Today is Independence Day in Nigeria.

The Nigerian government has declared a public holiday and

the president is scheduled to address the nation; military formations will march in public squares
and millions of Nigerians will celebrate yet another anniversary of Nigeria's alleged independence
from colonial rule. We beg to differ and in this analysis, we present a different view. We say that
what Nigerians are celebrating today is their collective ignorance and self delusion.
According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, independence is defined as "freedom from outside
control or support". This is the common definition of independence and you don't need to be a
professor of English to understand that. If we apply that definition to Nigeria, it becomes very clear
that not only is Nigeria is not independent but that Nigeria is more dependent and enslaved in 2015
than she was in 1960.
For one thing, every aspect of Nigerian life is dependent on imported goods and services - the cars
we drive, the petrol in those cars, the roads they travel on, the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the
drugs in our hospitals. Does that sound like freedom from outside control or support? How could
Nigeria be independent if it's economic and financial policies are dictated by Nigeria's creditors at
the IMF, World Bank and other Western financial institutions? Is Nigeria independent if it's oil and
main source of income is produced, refined and marketed by foreign companies (Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron etc), or if that oil is priced in a foreign currency over which Nigeria has no
influence or control whatsoever? How independent can a country be if every aspect of it's security
(police, army, navy, intelligence etc) depends on foreign training and equipment, or if it's legal and
political systems are imported from other countries and subject to institutions created by those
others (International Criminal Court, The UN Security Council, the World Trade Organisation etc)?
There are innumerable examples of Nigeria's independence including it's language, religion and
history but these should suffice.
To understand the sham of Nigerian independence, we must go back in time and investigate the
historical circumstances under which Britain ceded control of it's African colonies in the 1960's.
After the Second World War which depleted the armies and resources of Britain and France (the
main colonial powers in Africa), these weakened nations became vassals of the United States of
America which had become the most powerful capitalist country on earth. However, America itself
was being challenged for global supremacy by the Soviet Union and it's alternative ideology of
socialism. China, India, Korea,Vietnam and other colonised nations in the so-called Third World
were rising up and fighting for national independence, against colonialism and imperialism. To
prevent Soviet influence over Africa, America prevailed on Britain and France to surrender the
symbols of political power to their Africans colonies. They did so on the understanding that these
African colonies had been so thoroughly indoctrinated and integrated into the capitalist system that
they would always be dependent on their former colonial masters for their most basic needs. In
other words, decades of colonial rule and centuries of subjugation guaranteed a culture of African
dependence.
The crafty white man knew that African societies were based on agrarian/agricultural economies,
that Africans did not have the technological means or manufacturing base to provide for their newly
acquired tastes as European clones, that without a manufacturing or industrial base, Africans would
always be dependent on Europeans for finished goods and services. That awareness led them to
conclude that it was not necessary to wield direct control over their African colonies, that control
and power could be exercised in indirect ways ie, through economic, technological and international
structures of power. As the saying goes, there are many ways to skin a cat. And there are many ways
to achieve any objective including perpetual domination and exploitation. In Nigeria and other
African colonies, Britain yielded control to a hand-picked elite through which it continued to
exercise control and exploit these countries for wealth and resources. France, on the other hand,

pursued a more direct form of exploitation, a more naked form of exploitation in "Francophone"
Africa - a form established and institutionalised by the "Colonial Pact".
Against that background, it should be clear to any right thinking Nigerian that today's celebrations
are bogus, a sham founded in ignorance. The fact that this delusion is supported by the Nigerian
government and media is evidence of a massive conspiracy by the newly elected administration of
Muhammadu Buhari and the corrupt intellectual class against the common man in Nigeria. As long
as the ordinary Nigerian is conditioned to believe that Nigeria is an independent nation, he will
never recognise Nigeria for what is: a neo-colonial Bantustan, a 21st century slave plantation
exploited for markets and resources by the West.
For Nigeria to become truly independent, there must be a fundamental change in the psyche of the
average Nigerian. Self interest must give way to the public or collective interest, and new attitudes
of unity, discipline and organisation must be deliberately cultivated in the Nigerian masses. These
factors will be critical in any progamme for nation building and national development. Without
them, Nigerians will find it impossible to build a mass movement dedicated to the creation of a just
and humane society - ie, in contrast to the dog-eat-dog jungle we live in today. We must adopt new
ideologies and new ways of thinking. Nigerian youth and intellectuals must create new media
platforms to educate the masses and new institutions to represent organised labour - an educated
population will understand it's common interests and will not be easily manipulated by religious or
tribal considerations; an organised labour force will recognise it's power and deliberately wield that
power to gain control of state power and national institutions. Nigerians must learn to think clearly
and logically about our problems as a nation, and find solutions to those problems as a united and
organised entity. If we can do this, we will build a new Nigeria, a better Nigeria. If we can't, we
must resign ourselves to future celebrations of our collective stupidity and subhuman existence.