Dateline: March 2014. That day, one Usman Bugaje spouted like never before. He really poured out. He displayed the hard stuff he thought he was made of.
Of course, he did it out of mischief and deep-rooted hatred. He didn’t hide it. You could see it all over him. He showcased his malaise and distress unrestrained.
Bugaje was in the Federal House of Representatives in 2003. He represented the Kaita/Jibaya Federal Constituency, Katsina State. He chaired the House Committee on Foreign Affairs until 2007.
So, on this day in Kaduna, Bugaje made a strong case for his North. He released his pent-up venom on oil producing states. It was extreme malice and bitterness. He spoke at the Northern Leaders’ Conference.
He strongly contested: “It is wrong for any state to claim that it is oil producing.” Why? He struggled to explain: “Seventy-two 72 per cent of the total land mass in the country belongs to the North.”
How? “By the United Nations’ law, it is only the North that actually has the right to claim ownership. What they (Niger Delta) claim is the off shore oil is actually the oil of the North.”
Bugaje and his cohorts are a queer pack. They only want to share the assets. They won’t want to partake in the liabilities: Environmental hazards caused by oil exploration. That is deceit.
Now the North said it discovered the Kolmani Oil Well in Bauchi/Gombe states. And in such “unprecedented” commercial quantity! Northern oil has come at last.
It calls for celebration and jubilation. Yes, altogether. Let it go round. The more, the merrier. It’s federal character at work. And it is working to the North’s favour.
But. We would want to ask Bugaje: Who actually owns this oil? Will your narrative on ownership now change? Even more: Through which territories will the northern oil pass to the seaports for exportation?
Trust us, we’re not done yet. Shall we then restructure peacefully? All these are the big questions. They are germane to our co-existence as a so-called nation. It is very urgent and important.
The time to discuss and re-arrange ourselves is now. It’s another rare chance. No other time is more viable and desirable than now. And we need to be particular about it.
I pick this on the social media. It’s a four-minute video of Pastor Femi Emmanuel. Sweeping, penetrating, deep and weighty. It is all-encompassing and profound.
Emmanuel founded and presides over Living Spring Chapel International. He was Deputy Speaker, Oyo State House of Assembly in the botched Third Republic.
This video sets the agenda for a renewed discourse on restructuring. Have a delightful bite:
“Executives don’t sleep. If not, the whole thing will crumble. The crumbling you see is that the head is sick. And when the head is sick, the body will be in trouble. That is our problem.
“How can 60 per cent of our raw oil be stolen and 50 per cent of the oil we are now importing also stolen? Stolen on the field, stolen at the pump.
“In your coming election (2023), which I don’t believe in anyway. My own understanding and my experience in politics. I am not just a pastor I have been in the trenches. I have a clear understanding of what is wrong with this country.
“Our next priority is not election. Our next priority is re-arranging this country. This country must be re-arranged. This country is a fraud it is a lie. Nigeria is a lie.
“What is called Nigeria died in 1966, when the military shot the guns and suspended the constitution that brought us together.
“Nigeria is a negotiated country. It was negotiated under the British. The only way a country like us, close to 300 nationalities, people with different ideas, orientations, religions, mind sets and ways of life.
“The only way they can co-habit is if they are allowed to govern themselves in their different settings and then at the upper point come have a weak centre.
“It is just like the United States of America. New York and New Jersey are just like Lagos and Ogun states. Only a river separates them. Two close states, two different governments, two different laws.
“If you don’t like their laws in New Jersey, you move to New York. If you don’t like New York, you go to Philadelphia. You don’t like Philadelphia you go to Atlanta. Everyone is separately governed.
“Do you see their elections acrimonious as ours? No. State-by-state election and then they coordinate it at the centre.
“But everything comes from one source here. That’s military. We are still under military rule, which we now call democracy. There’s no democracy in Nigeria.
“We must first of all restructure this country. Then go back to pre-1966 setting, modify it. This country cannot work except we go back to what we negotiated.
“When people say Nigeria cannot be negotiated, I said it’s a lie. It was negotiated under Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikwe and Ahmadu Bello.
“Everyone believed, grow your own area and I would grow mine. We would meet at the top. How come we have shut down?
“Sometimes I look at Nigeria, I just laugh. We behave like little kids. When a little kid is playing with something white, and you want to take it from him, you will show him the red. He drops it and takes the red from you. That is what we are doing.
“They are dangling election on our faces and everybody has forgotten about our problems. And 2023 will not be better.
“Even if they bring (President) Joe Biden (of USA) to this country, he cannot get it done. The structure is wrong.
“Psalm 11 Verse 3: “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Nothing else will work. Put one tribe over all other tribes and keep them in bondage. Put them everywhere, ruining everywhere.
“By God’s grace, God will rise up for this country.” Emmanuel is apt and precise.
We’re afraid. This regime is not at all thinking along this line with us. Reason: It has lost it completely. And this is an understatement. This is feasible and infeasible in all areas.
Their views are at variance with ours. They have put us under perpetual alarm. There is no cause for control. Government has never demonstrated any control.
You can see it all over them. Everything overwhelms our rulers effortlessly. We can’t wait a minute longer for May 29, 2023 to come.
These characters in government are wild and weird. The reason they are forever confused and perplexed. They are shameless because they have no shame.
And a certain individual is so impressed by the depressive performance of this regime. Imagine. It’s abysmal.
He even vows to continue where this government stops. That translates to more woes, miseries, afflictions, calamities. And their dreaded likes. How callous, uncaring, wicked!
We must not continue to run this country the same odd manner. Let’s trace our path back to pre-1966. And reclaim our negotiated Nigeria.
Our weaknesses ought to be adequately addressed. And put in proper perspectives. Our strengths have to be sufficiently explored. To our maximum advantage too.
Restructuring we need, not open grazing. Ranching we desire, not ruga.
That’s our new normal. It’s the wisest option before us. Even now! Any objection?