WE are celebrating another independence day, the
same ritual; razzmatazz and demonstrations.
Speeches. Promises and promises, all of the
same, so much motion but no movement.
Fela calls it “perambulating and still remaining on
the same spot”. We have seen it all, as it was in
the beginning- 1960, so it is now, nothing has
changed. Will Nigeria and Nigerians ever change?
That is the big question.
I was reading through Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s
book Travails of Democracy book two, recently;
as I made progress from one page to another, my
body shivered, it was as if he was addressing
today’s Nigeria. The voice of the opposition, then
Action group, can be likened to today’s APC, no
difference in language and temperament. The
NPC/NCNC coalition is like PDP of today;
powerful, not too loud but quietly strangulating
the opposition.
It was a battle of northern feudalism versus the
south’s free enterprise and adult suffrage. It was
a classical match at the eve of our independence
and the referee was our colonial master, Britain.
Same is happening today as our politicians have
started appearing at the British parliament to
plead their cause.
The independence of 1960 offered a great hope,
but, the hope was short lived and finally cut short
by a weak foundation, that was programmed to
fail ab initio, coupled with the activities of our
gullible politicians.
The foundations of Nigeria were built on
corruption and manipulations. No structure can
survive under a weak foundation, we have
witnessed so many collapsed buildings, including
the recent one at the Synagogue church of all
nations. What are the requirements for a solid
building foundation? We have: cement, sand,
gravel, iron rods and water. A combination of the
right quantity and quality of these items will give
a sound foundation for any building; the higher
and bigger the structure, the more materials that
will be required. There is no short cut to it.
Taking this analogy further to the nation state,
the raw materials needed for a nation state to
thrive are; willingness of the various interest
groups to live together as one, truth- in the form
of accurate statistics and census, visionary and
purposeful leadership. All of these ingredients for
a correct democratic foundations were lacking, at
the inception of this country’s independence in
1960. In fact, it dates back to 1914, the year of
the amalgamation of the north and south. They
were lacking then and they are lacking now.
Let us not deceive ourselves, unless these
foundations are put right, nothing will work right
in this country; we can adjust, manipulate, cajole
or threaten, use propaganda and even, go to war,
the problems will never be solved; a sandy
foundation will never last. The Nigerian state
foundation was built on corruption and, until we
go back to the basics to correct this, our
situation will remain the same.
The different nations in the amalgamated Nigeria
were never, really, fully integrated. It was a
merger that was directed by the fiat of the British
authorities, all they were interested in was how it
benefit the cause of Great Britain.
The system of administration was even different
for the north and southern regions. Culturally, the
people are different; while the south are more
agitative as a result of their western education
exposure and republicanism, the north is more
subdued because of their feudal tendencies. The
British found it more to their interest to favour the
passive north against the restive south.
Therefore, every decision taken in respect of the
Nigerian nation, was skewed against the south. It
was a conspiracy of the British and the northern
ruling class against the south. The geographical
mappings were skewed in favour of the north,
census were conducted to favour a section of the
country against the other. That was the
foundation for distrust between the north and the
south till date.
That was the beginning of ethnic/religious rivalry
and that was the basis for our inability to handle
the monster of corruption, as everyone shouts: ”
you want to bring down my brother”.
The damage that tribalism has done to this
country can never be quantified.It has encouraged
wastages; projects of all types and industries are
sited, based on ethnic considerations, without the
viability factor. Therefore, there are so many
abandoned projects all over the country. Merit
does not count in appointments to positions,
even, up to the highest levels; the people in public
office today, in all cadres, are not the best that
the country has to offer, but, because of such
factors, mediocrity is enthroned.
Why, for instance, can’t the presidency be open to
all and sundry, irrespective of tribe and
geographic location? When you place mediocres
in position of leadership, you receive mediocre
rewards. Unfortunately, those angling to take over
power do not fare better. Where are the
detribalised Nigerians? Do we have them? Men
who will be ready to lead Nigeria as a whole,
instead of for self and tribal interests, that will be
the day.
The Scottish people have just voted to remain in
the United kingdom, in a transparent poll, can our
leadership afford the various ethnic groups, the
opportunity to decide how they want to be
governed? There are so many ethnic groups that
are been suppressed in this country, for example;
we never knew that there are predominantly
Christian towns in the north, until the Chibok
incident occurred.
Are we ready to allow these small ethnic groups
have their say? Democracy favours the majority,
but, all ethnic groups must be recognised. Until
all ethnic groups are giving a sense of belonging
in the affairs of this country, we shall only be
pretending to be a nation state. It is not too late
to conduct a referendum the Scottish way.
Tribalism is evil. It is at the heart of our inability
to tackle corruption decisively in this country. Let
the people’s voices be heard.

we must collectively come together to fight corruption.

God will help us.

Ukutsgp: God will help us.

how?