By OBIOTIKA WILFRED TOOCHUKWU

Many Nigerians are busy making last-minute preparations for the beginning of a new year. Goals are listed, and ?fingers crossed? to hopefully fulfill what they set out to achieve next year. We may have been remiss, negligent or Inconsistent in some ways within 2024 but that could not have placed most of us in the ditch, dicey situation. ?Golden age? denotes a period of primordial peace, harmony, stability and prosperity. As the year 2024 trickles down to an end, it should be reviewed and rehearsed especially with the various trends, woes that coiled the year. 2024 is not the year people had peace and harmony. It?s not the year of abundance but Nigeria as country had it so good in 2024. It was a flourishing period in the history of our nation. We had it in surplus that the government engaged in renovations, acquisition of new jets, yacht even construction of a 781kms of coastal road. We could not have ascribed the years when few thousands of Naira could build a storey house, buy the newest Peugeot car as the most profound. This is a time when you spend billions for renovations, millions to build and hundreds of thousands to travel to certain parts of the country. This is the time for our political leaders and the age of superfluity.

Evidently, the ?progressives? are having their best days with high status and clout following them. Someone could as well adduce that the golden age in Nigeria was during the time of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and the Prime minister, Tafawa Balewa. At those times, twenty-four pennies would make one shilling. Very few people could afford to get one pound. With 2.4 shillings, you could buy a big stock fish, and 1.6 shillings would as well provide two tubers of yam. No one needed electricity and citizens were beckoned on to buy kerosene which was declined because they felt it would set the house ablaze. The cities were pleasant; water was within reach and the ground was not barren. Igbo women had protested in the early ?60s that a black man would not rule them despite the high-handedness of the British government (indirect rule).

Without considering the dark side to every greatness, the rationality of a black man in power is easier felt than said. Some may still consider the early 1970s when we had the oil boom as the golden age. They would blame the government of Gowon as one without foresight. We can as well leapfrog to 1999, the era of democracy and peaceful political transition from one government to the other. Succession has never been a problem, and our civilian presidents have never had it so good as it is today. Every head of state, presidents in Nigeria since 1960 had reigned like kings. They were all unruffled by pelting and beatings of public opinion. Still, 2024 became more remarkable not because of inflation, banditry, terrorism or kidnapping but the political will of the president in power to revel in the midst of hunger, mourning and woes.

It's the golden age because the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu got all he wanted in the seat of power through various changes and critical reforms. We witnessed a massive overhaul of agencies and parastatals. Nigerians had often deceived themselves with optimism. They wear a religious garb, feigning happiness even at odd times. In spite of the gloom that has serenaded the environment certain regions have shown that the golden age does not just benefit the government in power but the citizens as well. Christmas and new year can never be compared to any other festival among the Igbos. The celebration of Sallah in the North, the Odun festival among the Yorubas are mere drumbeat to what happens in the southeast of Nigeria between the last week of December and first week of January every year. The golden age as we see it reignited the homecomin?, gathering, mass returns, reunion and feast among the Igbos. They have come together to spend their money, reconnect and have fun. It?s needless to say that the ever enterprising and industrious Igbo sons and daughters do not in any way depend nor put their hope on the outcome of government decisions and promises. Come, let us build our country must be too sentimental for the elites and they would definitely build something that would not last.

Igbo businessmen are stewards of their money. And the way such money is invested, spent during the yuletide is a boon and blessings to them. Anxiety could arise from remembering our past. We may seek security from yesterday. It?s true that we have lost opportunities that can never be regained; nonetheless, we should not be impetuous, impulsive in facing the new year. Everybody is getting ready to get out with the old and face a new year. This time of the year reminds us that time is fleeting, the past is unalterable, and the future is uncertain. In any case, many citizens in Nigeria have accepted their fate: ?suffering and hardship would persist whether with the old or new?. Albert Einstein once said, ?There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.? The formidable challenges of 2024 will never overwhelm the tough Nigerians in 2025. We can always make a difference at our various duty posts.

?Obiotika Wilfred Toochukwu writes from St. Patrick?s Catholic Church Awgbu, Anambra State.

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