Strange bedfellows

Also published in Daily Trust

The issue of self-determination on regional or ethno-religious grounds, which is raised every now and then by some individuals under different self-serving pretexts is particularly responsible for the apparent lack of a sense of belonging among Nigerians. This has consequently and effectively relegated Nigerians from proud partners in nation-building to mere strange bedfellows who, at best, barely and reluctantly tolerate one another.

It is indeed unfortunate that Nigerians hardly take advantage of their longstanding socio-cultural, ethnic, religious, economic and political bonds, which bind them together and indeed provide them with veritable advantages to achieve sustainable prosperity and compete in any field of human endeavour.

 
By the way, I was impressed by an excellent academic work by late Dr. Yusuf Bala Usman of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria titled “The Misrepresentation of Nigeria: The facts and the Figures” where in the course of arguing in favour for the continued existence of Nigeria as a united entity, the erudite Dr. went to the extent of establishing not only the economic ties and common ethno-cultural attributes that had bound Nigerian ethnic groups together even before the advent of the British colonial powers but he also established the existence of shared climatic, hydrological, geological, geographical and linguistic peculiarities among them.

Anyway, as failure to take advantage of such potential continues to take its toll on our individual and collective endeavours, it also continues to be manipulated as a ready-made scapegoat by Nigerian elite at various levels, who have often sought to justify their failure to deliver by claiming that the ethno-religious composition of the country is a British creation hence is, according to them, designed to frustrate and prevent the various ethnic groups in the country from realizing their dreams of self-determination. 

Yet, in as much as there is urgent need to address this issue once and for all to determine the fate of the country and indeed that of its various ethnic groups, it is imperative to verify the authenticity of the purported popular clamour to revisit and renegotiate the bases of the country’s current corporate structure in the first place. This is because it is obvious that, despite the huge media propaganda to promote this idea over the decades, there is no scientifically provable and proportionate public desire among ordinary Nigerians to split the country.

Besides, nobody, including the advocates of the separation, gives any satisfactory research-based grounds on why the country should be divided or provides any proposed implementable implementation mechanism to affect the split either. In any case, just as it is extremely difficult, if at all possible, to split the country on the bases of territorial interface, it is even much more difficult, if at all realistic, to divide it on ethno-religious grounds.

Moreover, even the treasonable attempts made in the past to split the country e.g. the Ujukwu-led secession attempt more than four decades ago and the botched Major Orkar-led coup that attempted to remove some states from Nigeria, have all failed not necessarily due to the sheer strength of military power used to crush them but largely due to the popular public disapproval of the plots. 

After all, the longstanding and interwoven socio-cultural and ethno-religious bonds binding Nigerians together, which also predated the era of the British imperial colonization of what later came to be known as Nigeria, is simply too strong to be severed at the stroke of a pen.

 
Admittedly however, though many unfortunate incidents particularly over the past two decades have created some serious cracks on the mutual cohesion among ordinary Nigerians of various ethnic backgrounds, the situation has never been that desperate to warrant dividing the country anyway.

 
Contrary to the assumption of the secessionists and other divisive elements, and despite the obvious advantage of some geopolitical zones over the others in terms of natural resources, no geopolitical zone or ethnic group in the country is likely to survive let alone thrive as a breakaway entity from the mainland i.e. Nigeria. 

Having said that however and in order to settle this issue once and for all, there is need to conduct a national referendum through a transparent and credible process and preferably under the supervision of various regional and international bodies to determine whether ordinary Nigerians want remain united or prefer to split into various countries. 

Also, even if the result comes in favour of separation, the implementation mechanism should be based on a coordinated, transparent and well-calculated process of gradual disengagement over a sufficient period of time, within which Nigerians would be able to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of the decision they take in light of the tangible consequences they may observe in the course of the gradual disengagement. This is also quite necessary in order to allow for the possibility that things might go wrong hence the situation could be salvaged before it is too late.

 
In any case, a strategic step and a weighty decision of this nature is too important to be left in the hands of politicians and other elites in the country, for they are likely to be influenced by their narrow political or economic interests at the expense of the national interest. This is especially considering the fact that, once the situation gets out of control at any juncture they will not hesitate to flee the country along with their families and abandon their followers to their fate.