Is Nigeria On The Verge Of Civil War?

I think some people are trying to break up the country by inciting various acts of violence.  However, the vast majority of Nigerians are peace loving and too intelligent to think that a full-scale war will solve their problems.  Sometimes people's emotions get the best of them and we lose lives here and there but there are no leaders cunning enough to convince us that they have our best interests at heart in leading us into war. 

I want to believe that Nigerians are too smart for that.  We have seen how other African countries have failed to benefit from war.  Who's going to do the peacekeeping if Nigeria goes into war?  We can't avoid loss of lives on a minor scale when many people who should be in prison are roaming the streets and helping governors to win elections, but full-scale war is out of the question.

Owo hit the nail on the head. Each of us looks at ourselves as first a Hausa man Yoruba man or Niger Delta man before we accept that we are Nigerians. In more developed climes it`s less emphasized and totally irrelevant. The US report is shocking but not totally rubbish. These guys do a bit of home work.

system of a down

@Paddy Lo

There are a lot of experts,  people on ground,in the local media,in the west, and the average Nigerian on the streets that are feeling that Nigeria is about to explode. Millions of Nigerians are feeling marginalized and if i were you i will advice my family @ home to be on alert.

No, this is violence is a product of illiteracy.

nobody wants war.bu if this trend continues unchecked.problem dey o.anything can happen.

Lets calm down a bit. Nothing is going to happen. This time next month no one will remember this incident and then something else will happen and then we will go through the whole cycle again.

Why i'm not worried? quite simple. Majority of Nigerians do not have the foresight or patience required to effect social change. We think social change can come through occasional violence, crying out to God etc. People want instant results and when they don't get it they give up.

Change requires sustained action, not our typical fire brigade approach or knee jerk reaction to everything. Who will fight if they realise that it may take them 30 to 40 years to achieve their goal.

Then you also have the religious factor.  As long as people wrap themselves in the cloak of religion, nothing will happen because religion absorbs most of the social frustrations people have.

Nigerians only react to incidents when it affects them personally. We don't really have this culture of standing up for each other (its every man for himself). You want to understand the true psyche of a Nigerian, then study the behaviour of Nigerians abroad.
A lot of Nigerians are victimised all over the world, but its surprising that even where avenues exist for many to seek redress (and probably even get compensated in the process  ) they refuse to do so, placing their trust in religion.

As usual this crises will play itself out till the next one and the next one after that

correct analysis my brother. very very correct.

The problem of Nigeria and nationhood is multifaceted. Nigeria is grouped in blocs, southwest, north, southeast, nigerdelta and the rest, as long as people continue to identify themselves with their regional groupings it will be almost impossible to have a united country. Something has to be done to make the country more or less patterned after the U.K system, different countries with one president.

How can you advocate for confederation for a country like Nigeria??? , You want to make the center inevitably weak with powerful states and regions abi???lai- lai.You need to read more about confederation before canvassing for it!!!!

Regional autonomy is what made the 1970s civil war possible, and confederations have that!

i understand your fears,but don't u think that over centralisation of power to the president makes the presidency so controversial in nigerian history?

we must not have regional police and army,only govts with a prime minister at the center and not president. i.e a paliamentry system of govt. don't u think it may help us?i don't quite understand what u mean by southern student not feeling at home in a northern part of the country. that has always been the case even today. when i was in secondary school(i schooled at one of the unity schools )the northern students were not paying the same school fees i paid.many of them paid less b/c thier state govt paid for them.even today,getting admission into nigerian universities means different JAMB scores for different students from different parts of the same country!

and by the way, nigeria is not a homogenous society. it is very heterogenous with over 250 tribes and languages.

cheers

i agree with u to an extent, but the failure of the parliamentry system( and indeed the presidential system) was not due to the system in itself but due to the players of the system (i.e politicians). a contibutor to the formulation of the indian constitution warned rightly that no matter how good a constitution is,it will turn out bad if the politicians are bad and no matter how bad a constitution is it may turn out good if the politicians are good.

now, the parliamentry system is cheaper,and it ensures that the prime minister is not too powerful as he has to face the house more frquently to explain issues(not make address like a president will do) i admire the british system when i see blair struggling in parliament to explain his decisions.ministers can also face the senate/house. it has been working for some countries,it may work for ours.

u cant say we should dump it jus b/c it failed in the 60s,presidential system failed in the 80s too.but we know why they failed(politicians)

i think we may choose that system which is cheaper. what do u say?