As Nigeria marks 66 years of independence and begins her 67th year as a sovereign nation, October 1 should be more than an occasion for celebration. It should be a moment for sober reflection: Where did we begin? How far have we travelled? What went wrong along the way? And, most importantly, how do we reconstruct a nation capable of fulfilling the aspirations of our founding fathers and the dreams of Generation Next?
The planned low-key Independence Day observance by the Presidency is, in my view, a fitting recognition of the mood of the nation. At a time when the expected gains of major interventions are yet to reach as many as desired, extravagance would hardly be appropriate.
At independence in 1960, Nigeria inherited a regional constitutional system in which the regions had considerable responsibility for their economic development. The economy was productive and largely agricultural. Cocoa powered the Western
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