As Independence Celebration Is Over, Personal Independence Should Be Delivered To The People (OPINION)
By Isaac Asabor
Notwithstanding the potpourri of comments that greeted Nigeria recently on account of her 61st Independence Day on October 1, 2021, the fact cannot be denied that it remained one of the largest democracies in Africa. The day marked the historic occasion when she finally broke the shackles of oppression and gained independence from the British Empire in the year 1960.
There is no denying the fact that to free the nation from the shackles of the British government that several freedom fighters went through unimaginable pain, and sacrificed their lives for the freedom of Nigeria. Among these great freedom fighters that posterity will always speak well of were Sir. Herbert Macaulay, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Sir Ahmadu Bello and Chief Anthony Enahoro.
Without doubt, they displayed immense courage and bravery and revolted against the British Empire to demand freedom for their beloved nation. Their stories, no doubt, are embedded in our collective consciousness. Ironically, 61 years after they won us our independence, our contemporary leaders have failed to make us feel good about ourselves.
To bluntly put it, with the deepening level of misgovernance being propelled by unprecedented rate of corruption, some of us believe the fight for freedom is not over yet. The British may have gone, but the hardship our indigenous leaders have literarily thrown us into, in some ways, is tougher than the one our fathers fought against that they resorted to the call and struggle for Independence.
The essence of the struggle was for our own leaders to take full charge of our economy, and develop the country to the extent where a young graduate of marriageable age will naturally become more independent as he or she progresses through life. But alas! It is not to be. It is natural that as the young ones move away from their parents that bonds that once sustained them from their childhood are slowly diminished as they move into “The Real World“. Some people however form a set of new bonds as they move away from home and they never actually grow to be truly independent. In fact, there are many reasons why our contemporary leaders should strive hard to engender quality leadership so that young Nigerians should be more independent. Independence here refers to all aspects of their lives including financial, career, emotional, personal faith and beliefs.
To most people’s view amid the Independence celebration few days ago, personal independence which genuine and quality leadership would have engendered could have been better as it would boosts the confidence of the people, particularly the youths.
The reason for the foregoing cannot be farfetched as independent people naturally tend to be a little more confident on handling issues affecting their lives. This is mainly because they are more prepared to take actions and do things without having to wait for support or permission from someone else. Being independent in this context means that not few people by now would have being engaged in entrepreneurial endeavors that they dreamt of in different areas of human endeavors, rather than waiting for the government. This also means that they would have being more experience than less independent individuals. This would have by now, since 1960, build up more confidence in them with the knowledge that they can do things on their own. This confidence, no doubt, is capable of opening their mind to take bigger risks and unbeaten paths that eventually returns bigger rewards.
Self-independence, which can be engendered through quality people-oriented governance can as well result to less reliance on others as they may not want to have to make choices for themselves or feel too shy to go through challenges in their life without somebody by their side. This character makes anyone appear overly needy. Being a little more independent will be much appreciated by people and they will be willing to come to anyone for help. Being needed or relied upon is what many crave for; this will add some value on the people and make them feel important. This is unarguably the kind of independence our leaders should fight for the people by creating more jobs and making the Naira valuable.
Again, emotional independence is contingent upon personal independence, and it is capable to reduce stress and promotes happiness. In fact, being emotionally dependent means that people can make the most of their personal decisions and go through challenging life situations without necessarily dragging other people into it. More emotional independence can also mean less suffering and disappointment, since people do not depend on others to meet their emotional needs. It is however good to understand that social support is necessary, but they can still get it without necessarily being emotionally dependent.
Not only can personal independence led to emotional independence, it will also lead to financial independence which means freedom and a sense of accomplishment. When it comes to personal independence, there is no satisfaction comparable to the ability to pay one’s own bills. Being able to pay one’s way through life reduces dependence on parents, friends, spouse or whichever person that is usually leaned on. Financial independence means that everyone is in control of his or her income and expenditure and not answerable to anybody. The more people learn to become financially independent, the less stress they may have in the lives of others. However, nobody can do this for us, except our contemporary leaders through quality and people-oriented governance.
Personal independence means being prepared and free to meet new people and try new things. This in turn means that people will develop a broader sense of the world and be open to people and new opportunities; which leads to more knowledge and understanding of the world. It is in these deeper horizons that lies opportunities for success and adventure. Less independent individuals are less likely to have such opportunities. This is in fact is what sets successful entrepreneurs apart from the rest.
Unfortunately, not few Nigerians are being held down by financial and emotional shackles as our leaders are by each passing day making things work for them.
Finally, personal independence engenders self-value and self-esteem as the achievement of financial, emotional, social, career and personal independence gives anyone a sense of accomplishment that eventually changes how such person rate him or herself and how other perceive him or her. The increased self-worth that comes with personal independence is a great booster to self-esteem and personal success. However, the kind of personal independence being visualized in the mind of this writer cannot come into reality except our leaders endeavor to govern the people well as well as prudently managing the economy.
To this end, it is expedient to say that just as independence was won for Nigeria, personal independence should be delivered to the people by contemporary leaders as they are the one’s holding Nigerians down in shackles due to misgovernance and clueless governance which they have been exhibiting since we got our independence in 1960.
