₦airaland Forum

If we are truly concerned about understanding our differences, we would go beyond quoting Sardauna and accept that Nigeria was not meant to be anything more than a British company. Nigeria is not a nation and would never be. The true nations within and adjacent to the Nigerian geographical expression should be allowed to secede peacefully. Anything short of that would be self deception and postponement of the D-day.

I have read similar articles to this from Premium Times. Premium Times is a shamelessly sectional and narrow minded medium. The clown that wrote this article really scrapped the barrel to look for a means to defend Lagos state like looking for loopholes in the law. He quotes the part of the Constitution that says that you cannot expell citizens and says something like "well Lagos expelled people from Lagos state, not from Nigeria, therefore Lagos did not flout this rule". It goes to show you that it does not matter how good the laws are, if the people implementing the law are useless, the law would be useless.

KidStranglehold: Even though I am not Nigerian or African I personally do not want to see Nigeria break up for an number of reasons. I believe the future generation of Africans can change Africa. I mean they seem much more ambitious. You do not know what the future generation has in store for Nigeria.

Africa already has too many small new countries. With Nigeria divided up, it will no longer be the heart of Africa. A unified Nigeria is a strong Nigeria. Nigeria is unique because it is so big and diverse. It is the only African country with so many ethic. We should not just give up, Nigeria is slowly starting to progress, just look at Lagos. I keep hearing its about to become a mega city and business is booming there. I also hear that ethic groups around Nigeria live in Lagos and get along with each other. Nigerians should just NOT give up. They should strive to become the powerhouse of Africa, they have to potential to do so. They are already the powerhouse of West Africa, after being Ghana. If Nigeria were to divide then they would lose that.

I understand corruption and poverty in Nigeria and know that is a huge problem, but I believe Nigeria is attacking those problems. Lets just be glad Nigeria is not like the Democratic Republic of Congo or Somalia. I apologize for continuing to repeat myself, but Nigeria and Nigerians SHOULD NOT GIVE UP HOPE and work for a better Nigeria, a better Nigeria for everyone.

Have patience and maybe the future generation will be a better one. Just look at Angola, Rwanda and Botswana.

Angola=Deadliest civil war in Africa lastest until 2002(I think). Now fastest growing economy in Africa.

Rwanda=Deadly genocide in the 90s. Now known as the Singapore of Africa.

Botswana=One of poorest country in Africa after colonization. Now one of the few African countries with the most stable economy and has a good democracy.

If these countries can go against all odds then so can Nigeria.

In addition to @Shy-mex response, I would say that your argument and the examples you used are even more reasons that Nigeria should break up. No one wants to be a part of a big-for-nothing country. That may have been fashionable in the age of the Persian empire and before the First World War, but we live in different times now.

Adamskuty: but firstly who will want to associate with drug dealers??


if biafra should go,nigeria will br free,free like a bird no more being tag a drug country,we wont be hated by the world,instead the new drug country shall be biafra

Then put your money where your mouth is. Support the separatist movement of Biafran nationalist. We are done hearing this type of rant and contradictory actions. Since people like you talk so much about not wanting to be associated with Biafra, you should be more eager than anybody to have Biafra leave Nigeria. We Biafrans would be so glad to leave you Nigerians and your propensity to blame others for your failings, your inept government, unjust laws, . . . and the list goes on. So since we both agree, we should be on the same page on separatism.

God bless Biafra.

ShyM-X:
Alright, bro.

As for the groups that supports confederation: I think those clamouring for regional government are kind of in support of a quasi-confederation.

The threads I referred to earlier titled "Preparing the East for a Post Nigeria Future" are below:

www.nairaland.com/1248907/preparing-east-post-nigeria-future
www.nairaland.com/1331718/preparing-east-post-nigeria-future
www.nairaland.com/1333111/preparing-east-post-nigeria-future
www.nairaland.com/1340291/preparing-east-post-nigeria-future
www.nairaland.com/1341397/preparing-east-post-nigeria-future
www.nairaland.com/1344788/preparing-east-post-nigeria-future

Back to your comment; unfortunately too many of those people are just pretentious. The question that comes to my mind is, since they have party members in senate, why have they not yet tabled that for consideration in their debates. If they have, I am yet to get the memo.

jackbauersballs: Yes but it took America almost 300 years to get to where they are today....

Also remember that the American populace was not made up over 250 different ethnic groups and their accompanying sub-groups...

Consider that their wars were fought with Primituve weapons and consider the capacity for destruction today's weapons have.

What applied in the 1700s is obsolete today my man...

If the Kasala bursts....it's every man for himself first...then town...then ethnic group...and that's a recipe for disaster

Well, they did not take 300 years to plan their tomorrow. They did not take 300 years to break off from Britain, they left Canada to be strung along by the nose by Britain and took their future in their hands.

For the sake of equivalency I would mention that Malaysia has just as many ethnic groups if not more than 250. That did not stop them from letting Singapore go.

It was fought with primitive weapons but was bitter all the same.

We have to plan for secession instead of waiting for kasala to burst.

ShyM-X:
We all already have our different identities, which are our various ethnic groups. However, there's a conflict of interest between our identity(ethnicity) and nationality(Nigeria). The realism should be based on the consciousness, derived from our derived from our identities. Igbo's for example are capitalism inclined, the Yoruba's are a mix of both capitalism and socialism with monarchy(similar to the Brits), and the Hausa/Fulani are feudal. So they shouldn't have a problem formulating a philosophy based on their consciousness.

Also, I don't outright think secession under the current status quo would be the right option, it will be too bloody and may result in decades of bloodshed. The best way would be gradual secession and similar groups aligning with one another. We will probably need to start off with the restructuring of the country based on groups with cultural and historical affinity. Then get power away from the center, and let these new restructured zones control their own destinies. It can be a 5-10 year plan. Once that can be achieved - secession would be easier. And even if it ends up being bloody - it won't be as bloody as doing it under the current set-up.

We are saying the same thing. I even posted some threads about preparing the ground for Biafra. The thread series is titled "Preparing the East for a Post Nigeria Future". Even secession has to be planned to be peaceful. My concern is if we do not plan it, it wuld come suddenly and violently on us. You suggested confederation, fine. What political groups support that? Let us identify them. I never said secession has to be immediate, I am emphasizing that we make plans towards that route in a practical manner, not just saying it. And I believe the first step is to identify political groups that support whatever would lead us to that part, whether their plan takes 50 years or 5 years.

Oahray: stories... You give yourself and others hope without considering all possibilities. I assume you are igbo. So tell me this... Do you know igbos discriminate amongst themselves? For example, an Anambra igbo does not see himself the same as an Imo igbo. You are free to deny this, buh I'm pretty sure you are aware of it.

I'm not saying Nigeria is getting better as a nation, the bloodshed part of my post was in reference to the folly of anticipating missing anything. Have you ever reflected on the effects of a real war? I guess not. Whatever bloodshed you see now is nothing compared to a war, and wars usually precedes breakups of nations.

The future of a post-breakup mini-Nigeria? Somethings would surely happen. The same old greed would creep up, tribalism would assume a more familiar face. Then the historians and analsts would come out and talk about how Nigeria was better as a single nation, or how the western world instigated the breakup to their advantage.

When Egypt kicked out Mubarak and put in Morsi, they believed it was a step in the right direction, didn't they? Humans never learn from history.

Stories. Keep dreaming about possibilities that you great grandfathers dreamt of that are nothing but mirages.

Do you know that Israelis discriminate among themselves, and I am talking about Jewish Israelis? Do you know Caucasians discriminate among themselves based on hair color and ancestry? I am not going to deny it, discrimation is a human frailty, and the kind of "discrimination" you are talking about is very benign. Hatred is not involved; you don't see them killing themselves over that particular issue. If they kill themselves, it is over land or money, not different from other parts of the country or other nations.

Did I say anything about war? I was talking about referendum. Who told you that a war would not come if we keep ignoring reality? Compare how the Austro-Hungarian empire collapsed, how Yugoslavia and other nations that ignored reality eventually broke up. I am talking more of avoiding that.

All those problems would rear their heads if you allow them. Right now, a landlord can refuse you accommodation in Lagos based on your ethnicity and no one is suggesting how to curb that. That is why Nigeria is never going to go forward; because Nigeria gives us excuse to ignore what is wrong. Everybody react to issues only when it affects them. I don't see that changing.

Oh! And yes, the Egyptians should have just waited for God to take out their leaders like Nigerians do. The same Egyptians that got rid of Mubarak got rid of Morsi. We tried something like that in Nigeria, and the question other Nigerians started asking - after celebrating of course - is, "hang on, most of these coupists are Igbo, o." We cannot even have a change of government, democratically or otherwise, without asking where the next one is coming from. Not much has changed since the 1960's, except for high unemployment.

jackbauersballs: Nigeria cannot break up...too many vested interests...toomany fault lines...

Ekiti fought Ibadan before Nigeria ditto Ngwa vs Nri ditto Fulani vs Hausa vs Kanuri vs Other northern tribes

Any visions for united Odua/Biafra/Arewanations are deluded at best and psychotic at worst

The amalgamation was a grave mistake...but we had our chance...and we blew it.

We are now better of limping forward together than fragmenting into total anarchy

Not good enough. Americans fought their Anglo-Saxon brothers from Britain - in alliance with France of all countries - before fighting the Spanish. They also fought among themselves - North and South - before fighting terrorism. Read about how they sawed of wounded soldiers legs and how bitter the war was.

Any vision of Nigeria limping endlessly into oblivion is deluded as no one would want to join you on that journey - not me for sure. Those that get anarchy in their realm nurture anarchy; you reap what you sow. Nigeria would descend into anarchy faster as it is than when we plan peaceful and democratic determination of nation states.

God bless Biafra.

ShyM-X:
Before we embrace secessionist organizations - how about seeing their plans/manifestos? You can't just support a secessionist organisation just because they're hiding under the banner of secession. Most of these people are opportunists, who're just looking for ways to manipulate the disadvantaged people and rip them off.

We need to get the educated and enlightened ones among us involved. Those who understand the basics and ethics of nation building, with futuristic plans based on realism and not idealism. That's the best way to go about it.

We have to identify them first before we can talk about manifestos. And we have to be realistic, there would ALWAYS be opportunists - we are all opportunists at different levels. And like I said elsewhere, some secessionists would be capitalist inclined, some would be socialists. As long as they agree on secession, they can cooperate on that and leave economic policy to be practiced by different nations till after the nations are established.

And besides, idealism is important in building forward-facing nations. That is why Nigeria is not a nation, no common ideal binds us together. Even within ethnic groups, if no philosophy binds them together, they fight among themselves over stupid stuff like "they are dominating us, why don't we have a VC in the University from my village."

Oahray: I think it's rather premature to anticipate missing anything. First of all, there is hardly ever any bloodless breakup, so by the time it's over, many wouldn't be alive to miss anything. You want reality? That is reality.

BTW, a breakup wouldn't change anything meaningful in any positive way. I think Nigerians exhibit the worst form of tribalism/discrimination, and would always look for a way to discriminate even if Nigeria were a single tribe with a single language.

And who says enough blood has not been spilt already? If the breakup happens tomorrow, can we say our journey has been bloodless so far? What in the present tells you the future would be different in terms of violence in the country? That is reality.

I agree that for a lot of the newly formed countries, not much would change. But that would mean that they have to confront their demons instead of blaming "domination" of an outside party for your problem. The newly formed countries that arise and do things differently would prosper. Neighboring countries would see this prosperity and try to copy. Some would see that eschewing tribalism in running is beneficial for prosperity, and copy. Some would see same and not copy and remain backward. All in all, no one can blame the "other" for their backwardness.