"We must accept our common citizenship" By HE, Obong Victor Attah

I clearly remember that night, as a young student of architecture, armed with a letter of introduction from my departmental head in the Nigeria College of Arts, Science and Technology, in Zaria, I was able to gain admittance into Race Course – now Tafawa Balawa Square – in Lagos to witness a once-in- a-lifetime event.

The lowering of the Union Jack and the raising of the Nigerian flag. It was the night of September 30, 1960. By midnight, that night, Nigeria was born as an independent nation, free from colonial rule and ready to take her destiny in her hands.

The pomp, the pageantry, the glamour, not forgetting the speeches, gave promise of a glorious future. Armed with a Federal Constitution, we marched with confidence into that future as Nigerian Citizens with a Common Destiny. That today we speak mournfully of our fading glory suggests that indeed we had attained a glorious height in the past which, today we have lost. So many reasons have been advanced for this and so many depressing stories have been told about the consequences of this loss that I need not dwell on them. But can we not regain our past and climb to greater glories?

My firm conviction is that we can if only we would agree to carefully examine, and select for adoption those things that had helped us to greatness in the past.

To me, the most potential elixir of our rise to glory was the federal constitution upon which the country was founded. We should ask ourselves, if we had continued the practice of true federalism which is anchored on self- reliance and autonomy of the federating units would we have abandoned our cherished agriculture, mining and indeed industries, rudimentary as they were; would our groundnut pyramids have disappeared, would our cocoa farms, our palm and rubber plantations been abandoned; by the time we exhausted the tin on the Plateau would we not have turned attention to other solid minerals with which the country is so abundantly endowed? Would we have stopped mining our coal; what about our hides and skins, would we not by now be having a thriving leather industry; would our textile industries have gone into extinction?

The words of our previous anthem tell us that “though tribe and tongue may differ, in brotherhood we stand.” There was no greater affirmation of our common citizenship, our common heritage. This we need to assert in the strongest possible terms. We should remind ourselves of a few things that made us great in the past.

We should remember that in 1950, before independence, Olorunimbe was the first Mayor of Lagos with Mazi Mbornu Ojike as his deputy; in 1956, still before independence, Mallam Umaru Altine was elected twice as the Mayor of Enugu. We can say all these happened then but, even after independence, in 1961, Margaret Ekpo was elected to represent Aba in the parliament.

All these happened because they were citizens of the same country, living in those respective areas. It had nothing to do with being an indigene or coming from a particular local government area. It had nothing to do with religion or tribe and in this was embedded the kernel of our budding greatness- Unity in Diversity. To experience this potent greatness, we must allow this kernel to germinate and bloom. We must not allow ethnicity or religion to divide us. The only way to do this is to accept the fact of our common citizenship; also to institutionalize and enforce the fact that Nigeria is a secular state. Our attempt to make it into a Multi-Religious country has introduced religion into our national constitution and created difficulties that have brought strife and discontent.

The concepts of quota, federal character, state of origin, religion, different cut off marks, etc., have entered our lexicon and become our constant narrative because of corruption and our inability to be fair, just and equitable. How can we not see that even influence peddling is a form of corruption?

To be great again, we must wage total war on corruption in all its ramifications. We must exorcise the haunting evil spirits of ethnicity,

religious jingoism, looting and wasteful spending.

Having regained our potentials for greatness, the country must then move on. To do this, we must re-examine our national ethos. We must determine to bind ourselves together with a sense of common nationhood. The thinking must not continue to be me first, my people next and then maybe Nigeria last. We must transform this country – this geographical contraption as some people want to call it – we must learn to transform it into a nation with a common citizenship and a shared destiny. I will be the first to admit that this is easier said than done but it is something that must come if truly we want to attain our highest height. Why can we not acknowledge our oneness by celebrating our amalgamation day!

However united we may become, and regardless of whatever sense of nationhood we may acquire, we cannot grow to the attainment of our full glory without adequate infrastructure. I must commend the current effort at Rail Development, but I must insist that our most fundamental need in today’s electronic age is Power. Without power, we can go nowhere. Next in my order of infrastructural priority would be Roads. Without an efficient road network, the economy cannot move.

But things cannot continue to be done haphazardly. There must be a rationalization of federal roads. The situation in which minor village roads are designated as federal because they were established more by patronage rather than by reason or logic cannot be sustained.

Beyond rationalization, the roads must interface with major rail, air, sea and inland ports. The aim should be to establish a few major vertical and horizontal Transportation Corridors or Backbones for the rapid and orderly growth of the country.

The most critical element in this particular endeavour is Leadership. A fair, just and purposeful leader; a leader that will imbue in the citizens a sense of belonging a sense of brotherhood; a leader that will give the people a sense of adequate protection; a leader that will not only make everybody proud to be a Nigerian but will consider Nigeria a country worth dying for; it is only such a leader that can hope to accomplish this feat. Can we find such a leader in Nigeria? Indeed we can.

Heights of greatness reached and kept were not obtained by sudden flights, but we must take those crucial initial steps for our journey of a thousand miles. It is only then that we can ensure that the labours of our heroes past will never be in vain. So let us resolve to serve with all our might one nation bound in freedom for all, peace and unity. It is our only path to future glory.

Long live a Great and Glorious Nigeria.

His Excellency, Obong (Arch.) Victor Attah was the second democratically elected civilian governor of Akwa Ibom State.

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Baba use your tongue and lick your anus. This comment is inspiring.