The 65-Year-Old Father Called Nigeria -By Isaac Asabor

Nigeria is 65 today, and if truth must be told, there is nothing to celebrate. At such an age, a man should have grown in wisdom, steadiness, and responsibility. He should be a respected elder whose family thrives under his guidance. But Nigeria, the 65-year-old father, is none of these things. He is some father rich in inheritance but bankrupt in responsibility. A man with many wives from different ethnic groups and countless children across those groups, yet unable to feed or unite them. A father who inherited vast wealth, yet his children live like orphans. This is the disgraceful reality of the father called Nigeria.

Since 1960, when he supposedly completed his apprenticeship from colonial masters, Nigeria has stumbled like a drunkard who inherited riches but squandered them in brothels and gambling dens. Oil, gas, fertile land, solid minerals, forests, rivers, and above all, an energetic youth population, these are blessings other nations dream of. Yet this father has turned plenty into famine, opportunity into tragedy, and promise into ashes.

Why? Because his prodigal children, the politicians, are parasites who masquerade as leaders. They have looted with impunity, borrowing recklessly, mortgaging the future, and stealing every treasure in sight. They reduced the family estate to a shell, and then had the audacity to parade themselves as saviors during elections. They are not children fit for inheritance, they are vultures feeding on their father’s rotting flesh.

And what has the father done? He indulges them. He allows them to steal scholarships meant for schools, funds meant for hospitals, pensions meant for the elderly. He watches as they drive exotic cars bought with stolen money while their siblings trek miles for water. He looks away as billions are hidden abroad while his daughters die in collapsing clinics. In any sane household, such sons would have been cast out. But Nigeria embraces them, recycles them, and even celebrates their looting with chieftaincy titles.

Meanwhile, the household is a battlefield. The wives, the ethnic groups, quarrel endlessly. The children treat each other as sworn enemies. The father not only refuses to reconcile them; he actively fans the flames of hatred, using tribe and religion to keep them divided. The result? Civil war, insurgency, banditry, separatist agitations, endless bloodshed. A wise father unites his house. Nigeria thrives on chaos.

At 65, this father is a disgrace. Other nations with far less have risen from ruins. Japan rose from ashes to industrial might. Singapore, with no natural resources, became a global hub. Rwanda, scarred by genocide, became a model of order and growth. Nigeria, with every imaginable blessing, has chosen to sink.

Let us be blunt: this father is not merely incompetent, he is irresponsible, reckless, and complicit in his family’s ruin. And his children, the politicians who claim to represent him, are wolves in agbada, and predators in human form. They loot, they lie, they destroy, and still ask for respect. They deserve none.

At this juncture, it is tempting to ask about what must change.  In fact, the time for excuses ended decades ago. Colonialism cannot explain the present rot. Tribal suspicion cannot justify the bleeding. At 65, this father must do two things or die a disgrace.

First, end the squandering of wealth. Every kobo of oil revenue, every tax, every loan must be accounted for and invested in the people. Enough of padded budgets, ghost projects, and phantom billions. Corruption is not governance, it is cannibalism. This family has been eaten alive long enough.

Second, unite the household. The endless quarrels must stop. Ethnic and religious manipulation is poison deliberately fed by politicians who profit from chaos. Hunger, insecurity, and unemployment afflict every tribe. No one is spared, except the predators at the top.

But here is the bitter truth: this father will not change on his own. He has grown addicted to corruption, division, and decay. If the children do not rise, Nigeria will collapse beyond repair. Citizens must shake off docility, stop selling their birthright for crumbs, and hold every so-called leader accountable.

Enough of silence while the family estate is plundered. Enough of fighting one another while the true criminals loot the future. Nigerians must stop worshipping thieves in agbada and start treating them as the traitors they are. If the children do not unite and fight back, this father will drag everyone into the abyss.

At 65, Nigeria is not just a failed father, he is an embarrassment to his children and a cautionary tale to the world. A father who should inspire but humiliates. A father who should provide but impoverishes. A father who should unite but divides.

This is not merely disappointing. It is shameful. It is criminal. It is unforgivable. And unless the children rise and force change, the family will eventually scatter, and the name Nigeria will be remembered not as a nation but as a squandered inheritance.

At 65, the excuses are finished. The father must change, or watch his house collapse in shame forever.