One of his most famous songs by legendary Jamaican music icon Jimmy Cliff was titled “Take a look to yourself.” It began with the words: “When you look in the mirror, tell me, what do you see? Is this the person you think you are or the person you would like to be?” He later goes on to say, “If you are feeling down and down, look at yourself, my friend, and if you still have doubts, still look once on yourself.”

As Nigeria celebrates its 64th anniversary, it is long past time for citizens to take a hard look at the nation and themselves! The shattered dreams of our founding fathers are epitomized by today’s “Japa” syndrome where citizens proudly celebrate their “escape” from Nigeria and move abroad.

There is no denying that 64 years after independence, things have never been worse. Nigerians are demonstrably unhappy with the country’s regression over the years. All the sacrifices and deaths brought by the civil war, several military coups, the democracy movement of the 1990s and various civil rights demonstrations have only led to the nationwide suffering we are witnessing today.

There is no doubt that the government must transform the economy, create jobs, guarantee security and govern constitutionally, but these are things that must be well planned and not rushed simply in response to protests. Of course, protests are useful for reminding leaders that government should serve the interests of citizens, not the other way around.

There are those who, completely incomprehensibly, declare that it is “sacrilegious” to choose October 1st as Independence Day for protests because, in their opinion, this would amount to “a desecration of our values ​​of freedom” and an attack on all the struggles of our founding fathers. Of course this is pure nonsense! The greatest attack on the struggles of the Founding Fathers is the socioeconomic chaos in which the nation finds itself today.

The main reason the Founding Fathers’ shattered dreams fell apart is because those who have been in charge over the years truly lacked the qualities of compassionate leadership and had no idea where they were leading us! After 64 years of self-government, we are in a serious moral crisis and value orientation. The conscience of political leaders has been dulled and desensitized by the greed for personal wealth and power. Worse still, those responsible for the chaos are now being hailed as elder statesmen!

Even as citizens express frustration over their worsening plight and prepare for another round of protests, the nation has yet to agree on the most fundamental issue: institutionalizing the most appropriate form of government.

Lawmakers are currently divided over a proposed law to reinstate the regional government that is likely to fail. In reality, if people-oriented governance existed and worked properly, there would be no calls for regionalism. No time or money should be wasted in considering a bill that seeks to abolish state and local governments, establish regional electoral commissions, and grant regional governments the right to shape the local government of their region.

Not only will this change the greedy mindset of Nigerian politicians, but the current constitution dictates how it should be changed. This cannot be achieved through an Executive Bill. Section 9 of the document states that changes can only be made if supported by two-thirds of the members of each House of the National Assembly and also approved by a resolution of at least two-thirds of all State Houses of the National Assembly.

Proponents of a regional government believe it would boost the economy, combat insecurity and speed up infrastructure development. The very idea that each region should control its economy and merely contribute to the functioning of the federation is selfish and based on the false assumption that decentralizing power would reduce corruption and promote accountability at the local level. It appears to be unaware of the fact that there is no law that effectively combats corruption.

The most important thing in governance is transparency, fairness, justice and accountability, not the administrative structure. Unfortunately, with history no longer compulsory in the education system, the majority of Nigerian youths know little about what happened in the past that plunged the country into chaos after independence.

There is no reason to believe that a return to regional governance will provide the much-needed moral and ethical values ​​that our political officials lack. The absence of these values ​​is why political appointees do not care, shamelessly plunder the national treasury and live a life of unwarranted luxury at the expense of the state, even as the majority of Nigerians suffer from hunger and unprecedented financial deprivation.

Across the country, many people strongly believe that those who hold political office do not know what they are doing and that the situation will not improve any time soon. Another one of the great Jimmy Cliff songs mentioned above was titled “I Can See Clearly Now.” The lyrics read: “I can see clearly now that the rain is gone, I can see all the obstacles in my path, gone are the dark clouds that blinded me, it will be a bright, bright, sunny day!”

After 64 years of independence, Nigerians look forward to the day when the nation will be properly governed so that they can look in the mirror and sing these words!