If one considers the situation of Nigeria today
against the backdrop of colonial rapacity and
malevolent machinations, it is surprising that the
country has not sunken lower than it has.

For the sake of cheap and convenient administration
for the colonial powers, many African kingdoms
were slapped together in different parts of the
continent to create countries at the Berlin
Conference of 1884/85.

By 1914 Nigeria was created by the amalgamation
of the Northern Protectorate and the Southern
Protectorate, both fiefdoms of Britain.
Like Nigeria, many of the countries of sub Saharan
Africa were designed to fail. Pure and simple. Some
were designed to be owned and settled by
Europeans. Countries such as Kenya and South
Africa fell into this category during colonial times
and the battle for their "independence" were as
expected bloody.

Let's shun political correctness for a minute and try
to make sense of this puzzle: How do you expect a
country granted independence with several small
and, three major nations in it, to prosper and stand
on its feet, when the system had been put in place
from the start to keep the reins of political power in
the hands of the most backward of the three major
nations/tribes?

Many would argue to the contrary that, "Oh, the
northerners were exposed before the others and
could read and write Ajami( ) and wore clothes
earlier than everyone else"-- but question is: How
useful was that subjective opinion in the face of a
rapidly changing world by the turn of the 20th
century when "the others" were already producing
medical doctors, great educationists,lawyers, town
planners, businessmen, etc?

But the most important question of all is this: What
is the essence of the headstart "the others" had if at
the end of it all, they are at the mercy of the so-
called backward northerners who seem to have
embraced their backwardness and even see it as a
blessing rather than a curse?

Check developmental indices between the north and
"the others" and you will be alarmed at the gap,
no--- wide gulf between the two. In Osun for
example, you see a literacy rate of 91% against 38%
in Kano. http://databod.com/nigerian-states-ranked-
literacy-level/
I do not have the time or the interest to compare
poverty rates.
It is very clear that Nigeria's indices are the way
they are compared to other countries due to the
refusal of the north to pull itself up. Nigeria's
Human Development Index currently is at 0.522.
Most of the other sub- Saharan African countries are
also within the 0.5.... region of HDI. This is the
reason why I started by saying it is surprising that
the country has not sunken lower than it has.

However, this is not comforting because the ruling
class doesn't seem to understand the problem:
from the presidents,past and present to the
governors.
An attempt was made by the Yorubas at
independence to include a secession clause into the
first constitution. It failed. Years later, an attempt
was made by the Igbos to break away. It failed.
And yet since then during each presidential election
the "others" try to outdo each other to show who is
more loyal to the north. Just for crumbs.

From the look of things, the status quo is going to
remain as it is. Oro buruku t'on t'erin.
So, what are we to do in a situation such as this?
Restrategise! I can't speak for anyone, especially
my Igbo neighbours, but as a Yoruba I have a stake
in the Yoruba Commonwealth.

We need to see ourselves differently and create a
distinct identity for ourselves. In a nutshell, we must
create a nation within a country. Politically and
economically and above all educationally.
Politics

The first thing to do is to get our politics right. We
seriously need to do away with the main national
parties. We need to create a strong regional party
like in the mould of Action Group and AD. But the
difference is that this party must be made up of
young vibrant professionals. Someone said of
German political parties: No matter how bad they
are, any German political party would still do well
because it is made up of intellectuals. Look at
the party in charge of China.
Economy

The first of the Six Killer Apps of Western Power is
Competition. The Europeans,Americans and
Japanese rose quickly because they competed
fiercely. Lack of such fierceness slowed India and
China down until recent times. We must pool our
resources, if need be, borrow as a unit to build
businesses and industries in Yorubaland. We must
set our economic sight beyond even Nigeria and
Africa.We must look into everything, manufacturing,
services, entertainment, etc. Remember when HITV
upstaged DsTV in Nigeria? That's the kind of thing I
mean. But one which must be sustained!
How else would we create jobs for our teeming
youths?
Education

Our education in the South West is in doldrums.
This is one sector where we had a serious
headstart. If we focus on it and put a larger
percentage of our revenue into building schools and
training teachers, we would be building a stronger
today and tomorrow for our land. The number of
street urchins and criminals among us would
reduce.Civics , history and values have to be taught
to our children in our schools. Lazy teachers have to
be punished and hardworking ones rewarded.

Healthcare
This is another sector we need to focus on. A
healthy society is a progressive one.

Infrastructure

Our infrastructure must be built in a way to promote
economic development.
The states could come together and see if power
generation can be done on a regional basis.
I grew up in Ibadan and we had water flowing from
the public taps. Things have changed a lot. And
they have to change again for the better. Any
governor who fails to provide water has failed!
There are many more things to be done but these
are the ones I can think of right now. We already
have a little bit of an edge. We were the first in
many developmental sectors. We need to leverage
on the little we have now and use it as a
springboard. Peace.