from EMEKA OKONKWO in Abuja, Nigeria
Nigeria Bureau
ABUJA, (CAJ News) – A SIGNIFICANT population in Nigeria believes the country has “not achieved anything” since it attained independence from Britain in 1960.
This is the opinion of 31 percent of adult Nigerians, putting pressure on the current government of President Bola Tinubu to fix the country.
Furthermore, 23 percent of Nigerians cited insecurity as one of the greatest challenges the nation has faced since independence.
Other challenges mentioned are economy (20 percent), corruption (20 percent), bad leadership (17 percent) and ethnicity/tribalism (8 percent) among other challenges.
These are the findings of the annual Independence Day Poll, released by NOIPolls Limited.
Despite the challenges, Nigerians still pinpoint some achievements the country has made since independence.
The top three achievements include democracy (14 percent), national unity (9 percent) and telecommunications (7 percent).
Other mentions include large population (3 percent), electricity (3 percent), education (3 percent), security (3 percent) and social cohesion (3 percent) among others.
Asked about the single most important issue Nigeria as a nation should address in the next year, 28 percent of Nigerians mentioned the economy, which is closely followed by insecurity (21 percent).
Other issues mentioned are poverty alleviation (13 percent), job creation (9 percent), corruption (8 percent), bad governance (3 percent), electricity (3 percent) and education (3 percent).
Asked which country has been positively impactful to Nigeria’s political and economic development since independence, a majority mentioned the United States (27 percent), China (24 percent) and ex-colonial master, the United Kingdom (17 percent) came top.
Other countries mentioned are Israel, Ghana, France, Saudi Arabia, Niger, and Russia (2 percent each).
However, 22 percent of Nigeria stated that no country has had any positive impact on the political and economic development of Nigeria since independence.
The West African country, the most populous in the continent (225 million) celebrated independence on October 1.
This year, it was marked with a subdued celebration.
“The celebration is low-key as due to the realities on the ground,” said George Akume, Secretary to the Government.
– CAJ News