5 years ago while marking Nigeria at 60, I wrote an Article “Nigeria @ 60, Is there anything worth celebrating?” Which I wrote as a very young girl and concerned youth trying to find her bearing, where I elusidated the very problems of our country and ernestly hoped the 2023 elections usher in new set of leaders to set the country on the right course once again, 5 years down the line, I’m penning another Article, this time around with heavy, bitter heart, fear and hopelessness as a young Nigerian.
Again, I ask, what are we as a Nation celebrating in Nigeria @65? Our beloved country, is indeed a land of breathtaking potential. A nation Rich in natural resources, blessed with brilliant minds, and endowed with vibrant cultures, she should be a beacon of hope for Africa and the world. Yet, what confronts us daily is a nation scarred by bad leadership, crumbling systems, and a people burdened under the weight of survival. To speak of Nigeria today is to confront a painful paradox: a wealthy land that breeds poor citizens, a republic that silences the very people it was meant to serve.
Are we celebrating the Political Class, a clear theatre of Greed:
The greatest tragedy and rot of all; they’re the foundation of every other mayhem and mishap in the society. Rather than serve, they exploit. Rather than lead, they loot. They manipulate to keep citizens in their mental cuffs, keeping citizens hungry to make sure they feed not enough to have strength to fight.
Politics is no longer about ideas, service, or progress, it is about personal enrichment, ethnic manipulation, and the recycling of the same faces who have failed us for decades and putting their children in line to continue with their dastardly acts, it is safe to say that leadership is now becoming a family business. Our leaders live in obscene luxury, jetting abroad for medical checkups, educating their children overseas, while ordinary citizens wrestle with hunger, insecurity, and despair. Democracy has become a hollow performance, with elections rigged, votes bought, and youths weaponised as thugs.
In Nigeria, to be accepted within the Political Class, you must be without conscience and be ready to dance to the tunes of the power that be or risk being uprooted like an unwanted weed in a farm.
Let me talk about the “healthcare system” where sickness equals a death sentence and Hospitals Become Deathbeds:
To fall ill in Nigeria is to risk death twice: once from the sickness and again from a barely functional healthcare system. If your sickness fails to kill you, I promise you, the healthcare system will surely kill you, Hospitals lack basic equipment, most are dilapidated with no drugs, the few that manage to have can not be afforded by the citizens, while doctors and nurses emigrate in droves in search for greener pasture, over 5,000 Nigerian medical professionals now practice in the UK alone and those left behind are overwhelmed. Medical tourism for the rich is a luxury that mocks the poor, who must rely on overcrowded clinics or traditional remedies. The system does not heal; it abandons and maims.
At 65 are we proud to celebrate a broken Security System and A Life of Fear:
Across the country, Nigerians live in perpetual fear. Kidnappings, banditry, herdsmen clashes, terrorism, and armed robbery have become normalised headlines. From Boko Haram in the North-East to bandits in the North-West and kidnappers in the South, Nigerians live in fear. The Global Terrorism Index (2024) still ranks Nigeria among the most terror-impacted nations.
We know the miscreants, we can apprehend them but instead our leaders choose to have meetings to beg them to spare our lives, take pictures with them like they’re celebrities, the ones ever brought to book are granted amnesty within months and released back into the society to continue causing mayhem.
Over 13,600 people were kidnapped between 2020 and 2025, while thousands more have been killed.
Highways have turned into death traps, schools into hunting grounds for abductors, villages are razed and homes into unsafe havens. The very institutions meant to protect, police, military, and paramilitary forces are underfunded, demoralised, and often complicit in the chaos. Citizens pay taxes yet must pay ransom to survive. Trust in the state’s ability to protect life and property has all but evaporated.
And in some cases, the security personnel turn against the very people they swore to protect.
A terrorist is negotiated with and an average youth who stole bread because of hunger is jailed for years.
Are we celebrating Youths the very Pawns in a Wicked Game:
Nigeria’s youth, vibrant, intelligent, and innovative, should be the nation’s engine of progress. Instead, they are treated as pawns in a wicked political chess game. Politicians recruit them as thugs, use them to disrupt elections, or pacify them with crumbs in the name of empowerment programs. When these youths rise in protest, as seen during the #EndSARS movement, they are met with brutal suppression. The message is clear: the system does not want them to thrive, only to serve as disposable tools, those who can escape set sail with the “Japa” wave
Are we celebrating Unemployment and Dreams Deferred:
The unemployment rate is a silent killer, suffocating the dreams of millions of young Nigerians. Every year, universities churn out graduates who join the endless queue of job seekers. Many are forced into underemployment, hustling to survive on petty trades, while others flee the country in search of dignity and opportunity. Nigeria, with its abundant human capital, is bleeding talent with its best and brightest fueling the economies of other nations.
Are we celebrating Tribalism, Ethnic and Religious Divide:
Rather than harness our rich diversity, Nigeria’s leaders exploit tribal and religious fault lines to divide and rule. Citizens are taught to distrust their neighbours based on ethnicity, elections are fought on tribal sentiments, and Meritocracy is sacrificed for nepotism, This constant balkanization stifles unity and progress, breeding resentment and fueling cycles of violence. The ordinary Nigerian craves peace and coexistence, but the elite thrive on disunity.
Are we celebrating Education, A System Failing Its Future:
Once considered a pride in Africa, Nigeria’s education system has degenerated into a shadow of itself. Public schools are dilapidated, teachers are either owed or poorly paid and demotivated. Millions of children remain out of school, roaming the streets, denied the right to a future. Those who manage to graduate are often left with certificates that hold little weight in a labour market starved of opportunities and end up turning to menial labourers, POs, merchants, or the best you can get, content creators. Education, the supposed ladder out of poverty, has become a broken rung.
Are we celebrating the lack of freedom in Democracy? It is often said Nigeria is a democratic country, but not until you stand up to speak where it touches the powers that be, whether you are innocent or not, you’ll be jailed and a crime found and assigned to you.
Are we celebrating a country where the petty thief who stole bread, is jailed for years and the Politician who sits and enjoys public funds is hailed and worshipped
In summary, A Nation Crippling Its Citizens
The systems, security, health, education, politics, and economy are not merely failing; they are actively crippling Nigerians. Over 63% of Nigerians are multidimensionally poor, the rich get richer, the poor get poorer.
Citizens wake up every day to fight battles their government should have fought on their behalf: providing jobs, security, electricity, water, enabling a business environment and economy.
The result is a populace in constant survival mode, stripped of dignity and robbed of hope, a case where the cost of living is killing the living.
The Way Forward: A Call for Collective Awakening
Nigeria’s story does not have to end this way. But to rewrite it, we must confront the truth without flinching especially as younger generations: leadership has failed us, systems have betrayed us, and silence will bury us. The youth, civil society, religious leaders, and ordinary citizens must demand accountability with renewed vigour. We must reject tribal and religious politics, insist on meritocracy, rebuild our institutions, and reclaim our country from those who see it only as a personal estate.
Nigeria is bleeding. But she is not dead. The resilience of her people is a quiet testimony that hope still lingers. For the sake of generations unborn, we must refuse to normalise this decay. The time to rise is now.
What are we celebrating in Nigeria at 65? That’s the billion-dollar question. Think about it.
Nwada Oluchukwu Claire Chinweuba.
(Madam Equity)
