We came together as one people just over a century ago. Before then, we were many nations Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa, Kanuri, Tiv, Ijaw, and more. We had no one flag, no one army, no one name. But by the hand of Providence, Nigeria was born.
Since then, storms have tested us.
The chains of slavery carried millions of our people away.
Colonialism carved our land as if it were a prize.
Civil war tore at our unity.
Dictatorship weighed us down.
Terrorists and bandits have threatened our peace.
And yet through it all we survived. We endured. We remained.
When the world said we could not govern ourselves, we stood tall.
When they said we could not stay united, we proved them wrong.
When they said Nigeria would scatter, we held firm.
We endured the trans-Atlantic ships.
We endured the Berlin Conference.
We endured amalgamation.
We endured Biafra.
We endured military rule.
We endure Boko Haram.
And still we rise.
Let the world remember: those who tried to break us are no more.
The slavers are gone.
The colonizers have departed.
The dictators have passed away.
But Nigeria still lives.
They looted our bronze and our ivory.
They took our oil and our cocoa.
They mocked our languages.
They carried away our children.
But we endure.
Today, we are over 200 million strong.
We are the largest Black nation on earth.
We are the home of Nollywood, Afrobeats, and some of the brightest minds in the world.
We are Achebe and Soyinka, Adichie and Okonjo-Iweala.
We are Dangote and our tireless farmers.
We are Burna Boy, Wizkid, Davido our beats now move the world.
We are Nigeria.
But let us also speak the truth:
It is not only outsiders who have held us back.
It is our own rulers who wasted our promise.
They took our oil wealth and left us darkness.
They borrowed in our name but built no nation.
They promised us change but left us chains.
They shouted about unity but deepened division.
They wore democracy on their lips but practiced dictatorship in their hearts.
Our children graduate into unemployment.
Our farmers are left at the mercy of bandits.
Our soldiers fight bravely but are starved of equipment.
Our hospitals cannot save lives, while our leaders fly abroad for checkups.
This is not destiny it is failure.
But, my fellow Nigerians, hear this clearly: we have turned the corner.
The first steps of reform have been taken.
We have begun to confront corruption, to rebuild trust, to fix the broken systems that crippled us.
It is only the beginning but it is a beginning.
Now, we must stay the course.
We must not retreat into old habits.
We must not surrender to cynicism.
We must not let the sacrifices of today be wasted tomorrow.
Nigeria is too great to be reduced by small ambitions.
Nigeria is too vast to be captured by narrow interests.
Nigeria is too rich to be shackled by poverty.
We cannot go back.
We need a leadership that reflects the courage of our people, not the cowardice of compromise.
We need a leadership that unites us in justice, not in slogans.
We need a leadership that refuses to trade tomorrow for the comforts of today.
That is the alternative. That is the Nigeria we must build.
For centuries, we were divided, colonized, persecuted.
But we were never destroyed.
We were never defeated.
And we never will be.
Nigeria will win.
Nigeria will prevail.
We were Nok over 2,500 years ago.
We were Benin, Oyo, Kanem-Bornu, Ife, Nri, Sokoto.
We were here before colonization.
We are here after colonization.
Nigeria was ours.
It is ours.
It will remain ours.
Nigeria is from us.
And we are from Nigeria.
Happy Independence Anniversary.
Otunba Segun Showunmi
The Alternative.
