Things would have been better if Nigeria did not gain Independence – 99-year-old ex-civil servant laments

A 99-year-old man, Albert Adesanwo, who served as a technician at the Nigerian Navy, has declared that if he had a second chance to return to life after death, it won’t be as a black man nor a Nigerian.

Speaking with the Punch on Sunday, the elderly man noted that Nigeria before Independence was much better than what was obtainable in the present day.

According to him, “Because then, the economy was better, people had good food to eat without spending too much.

“One shilling then could buy enough food. I think the British people acted better than Nigerians who took over the country after independence.

“The British politicians never promised us what they could not do, and whenever they made promises, they went out of their way to ensure they fulfilled it.

“Also, when one was employed in a company, they treated the workers better. I remember working with a Briton who was my boss. We got the same good treatment as the chief engineers who were way ahead of us technicians. There was no discrimination.”

Adesanwo said he wished Nigeria did not gain her independence as early as 1960, adding that things would have been much better than they were now.

He added, “I wished the British ruled Nigeria for longer, who knows; maybe things would have been better than they are now.

“I remember a few days before independence, one of my bosses then, a Briton called Mr. Key, said to us, “Now that you (Nigerians) would soon gain your Independence, what do you think you can do?” Our reply to him was that he should allow us gain the independence first.

“I liked it when we first got independence, but after independence on October 1, 1960, and the things we began to see from our leaders, I thought otherwise.

“There was dishonesty and nepotism. If I were to come back to this world, I wished to come back as a white man, not as a black and Nigerian. I will give you some examples.

“Shortly after my retirement in 1984, all my documents and properties got burnt in a fire incident in my house.

“The fire fighters were called in but they could not put out the fire because they did not have enough equipment. I came out of my house naked.

“Then, I had served the nation for so many years and did a lot of things for the country before I retired,” he lamented.

He cried out that for many years now, his pensions and entitlements had not been paid while he struggled to meet life’s demands.

He continued, “I have not received my pension since 2010. I used to go to Apapa, Marina and Victoria Island to collect my pension back then. Many pensioners have died while trying to collect their pensions. The Federal Government pays my pension.

“Five thousand naira per month. One of my grandsons used to give me N5,000 every month until he encountered some financial difficulty.

“Now, whenever I try to make efforts to collect my pension, some people advise me to go to Abuja to make a complaint.

“But I don’t even have money to transport myself from her to another place in the state, not to talk of travelling to Abuja.”

[Daily Post]