Trinidad and Tobago Celebrates Independence 31 August. But Are We?
On the eve of Trinidad and Tobago’s 52nd year of independence from Britain it is important that we reflect and try to understand where we came from, where we are and where we are headed. The experts will once again flood the local media ranting about how proud we should all be. It is important that we all come together to celebrate another year of gaining our independence that we face some of the realities that exist in our nation.
Don’t be misled by the words “gaining our independence”, it was actually “given” to us. We asked and the “Lords in London” collectively came to the conclusion that this country was more of a liability than an asset. At the time over 90% of the population was either former African slaves or Indian indentured workers. A very small percentage, were Anglo Saxon British citizens or their descendants who were primarily the land owners in this country.
Sugar was King and these wise “Lords of London” rightly predicted that in a few years the economic viability of sugar to sustain any country’s GDP was at best tenuous. It has been speculated that the only reason “Independence” was granted was because eventually Trinidad and Tobago would become a thorn in the side of the Crown, at least economically. In other words, we were too poor to keep.
Ironically, things would have been a lot different if we had fought for our independence. If we did, people would value it more, in fact, they would value each other more and our leaders would understand that a people who are willing to sacrifice life and limb for a cause would not take the stupidness that exist today.
But God is good and works in mysterious ways, as mere mortals. a few actors on the stage, most in the audience, spectators looking as the plot (life in Trinidad) unfolds.
Not to discount the efforts of the politicians of the time, men like Dr. Eric Williams who is widely chronicled as the Father of this nation, like him, there have been many who sought to make life better for citizens of this country. The Doc was a politician, as the head of the PNM Party and the Prime Minister at the time, he was instrumental in negotiating our request from the Crown for Independence.
As should be expected, the deal in retrospect and with clear 20/20 hindsight, was self serving, benefiting the Doc as the leader of the country and his party. Trinidadians, at least afro-Trinidadians, placed him on a pedestal and revered the ground he walked on. He was a highly educated Trinidadian but education does never placed anyone beyond the frailties of most men, he was not a priest.
It was only much later that the average citizens learned that for some reason, our Independence came with the condition that the ultimate judicial authority in Trindad and Tobago would include; guess who? The “Lords of London” also known here as the “Privy Council”. Ironically, they still adjudicate on many capital cases that “Trinidadians” just don’t have the historical, or legalistic depth to try impartially. Do we?
Other than that we are “truly” independent but here is the twist that occurred shortly after our Independence, something even the Lords of London were unable to predict. Oil trumped sugar and became our most valuable resource.
Although there were dribbles of oil from 1856 and prior to our Independence, it was only after when the new Trinidad and Tobago government established the Ministry of Petroleum and Mines that the real reserves were discovered. Gradually production increased until in the year 2000 when an oli company discovered the largest reserves were discovered in the Caribbean right off the coast.
That changed everything. But even before that last discovery, the Doc’s was quoted as saying that because of our large oil reserves “money was no problem” . Thank God the Lords of London could not conceive in their wildest imagination the value hidden in the coast. Without a doubt this country would certainly not be independent.
Unfortunately, this easily won freedom, and the new found wealth has created its own problems.
Despite our recent world exposure in the Summit of the Americas as a bastion of democracy, Trinidad and Tobago’s major challenge is with self governance. In the 47 years of Independence, Trinidad and Tobago have been under the rule of the Doc’s PNM party for 39 years. Only on two occasions have the opposition parties been able to wrestle control of the country away from the PNM. As such, it can easily be concluded that this party is responsible for the current state of the nation’s quality of life.
We are now prisoners in our homes and our recreational activities have been adjusted to safeguard our lives and property. But true to the nature of our ancestors, we shift our psyche to song and dance until, as too frequently happens, we face rampant acts of senseless violence and blatant cases of corruption. Our adherence to international laws that govern basic human rights is lacking according to Amnesty International . So too is our rating on the level of corruption in our society according to Transparency International . Both implicitly objective watch dog organizations.
We are a proud people who would not hesitate to declare that “we Trini 2 D bone”. But that’s it. We are not willing to take responsibility for many of the things that are happening around us. Maybe that’s what is meant by "Trini 2 d bone" we know how to shirk responsibility; independently.
We have an attitude of selfishness as evident by the way we drive on the highways, always wanting to be the first and will “bounce down” anything that is in our way to save a few minutes of driving or waiting. Or the way we treat our women and children at City Gate bus terminal where it appears that queuing up lines is forbidden and its ok for grown men to walk over women and children to be the first to get on a maxi-taxi or bus. Even the law enforcement personnel there understand how it works and stand by idle while people are trampled. Is that what independence means to us?
But wait. The independence we speak about is the country, not the people. Our people are split along racial lines, politicians, especially the opposition, play the race card whenever it’s convenient. Elections are won with promises, for solutions to crime, providing basic essential infrastructural development like pipe borne water, electricity and medical services. Promises gets votes, and now we have what we have.
Many of us have grown apathetic, we look at the news and its as if things are happening in some other country, it has nothing to do with us. Many of us just talk about it all day but we will not lift a finger to help. Only when it affects us directly does it really matter.
How would you like to be the gentleman who last week was arrested because he claimed that the government took his land in Chagaramus for use by the US government. When they left the TT government maintained possession of the land and never compensated the true deeded owners. He had to be bailed out of jail for trying to hold a barbeque on what should be considered public land, which according to him, it is not. For that gentleman and his family what does independence mean?
Another quite different case in point, I was approached by someone I met at a networking session who had, what I thought was, a fantastic idea to initiate a petition to reduce crime in Trinidad and Tobago. He wanted help in marketing the idea of using technology and emerging media to assist in gaining compliance to errant behavior and serious crime.
If you have not guessed by now by nature I’m an activist, I believe in doing things to create change even if it don’t work. I think like Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb, new ideas, new possibilities intrigue me, so I jumped on board with the programme. It’s called the Brotherskeeper Foundation and with the aid of the website we began to collect online signature for the petitions. This was a below low budget experiment. From it we were able to draw some conclusions.
Just to let you know we used google analytic to track every click, unique visitors, returning visitors, head line test and every other metric available. We know exactly how many visitors viewed the site, how many went to the petition page and the numbers that actually signed the petition. Initially we were disappointed but we quickly began to understand and drew our conclusions.
For the most part, Trinbagonians are a passive people we really never had to shed blood to gain our “freedom” and “Independence”. We expect someone else to do it for us, whether its signing a petition or “gaining” independence, we were spoiled because we never had to pick up arms or lose life in the process of gaining independence.
One young lady said it best in response to a request to sign the petition, she emailed to say, “let someone else do it, I’m too busy”. She used up about half a minute to send that email, and could have signed the petition in that time but she exhibited a more ingrained problem. We seem to have an issue with taking responsibility, not for yourself but for the country in which you live and say we love. Unfortunately, large segments of the population are not independent thinkers but are rather guided by a landlocked value and a mob mentality that can be quickly sparked.
Let me correct myself here, there was one time when 24 Trinidadians “shed blood” in political action. Unfortunately, in the attempted coup in 1990 was an aberration perpetrated by a religious group who eventually abort their efforts. And just like in Ripley’s Believe it Or Not that entire matter was “quietly” swept under a political rug.
That is why when I think of Trinidad and Tobago’s Independence I think of groups like the Anti-smelter group headed by Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh, author of the http://rheamungal.wordpress.com/2009/02/09/ital-revolution-by-wayne-kublalsingh/ is fighting an uphill battle to save our country from environmental disaster. He is not alone, in a country of over 1.3 million there are thousands of us who will lay down our lives now not for our country’s independence, but for our children’s future.
Many Trinbagonians work quietly and thanklessly behind the scenes with one goal in mind; change. A few are in politics, but the majority are not in it for any power or material gains. There are countless NGOs that pick up the slack trying to assist in the deficiencies in this country. They are what independence is about. We maybe “sorta independent” but there are many who have shaken off the collars of economic slavery and selfishness and are working to preserve some of the values that have taken for granted.
If you disagree with me say so, if you do agree enter a comment.
