This is a job joint write up between an old school mate and myself.

(ibjagaba and Phinity318 )

I hope you all find it interesting...


We can either define history or allow history to define us, in between, We have a moral responsibility of upholding the truth and nothing but the truth. (Phinity318)
Nigeria as a country officially became a single entity as a country after the amalgamation of the Northern and southern protectorate in the year 1914 by sir lord Frederick Lugard who was then governor general under the British colonial administration in Nigeria. This phenomenon has been viewed by some Nigerians as the greatest mistake of British colonial misrule in Nigeria. The argument has been on the basis that u can not ask two entities to come to together to form a United country when they don't share the same societal values, norms, believe and similar traditional configuration . In fact some people have said, it was a deliberate attempt by British colonial masters to bring the two regions together to cause confusion and entrench their divide and rule tactics.
The reality, however, is that Nigeria is a country of different cultures, tradition and with different historical antecedents . In terms of religion, the north is Muslim dominated while the south east and west is largely dominated by People who practice the Christian faith . The above occurrence was largely caused by the Jihad of Usman Dan Fodio through the north and the British propagation of Christianity through the south, east and western coast, this event could have been either way.
The differences in culture, tradition and religion have given rise to ethnic, religious bigotry and regional rivalry in recent years. The unfortunate scenarios has given birth to disunity, mutual suspicion, lack of patriotism, ethnic and religion crisis, primordial sentiments taken Centre stage when national issues are been discussed and in general this has brought about slow pace of development and even in so many areas of concern, total lack of development.
Peaceful coexistence is sine-quanon for national development, a society where religious bigotry and ethnicity are the order of day can not witness socioeconomic progress and prosperity.
National development that is all and encompassing requires unity and respect for the constituted authority. Nations or countries that are regarded as developed have strong believe in their countries and patriotism is top of their priority. According to Abraham Lincoln "America will never be destroyed by outsiders without the consent of it citizens ". A strong nation is a product of patriotic citizens who believe on it ideas and have strong sense Of Patriotism, national unity is an indispensable ingredients for national development.
50 years of the end of civil war should not open fresh wounds rather should heal old wounds.
Agitation for sovereign state of Biafra has been on the front burner in recent years but the agitation has never been this intense. People from the South east Nigeria in particular have argued that over the years they have been marginalized in the scheme of things in Nigeria, in terms of political appointment at the national level and sometimes they argued that they have been neglected in terms of physical infrastructural development and they are been muscled out every day in the political arena especially by northerners, hence the need for people of South East to join forces with the people of South south region to break out of the entity called Nigeria, another reason been that Nigeria is not a nation but a country created by British colonial masters.
Can this be said to be enough reason for a particular region to sue for secession ? 50 years of the end of civil war should have offered us, as Nigeria an opportunity to reflect on the factors that were responsible for the unfortunate crisis which could have been avoided and how we can work towards synergism, stronger ties and national unity for national prosperity.
If Nigeria should break up as it is been agitated, Let say, it is a reality we have Biafra, Oduduwa and Northern Nigeria, These three countries will still be neighbors and members of ECOWAS and will still need each other to trade in goods and services and sign memorandum of understanding because the three countries have different economic comparative advantages. In today's world view, Strong economic base is built on a strong market for finished goods and services. Neighboring countries are usually the target. The point we are trying to digress further is, is it not better for us to stand together and build a United Nigeria?
The under line factor for a United Nigeria, is for us to understand our differences and respect each other and be inclusive in our political governance processes by giving every side a sense of Belonging and shunning primordial sentiments that are rather dissenting and causes marginal divide.


Ib Jagaba and Phinity318 are both graduate of Public Administration.
From the prestigious Niger State Polytechnic Zungeru, College of Administrative and Business Studies.
Both have great interest in politics, public administration, management studies and current affairs.