Nigeria at 65: A chronicle of hope, and possibility, by Stephanie Shaakaa

*Capturing each decennary from 1960 to the 2020s and what we indispensable bash successful the adjacent decade

From coups to culture, breadstuff prices to Burna Boy, this is Nigeria’s Independence communicative similar you’ve ne'er work it before. A travel done six decades of triumphs and trials, victories and heartbreaks, each stitched unneurotic successful representation and meaning. This isn’t conscionable past it’s our corporate heartbeat.

On October 1, 1960, a caller elephantine was born. Sixty 5 years later, that elephantine inactive crawls. The Union Jack came down and the Green White Green roseate into the skies, portion the anthem of state played to a federation brimming with hope. The aerial was electric, the aboriginal was wide open, and a radical who had endured assemblage subjugation believed that their clip had come.

But past would beryllium that independency was lone the archetypal step. What followed was a communicative of committedness and heartbreak, of resilience and despair, of triumphs that made america arrogant and failures that near america broken. To recognize Nigeria astatine 65 is to locomotion decennary by decennary done a nationalist odyssey that has tested the endurance of its radical and the precise thought of the state itself.

The 1960s: Innocence and Civil War

The 1960s began with innocence. Nigeria’s founding fathers Nnamdi Azikiwe, Ahmadu Bello, Obafemi Awolowo and Tafawa Balewa carried the dreams of millions. They promised unity successful diversity, economical prosperity and a ideology that would thrive. But the fragile federation soon buckled nether the value of mistrust, taste rivalry and corruption.

By 1966, coups toppled the archetypal republic, shattering the illusion of stability. Young subject officers replaced ballot boxes with bullets. By 1967, Nigeria descended into the Biafran War, a brutal struggle that killed implicit a cardinal radical and near scars that endure to this day. The 1960s ended not with the committedness of independency but with the representation of starvation, humor and wasted potential.

Presidencies of the decade: Tafawa Balewa led astatine independency but fell to the archetypal coup. Nnamdi Azikiwe was a ceremonial president without existent power. Major General Johnson Aguiyi Ironsi tried to unify the state but was killed successful a antagonistic coup. Yakubu Gowon emerged, young and untested, starring Nigeria done warfare with a pledge to support the federation one.

The 1970s: Oil Boom and Squandered Wealth

The 1970s arrived with lipid wealth flowing similar a river. Nigeria abruptly became affluent beyond imagination. The satellite looked to Lagos arsenic achromatic golden transformed the economy. Motorways, universities and stadiums sprang up, and Nigerians overseas were treated with respect. The naira stood strong, and the state was called the elephantine of Africa with pride.

Yet beneath the roar laic waste. Corruption flourished arsenic billions disappeared into backstage pockets. The subject that had promised subject became intoxicated by oil. Coups and antagonistic coups defined the era. Gowon was overthrown for overstaying his welcome. Murtala Mohammed brought vigor and betterment but was assassinated aft lone 200 days successful power. His successor Olusegun Obasanjo handed powerfulness to civilians successful 1979, becoming the archetypal to voluntarily exit office.

But the 1970s near down a sobering lesson, wealthiness without accountability is simply a curse. Nigeria earned billions but built small that lasted.

The 1980s: Austerity, Authoritarianism and Broken Promises

The 1980s came with harsh winds of austerity. Shehu Shagari’s civilian authorities was rapidly overwhelmed by corruption and economical decline. Nigerians watched arsenic the lipid terms clang exposed the fragility of the roar years. By 1983, different coup returned the ...