Nigeria is one of the most blessed countries in the world. A nation that is naturally blessed with liquid and solid minerals uncountable is truly a nation flowing with milk and honey. A country where the sun never sets and where we celebrate summer all year round. The land with fertile soil where practically every crop can grow and bear good fruits without fertiliser. A land which started with the thick rain forest in the south, savanna in the middle belt and the Sahara in the north. A nation without continuous or debilitating natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, uncontrollable wild fires or floods etc. The largest economy in Africa, the most populous country in Africa and the most populous black nation on earth. It is obvious from the foregoing that Nigeria is bearing on its shoulders the destiny of its citizens, Africans and the black race. Little wonder why the great legend, Nelson Mandela was reputed to have said “The world will not respect Africa until Nigeria earns that respect. The black people of the world need Nigeria to be great as a source of pride and confidence”. One wonders how a Nigerian, knowing these potentials, will ever contemplate secession, separation or dismemberment of Nigeria as the solution to the myriad of problems that beset the country which, truth be told, are not peculiar to Nigeria.
Let us note that in the modern world, a lot of separatists succeeded in some countries to dismember the country into smaller countries. The communist USSR broke into several smaller countries in 1990 and it is 
instructive to note that the smaller countries like Georgia and Ukraine that came out of the USSR have become poorer today and less powerful than they used to be before the fall of the USSR. They couldn’t even defend their sovereignty against foreign forces. Ukraine has lost Crimea to Russia and Georgia has lost Abkhazia and South Ossetia to Russia in a purported declaration of independence. Social upheaval has become rampant within these countries and many are regretting the dismemberment of the country. All the promises of the separatists before the dismemberment have now become a smokescreen. The people have been misled. In Africa, Ethiopia and Sudan have also broken up. South Sudan which came out of Sudan has been fighting a civil war since independence till date. The country has become a basket case and a failed state. Eritrea which came out of Ethiopia has also been worse off than they were before the separation. It is reasonable to conclude that dismemberment of a country is not a guarantee that the resultant countries will be better than the original country.
In Nigeria, the most common phrase by the separatists to justify their quest for the dismemberment of the country is the fulanization of the country. This simply means that there is a hidden agenda by the fulani tribe in Nigeria to dominate other tribes. They often cite the rise of Usman Dan Fodio of the Sokoto dynasty as a reference, while asserting that the fulanis in the modern world are poised to complete the domination of Nigeria which Usman Dan Fodio started.
The most important dates in Nigerian history include 1914, 1960, 1963, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1979, 1983, 1985, 1993, and 1999. In 1914, the British government amalgamated the Northern and Southern Protectorates together under the name Nigeria. Every Nigerian suffered from the British tyranny. The Sultan, the leader of the Usman Dan Fodio dynasty was killed by the British. They forcefully took over the country. In 1960, the North, East and West, through their leaders, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Ahmadu Bello, Tafawa Balewa sat down and agreed on acceptable terms of co-existence. No section dominated the other. We got our independence constitution through dialogue and compromise. In the first republic, no party could garner the majority in the parliament to form a government alone. The northern party, NPC, that garnered the majority seats had to align with a southern party, NCNC, to form a government. The South was President and the North was Prime Minister. This formula of sharing the two top most positions has become part of our political life.
This government was truncated by a coup led by Major Kaduna Nzeogwu, a non fulani, in 1966 which brought Major General Aguiyi Ironsi, a non fulani to power. The regime of Ironsi introduced the unitary system of governance in Nigeria, in line with the military command structure. The counter coup which toppled Ironsi’s regime came in 1966 and this culminated in the civil war that was fought between 1967 to 1970. The man who led the killing of Ironsi was Theophilous Danjuma, a christian from Taraba State. The beneficiary of the overthrow of Ironsi was Yakubu Gowon, a christian from Plateau State, who governed Nigeria for 9 years. The officer who received the surrender of Biafra was Olusegun Obasanjo, a christian from Ogun State. Gen Murtala Muhammed, a fulani, succeeded Gowon in a military coup in 1975 and was killed 6 months later. He was succeeded by Gen Olusegun Obasanjo.
In 1979, Nigeria wrote another constitution under Obasanjo. The two principal members of the constitution drafting committee were Prof Ben Nwabueze and Rotimi Williams, non fulanis from Southern Nigeria. They were responsible for the very strong centre we have today. The 1999 constitution we operate now is largely predicated on the 1979 constitution. It was Obasanjo that organised the election which brought Shehu Shagari, a fulani, to power in 1979. He was overthrown by the military led by General Buhari, a fulani in 1983. This fulani was overthrown by General Ibrahim Babangida, a non fulani from Niger State in 1985 having been in power for one year plus. Babangida remained in power for 8 years. In 1993, he organised election that was won by Chief MKO Abiola, a non fulani from Yoruba Land and cancelled it. He stepped aside as a result of the upheaval that followed and was succeeded by Ernest Shonekan, a non fulani from Ogun State. Shonekan resigned after some days and was succeeded by Gen Abacha, a fulani, who died in office 5 years later and was succeeded by Gen Abdulsalam, a non fulani, who handed over to a democratic government led by President Obasanjo in 1999. Obasanjo handed over power to Alhaji Umaru Yar Adua, a fulani, who died in office 2 years later and was succeeded by Dr Goodluck Jonathan, an Ijaw from Delta, who governed for about 6 years and handed over to President Buhari, a fulani, who has been in power for 4 years now.
Analysis of the governing structure shows that no fulani has ever governed Nigeria for 2 terms meaning that no fulani has ever governed Nigeria for more than 6 years at a stretch. Our constitutions of 1914, 1960, 1963, 1979, 1999 were not proposed and adopted by the dominance of the Fulanis. Fulanis in Nigeria are about 7 million out of about 170 million people in Nigeria. The longest serving leaders in Nigeria are Obasanjo, 11 years, Gowon, 9 years and IBB, 8 years, all of them, non fulanis. The allegation, therefore, that Nigeria is dominated by the Fulanis cannot be supported by empirical facts. The separatists have not even shown any evidence that they have held accountable their Governors, Local Government Chairmen and their Legislators for the mismanagement of the funds allocated and generated by them but have been vociferous in their quest for dismemberment of Nigeria on the spurious claim that Nigeria is dominated by the Fulani. Nigeria is made up of about 250 tribes. Democracy is about numbers, so in a diverse nation like ours, you win elections not by threats but by ensuring cohesion within your own people and collaboration with other people. If the fulanis have been successful by adopting this method, then don’t blame them for their successes politically, blame yourselves for your inability to be united. No one ethnic group in Nigeria can successfully dominate other ethnic groups because the only thing the other tribes need to do is to come together and vote out the domineering power over them. Nigeria is worth living for and if need be worth dying for so that Nigerians, Africans and the black race can find their bearing in this highly competitive and aggressive world. I stand with one Nigeria.