Africa Speaks Reasoning Forum

As October 1st 1960 is commemorated in celebration of my home land's (Nigeria) independence from colonial rule and power I ask myself and many rastas on this site a simply question, is the celebration of independence warranted in Africa. Please read on...

From the inception of colonial rule in Nigeria and since then, Nigerians have been stolen psychologically by the West and for Westerners -- who have stolen most of us, and make the laws for the rest of us in our and their societies. As Nigeria is about to age or add a year to her age, how many have ever reasoned if this independence was unethical? The word "independence," according to Webster Dictionary, is simply not being subject to control by others. But is Nigeria at 43 years not subject to control by others, and or did Nigeria really need independence from a criminal nation like Great Britain to be recognized as an independent state?
Morally, to mention the root causes of and to face Nigeria's problems today, we must restate causes of our yesterday's problems. Therefore Christianity must be held accountable for Nigeria's problems, particularly with regards to the "Independence." Caution: Islam is also a part of Nigeria's problems today; however, Islam did not create as much problems as Christianity prior to the advent of Christianity in Nigeria. Those of us who are not blinded by faith know the Bible was brewed by Western societies. The Bible illegally influenced Britons to travel to Africa, particularly to Nigeria through Southern and later to Middle Belt. The crusaders ended up in the northern Nigeria States, spreading their gospels of the Bible without genuine faith and destabilizing our ancestors' mentality.

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Ever since then, Great Britain and the rest of the West have been exploiting our natural resources. Consequently, Nigerians in every generation are victims of colonialism. What prompted their imperialism and/or colonialism on Nigerians? Were our ancestors not cordial with their neighbors, thereby Westerners unjustly invited themselves as mediators; or is it that Africans -- always in the mode of welcoming strangers -- invited Europeans, who eventually camouflaged with their Bible for mediation, evangelism, and colonization? Did Nigeria need colonization to be independent, bearing in mind that Nigeria existed before Great Britain? Also, did Nigerians name Nigeria before the militants arrived? Or did Nigeria really need her name from British be called "Nigeria"? Did our ancestors name our country before the so-called liberators came: If so, what was the name; if not, why not? Answers to these questions must be researched thoroughly for Nigerians to have better senses of what transformed to retransform our mind and the future of generations to come.
What Nigerians and her government must realize at this point in time is that we must revisit the very first name our ancestors knew to celebrate our independence. The name "Nigeria" is very defective. The National Conference must find a true name for our country. We could be Republic of Kadi? How did Nigeria name come about? This is a name suggested by Lord Lugard's mistress? Is that the best and most proud name we still want to retain as our country's name? Have we forgotten our African origin, where a name means a lot, and the formation of our characters? African name must not be an identification mark or number to differentiate one from the other; it goes far deeper: It tells our identity as in who we intrinsically are, our notion of God, our notion of man, our hopes and aspirations, our view of the universe, etc. In fact, name is everything to us, our supreme identity. In the past, other African countries have changed their names, why can't the giant of Africa change her name? Democratic Republic of Congo has changed in the past. Zimbabwe was Rhodesia. Ghana was Gold Coast. The list is long. Nigeria should equally change her name, and English language as lingua franca must be changed to Naija (so-called 'broken' English) because of it uniqueness and flexibility to all ethnic groups regardless of educational level, etc.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Africa countries such as Congo, Zimbabwe, and Ghana have changed their names and the giant is still sleeping. The imperialists will feel the confidence and the warmness in our action because they named our country "Nigeria." They will still come with their smiling faces as usual to further exploit the country at will. If we cannot change the name Nigeria and the English language, then Nigerians are into socioeconomic slavery for as long as humankind exits. I view Nigeria's independence from what prominent writers have written before. After it was born of Great Britain as an immoral intention, our leaders became victims of their weaknesses by allowing Europeans to lead them in the wrong directions. The psyche of independence from Britain as blessing is enslaving Nigerians and the psyche of enslaving our mind will remain with future generations, unless Nigerians make changes now.
Nigerians have been confined to perpetual mental enslavement that in most cases fester into a total destruction of the capacity to reason. We accept what the imperialists recommended as best and final. Nigerians have come of age to think for themselves. Our leaders must debate every issues confronting Nigeria critically at home and make decisions without worshipping or relying on the artificial gods of the world: Great Britain, France, United States, Germany, and other tiny Western countries for assistance or counsels. Nigerians do not need to celebrate "October 1st" as Independence Day; we already had independence centuries before October 1, 1960. We must re-celebrate Nigeria's independence from the beginning of the period, when our diverse ethnic groups associated themselves as a nation; that was the very time Nigeria had her independence, and that was long before colonialism. By further applying natural laws here, Nigeria has been independent for much more than 43 years. The name "Nigeria" and the foreign language used in it must be changed to fit the norms.

LIBERATING THE MIND

Nigerians must even keep in mind that this holiday is tribute to British imperialism, which is the colonization of black Africans by white Europeans. A holiday like the Independence Day should be of special cultural or political significance in Nigeria history, not in the European history of colonizing Nigeria. In short, holidays are institutions of the mind and such events can be and must be used as our control mechanisms. One of the sacred purposes of this series is to help redeem and to safeguard Nigerians from "mental genocide"-that is to say, mind destruction by showing the other side of the coin, the other side of the moon, if you will. In these crucial times, we must move from one dimensional to three-dimensional thinking; that is, thinking with the mind, the body, and the spirit. In this way, the mental genocide will have a reverse trend on those who think our liberation was for our goodness without investigating properly the values that existed.
The name change must be preferably an unbiased name that contends alphabetical names of the ethnicities in Nigeria. For examples: Jukun-Gwana from Taraba and Gombe, Jukun-Hone from Bauchi, Jhar from Plateau States, and others with same letter "J" share this alphabet. Igala from Kogi, Delta and Igede from Cross River States share the letter "I" with other ethnic groups. In short, nation name that starts with letter "A" shares letter A; B with letter B; C with letter C, etc, until we are able to match and represent every ethnic nation and are able to pronounce the new name with pride and affirmation. Alternatively, we can use terms from the four major nations or form from four or more states, namely: Koro (Kutumbawa) from Kano State, Alago (Arago) from Nasarawa State, Igbirra (Ebirra) from Ondo State, and Dama (Idama) from Cross River State. Koro is represented with letter 'K'; Alago with letter 'A'; Dama with letter 'D'; and Igbirra with letter 'I'. Therefore; K, A, D, I represent KADI, and Nigeria could be call the Republic of KADI or KIDA or AKDI or DIMA, etc. Whatever name that fit we are most preferable, not NIGERIA. "Nigeria" does not sound African; it sounds British or European. The name NIGERIA in this logic represents the fact that we are in the "Dark Continent" working for the artificial gods of the world; whenever they need our natural resources, they come and exploit them as we are still slaves in their hidden mind. Is this the way to be a nation, or is this what we want?

SPEAKING IN TONGUES

The commerce or trade language commonly used by West Africans and predominantly in Nigeria, which Nigerians could implement as a unified or official language and which we tend to ignore is the 'broken' or 'pidgin' English, also called "Naija" language. The Easterners and the rest of Nigerians have forged English and modify it to a simple and most basic language for Nigerians to adopt, especially since one does not need to go to school to speak with intellectuals. 'Broken' English is a language for all irrespective of one's education. But because of mental enslavement, the new language could not replace the foreign language, since ethnocentrism exits in the Nigeria society -- especially about other groups introducing a unique language; instead, we cherished English from the Western societies as a replacement or a second language. Convincingly, English language is number one as we are busy at home and in schools attempting to perfect the slavery method of communication, and many cannot write, speak, or converse with our respective native languages.
As a schoolboy between the 70s and 80s, class monitors were given the authority to write the names of students that spoke the so-called "vernacular"; meaning no native languages are allowed in classrooms. Only English was spoken. Presently, the rule of denying students to perfect their original language still exists in our society. Students that speak or converse in native languages, if caught, are subjected to punishments of all sorts. This is the favoritism English has on our mother tongues. We depressed our genes for a non-natural language. As result, we now don't have firm grips on our languages. For instances, Nigeria websites are written in the slavery language (English); majority of our newspapers, magazines, textbooks are written in English. Nigerians ought to come to consensus of building an official language accepted by all ethnicities, especially 'pidgin' English as national language.

CONCLUSION

If Nigeria is truly independent, as claimed by our conscious mind -- if at all many are mentally conscious most of the 43 years, then we must make changes and implement what belongs to Nigerians as national language.Every race has a soul, and the soul of that race finds expression in its institutions, and to kill those institutions is to kill the soul…. No people can profit or be helped under institutions, which are not the outcome of their own character.
There are other ways that Nigerian independence could fit our significances: her name must be changed, and the foreign language must equally be replaced. I urge and challenge Nigerians and our so-called leaders to implement these examples and change for the better. We need these changes to safeguard our self-esteems. Commemorating Africa's "DESPONDENCE" or her dependency on WEstern powers?