The year of our [Nigeria] political independence serves as a helpful delineator between the scary colonial past and the present. The colonists oppressed and exploited us and frequently employed harsh means to repress overtures for freedom. The economic impact was equally devastating, including the loss of cultural identity and sometimes unquestionable social injustice. Such time delineation is similar to using the BC (Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domine or the year of our Lord) classifications. The thinking of those who coined it was that those born after Jesus Christ’s birth (AD) experience the light of the Savior that most people born before that cut-off date never enjoyed.
Similarly, October 1, 1960, separates those born into the light of freedom or the bearers of the light of freedom from those born into the dark days of colonial oppression. Astrologers have argued that the time of someone’s birth has implications for the expected societal role. Several published zodiac reports consistently and lucidly explain how people’s experiences and behaviours have roots in when they were born. We can borrow from that line of thinking to classify the contestants in this forthcoming presidential election.
Atiku Abubakar, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and Rabiu Kwankwaso were all born before independence. Peter Obi and Sowore, among a few other contestants, were born in the postcolonial era of freedom. Aside from these contestants, can we argue that we have suffered the cloud of Amartya Sen’s unfreedoms for decades because our lives have been marionetted by those not born in the era of political freedom? Can we argue that those born in the period of liberty are better endowed with the DNA for orchestrating freedom than those not delivered within that era? Unarguably children of the computer age would be more digitally exposed and adept in computer use than those that struggled to acquire the defining elements of the era. This metaphysical perspective might be a good guide as we approach election day.
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Professor Ike-Muonso, a professor of economics is managing director/CEO, ValueFronteira Limited.
