Nigeria was on the path of being called a developed nation during this period. Brilliant and serious students had foreign scholarships at beck and calls. One could go for loans to educate oneself with certainty that the money would be returned in no time as opportunities were replete for the educated.

This was the period when corporations, civil service and other corporate organisations competed for Nigerian students. They queued up during graduation and convocation ceremonies for the graduates to be offered juicy employment.

The school life was fun. Students, especially in the university, lived like kings compared with what is obtainable today. They lived in beautiful hostels, ate the best of meals including regular fresh milk and whole chickens. Their dresses including bedsheets were laundered for them.

At this period, there were responsible government. No region depended on another, and each was doing very well even to the surprise of the outgoing colonial government. The Western Region for example started free (primary) education in 1955, built the first modern stadium in 1960, built the first television in Africa in 1960 all before the independence; built the tallest skyscraper in Africa at that time – Cocoa House Ibadan; built the first modern housing and industrial estates in the country, and had the most organized civil service in Africa.

Obafemi Awolowo University is arguably the most beautiful in West Africa, if not Africa. It was designed and built by the government of the Western Region. Emoluments for the civil servants of the Western Region were very much better than what federal workers earned. At this point, instead of being the feeder, the federal government was fed by the regions, and even borrowed from the region.

This was the time Nigeria was the hope of Africa. The early 1970s saw Nigeria doling out funds to different countries even outside Africa. The country led campaigns against colonialism and apartheid. Naira was much valued than the US dollar. Thousands of Africans migrated to Nigeria to take up any work. This was the when Nigeria was so rich that it never knew what to do with money.

Editor’s Note: This piece was posted by Olatunji Timothy, a Nigerian, on Quora.com. It is repeated here to challenge Nigerians to re-evaluate their sense of patriotism as the country marks another Independence Day celebration.

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