THE question of whether Nigeria can break up still
lingers 53 years after our independence. I will
start by answering the question first. Yes, Nigeria
can break up if we choose to and are willing to
pursue and execute policies that will lead to its
break up. The choice is ours as a people.
Do we want to remain as one united country?
What are the things required to keep us as one?
Do we have them in place?
Our country –Nigeria- was programmed to fail
from the beginning. It was created on faulty
foundations of deceit along ethnic, religious,
demographic and geographic positions.
Our colonial masters, the British, started it with
their conspiracy to set the North against the
South with cooked census and demographic
figures, crooked mappings and the likes.
Look critically at the map of Nigeria today, does
it show equity and fairness with respect to
regional allocations? That was the handiwork of
our British colonial masters. When Nigerians took
over, they continued to build on these lies and
faulty foundations.
That is why the issue of ethnicity is as fresh as it
was at the inception of the country.
The country took off with the three major tribes-
Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo. Nothing was done for
the minorities and no interest was given to issues
concerning their plights. Everybody from up
across the Niger is a Hausa man, while everybody
down South, excluding the Yoruba West is an
Igbo man.
That was the situation and such was the thinking
of our political leaders, that the whole South-
South with the exception of the Midwest was
regarded as the East. That was why the Ibibio
man was eased from office for Nnamdi Azikiwe to
be Premier of the Eastern Region when the
Yoruba’s rejected him. The consequence of the
neglect of the minority by the majority tribes is
what we are witnessing today, particularly along
the South-South region and some part of the
Middle Belt and the North.
Can Nigeria divide? When we have not laid
foundation for the conduct of a proper census, on
which basis proper planning can be effected for
future growth, how can we survive? Every census
that has taken place in this country has been
faulted. People see it as a way to gain control of
politics at the centre, so every group tends to
inflate their figure. Politics is all about population.
Are we ready to get the correct population
statistics in place, as it concerns every state,
region, city and localities?
With an over bloated federal structure of 36
cabinet ministers plus the federal capital territory
representative, how can we sustain and remain as
a nation? The United States of America, with all
of its outreaches, size and baggage does not
have more than 18 cabinet ministers or
secretaries as they are called over there.
Surely our federal cabinet structure is over
bloated. It can be reduced down to a reasonable
level for real term effectiveness. The overhead at
the centre is causing a big drain on the nation’s
resources; encouraging wastages, fraud and
ineffective supervision of projects.
As a result of the rush to the centre, the
constitutional true federalism is jettisoned. The
Federal Government is seen playing the Big
Brother because of the heavy resources allocated
to it and states that fall out of favor with them
are adequately sanctioned, like Obasanjo did to
Tinubu’s Lagos State.
Until true federalism is imposed, with the relative
freedom of the states to pursue their programmes
at their own pace and ability, the scramble for the
centre will continue to cause disunity amongst
the people.
Can Nigeria break up? Over 90 per cent of the
nation’s sustenance is dependent on only one
resource- oil.
The people of the oil producing states are
complaining that oil production has caused
serious despoliation to their land. Every other
productive endeavour that the country had
engaged in in the past, like agriculture, has been
jettisoned. The oil producing states are agitating
for adequate compensation and if their demands
are to be met, programmes and developments in
other states will be affected.
Are we ready to look beyond oil for economic
sustenance? The answer to this question is vital
to issue of Nigeria’s unity as a country. It is
important for all states of the federation to strive
for self-sufficiency, through investments in their
core areas: Agriculture, Mining, Tourism,
Commerce and the likes.
Can Nigeria break up? Do we have a leader of
vision, focus and selflessness? Leadership has
contributed to the successes of nations like
China, Singapore, Germany, America, to mention a
few. A leader of courage, free from corruption, do
we have such at the helm?
A leader with free disposition, always for merit
and who shuns ethnicity, do we have such? One
that is ready to stick with the common good
instead of the selfishness that has been
associated with past leaders. Can such be found
in the land irrespective of his ethnic background?
The day Nigeria decides to identify with such a
leader, that day will our proper foundation as a
nation state be laid.
A country that aspires for growth as a nation
state, must put in place conducive environment
for the peoples’ safety. Do we have a police force
that can contain all the multifaceted security
problems besetting us? Some have clamored for
state police; will our politicians allow the state
police to run according to the ideals of the police
institution?
Will the Federal Government allow the police force
to run without undue stress on the police
authorities? Can our police force operate without
bias? A correct answer to these questions will
determine whether Nigeria can remain one country
or break up. Presently the animosity towards our
police personnel is so high that people cannot
trust them to pass vital information and that is
why the Boko Haram sect has remained elusive
till date.
The way our politicians are behaving, it is as if
they enjoy a fractious situation for the country, in
the way they bicker along ethnic and religious
lines. Incidentally, when it comes to the issue of
their bogus allowances, they will not fall out of
line.
Like the centre, the running of the National
Assembly is consuming so much of our national
resources. The legislators should be thinking
along the line of making their job a part time one
and their remuneration based on the number of
sittings.
Will our greedy politicians agree to this
arrangement? Their decisions will help us in
determining whether the nation can break up or
not.
The conditions for break up are too numerous. A
country where citizens cannot move freely as they
would have loved to, where the indigeneship and
settler issue has been a recurring decimal and
where foreign countries and elements have
infested our rank and file for their own selfish
interest.
Only our politicians and ruling class can save this
country from break up. The choice is theirs.
Mr sunny ikhioya a commentator on national
issues, wrote from Lagos http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/09/can-nigeria-break-up/