Abuja, Nigeria. October 1st, 2024 – A new public opinion poll conducted by NOIPolls in commemoration of Nigeria’s 64th Independence Day has revealed that 51 percent of adult Nigerians nationwide stated nigerans are not united. However, further findings indicated that 79 percent of Nigerians take pride in being citizens of Nigeria mainly because it is their fatherland (84 percent) and they have nowhere else to call home. On the flipside, 21 percent lamented they were not proud being Nigerian mainly due to the economic hardship (33 percent) currently facing the country. Other reasons mentioned include there is nothing to be proud of (26 percent), high cost of living (19 percent), bad governance (12 percent) as well as bad leadership (6 percent).
Subsequently, the survey sought to know respondents’ opinion on what they consider to be the greatest achievement of Nigeria since it attained the status of Independence in 1960. Findings showed that 38 percent of adult Nigerians lamented that Nigeria as a nation has not achieved anything in the past 64 years. However, a few respondents were still able to pinpoint some achievements the country has made since her Independence. The top four achievements include agriculture (8 percent) and democracy (8 percent), education (7 percent), and telecommunications (6 percent) amongst others.
When asked about the single most important issue Nigeria as a nation should address in the next year, 39 percent of Nigerians mentioned the economy, closely followed by insecurity (18 percent). Other issues mentioned are fuel price (11 percent), bad governance (7 percent), corruption (7 percent), job creation (5 percent), education (4 percent), standard of living, infrastructural development, and electricity (2 percent each).
Similarly, when respondents were asked, which sector they think has performed well, unfortunately, 28 percent stated none. However, agriculture (19 percent), telecommunication (16 percent), power sector (7 percent), and education (5 percent) sector were given a thumbs up on performing well. These are some of the key findings from the Independence Day poll conducted in the week commencing 23rd September 2024.
Survey Background
Independence Day, known colloquially as October First, is an official national holiday in Nigeria, celebrated on 1 October and it marks Nigeria's proclamation of independence from British rule on 1 October 1960[1].
The holiday is celebrated annually by the government of Nigeria. The festivities begin with the President's address to the nation, which is broadcasted on radio and television, celebrations across sectors including the Nigerian Armed Forces, the Nigeria Police Force, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the workforce[2]. The streets are filled with celebrations by individuals and groups wearing green-white-green.
In recent years public disillusionment has led to muted celebrations, due to the state of the economy and lingering ethnic tensions and insecurity[3]. As observed by Sheriffdeen Adewale Tella, a Nigerian academic economist and Professor of Economics at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, reported in the punch newspaper publication of September 30th, 2024, with the caption ‘’Shall we celebrate?’, Nigeria will be celebrating her flag independence tomorrow in low key as usual[4]. Adewale noted that the last five years have been tougher than the five before it[5]. It is difficult to remember when the independence ceremony was held with fanfare[6]. The previous two decades have been years of mixed feelings[7].
Similarly, the Coalition of United Opposition Political Parties, CUPP, in a Press release issued by its National Spokesperson, Comrade Mark Adebayo, on the celebration of the country’s 64th Independence anniversary says “It is difficult to congratulate Nigerians on this occasion of the 64th Independence Anniversary because there is really nothing to celebrate. Independence is not an end in itself but was supposed to be a means to an end that translates into development, security, peace, and unity. But on all these indices, Nigeria is a crawling giant due, fundamentally, to the unfortunate succession of crude, heavily corrupt, unpatriotic, incompetent, and myopic leadership that has bedevilled this country since flag independence[8]. He lamented that each administration is worse than the last one[9]. In 1960 at Independence, Nigeria held a huge promise as the giant of Africa and the light of all blacks globally with enormous potentials to be among the most developed in the comity of nations. But alas, the foster elites that took over from the colonialists, plus the military and civilian politicians that followed them made looting of the country’s resources a fundamental policy of government[10].
Nigeria’s current Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, speaking on Sunday, the 29th of September 2024, at an inter-denominational church service held at the National Christian Centre, Abuja, to mark the country’s 64th Independence Anniversary reported by ThisDay Newspaper publication of September 30th, said despite the increasingly bumpy times, Nigeria will triumph definitely[11]. Akpabio urged citizenry to be patient and hopeful, saying Nigeria’s brightest days are ahead[12]. Against this backdrop on the Independence Day Anniversary, NOIPolls conducted a survey to gauge the opinions of Nigerians regarding Nigeria’s progress since independence.
Survey Findings
The first question sought the opinion of adult Nigerians about being proud Nigerians as the country commemorates its 64th independence come October 1st, 2024. The survey result showed that majority of respondents (79 percent) revealed they are proud being Nigerians. This assertion cuts across gender, age groups and geo-graphical locations with at least 62 percent representation. On the flipside, only 21 percent said they were not proud of being a citizen.
Subsequently, respondents (79 percent) who stated they are proud being Nigerian were further probed on why they are proud being Nigerians and 84 percent said it is because Nigeria is their country amongst other reasons. Similarly, respondents (21 percent) who expressed not being proud to be Nigerian were also probed for why and 33 percent mentioned economic hardship (33 percent) as a top reason. This is followed by 26 percent who said there is nothing to be proud of, 19 percent who pointed out high cost of living and 12 percent who cited bad governance amongst other reasons.
In addition, the survey also sought to know what respondents love most about being Nigerian. Unfortunately, findings showed that 24 percent of respondents said there is nothing to love about being a citizen of Nigeria. On the other hand, 21 percent mentioned cultural diversity as what they love the most about being Nigerian amongst other reasons.
Furthermore, in gauging the opinion of Nigerians on the single most important issue the country needs to address in the next one year. The findings showed 39 percent of the respondents mentioned the economy, insecurity (18 percent), fuel price (11 percent), bad governance (7 percent), corruption (7 percent), job creation (5 percent), and education (4 percent) amongst others important issues mentioned.
Interestingly, survey result showed that 38 percent of respondents polled affirmed that Nigeria has not achieved anything since her Independence 64 years ago. On the contrary, some respondents believe the country has recorded some great achievements around agriculture (8 percent), democracy (8 percent), education (7 percent) and telecommunication (6 percent) amongst other achievements mentioned. More findings also revealed that 17 percent of Nigerians interviewed do not know/refused to disclose their stance.
Consequently, when asked which sector in Nigeria they think has performed very well, the result showed that 28 percent of Nigerians said none. However, agriculture (19 percent), telecommunication sector (16 percent), power sector (7 percent) were the top mentioned sectors respondents believe to have performed well.
Finally, the survey sought to know how united Nigerians are using a scale of one to five, and findings showed that slightly more than half of the respondents surveyed (51 percent) believe that Nigerians are not united as opposed to 27 percent who believe citizens are united.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the survey result showed that 24 percent of adult Nigerians have revealed that there is nothing to love about being Nigerian. Although most Nigerians (79 percent) are proud being Nigerians mainly because Nigeria is their country/fatherland. More so, findings revealed 38 percent of respondents do not consider that the country has achieved anything in the past 64 years since her Independence. Nigerians want the government to tackle important issues such as economy (39 percent), security (18 percent), fuel price (11 percent), bad governance (7 percent) and corruption (7 percent) within the next one year.
Survey Methods
The opinion poll was conducted in the week commencing 23rd of September 2024. It involved telephone interviews of a proportionate nationwide sample of 1,000 randomly selected phone-owning Nigerians aged 18 years and above, representing the six geo-political regions 36 states, and the FCT of the country. Interviews were conducted in five languages – Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba, Pidgin English, and English. Although we can say with 95% confidence that the results obtained were statistically precise – within a margin of error of plus or minus 4.65%; we recognize that the exclusive use of telephone polling has its limitation of excluding non-phone-owning Nigerians. Nonetheless, with the country’s tele density put over 100 percent by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), we consider our telephone polling approach appropriate. Also, given the rigorous scientific process of randomization and stratification applied, we can confidently stand by the validity of our methodology and approach. NOIPolls Limited, No. 1 for country-specific polling services in West Africa. We conduct periodic opinion polls and studies on various socio-economic and political issues in Nigeria. More information is available at www.noi-polls.com.
Disclaimer
This press release has been produced by NOIPolls Limited to provide information on all issues which form the subject matter of the document. Kindly note that while we are willing to share results from our polls with the public, we only request that NOIPolls be acknowledged as authors whenever and wherever our poll results are used, cited, or published. NOIPolls hereby certifies that all the views expressed in this document accurately reflect the views of respondents surveyed for the poll, and background information is based on information from various sources that it believes are reliable; however, no representation is made that it is accurate or complete. Whilst reasonable care has been taken in preparing this document, no responsibility or liability is accepted for errors or facts, or any views expressed herein by NOIPolls for actions taken because of information provided in this report. Any ratings, forecasts, estimates, opinions, or views herein constitute a judgment as of the date of this document. If the date of this document is not current, the views and content may not reflect NOIPolls' current findings and/or thinking.
Press Contact
Email: editor@noi-polls.com
Number: +234 (0) 9 - 290 4162
+234 (0) 9 – 291 4877
[1]https://www.google.com/search?q=nigeria%27s+independence+history&oq=nigeria%27s+independence+history&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIICAEQABgWGB4yCAgCEAAYFhgeMggIAxAAGBYYHjIICAQQABgWGB4yCAgFEAAYFhgeMggIBhAAGBYYHjIICAcQABgWGB4yCAgIEAAYFhgeMg0ICRAAGIYDGIAEGIoF0gEKMTgxNTRqMGoxNagCCLACAQ&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Comments