Its Independence Day.

Photo - mynameisentirelyigbo.tumblr.com

When I was much younger, I used to look forward to October 1st. It meant hearing the same inspiring stories my dad always used to tell me with his head raised high like our Sunday preacher, about how it had happened in 1960, from the march past, to the sounds of trumpets of rejoicing. He would even give details on the pen that was used to sign the declaration of independence.

And then my mum would dress me up in the cutest (or what she thought was the cutest then) green and white outfits and take me for parades, one year I even got to present a bouquet to a governor. I can definitely say it was one of the coolest days of the year for me, maybe even third coolest after my birthday and Christmas day.

Now I'm older and Nigeria's Independence Day means nothing more to me than a day off school, a day of excessive BBM broadcast messages and maybe the only day Nigeria gets to trend worldwide on twitter all day..but hey, our loss to Team USA in the Olympic men's basketball has taken that cake this year.

The point is the essence of celebrating Independence Day in this country has been lost and the only real reason few people celebrate it is the hope for a better tomorrow. And so today, I'm joining the minority who celebrate this country and I'm  raising a glass of optimism and hope that future independence anniversary celebrations gives us more reasons to celebrate.

Happy Independence Day and Happy holidays.

God bless Nigeria.