By CHIEDU UCHE OKOYE

On October 1, 1960, the British Union jack was lowered, and Nigeria's green and white flag was hoisted, to signal our country's attainment of political freedom and sovereignty. The handing over of the baton of political leadership to Nigeria's indigenous leaders was the culmination and fruition of our freedom fighters' struggles for the political liberation of Nigeria. We should remember that Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Tafawa Balewa, Anthony Enahoro, Nnamdi Azikiwe, and others fought for the political emancipation of Nigeria.

When Nigeria became a politically independent country on October 1, 1960, millions of Nigerians trooped to the streets to celebrate their country's achievement of political freedom. They quaffed beer, tore and ate meat, and danced, merrily, to celebrate Nigeria's exit from the grip and chokehold of British imperialism. Those Nigerians hoped that their country would be transformed to a truly united, economically prosperous, and technologically developed country as Nigerian-born leaders had taken over the leadership of their country.

But since the time Nigeria gained political independence from Britain in 1960, and till now, it has been struggling to realize its potentialities. For all its abundant natural and human resources, equable weather conditions, many waters (rivers, lakes, ponds), and arable large landmass, it has not become an economically prosperous and technologically advanced nation-state. And it has not become a truly united country, as ethnic strife as well as ethnic suspicion, exists among the ethnic nationalities that make up Nigeria.

But why is Nigeria still a disunited country trapped in the rut of technological and economical underdevelopment when it is endowed with human and material resources? The reason for that is not far-fetched. As we have not got our politics right, political leaders, who have no probity, leadership qualities. and feelings of patriotism have been leading our country, Nigeria. Their maladministration of Nigeria has caused Nigeria's underdevelopment and the existence of disunity among the peoples of Nigeria.

For example, the inability of the first republic politicians to steer the country on the right path caused the thirty-month Nigeria-Biafra civil war. That protracted and fratricidal civil war caused the decimation of our population, the destruction of our infrastructural facilities, and the depredation of our economy. And the military interregnums we had in the past stultified our economic and technological development as the military rulers put the constitution in abeyance and ruled the country with iron-fist.

Happily, when the fourth republic berthed on our shores, after the third republic had failed, millions of Nigerians heaved a sign of relief, and expected that our Nigerian-born civilian leaders would re-make Nigeria and take it to the acme of economic and technological advancement. But our political leaders, who took turns to lead Nigeria since 1999, have not transformed our country to a united nation-state that is economically and technologically advanced.

Today, twenty-seven years after the birth and berth of democracy on our shores, our country is still hobbled by national disunity, youth unemployment, infrastructural rot and deficit, economic stagnation, and technological underdevelopment. Yet, Malaysia, which took palm kernels from our country in the 1960s for its agro-economic development, has surpassed Nigeria in many areas of national development. And some Asian countries that are less-endowed than Nigeria have joined the league of the first world, leaving Nigeria behind.

Nigeria has remained stuck in the rut of national underdevelopment because it has not got its politics cum democracy, right. We have made nonsense of the axiomatic political saying that power/sovereignty belongs to the people because politicians rig elections to install themselves in the positions of power. Our elections' results are not the reflections of the will and wishes of the people. Consequently, inept, myopic, clueless, and unpatriotic political leaders are occupying positions of power at the different tiers of government.

But no country can grow bigger than the visions, dreams, aspirations, and knowledge of its political leaders. Over the years, our leaders have been diverting public money earmarked for the execution of infrastructural projects into their private bank accounts. Those leaders perceive their occupation of exalted political offices as opportunities for them to enrich themselves at the expense of the people. Their maladministration of Nigeria owing to their corrupt natures, lack of political vision, and non-possession of fealty have caused our country's underdevelopment.

So at this critical juncture in our country's political life, journey, and evolution, what should be done to re-make Nigeria and place it on the path of economic recovery and technological advancement is effecting moral regeneration and reformation among the peoples of Nigeria. We should know that the erosion of moral values in our country is why people perceive wrong as right; and right as wrong. As a result, moral turpitude exists among Nigerians.

But if Nigerians should become morally regenerated and reformed, Nigerians, who will occupy positions of power in the future, will not commit heinous crimes; neither will they carry out corrupt deeds, as they have restrictive mechanisms. And our institutions of state, which are central to the survival and development of Nigeria, will become strong, resilient, and invulnerable to corrupt influences if they are manned by morally upright and regenerated people.

So it can be seen that effecting moral reformation and regeneration among the peoples of Nigeria, which is the antidote to our country's multifarious problems, is an ineluctable desideratum, now.

But until then, it is not yet uhuru in Nigeria. I wish you a happy 66th Independence Anniversary.

•Chiedu Uche Okoye, a poet, writes from Uruowulu-Obosi, Anambra State. He can be reached via 08062220654 and 09125204141