I am not sure there is much that feels “happy” about our independence today.
Sixty-six years after we gained independence, it sometimes feels as though we exchanged the chains of colonialism for the burden of being failed by our own systems and institutions.
I watched President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Independence Day address with keen interest, and I have also followed the reactions to it, including the stat
ement by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, particularly the emphasis on the cost of transportation. President Tinubu himself acknowledged in his address that affordable transportation must be part of a Nigeria where ordinary families can live with dignity.
But I have consistently maintained that transportation is too important to be treated merely as an intervention.
The Pi-CNG & EV programme has produced measurable interventions, including CNG and electric buses, conversion infrastructure and efforts to reduce fares. Government says these measures are already lowering transportation costs on some routes.
But interventions are not the same thing as a functioning transportation system.
A serious transportation system requires intentional planning, legislation, infrastructure, maintenance, accountability and long-term funding. It must be designed around the daily transit needs of the people, not only around the immediate crisis of fuel prices.
Nobody understands the consequences of a failed public transportation system quite like the people of the FCT.
What happened to the Abuja Urban Mass Transit buses popularly known as the “El-Rufai buses”? Introduced to provide mass transit and reduce pressure on Abuja’s roads, many of those buses eventually disappeared from service. Investigations have attributed the decline to issues including poor maintenance, management problems and policy changes.
The question therefore remains: how do we build systems that survive beyond the political administration that introduces them?
How long can government continue to pour money into temporary interventions before we accept that Nigeria needs a properly structured, accountable and sustainable public transportation system?
Look at China. Its high-speed rail network demonstrates that transportation infrastructure can be treated as strategic national infrastructure, with benefits that extend beyond the fare collected from individual passengers. The World Bank has documented that some Chinese high-speed rail lines have faced financial viability challenges, while also highlighting substantial economic benefits such as reduced travel time, improved connectivity and greater service availability.
That is the kind of thinking we need.
Transportation is not simply about moving people from Point A to Point B. It determines whether people can get to work, whether businesses can function, whether students can access education, whether families can afford to live, and whether a city can grow efficiently.
As Nigeria turns 66, perhaps the most important thing we can do is to stop asking only, “What intervention can we announce today?” and start asking, “What systems are we building that will still serve Nigerians decades from now?”
Our independence should mean more than the absence of colonial rule. It should mean the freedom and capacity to build institutions that work for our people.
As we approach another electoral cycle, Nigerians deserve to examine the ideas, records, programmes and practical solutions presented by those seeking public office. We must demand accountability, competence, transparency and a genuine understanding of the problems confronting ordinary people.
Nigeria does not lack potential. What we must build is a system capable of turning that potential into a better quality of life for everyone.
We must begin rebuilding—with intentionality, with accountability and with the people at the centre of government.
Happy Independence Day, Nigeria.
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria. 🇳🇬
