By Rotimi Fasan
IT’S important to enter a caveat from the beginning in the light of the title of this week’s piece. Nigeria’s greatness lies in its remaining one country that is made up of diverse ethnicities. That is one lesson to be learned from the present arrangement of the world. In spite of the tension of division and tribalism that has been created in Donald Trump’s America, the fact remains that America’s greatness lies in its diversity.

It’s the reason for the existence of many of the regional economic and political groupings around the world. It’s the logic behind the decision of those European countries that have elected to remain part of the European Union despite differences. It’s the reason they are unhappy with Britain and would quickly want to close the chapter on its breaking rank and choosing to exit the EU. Nigeria’s situation cannot be different from the rest of the world. We can’t be thinking of breaking up while others are finding ways to resolve their differences in a bid to remain or come together. It’s not too likely that any of the component parts that make up Nigeria will do better alone than they would collectively as one country. This is the reason we must be clear-eyed about the way we relate with one another and be determined to correct the injustices of the past rather than insisting on keeping them.
Yet, it would appear that some self-deceived Nigerians cannot separate their self-interest from the interest of the whole. They fail to see the wisdom in relating to others on the basis of fairness and equity. This is where we have found ourselves as a country with the debate over the skewed nature of our federalism and how to correct it. The Yoruba have a saying that there are boundaries even in farmlands jointly owned by a father and his children.
No matter how close we are, we still need some personal space for self-actualization, some room within which to operate and be able to function as individuals. It does not mean we are no longer one or have become enemies by such recognition. While it’s great to keep Nigeria one, we must do so on the basis of fairness not at the expense of others. The struggle to make Nigeria a truly federal state has taken different forms under different names which some claim now makes the whole issue confusing to them. But really there is nothing confusing or mystifying about the matter except we want to be deceptive.
The whole issue boils down to the same old debate about whether Nigeria is truly being managed according to the tenets of the federalised state it claims to be. Otherwise, why is everything run in the fashion of a unitary state? Why should the centre interfere in the life of the states that are the basis of its existence? Why should politicians from the north, actually the Hausa-Fulani elite that controls the region, insist Nigeria must remain the way it is as a twisted federation that is managed along unitary lines? In identifying opponents of federalism one has to be sure not to lump every section of the country above the River Niger and River Benue together as one and the same even when some people from the said parts for personal gains pretend there are no differences. Not even all the peoples to the east of the far north can be lumped together as one with the Fulani any more.
Thus, when senators from the north under the aegis of the Northern Senators Forum rose from a recent retreat with the advice to President Muhammadu Buhari not to accept reports of the 2014 conference commissioned by President Goodluck Jonathan, they were in effect saying they reject any talks about addressing the grievances of the other units in the country. Those grievances addressed by the confab border mostly on the nature of our federalism. The various demands by the delegates from the south are about ensuring fairness in the sharing of resources which is best done under a properly run federal structure.
This is at the core of the ongoing debate about ‘restructuring’ the country. That some people will arrogantly dismiss the outcome of such an initiative is unacceptable. And what are their grounds for this? Simply because President Buhari did not initiate the conference! Indeed the reason proffered by the senators shows not just the emptiness in the thought processes of our so-called leaders but also why this country has failed to move beyond a certain level of development-why we continue to move without making progress- ‘perambulating’ as Fela would say. What the northern senators are saying in effect is that every leader that comes into office must set about re-inventing the wheel, doing all over again what others before them have done and concluded. By this thinking whatever policy or decision Buhari initiates today can be flung into the waste bin of history as soon as the next occupant gets into Aso Rock without thoughts for the merits or lack of merit of such policy/initiative.

The matter is that simple for our distinguished honourables in the NSF. We can see how such simple-minded take on grave issues are operationalised in the different policy somersaults perpetrated by various regimes in Nigeria, past and present. We see it in the management of our education policies where the country has shuffled forwards and backwards with the so-called ‘6-3-3-4’ and ‘6-5-4’ systems and where one administration reaches an agreement with academic and non-academic unions of tertiary institutions and another administration takes over and says it knows nothing about it. One state governor leaves office owing workers many months of salaries and another is elected who washes their hands off any talk of backlog of unpaid salaries or pension- as if government is not a continuum. We see it in the management of toll gates across the country: one moment the gates are removed and the next they are being returned with the fervor with which they were removed only to be returned again. How can a country move forward in this situation? Those who, like these northern senators, reject talks about running this country along truly federal lines are beneficiaries of an unfair and unjust system.
Let the north remember that what it enjoys today by way of majority of states and decision makers were made possible by years of northern domination of the military. Nigeria like the rest of the world has moved beyond that era of domination by might and those who insist on keeping an unjust system in place are being foolish. They cannot see where their interest lies: they are making the break-up of this great country a matter of time.

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/12/hausafulanis-rejection-federalism-demand-dismemberment/

Hmm

I'm coming....

This is technically calling Northern Senators Forum idiats using flowery language.

Revenue sharing is the main reason for any rejection.

This restructuring noise makers should let us hear word. 50 years since Ojukwu went to Aburi and failed to get restructuring, people still make noise about the same thing.

The Hausa/Fulani oligarchy will never agree to restructuring. That is like asking a people in a privileged position to give it up. The feudal mindset of the Hausa/Fulani will not make him agree to restructuring.

So what is the alternative? People have to make the same choice Ojukwu made in 1967, agree to the dictates of the North or fight for your freedom. Everyone knows what Ojukwu chose.

So people should stop this pandering that we have heard for 50 years.

The SW/SE/SS should all make their own choice same as Ojukwu had to make.

Im tired of noise making on restructuring, I want my Igbo nation to be free.

Everybody should go their way, useless Hausa Fulanis can't tie us down with their primitive way.

gidgiddy:
This restructuring noise makers should let us hear word. 50 years since Ojukwu went to Aburi and failed to get restructuring, people still make noise about the same thing.

The Hausa/Fulani oligarchy will never agree to restructuring. That is like asking a people in a privileged position to give it up. The feudal mindset of the Hausa/Fulani will not make him agree to restructuring.

So what is the alternative? People have to make the same choice Ojukwu made in 1967, agree to the dictates of the North or fight for your freedom. Everyone knows what Ojukwu chose.

So people should stop this pandering that we have heard for 50 years.

The SW/SE/SS should all make their own choice same as Ojukwu had to make.

Im tired of noise making on restructuring, I want my Igbo nation to be free.

As scary as your suggestion is, it is the only way. However I doubt we southerners can pull it off as we have the Muslims in the SW who would rather see all Christians perish than see the South liberated from the feudal north.

resurgentxtian4:



As scary as your suggestion is, it is the only way. However I doubt we southerners can pull it off as we have the Muslims in the SW who would rather see all Christians perish than see the South liberated from the feudal north.

Forget the SW when it comes to restructuring, everyone knows their agitation for restructuring will not go beyond mere words.

Those who should be talking about restructuring are the SE/SE. They are the ones the North will take serious as they have in the past taken up arms against the North and can do so again

gidgiddy:


Forget the SW when it comes to restructuring, everyone knows their agitation for restructuring will not go beyond mere words.

Those who should be talking about restructuring are the SE/SE. They are the ones the North will take serious as they have in the past taken up arms against the North and can do so again

So sad that things have turned out this way. We used to be the main voice for restructuring of the country but we have sunk so low. We shall see where these people are leading us. We christians in yorubaland lost our way somehow. It is well.

Such a long epistle. We Southerners are very good in releasing useless statement every now and then but still help the Northerners in holding on to the status quo.

The real problem is the clash of values. Yoruba, Igbo, Other minority groups have one common problem. But each have a different approach to arriving at a solution due to their own value system. For some it is a clear case of radical struggle against injustice. For others, yes it's injustice but you should be diplomatic about it. Others still do not know whether to fight or not. All these disparate groups will never come to a consensus about tackling the issue. So the opponent will always carry the day. There is also the question of lack of sincerity, trust, inconsistency, short sightedness. Most Nigerians both at individual and ethnic group level will abandon their league of friends when the battle gets hot, even side with the opponent for immediate gains.

jomonic:
The real problem is the clash of values. Yoruba, Igbo, Other minority groups have one common problem. But each have a different approach to arriving at a solution due to their own value system. For some it is a clear case of radical struggle against injustice. For others, yes it's injustice but you should be diplomatic about it. Others still do not know whether to fight or not. All these disparate groups will never come to a consensus about tackling the issue. So the opponent will always carry the day. There is also the question of lack of sincerity, trust, inconsistency, short sightedness. Most Nigerians both at individual and ethnic group level will abandon their league of friends when the battle gets hot, even side with the opponent for immediate gains.

While we also have willing tools of the Caliphate down south. The whole Islamization struggle is spearheaded by Prof Akintola of MURIC who is yoruba. My advice still remains that we leave the country for these people to do as they please. The country is already a failed state so what is the point?

Bright southerners should seek out the funds to emigrate to more progressive societies. It is very simple.

jomonic:
The real problem is the clash of values. Yoruba, Igbo, Other minority groups have one common problem. But each have a different approach to arriving at a solution due to their own value system. For some it is a clear case of radical struggle against injustice. For others, yes it's injustice but you should be diplomatic about it. Others still do not know whether to fight or not. All these disparate groups will never come to a consensus about tackling the issue. So the opponent will always carry the day. There is also the question of lack of sincerity, trust, inconsistency, short sightedness. Most Nigerians both at individual and ethnic group level will abandon their league of friends when the battle gets hot, even side with the opponent for immediate gains.

this is the best comment av read here 2day..kudos bro

I beg who broke up Nigeria's federal structure in 1966? Was it the Hausa-Fulanis? In fact one immediate causes of the civil war stems from Ironsi's decree that destroyed the country's federal structure.

resurgentxtian4:


While we also have willing tools of the Caliphate down south. The whole Islamization struggle is spearheaded by Prof Akintola of MURIC who is yoruba. My advice still remains that we leave the country for these people to do as they please. The country is already a failed state so what is the point?

Bright southerners should seek out the funds to emigrate to more progressive societies. It is very simple.

Brother don't ever quit. Despite the imperfections I still love Nigeria and I believe we will get it right sometime.

GoroTango:
I beg who broke up Nigeria's federal structure in 1966? Was it the Hausa-Fulanis? In fact one immediate causes of the civil war stems from Ironsi's decree that destroyed the country's federal structure.

Let's look for solutions.

jomonic:


Brother don't ever quit. Despite the imperfections I still love Nigeria and I believe we will get it right sometime.

I don’t share in your belief for the future of this nation. I will bail at the slightest opportunity. My children must not be born in Nigeria in Jesus Name. I owe them a duty to raise them in a free, stable and progressive society.

Goodluck with dealing with the Muslims in Nigeria. They would allow the nation achieve its true potentials.

Let's support Atiku, he'll give us restructuring.

nototribalist:
Everybody should go their way, useless Hausa Fulanis can't tie us down with their primitive way.

There are more than one section of Nigerian regions that show the attributes of weakness and act very weakly in Nigerian polity. They shake like a dry leaves on a tree at the sight of a drunken soldier from northern region of Nigeria.

gidgiddy:
This restructuring noise makers should let us hear word. 50 years since Ojukwu went to Aburi and failed to get restructuring, people still make noise about the same thing.

The Hausa/Fulani oligarchy will never agree to restructuring. That is like asking a people in a privileged position to give it up. The feudal mindset of the Hausa/Fulani will not make him agree to restructuring.

So what is the alternative? People have to make the same choice Ojukwu made in 1967, agree to the dictates of the North or fight for your freedom. Everyone knows what Ojukwu chose.

So people should stop this pandering that we have heard for 50 years.

The SW/SE/SS should all make their own choice same as Ojukwu had to make.

Im tired of noise making on restructuring, I want my Igbo nation to be free.

Don't mind those nit-wits. They have been asking for restructuring for decades even though they know it the country won't be restructured.
Dumb asss motherfuckkers