The indivisibility or otherwise of Nigeria has been a contentious discourse for a long time. The debate has become more acrimonious of late, following the impetuous display of nepotism and tribalism by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
Nigeria’s troubles began from its faulty foundation when the British colonial masters carelessly cobbled very incongruent peoples together. No sooner had the British left than crisis set in when the Igbo, the most advanced of the tripod, became target of petty jealousy, attracting hostile sentiments against the people. This culminated in the genocide against the Igbo, following a bloody coup by mostly Igbo young military officers that sadly claimed the lives of top northern politicians. That was done under the watch of Yakubu Gowon, who intimidated the most senior officer then and seized power with the barrel the gun, after the murder of Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi, then head of state.
So, I was amused when I saw the trending video of Gowon and some past leaders, including Olusegun Obasanjo, at a religious programme. I laughed because of the duplicity I saw in the exercise, as I feel that such public exhibition of piety should be backed with restitution.
Gowon, for instance, who supervised over the thoughtless mass murder of Igbo people, is today spearheading a campaign, Nigeria Prays. Obasanjo, who claims to be the conqueror of Biafra, has graduated from theology school too. Prayer is certainly good and, in fact, is the master key to unlock the stronghold around Nigeria’s jugular. But I find it somewhat troubling that these people could come together for that noble act but still do not feel the need to move for the restoration of the Igbo whom they contributed, in no small measure, to crush.
The Igbo still hold Gowon responsible for the genocide against their kinsmen and women. He it was that refused to honour the Aburi Accord he entered into with venerable Biafra leader, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, thus plunging Nigeria into avoidable civil war; that would have saved Nigeria from the present-day multi-faceted crises. Is it not strange that Gowon, who saw ‘no basis for Nigeria’s unity’, suddenly saw reason to ‘go on with one Nigeria’? He it was who engineered and executed the civil war that led to the death of many innocent children, following his conscienceless economic and even food blockade against the Biafrans; only to deceive the world with his policy of no victor, no vanquished, reconciliation and reconstruction, but yet treated the Igbo as a vanquished nation. He it was that balkanised the East by creating states out of the eastern enclave to isolate the Igbo, thus setting off the hatred and distrust in the region today. And now, he is praying for Nigeria while the innocent blood and souls of Igbo children is crying for vengeance. No wonder the prayers are not being answered.
The scorched earth policy thrust initiated by Gowon against the Igbo was accentuated by succeeding governments led by northern hegemonists, military and civilian. The national census has consistently been manipulated against the Igbo, as only about a third of its real population is accounted. Of the six geopolitical zones, only the South-east has five states, as against six or seven for the other five zones. With the least local governments, a mere 95, the Igbo has been deliberately schemed out on all fronts, getting the least revenue allocation and representation at the National Assembly as well as federal appointments. But for constitutional provisions, the Igbo would have been totally shut out of the present Buhari administration for exercising their democratic right to vote for a candidate of their choice, which did not favour Buhari. He forgot that he had a history of anti-Igbo posturing dating back to his days as head of state and at the Petroleum Trust Fund, which scared the people. Therefore, no sane person can fault the justified Igbo agitation for self-preservation, whether through MASSOB, IPOB or any other group.
The Niger Delta is equally boiling because of the wicked despoliation of the region that feeds the country at the expense of its blood. Yet, the desert North is being turned into Eldorado whereas the Niger Deltans do not even have lands to farm anymore due to hazards of oil exploration. More annoying is that the North sits atop the enterprise, cornering most of the oil blocs and dictating who gets what and denying the true owners of the broth. The cry for remediation resulted in tokenistic handouts of 13% derivation and Niger Delta Development Commission, which is deliberately starved of fund and so develops nothing. Even the Amnesty Programme, which the late president Musa Yar’adua created, is being mismanaged by the current administration, leading to increased militancy.
As strange as it may sound, the Boko Haram insurgency is a direct revolt against the insensitivity of northern leaders towards even their own people. They prefer to raise army of almajiris to fight their dirty wars instead of developing the people but hiding their children in safe havens in Europe. Boko Haram is only hitting back at a society that mismanaged their destinies but in their confusion, they veered off target and now killing innocent people, including ravaging women and infant girls.
And what can one make of the ongoing state-sponsored carnage (sorry, jihad) in Southern Kaduna? Christians are being slaughtered in droves and a governor who sees the death of a Fulani as ‘a debt that must paid’ is unperturbed while sleepy Christian leaders call for fasting and prayer.
Nigeria, is indivisible? That’s a joke told in fantasy land. Nigeria is a behemoth with feet of clay and shall soon crumble, not because of Biafra agitators or Niger Delta militants. Truth is, the moment the North discovers oil in commercial quantity and begins exploration; they will surely begin to sing different songs. After all, they never even wanted to be part of Nigeria until the discovery of oil.
Those that want Nigeria dead are those turning blind eye to the butchery going on in southern Kaduna and activities of ravenous Fulani herdsmen; those showing palpable disdain for other sections of the polity and those insisting on living with the obvious anomalies and promoting hatred among the peoples of Nigeria. One hopes their selfish pursuits do not consume the country ultimately. Will the behemoth really enjoy a happy New Year? Time will tell.
Nigeria, indivisible behemoth?
