THE resilience of the Nigerian people, their ability to absorb so much and yet still keep going with little loss of confidence or even of their signature sense of humour, a quality which underpins their ability to survive under the most undesirable and challenging conditions, is something that Nigerians deserve to commend themselves for and celebrate.

They can do so, not with a wish to continue to find themselves having to be resilient, but as a retrospective self-accolade for having survived bruising experiences and brutal conditions that might have left other less enduring spirits defeated and perhaps broken.

How fathers and mothers manage somehow to shelter, feed and clothe their children under current poor circumstances that have prevailed for too long, how young university graduates manage to keep their dreams alive and their self-esteem intact after years of unemployment at the prime of their youth, how the man, woman and youth on the street manages somehow not to explode at the mere sight of the priviledged, these are acts of courage to be recognised, and to be celebrated with a commitment to alter such unacceptable conditions as a matter of the utmost national priority.

The church, of whatever faith or religion, must also be commended for providing much of the succour and cushion to absorb the shock of this trauma, its own excesses, which will have to be addressed in due course, notwithstanding

There are, on the downside, a lot to point out as deficits of the last fifty years. Many of these have been raised by Nigerians and others over the last few months as the formal date of the 50th anniversary approached, came and went. It serves little or no purpose to repeat them here. But a few might bear mentioning.

Somehow, in the last decade or so, and for reasons that will require more space to diagnose than is available here, Nigerians seem to have returned to their ethnic bases in search of either internal stability and strength, or for political, financial or business advantage.

The result has been an overwhelming sense of what I choose to call the “retribalisation” of Nigerians—a conscious resort to ethnicity where nationalism or even pan-Africanism had served as the ideal and context of choice at the beginning and even more or less in the recent past.

Curiously enough, this phenomenon seems to have emerged amongst otherwise very enlightened Nigerians, respected Nigerians some of them even embrassingly dear and nonetheless enduring friends of mine!

Fortunately, young Nigerians seem so far to have avoided  this phenomenon as they on their part appear to be building a broader sense of national entity and identity, engage  in ubiquitous professional and intimate socialisation, romance and even marriage, and seem to seek an even broader continental or global integrated identity.

It is difficult to resist the sweet speculation that perhaps those of the older generation who are so  inclined, being unwilling or yet unable to come to terms with the frustration and even angst of an eminently feasible dream gone somewhat illusive, are turning to “tribal intellectualism” for escape.

Lest it seem unclear, I am indeed throwing a challenge to my generation to find the courage to try once again  to build the one nation that we all dreamed of, and forego the pursuit of that which is merely the  transient advantage of ethnicity and regionalism, because we still can accomplish that Great Nigerian Dream, if we once again find the courage to dare.

The benefits of taking on the challenge of doing so  are more worthy of our knowledge, wisdom and fortitude, and the promise of success eminently more noble and rewarding, than acquiescing to what we know to be truly infra dignitatum.

Perhaps one of the most disconcerting legacies of our recent past is the incomprehensible deterioration of Nigeria’s educational system and academic performance at practically all levels. Given the excellence of our schools decades back when there was much less resource and little to work with, the poor quality that exists today calls for alarm. Nigeria’s defining strength in the global dispensation is the intellectual and academic expertise of its citizens.

Global competitiveness depends on this attribute. If Nigeria is to have any chance of restoring and advancing her global competiveness in the future, we must address this issue with the utmost urgency.

Mr. Okpaku Sr. is president, Telecom Africa Inter. Corp., New York, USA.