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Listen Will Ross reports from the Guinean capital Conakry (4 mins 7 secs)
October 2nd marks 50 years of independence for the west African state of Guinea.
Most Guineans are living on less than a dollar a day
Whilst other French colonies in Africa at the time decided to stay within a French community, mineral-rich Guinea chose self-rule and total independence.
Guinea's leader at the time, Sekou Toure, told the French president, General de Gaulle, that his country preferred "poverty in freedom to riches in slavery."
This angered the French who punished Guinea by withdrawing all assistance.
The country has only had two presidents since independence but as Will Ross found out, the population has little to celebrate.
First broadcast 2 October 2008