Nigeria marked yet another year of independence on October 1, 2009. It is necessary to evaluate how the nation has fared these past years, so we can move with other fast-developing nations of the world. We, therefore, look at Nigeria after 49 years, with a view to identifying where we have missed the mark. Can the country record significant progress before its golden jubilee? As usual, BISI ALABI WILLIAMS and CHRIS IREKAMBA sought the opinion of notable religious leaders.

The Nigeria Of Our Dream Is A Collective Responsibility - Makinde

(Dr. Sunday Ola. Makinde, Prelate, Methodist Church, Nigeria)

WE cannot say that the Lord has not been good to us as a nation. Out of these 49 years, he has made us one. Secondly, we are still struggling with the footprints of the military. If we have not fared well, we should blame the military. But some of us are not grateful to God, for what he has done so far for us as a country.

Before and after the civil war we have remained one. The way forward is for our political leaders to forget self. Corruption is a moral recklessness. We should begin to revamp the economy of this country. The government should create employment for our youths. There should be a total overhaul in the energy sector so as to make power supply functional. Our hospitals should be made to function properly. They should fix our bad roads and save Nigerians from road mishaps.

Again, insecurity in this country has become a serious issue and no serious government should play with the lives and property of its citizens. Look at the spate of kidnapping going on in the country and nobody is doing something about it. It has soiled the good image of this country and recently the Secretary to the Kaduna State Government, Mr. Waje Yayok, was kidnapped and nobody knew where his abductors kept him. Our political leaders should be business-like in their approach to governance. The police should be properly equipped so as to be able to combat crime. Is it not surprising that armed robbers are better equipped than policemen? They should also be given proper training to stop the random shooting we have witnessed in the time past.

Our education system is also in a deplorable situation and one is still surprised to see pupils learning under trees in the 21st century. For me, we have so many things to thank God for, but military intervention did a lot of harm. Thank God we were able to push them away from the country's politics.

As we celebrate our 49th anniversary, the Niger Delta militants must be adequately rehabilitated. The amnesty granted to the people by the federal government is commendable but these boys must be rehabilitated. That's the only way government's good gesture can effectively work. Again, our concentration on oil, as if that's our only mineral resource, is not healthy. God has blessed us with other natural resources; we should explore them and pay less attention to oil.

The issue of religious riots, usually initiated in the north, is also one bad omen that can set any nation backward. At one time sharia was introduced and nobody has seen the result of that. A man who steals a goat gets his hand amputated, but those who are stealing the country's money walk free. Those leaders who are siphoning our money, their hands too should be amputated. That is when we will know you are sincere in what you are doing.

We are the cause of Nigeria's problem. Everybody should re-examine himself and ask God for forgiveness. We should always look unto God and religious knowledge must be introduced in schools. Religious leaders should always take Nigeria to God in our prayers - just as we are here in Abuja with other concerned Nigerians to lift this country before the Lord. God will heal our lands if we do so. He has been merciful to us.

At 49, We Have Performed Woefully - Akintola

(Dr. Is-haq Akintola, Associate Professor of Islamic Studies, Lagos State University, Ojo, Lagos, and Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC).

WE have performed woefully, at least, between 1966 and 2009. The military will take the lion share of the blame because they did not allow civil rule to last. They were always interrupting. They were too greedy. Their reasons for intervention were always mere ruses to loot the country. See where we are today. No electricity, no good roads, no education. The universities are under lock and key. Secondary school teachers have sent home their students. Hospitals don't have drugs. Kidnappers, assassins and armed robbers are tormenting Nigerians. Hundreds live under the bridge. Nigeria has been declared the 20th hungriest nation in the world. We have no reason to celebrate anything. This is a time for sober reflection; maybe we might see where we missed the mark and make up for our errors.

Military intervention was a colossal miscalculation. It must not happen again. We must never allow the military access to politics again. They ruined everything. Worse still, they were unaccountable and arrogant. They dehumanised Nigerians and militarised the youth. They are responsible for the spate of cult violence in tertiary institutions. Corruption is another weak point. It is another area where we missed the mark. We are corrupt inside out; politicians, lecturers, artisans, businessmen, traders, policemen, customs, students; we are all involved.

My advice to political leaders: They should turn a new leaf. Service to the people must be their focus. They must eschew their 'bolekaja' mentality. All political godfathers must release their stranglehold on the new generation of politicians.

Nigerians of different religious callings have been living together for so long, yet they are yet to understand one another. Religiously motivated skirmishes still occur from time to time, leaving hundreds dead while property worth millions of naira are destroyed. We, of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) believe that the time is ripe for Nigeria to take a bold and realistic step towards finding a lasting solution to this quagmire. We are just 365 days away from our golden jubilee. It will be a big shame on us all if we still continue to kill ourselves over religion, after attaining 50 years as an independent nation.

We believe that this is possible if the authorities can adopt a cause-effect approach. Instead of using our characteristic fire-brigade approach to crises, we suggest that the federal government should set up a panel to take a critical look at the immediate and remote causes of religious crises in the country. The major religious groups should be invited to state their grievances. The authorities should not wait for the outbreak of another religious riot before doing this, neither should the investigations focus on any particular crisis. We have no doubt that a permanent solution will be found if government studies the grievances and takes steps to address them. Nigeria is sitting on a keg of gunpowder unless something is done urgently to douse religious tension.

'We Have Lost Our Bearing As A Nation'

(Revd Monsignor Bernard Okodua, Parish Priest of St. Anthony's Catholic Church, Surulere; Vicar General, Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos; and chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Lagos chapter.)

A CHILD born 49 years ago would be an adult now. He would no longer be crawling, he would no longer be learning to walk, he would be old enough to stand on his feet, walk smartly and even run and be able to match his contemporaries. Above all, we have reasons to give thanks to God that we have a country called Nigeria and we are the lucky ones whom God has placed on this earth.

If you look at other nations around the world, whether developed or developing, we cannot say we have done badly as a nation. We are only 49 years old and there are many nations that are over 200 years old and others are much older than that. And they all had their teething periods and their own growing experiences - good and bad. Many of them scaled through those difficult periods to become the great nations that they are today. Some of them we emulate, look up to as models and want to grow like.

To that extent, we cannot say we have done badly because we are only 49 years old. When we look at nature and see where God has placed Nigeria on the map of Africa and then compare other continents occupied by people also created by the same God and the kind of natural disasters such as typhoon, tsunami, hurricane, earthquakes, bushfire that they experience, then we should thank God that we are extremely lucky we don't experience such things here in Nigeria.

That is my first reaction to the fact that we are 49 years old. When a chicken lays eggs, it lays many, say 10, 12, 8 and so on. And it succeeds in hatching them all. By the time the chicks grow to become big chickens themselves, maybe only five will be left.

God knows that all those little chicks will be exposed to destruction by hawks or animals and by the survival of that specie or creature called chicks, the mother lays many eggs so that a few will survive. The fish in the sea, when it lays eggs, there are millions of eggs laid by one single fish so that by the time these little ones will grow to become big, thousands would have been destroyed, but there will be a few left to survive and continue the species.

If some other nations have been the ones that God put in this place that we call Nigeria today, maybe they would have become the giants of the world. Such nations are jealous of Nigeria because if have they had what we have, they would have made wonderful things out of it. In the past, our economy depended on agriculture, where is the cocoa? Where is the groundnut? Where is the cotton? Where is the hide and skin? Where is the rubber, where is the coal, where is the tin ore? Those things made us great and we have people who know how to handle them.

We used to be either first, second or third world producers in some of those items. Today, where are they? When the oil boom came, we thought we would become a great nation. Has it made us great today? The oil is still there, outsiders have come in to sap the oil, recycle it and return same to us as finished products and we buy it back. What has happened to our refineries? To that extent, I would say we have been very ungrateful as a nation to God who gave us all these things. And rather than celebrate at 49, we should be striking our breasts in repentance, telling God that we are sorry for been ungrateful and for not making Nigeria the great nation that God wanted us to be. Our problem is not the human resources - we have intelligent people, capable Nigerians who know what to do, but we lack the moral will. We lack the political vision; we don't have the round peg in the round hole.

Our 49 years have been a mixture of military and civilian regimes. It's only in the last 10 years now that we have had a continuous civilian administration. From 1999 to 2009, at least, we are proud to say we are a democratic country. But we cannot be proud to say the average Nigerian is happy, because many have not seen the dividend of democracy.

The selfishness is too glaring and so is the blatant looting of our treasury. Those who are supposed to be leaders of the masses have derailed and become selfish, self-centred and greedy. The political leaders have amassed so much wealth, the wealth that belongs to the masses. Many of them are building mansions, yet they can only live in a room at a time. They should allow others to have a bit of that wealth.

Everybody cannot be president; everybody cannot be governor or commissioner. Somebody has to be there and whoever the people put there has been chosen by God. Those in positions of authority and leadership should carry out their duties with the fear of God to whom they will be accountable some day. I think Nigeria will be a better place for everybody. We have lost our bearing. We do not fear God anymore, not to talk of fearing fellow human beings.

Look at the spate of assassinations of innocent people; people whose lives were snuffed out of for selfish reasons. And nothing happened after that and many people have died untimely either for political, economic or other selfish reasons. And their deaths have remained unresolved. The leaders are no longer conscientious and dedicated to duty. Bribery and corruption have destroyed our nation. And some people are not ashamed that they are destroying our dear nation. We should rediscover ourselves as a nation and then give the masses something to be proud of. There's only one country called Nigeria in the whole world and there is no other one.

Our leaders should know that leadership is for service and all authority comes from God and whosoever is in a position of authority owes it to God, and will be accountable to God for whatever he does with that authority. Our leaders should turn back to God and do things with sure knowledge that they will one day render their account of stewardship. And for the masses, they should be patient. At the end of the dark tunnel, there will be light.

Where We Are Now, Is Not Where We Should Be - Ojapa

(Pastor Israel Ojapa, presiding Bishop of Victory Evangelical Church of Christ (Inc.), (also known as Lifeway Chapel, Shagari Estate, Ipaja, Lagos).

WE believe that where we are now is not where we are supposed to be and I think it's very obvious to all. There have been series of abortion of hopes by those who are entrusted with affairs of this nation. The way the leader goes is the way the led will go. That is why we cannot totally free the leaders from blame as to what has happened to us in the past. But we can all now take responsibility for the future so that it will not remain as the past.

Let me give an example. My father was not economically buoyant enough to send me to expensive schools, but I went to school and graduated from the university. I was able to go because it was affordable in spite of the economic situation of my background. As at today, especially in the west and in Nigeria at large, there are quite a number of people who are beneficiaries of free education. Many of them were able to get quality education in this country and abroad because of government scholarships.

I am expecting that they look at where we are coming from and be able to sustain the dream of the future generation. Lagos, for instance, today has become the pride of Lagosians. I'm not a politician but I see what is done on the streets. I think in view of this ray of hope that we have, I'm trusting God that we are almost 50, and that by the time a child that is born today will be clocking about my age, he should look back and say, 'I thank God for the leaders of the past'.

I am trusting that the Nigeria of tomorrow will match the Nigeria of our dreams; where we can drink clean water, where there wouldn't be unnecessary loss of lives because of bad roads, where the cost of doing business is comparable to what applies in other countries from where we have been importing substandard goods, where we'll be able to develop our hidden and discovered resources over and above the petroleum that everybody is tied to; so that this nation will be economically supplied from various streams other than petroleum.

The leaders should wake up and the led should be alive to their responsibilities, and we'll not sacrifice our future by taking the crumbs to satisfy the immediate needs while we throw away our birthright. Let the spiritual and political class thrust this nation forward into the fortune and life of glory that God has ordained for her. There's not much to hold from our past but I still have hope that there is a lot in the future.

I believe also that if the civil society, including all of us, begins to place demands on our leaders, begins to lend our voices, begins to demand accountability, I think it will one day see the Nigeria of our dreams. But if nobody does anything, nobody challenges anybody to accountability, I think the Nigeria that we are expecting to get, in whatever time to come from now, might just be wishful thinking.

Nigeria Is Not A Total Failure - Shuaib

(Mallam Abdullahi Shuaib, Executive Director, Zakat & Sadaqat Foundation; and Coordinator, Conference of Islamic Organisations (CIO), Lagos State)

MY personal opinion about Nigeria since independence to date is that we do not have a total failure. If we have to do a comparative analysis of Nigeria and some other countries in the world. If you recall, we have only witnessed about 10 years of civilian regime while the military fiat dominated 29 years. Therefore, going by what Samuel Finer wrote in his book, The Man on the Horse Back, Nigeria as a nation was and is still characterised by an abysmal political culture, which is predominantly responsible for the poor governance we have seen so far during the civilian regimes, including the present one. Be that as it may, some positive steps have been taken to rescue the nation from total disintegration. The efforts of past leaders to hold the country together during the civilian war must be highly commended.

The vastness of our material resources and abundant human resources are great strengths that should move us forward as the true giant of Africa. I strongly believe in the indivisibility of the country and this should not be compromised. However, it is sad and disheartening that, at 49, we as a nation are still trying to lay a foundation for sustainable growth and development. At 49, there is constant power outage across the country. National and state hospitals have been turned into mere consultation clinics. There are gross inadequacies, if not total lack, of state-of-the-art hospital equipment. The rate of unemployment is on a constant increase. There are no good federal and state road-networks, the industrial and manufacturing sectors are comatose, federal and state tertiary institutions are grossly under-funded and the gap between the rich and the poor keeps expanding on a daily basis.

Against this backdrop, one may be tempted to reach a conclusion that the nation has not done well in spite of its abundant human and material resources. On the other hand, we have seen some manageable efforts to link the country up with the rest of the world, courtesy of the introduction of the mobile GSM. This is a positive development and it has imparted positively on the business and lifestyle of Nigerians. Yet, Nigerians are not getting maximum benefits from the service providers. The tariff rates are still on the high side, coupled with poor quality delivery without adequate compensation.

I believe there is still room for improvement. The anti-corruption crusade started during Obasanjo's regime. The EFCC began on a good footing but later derailed when it turned itself into an organ of the ruling party (PDP). If it had remained focused and objective in its crusade, we would have achieved much more than what we have seen so far. The initial crusade made us know that the "untouchables" could be touched. It raised and provoked our subconscious to accountability and transparency in both private and public governance. At least, Nigerians were aware that there was a searchlight over people entrusted with public and private treasuries. That, to me, was a landmark development in our history. We need to insulate the EFCC, ICPC and their likes from the constant intimidation, influence and subjectivity of the federal government so that they would be truly independent and accountable to Nigerians and not the Presidency.

The bane of our problems and challenges today is the alarming level, which corruption, induced by bad leadership, has reached in public domain and our private financial institutions. This trend portends danger for the country if not quickly nipped in the bud.

My advice to our leaders: they should fear God in both their private and public life. Only those who want to serve the people and not their pockets should be allowed to vie for public offices. They should begin to implement the much-desired electoral reforms by institutionalising genuine primary elections. If the leaders can tackle this issue sincerely, without imposing their choice candidates on the electorate, Nigeria will be better off in the next political dispensation. And by extension, other sectors of the country will witness positive growth and development.

Nigeria Has Resources But People Are Selfish - Adefarasin

(Adewale Adefarasin, Senior Pastor, Guiding Light Assembly, Parkview Ikoyi and National Secretary of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN).

IF I had a child who turned 49 and the child's situation were like Nigeria's, with multiple opportunities missed; if my child was like Nigeria, the arms not working correctly with the feet or different parts not working well together, I would be very concerned. I think that Nigeria could have done so much better than it has done so far. And I think the biggest problem Nigeria faces is not lack of resources, it is people who are selfish and do not consider Nigeria first.

I remember John F. Kennedy and his famous statement "think not of what your country can do for you but, of course, what you can do for your country." That should be Nigeria's credo. I am excited that Nigeria's 49th anniversary began last Thursday, (October 1). I remember, as a young boy, the British Union Jack was brought down at mid-night on October 1.

Basically, the 50th year is the year of jubilee. It is a year in which people jubilate. It is a year in which God delivers people. It's a year of freedom and my prayer is that, in the 50th year, God will deliver Nigeria from oppression. He will deliver Nigeria from the poor quality of leadership we have had. God will deliver Nigeria from people who put themselves first. God will deliver Nigeria from poverty. God will deliver Nigeria from corruption. These are things I believe in my spirit we should pray that God would do for us in the year of Jubilee. Jubilee comes from the word 'jubilate'. Nigerians will jubilate. So, I am hopeful. If my hope was based on what I see, then we will be hopeless. But my hope is based on the faith that I have, that God loves Nigeria, and if we pray, he will rescue us from the situation and restore us to the place that we should be.

There Is Hope In Our Future - Bakare

(Pastor Tunde Bakare, The Latter Rain Assembly End-time Church)

THIS is our present situation and dilemma as a people. Our people are battle-weary. Those who resisted oppression with their lives and all their possessions are either gone or have become old and weary. Many others are compromised. Is there hope for a people oppressed, suppressed, and subjugated? Yes, there is hope. The God of all creation began with Israel as a model. Consider their plight when they came out of Egypt. They had no government, no school or educational institution, no land of their own, no infrastructure of any kind, no constitution, no army, no hospital, no religious system, no economy or bank, no developed social system, no work ethic (except welfare mentality), no industry.

Upon their exit from slavery, they were without doubt the most undeveloped large nation that ever existed. Compared to any nation I can think of today, Israel was in much worse shape. It is to these people that God said, "You are not a people but I will make you a people". He promised these people in this condition that they will become a great nation and other nations will admire their greatness and be blessed by them. Can you imagine the disbelief, the bewilderment and even the cynicism they might have felt as they received the news?

Just like Israel of old, can Nigeria ever come out of internal colonisation; can she be delivered from the grip of greed, corruption, violence, wastage and underdevelopment? With all emphasis due me this morning as a firm believer in the God of all creation, I declare to you as we begin this year of proclamation of jubilee, that Nigeria will flourish again. The labour of our heroes past will not be in vain. God Almighty will bring an end to oppression in our land. What he did for Israel, he will do for us. There is hope in our future.

God Will Visit Nigeria - Oke

Pastor Wale Oke

With the nation's entry into its golden jubilee year, God will restore all that the devil has stolen from Nigeria in the past 49 years. There is cause to celebrate. I congratulate all Nigerians for entering into the golden year. Tonight, 31st September is the beginning of the journey to Nigeria's 50th year. Jubilee is a concept from the Jewish Law. The entire law of Israel was meant to bring life to them and was built around the concept of Sabbath.

God called his people from oppression, persecution and slavery and brought them into a promised land. Every fiftieth year, there was a 'year of jubilee'. This would have followed a 49th year and so would have meant two years of not working and two years of having to trust God for everything. Also, all land was returned to the original owners. This is the year of the Lord's favour - Jubilee! The entire story from Jesus until now is one BIG jubilee. It is a whole new year in the book of Lev. 25: 12-14. That is why we, as a ministry, are celebrating and rejoicing with Nigeria.

There will be breakthrough. Our restoration will come if we will believe the Lord to do as he has promised. Don't be discouraged because things have not been the way they should. We have every reason to thank God. We are not at war so we have every reason to thank God. We are no longer in the era of military rule. Today, a democratic process is in place. So don't lose heart. What we have lost, in the country, in our name, in our status as a nation, will be restored.

Nigeria as a growing state has numerous problems. Some come in form of challenges. But because Nigerians are fighters, they will get to their promised land. However, Nigerians need to address their sense of value. We need to re-orientate ourselves, arise and hold our leaders accountable for the evil they perpetuate. It is the environment we create for them that compounds the problem.

God is perfectly clear about how he expects his people to live their lives: with honesty and integrity. He has instructed his people to speak honestly and to avoid deception and duplicity in their dealings with others. We must speak the truth to our neighbours and friends. We should not imagine evil in our hearts against others.