatic JAGABAN ( I almost wrote Bhagavan) to put all of us all at ease, with assurances that for sure we can’t undo or reverse the past but that all is not lost, that we are on course, so, JAGABAN is upbeat with the latest 12 major achievements, OPTIMISTIC, just as MLK*s “I have a Dream “ and his very last great speech on 3rd April 1968 just before his assassination, so too we ( all of us) are on our way, and hopefully in stride with him when he concludes that historic speech with “ I’ve been to the mountaintop … I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land”
You know, there are some names and titles - of persons (e.g. Ojogbon) , people, poems, books, essays, ships, roads, universities, restaurants ( “Don’t Mind Your Wife Chop Bar” in Accra comes to mind) countries, and as a Pan-Africanist, the first thing to remark about John Onyeukwu’s Nigeria at 65: Too Old for Excuses, Too Young to Collapse is that it’s a particularly poignant diagnosis of the state of the nation, its insights could be expanded - extended into a full length book titled “ What's Wrong with Nigeria, what needs to be fixed “ and voila - transformed into a visionary blueprint for growing up and coming of age beyond an amalgamation of ethnic enclaves into a full, cohesive United States of Nigeria nationhood.
Nigeria at 65: Too Old for Excuses, Too Young to Collapse is a sober and sombre title, its contents a wake up call for reflection, thankfully, less dramatic and less pessimistic than the other putative title of sorrow and foreboding that it suggests, such as, yup, Naija at 65, ”Too old to Rock 'n 'roll, too young to die”. Naija at 65 probably reminds the Biblically inclined that the Good Lord did decree “threescore years and ten” which means - literally - that whereas Baba Kadiri and I are now doing overtime, mathematically speaking, without more Grace & Blessings from Above for a life extension - dear life, Nigeria only has five more years to fulfil the final five -year- development plan before kicking the bucket, ”quenching “ - God forbid , and arriving at the Olam Haba,
“The undiscovered country, from whose bourn
No traveller returns…”
As Pastor Samuel O would be the first to tell you, “For it is appointed once to die and after that the judgment”
And just imagine if it (the judgment) was or is to be collective punishment or collective rewards for nations, for whole nations, not just for Ali Baba the commander-in-chief and his cabinet of 40 thieves, life everlasting in Jahannam , along with the God-fearing Pentecostals, collective punishments, national karma, no individual or merely ethnic or denominational salvation. just “ Were you Nigeria? - OK Stand over there ! It’s collective punishment , collective damnation if you do or did not behave properly as a nation. That would mean that we would begin to take our civic responsibilities more seriously , and for the New Testament Bible thumpers among us, especially, they would have to meditate on the implications of this verse more seriously :
But as John has told us ( not John the Beloved Disciple or John the Baptiser, but dear John Onyeukwu (too young to be a bitter old Negro and more in line with the new cadre of Nigeria’s “angry young men”) as he has told us, “Nations rarely die” and went on to say “Nigeria is not too old to change” - Baruch Hashem ! Thank God for that , Hallelujah & Alhamdulillah, because as we all know, the saying in Igbo is that “ You can't teach an old dog new tricks”, others say that it’s old monkeys that you can’t teach new tricks….
As for the youths in the same boat, still at the crossroads,
“dem wi` tek chance
wid y´u lickle sistah Sally
dem wi` tek chance
far dem feel dem force
dem wi` tek chance
but dem gat no course
dem wi` tek chance
but dem is nat advanced
dem wi` tek chance
an´ dem don´t count di caas”
Linton Kwesi Johnson : It Noh Funny
Thankfully, in the realm of that long catalogue of everything that's wrong and in need of repairs and improvement, John did not add to the nightmare confounded by some other glaring ills not mentioned, Boko Haram, ransom kidnapping etc , however there is one great omission which always deserves an honorary mention : EDUCATION - its importance for national development - and secondly it’s alright weeping over “our most desperate citizens fleeing through deserts and seas in search of dignity abroad” and “the cries of jobless graduates” without explicitly naming one of the most debilitating drains of all , Nigeria’s BRAIN DRAIN and how that trend and that tide MUST be stemmed and reversed
In this regard, Mr. President and his “cabinet of national competence” have to put in place inducements that can give meaning and incentive to the “ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”
Umar Bin Hassan : Be Bop Or Be Dead
John Onyeukwu
Dear Chief Cornelius,
What a deeply evocative and generous reflection , trust you to turn a commentary into a philosophical journey. I smiled at the image of Adam and Nigeria standing side by side, summoned by the same divine question: “Where are you?” It is, perhaps, the most piercing question of all, one we’ve mastered the art of avoiding.
Your invocation of The Way of Man and the sweep from Buber to Fela, from MLK to Ginsberg, mirrors what I tried to capture: that moral accountability and civic rebirth are inseparable. Indeed, if nations could stand before judgment as men do, Nigeria’s plea would likely be mixed, guilty, remorseful, but still yearning for redemption.
You are right, of course, that education, the seedbed of national consciousness, deserved a fuller treatment. The brain drain is our quiet exodus; every flight out is another classroom left empty, another dream deferred. A nation that keeps exporting some of its best minds cannot grow its own future. That must be the next frontier of reform, and perhaps, as you suggest, the anchor of a larger work.
Thank you for engaging the essay with such depth, wit, and historical memory. Your words remind me that critique is an act of love, and that those who still care enough to argue for Nigeria are, in truth, its most faithful citizens.
P.S. With your kind permission, I’d love to share your insightful critique, just as it is, on the Accountable Reform WhatsApp Channel { https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va6de2U7oQhkR1uYDA1S}, where I occasionally post some of my reflections and, (and with this as first, responses) to my public pieces. It’s a thoughtful contribution that deserves a wider audience of reform-minded colleagues. Of course, I’ll only do so with your consent.
Warm regards
John
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Cornelius Hamelberg
Dear John Onyeukwu,
“Generosity Generosity Generosity yeah Generosity!
Generosity Generosity Generosity yeah Generosity!”
(https://www.google.com/search?q=Allen+Ginsberg+sings+about+generosity)
You are the generous one indeed and in deed. Many thanks for the offer, but I’m afraid that there’s so much of the extraneous in what I wrote, especially because, well, just ask the corrupt ones about the saying “give them an inch and they'll take a mile”, and not unlike them, I was also taking those liberties that I took, since for me it is / was more of a family matter (amicable get-together dinner table conversation) and I wasn’t writing with the Accountable Reform WhatsApp Channel in mind, so please permit me to withhold that permission.
Nations such as Egypt, China and Iran have been around for a long time, enough reason to feel uncomfortable with the idea of jokingly ascribing the mortality lifespan of three score years and ten to any nation, and as to the impatience with Nigeria getting her act together, I swing with this example of Hon. Minister Louis Farrakhan remonstrating with one Mike Wallace, about Nigeria
Fareed Zakaria’s latest GPS tells us how China finally got their act together, how they dealt with their own problem of brain-drain and blazed ahead, hopefully providing some inspiration for Nigeria.
If we’re thinking about Gaza’s reconstruction, just look at what can be done in 28 hours :
https://www.google.com/search?q=China+%3A+technology&n
Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew is often cited as another good example
What advice would be coming from the good-hearted Jeffrey Sachs, today?
How Nigeria deals with the future is surely going to be a generational matter - by 2050 when Nigeria will be the third most populous nation in the world, we are to suppose that more than 60% of those eligible to vote will be under 30 years of age, and hopefully by then it will be the youths and not some experienced centenarians born in the last century that will be calling the shots and hopefully, in the name of self-interest, they will be voting for the future.
Here’s some food for thought for us oldies:
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=122231009294146339&set=a.122113564406146339
Of uttermost relevance of course is the one and only Almighty's invitation to Adam/ Nigeria / Humanity/ You/ Me/ Us/ Honest Joe/ Bola Ahmed Tinubu , an invitation to introspection through that depth charge question to Adam : “Where are you ?”
With regard to President Tinubu the question could be interpreted “How far have you come with all the resources that I put at your disposal ?”
If, privately, e.g. Peter Obi or wannabe Elder Statesman Olusegun Obasanjo, or - birds of the same feather - his good friend the Venerable Alhaji Atiku Abubakar were to ask Mr. President what he ( Mr President ) could possibly perceive to be a very personal, maybe impertinent question,“ How far have you come, with all the resources that Almighty God put at your disposal?”, he (His Excellency the Honourable President Bola Ahmed Tinubu) might well reply, “ Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.”
And we have to be careful how we use the term “The Almighty”, because - astagfirullah - in certain contexts some presidents, heads of state, prime ministers, commanders-in-chief, etc. believe themselves to be “The Almighty!”- in person. (Mr. Cuba once told me this didactic story about a poor boy who wanted to marry a rich man’s daughter. The rich man asked his prospective son-in-law,
“Who is going to buy her her expensive jewellery ?”
Poor Boy replied, “God will provide ! ”
“And who’s going to pay for her holidays in Monaco?”
Po’ boi replied. “ The Almighty will provide.”
According to the rich man, “It was at that point that it dawned on me that I was The Almighty that the poor boy had in mind”.
Anyway, the Quran tells us that Allah is the rich and we are the poor
There’s the ditty, “A man of words and not of deeds is like a garden full of weeds”
Of course, sometimes words are more efficacious than deeds : The Almighty told Moses “ Speak to the rock” - but what did Moses do? In his hour of desperation he hit it (the rock). The rest is history
Introspection probably inspired Martin Luther to post his Ninety-Five Theses on that church door in Wittenberg…
No one in his right mind would accuse native son President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of being “a man of words and not of deeds”, considering the transformation of the Lagos State Economy in his portfolio of achievements whilst he was governor of that state , and the current work-in-progress, the ongoing transformation of his beloved Nigeria. For all we know,the Almighty said to Mr. President, “Speak to the nation, speak to the children of Nigeria on the occasion of their 65th Freedom Anniversary “- and there you have it: Nigeria, no longer the sleeping giant, President Tinubu’s 65th Independence Anniversary Address which begins with this serious declaration of intention with a special emphasis on the “I have a dream “ section :
“Fellow Nigerians,
Today marks the 65th anniversary of our great nation’s Independence. As we reflect on the significance of this day and our journey of nationhood since October 1, 1960, when our founding fathers accepted the instruments of self-government from colonial rule, let us remember their sacrifice, devotion, and grand dream of a strong, prosperous, and united Nigeria that will lead Africa and be the beacon of light to the rest of the world.”
On the world stage a ” United Nigeria that will lead Africa and be the beacon of light to the rest of the world.”
By the way, re-” Adam, where are you?” there’s a parallel Hindu story in which Lord Vishnu sends Narada to fetch him some water
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQkJ6ODAZRI&t=195s
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John Onyeukwu
Dear Chief Cornelius,
Your note was a delight to read, lyrical, generous, and as ever, steeped in historical and philosophical richness. I smiled at your Allen Ginsberg invocation, a perfect overture to the generosity of thought and spirit that runs through your message.
I completely understand and respect your decision to withhold permission for sharing your earlier reflections. It was indeed in the nature of a family conversation, intimate, probing, and free, and should remain so. Your restraint, like your writing, speaks to the discipline of thought that our public square too often lacks.
I also found your invocation of Farrakhan’s remonstration and the “Adam, where are you?” metaphor deeply resonant. That question, both theological and civic, remains at the heart of Nigeria’s search for self: not where are they?, but where are we? Your insight that the colonial impulse persists through new instruments of control is a timely reminder that emancipation is not an event but a process.
Your reflections on President Tinubu’s address, and on the limits of words versus deeds, read almost like a parable for leadership itself, the tension between speaking to the rock and striking it. It’s an image I will carry with me.
And yes, by 2050, when Nigeria’s demographic balance tilts decisively toward the young, the generational question will no longer be theoretical. The challenge, as you aptly suggest, is whether they will vote for the future, or merely repeat our familiar cycles of cynicism and survival.
Thank you once again for engaging so generously, and for reminding us that even in disagreement, there is room for grace and depth. The conversation, I hope, continues, as it must among those who care enough to ask hard questions of their country and themselves.
With warm regards and admiration,
John
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