My Priest celebrated his birthday in church last Monday. As to be expected of most small churches, the congregation celebrated the day with him. The favorable and celebratory tone of the tribute by his Associate Priest was also to be expected. However, a line struck me during the tribute. A line that applies, not just to the ‘birthday boy’, but to everyone, young or old. Using the example of addition and subtraction in basic arithmetic, the Associate Priest pushed the point that every birthday is a subtraction from what we have left on earth by a year. There is really nothing profound about that sobering statement on the face of it as I am sure I have heard a variety of it before, but it probably resonated with me this time because I am at that age where time has become more and more finite. The ticking of the clock seems a little louder now and every annual subtraction matters because it brings the reality closer home.

We all grow old. That is the inevitable part of life. ‘Young becomes the old, mystery to unfold. That’s the way of time’ says jazz singer George Benson in that timeless song titled ‘Everything must change’. Nothing and nobody – from plants, to animals, to human beings – can escape the cold hands of death. And every year – at every birthday – brings us all nearer to the grave. So, it is what we do with life that matters – the nourishment we provide, the shade we provide, the support we provide, the peace we seek, the knowledge we seek, the intercessions we make, the values we add. These are what make the difference between an indulgent life and a meaningful life; between adding years to life and making impact with years. They are what make the difference between growing old and growing up. Growing up, which suggests maturity is not the same as growing old which is chronological. One learns from, and gives back to life, the other simply adds numbers to life. The Bible says ‘when I was a child, I thought like a child. I acted like a child. But when I became a man, I gave up childish ways’. Learning therefore, to replace the impetuousness of a child, the recklessness of a youth with the maturity of an adult is what growing up is all about. It is, unfortunately, not a given. For many, the years are simply not commensurate with their outlook to life. Those who grow up fast in their outlook to life, are said to be wise beyond their years. Those who do not, are said to act childishly, or beneath their years. Agatha Christie, the creator of the famous Sherlock Homes series, put it bluntly when she said ‘if you think like a 20 year-old at 50, you have wasted 30 years of your life’. There are many people – including institutions, and countries – that are in this category unfortunately.

Nigeria marked – celebrated is too inappropriate a word given the circumstances – her 66th Independence Anniversary about ten days ago. It is obvious she is growing in age but is she growing up? She is wizening but is she getting wised-up? Especially if we look at where Nigeria was in 1960 and where she is today. Nigeria of the 60s managed her relatively meagre resources fairly well. She lived according to her means and stayed largely out of debt. Infrastructure was basic but adequate. There was dignity of labor and the gap between the very rich and the very poor was not the chasm it is today. Eating from the dustbin was also the heartrending development of the 90s. The ratio of out-of- school children to population was nowhere near what it is today. The emphasis on wealth, however achieved, was not what we have today. As a result, there was more security in the land and more intrinsic value attached to hard work. Our institutions – hospitals, universities, the civil service – compared favorably with other institutions abroad because their products were highly rated. That was the era when nepotism, AKA as Federal/State character, had not completely replaced merit. And because of these and many more instances, we can say things have stagnated, or worse, deteriorated over the years in critical areas. Because of these, we can say Nigeria is growing old but not growing up.

One major sign of a ‘growing up’ country is when its leaders begin to look inwards. Mature countries invest in their people and their institutions. Nigerian leaders at 66 don’t. They still look up to the West - and now Asia – to get things done. They still look to these countries even for approvals and self-actualization. No supreme leader of a grown up country would go abroad for medicals for example, with all the ‘nakedness’ and ‘vulnerability’ it entails. Here, almost the entire leadership hierarchy goes abroad for medicals and there is no shame. No apparent sense of awareness of the security implications. No past leader would be proud to be a walking advertisement for medical tourism as we have seen of a former Head of State recently. No respectable leader of a respectable country should die in a foreign hospital after calling the shots in his country for over a decade. No leader of a grown up country would boast of spending the entirety of his holidays in a foreign land. None should live abroad and come in only for elections. Matured leaders build facilities and promote them by being the first to use them. No opposition leader of a grown up country would wash his country’s dirty linen in the Western public hoping the West would somehow come to his aid. Citizens of grown up countries put their countries first because they believe in their countries. Mature countries build systems and trust those systems. Pride is lost. Sovereignty is lost when trust in indigenous systems and institutions is lost. Our leaders on both sides of the aisle are yet to learn this.

The uncomfortable and unpalatable verdict is that Nigeria, by adding one more year, had grown older but she is not growing up. Signs of maturity would begin to emerge when the citizens themselves believe in the country enough to invest time and resources in it instead of in alien, foreign lands. And to look inwards to pick leaders irrespective of tribe or religion who would put the interest of the country and her people first in all decisions. Leaders who would trust our systems and institutions enough to put all their own eggs – including wealth and health – in the Nigerian basket.

Nigeria should stop behaving like a 26-year-old at 66. The forty-year difference amounts to wasted years if we used Agatha Christie’s definition.

•Muyiwa Adetiba is a veteran journalist and publisher. He can be reached via titbits2012@yahoo.com