On independence day, Nigerians express frustration

ABUJA, Nigeria—The alternating sounds of snapping fingers, applause, and attentive silence echoed through the dimly lit Merit House auditorium Saturday evening. Nigerian poet Dike Chukwumerije, 37, delivered a poetry performance that took the audience on a two-hour journey from Nigeria’s independence in 1960 to the present day.

The show, padded with humor, drama, and dance performances, presented Nigeria’s transition from a country once rich in dreams and unity to one presently grappling with corruption, recession, and the insurgency of the terror group Boko Haram.

“The soft sob you hear at the window, it is Chibok, who has driven herself mad in search for her daughter,” Chukwumerije said. “Bring back the old Maiduguri and all that’s good from Sambisa.”

On Friday, one day before Nigeria’s independence day, dozens of people gathered beside Abuja’s Unity Fountain to mark 900 days since Boko Haram kidnapped more than 250 schoolgirls from the northeastern town of Chibok. The mothers of two of the kidnapped girls pleaded for government assistance amid tears. In a statement delivered by the fountain, Oby Ezekwesili, one of the founders of the Bring Back our Girls campaign, called on the government to engage key international bodies in retrieving the kidnapped girls. “Nine hundred days is too long a time for the world to fail girls who went to be educated,” she said.

Anne Okigbo, a World Bank employee, attended the poetry performance and shared her frustration with the state of the country. Okigbo said many people have become desensitized to the sufferings of others.

“It’s not just Chibok,” she said. “It’s also the fact that [internally displaced] children are dying in the hundreds of starvation in this our time.”

UNICEF warned last week as many as 75,000 children could die within the next year due to famine-like conditions triggered by Boko Haram’s insurgency. Already, the terror group has killed more than 20,000 people and displaced more than 2 million others.

Many Nigerians are starting to feel the crunch of the country’s recession. Chukwumerije in his performance highlighted the corruption that continues to cripple the country’s economy. People no longer succeed by merit but by loyalty to their bosses, Chukwumerije said. He called out government officials who buy bulletproof cars and mansions in the city while the education system continues to crumble.

“Even the oppressed are eager to play for the slim chance to become the oppressors,” he said. “Let’s talk about change, but don’t you dare become it.”

Okigbo said her late father, who was an economist, would not recognize Nigeria in its present economic state, which she described as “beyond rock bottom.”

Laura Ajoiyi, who also attended the event, said she remembers when Nigeria’s independence was celebrated and not just marked, as it is today. Abuja’s outdoor parade ground, Eagle Square, in past years served as the center of independence celebrations. The country’s flag flew high, school students marched in a parade, and an eager crowd cheered. Still, she sees the present economic struggle as an opportunity for real change that goes beyond lip service.

“I see it as a blessing in disguise because I think, for the first time, the recession will help us think of the future going forward,” she said.

In his last recitation, Chukwumerije paid tribute to Herbert Macaulay, considered the father of Nigerian nationalism. In his final line, the poet delivered a message he hoped would leave the audience remembering the theme of the evening: “Keep marching on.”