…As more ethnic groups threaten secession

By Onyedika Agbedo

with more groups within Nigeria’s ethnic enclaves threatening to secede from the country and form their own republics, it is increasingly becoming clear by the day that the foundation of Nigeria’s unity is quaking. The continued existence of Nigeria, the most populous Black nation in the world, is now under immense threat from all sides — East, West, North and South; and there appears to be no respite in sight. From every indication, it will take some deft and drastic political decisions to save the country from the impending doom. But the question remains: Will the political leaders act now or they are still bidding for more time?

The current turn of events in the country is intrinsically tied to the persistent agitation for the secession of the South-east geo-political zone from the country by the Movement for the Actualisation of a Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) over alleged marginalisation of the zone in the scheme of things in the country.  Against the backdrop of the agitation, a coalition of Arewa youth groups had on June 6, this year, declared that “the North, a critical player in the Nigerian project, hereby declares that it will no longer be disposed to coexisting with the Igbos and shall take definite steps to end the partnership by pulling out of the current federal arrangement.” The coalition consequently issued a quit notice to the Igbo living in northern parts of the country to leave the region on or before October 1, this year.

The country has been in a state of apprehension since then and the Federal Government has not rested on its oars in its bid to keep the country together. To this end, Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has held several consultative peace meetings with different stakeholders from different sections of the country. But in a surprising move recently, his kinsmen in the South-west under the aegis of Yoruba Liberation Movement (YOLICOM) banged the drum for the disintegration of Nigeria.

  Addressing a press conference in Lagos penultimate Thursday, spokesperson of the group, Opeoluwa Akinola, declared that Yorubas were set to secede from Nigeria to form Oduduwa Republic, stressing that Yorubas were forced by the British into Nigeria in 1914.

   Akinola, who noted that the best time for the peaceful dissolution of Nigeria, like other countries, is now, also rejected the proposal for the restructuring of the country.

  “Nigeria has become a burden on Yoruba people. We suddenly have been exposed to unimaginable threats of violence, wiping off entire families through clubbing to death, kidnapping of women and adults, savage killings, kidnap of school children and rape of infants.

  “Stealing of public wealth and the public display of the stolen wealth, with arrogance by the criminals, the complete annihilation and confrontation of the poor people by the Nigerian state and many other ills that were hitherto strange to our long lasting ancient civilisation and values,” he said

Akinola added: “The destruction of regional system of government has turned Nigeria into a unitary state dotted with the savage vulture of corruption, ineptitude, inefficiency, moral degeneration, death, violence crimes and now violent religious extremism.

  “We totally reject the idea of restructuring as proposed by the Nigerian state and the political elite. It is an attempt to restructure Nigeria on their own terms and not on the terms of the people. Nigeria will never be genuinely restructured by the present crop of political leaders who are beneficiaries of the same skewed system.”

  Expectedly, MASSOB has expressed delight with the YOLICOM declaration, which it apparently sees as a sign that the dream of a Biafra state and the dismemberment of Nigeria was beginning to mature.

National Director of Information of the Comrade Uchenna Madu-led MASSOB, Mr. Edeson Samuel, in a terse statement recently, said: “The YOLICOM declaration is in line with the quest by MASSOB for restoration of Biafra through non-violence approach. This declaration is a welcome development. It is a sign that Nigeria can never stand again. Those agitating for restructuring can now see that no amount of restructuring will save Nigeria from disintegrating.

  “MASSOB will give every necessary support to YOLICOM and also, promise to work with the group as a genuine freedom fighting organisation. The call by YOLICOM on United Nations for the dissolution of 1914 amalgamation is in order, because this political entity called Nigeria is owned and controlled by northerners, mostly the Hausa/Fulani.”

  Toeing the same line, a group of Niger Delta militants, the Adaka Boro Avengers (ABA) last Monday said they would declare a republic in the oil rich region on October 1. Interestingly, the group had sometime in 2016 issued a similar threat but later withdrew it citing pleas by concerned elders, leaders and people of Niger Delta region. But this time around, it has vowed that there would be no going back.

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“The October 1 declaration of a republic in the Niger Delta is sacrosanct because Nigeria has lost its unity. To save lives on both sides, the Nigerian government should maintain peace, compose themselves or face total war,” spokesperson of the group, Edmos Ayayeibo, said.

  Ayayeibo added: “We the Avengers have always carried out our words. When we said we would crumble the economy, we did it. And now we are asking all northerners and westerners to leave the Niger Delta region for their own good. This is not 2016 and now we have more arsenals, more powerful than the Nigerian government.”

  Nevertheless, the Department of State Security (DSS) would take none of that. The agency, last Wednesday, vowed to deal with any group or individuals pursuing divisive and separatist activities that threaten national security.

Director General of the DSS, Lawal Daura, who gave the warning at the national seminar on “Unity in diversity” organised by the agency at its training school in Bwari, Abuja, noted that the agency would not fold its arms and watch agitators tear the country apart.    “I would like to restate the position of the Service that all groups or individuals who are bent on pursuing their divisive and separatist activities that threaten national security, to think again. The security and law enforcement agencies will not sit by idly while they continue on their activities that put at risk the lives and properties of law-abiding and innocent Nigerians. We will deploy the full amalgam of the security infrastructure to deal with subsisting and emerging developments capable of endangering lives and properties as well as our corporate existence as a nation,” he warned.

  But former National Chairman of Citizens Popular Party (CPP) and presidential candidate of the party in the 2015 elections, Chief Maxi Okwu, does not believe that the application of force by the security agencies would calm frayed nerves and restore national unity at the moment. Okwu, who spoke with Sunday Sun, opined that the long absence of President Muhammadu Buhari from the country on account of ill health has led to the collapse of leadership, hence the current state of affairs in Nigeria.

  “What is happening depicts a collapse of leadership; Buhari is a total failure. He is not leading; he is on AWOL, and as I have been saying, Vice President Osinbajo was not elected to be President. As a lawyer, I would say he is holding somebody’s brief and he continues to look behind his shoulders because he is in government but not in power as Acting President. There is a cabal that is pulling the strings of power in the absence of Buhari. So, Buhari is Nigeria’s problem right now. As a mortal, if he is incapacitated, the obvious thing to do, since he does not own Nigeria, is to step aside and allow us to move ahead. With or without Buhari Nigeria will move ahead one way or the other; but because of his absence, Nigeria is in a kind of choke-hold. We can’t move forward, we can’t move backward and even standing still is a problem. So, some of these eruptions are genuine while some are imitations. But these irredentist tendencies are direct fallout of total failure of leadership. So, my view is that Buhari is Nigeria’s problem right now; the sooner we solve the Buhari problem, Nigeria’s problem will be solved,” Okwu said. 

  He further explained that under the current arrangement, Osinbajo does not exercise full powers as Acting President, stressing that the country needs to address the issue of the President’s absence. “Osinbajo won election as Vice President. He is barely a spare tyre. Yes, the President transmitted a letter to the National Assembly when he was leaving in compliance with the constitution. But in the letter he put in a clause, which was political — that he (Osinbajo) will coordinate the activities of government. And even from faraway London, occasionally Buhari issues a letter on behalf of Nigeria. We were told that he wrote to the Minister for Budget and National Planning authorising the Acting President to sign the budget. You can’t give and take; Osinbajo can’t be Acting President and be waiting for clearance from Buhari to sign the budget. So, something is wrong somewhere; and Buhari is the problem. As long as he is on medical leave, we can’t move forward; it’s been too long,” he said. 

Asked whether the country would survive the current bedlam, Okwu warned that “time is against Nigeria” and urged immediate action.

He added: “If in the next couple of months the issues are not resolved one way or the other there might be an implosion. First of all, the Buhari question must be resolved in the next two weeks. It’s either Buhari is back to the country or not; or he is in or out. He cannot suspend the nation. If he is not well (and all of us as human beings can fall sick, let him step aside. He has tried; he has made history. He has been president but Nigeria must move forward. But if he continues to hang on, Nigeria will implode down the line shortly.

  “Also, you saw what happened in the National Assembly recently. There is a popular agitation in most sections of the country for some discussion on the national question because it has to be addressed. We have to resolve how we can live together because it is obvious we cannot continue living together as it is today. But the Senate and the House of Representatives shot it down through a northern veto. The North in both the Senate and House of Reps voted against restructuring and devolution of powers. But they have made it inevitable for irredentism to flourish. Unless the issue is revisited as the Senate President has said, the irredentists would have their way.”

  Afenifere chieftain and leader in Lagos State, Chief Supo Shonibare, also expressed a similar opinion in an interview with Sunday Sun. Shonibare said: “It is a pity that centrifugal forces at the centre are not heeding the ominous signs lurking in the various states and zones of the country. There is no multi-ethnic collection of people and nationalities in the world practicing the type of unitary system foisted on us by the military.

  “Why can’t our legislators at the National Assembly understand that the issues at stake is not about reducing the powers of a governor but enabling the federating units to exercise as much control as possible of the minerals derived from their territory? Why is it so difficult to appreciate that this is the only way one can throw back the responsibility of efficient management of resources to the people when recourse to ethnic differences will no longer be an excuse for non-performance?

  “Even more ethnically identically mixed settlements like Wales, Scotland and even the English parts of the United Kingdom are having powers devolved from the centre for better delivery of social and economic needs. It’s only in our polity that the rulers have a completely different mindset. Devolution of powers and a reduction of exclusive legislative list as far as possible to the powers and functions of the federating entities, as contained in the Republican Constitution of 1963, is the solution that would enable the agitation to abate. We are approaching a precipice to being a failed nation.”

  In spite of the increasing furore in the nation and warning signs of possible collapse, the Federal Government appears to either be bereft of ideas on how to halt the trend or lack the political will to do the needful. But the Acting President has been parroting the need to ensure the unity of the country and its stability at any given occasion. Speaking last Wednesday at the DSS seminar, he urged Nigerians to exercise caution in their utterances and respect each other in their conversations and interactions to foster national unity. But his admonitions have glaringly not brought any respite yet. So, which way Nigeria, which way to go? It’s time for all those who truly love the country to begin to yield to calls to sheathe the sword and genuinely commence the process of peace building. The days ahead will tell what will happen if that does not happen.