The cracks on the walls of Nigeria @ 60

By DONS EZE

From the beginning, the foundation was faulty, and so, it would not be surprising if the walls are cracking. Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, reportedly told us that the country’s walls have cracked, but called for prayers to avoid its complete break.

Speaking at a Church Service in Abuja to commemorate Nigeria’s 60th independence anniversary, Vice President Osinbajo said, “our walls are not yet broken, but there are obvious cracks that could lead to a break, if not properly addressed”.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had previously declared Nigeria, “a failed, divided state”. Obasanjo who confessed that he had never seen Nigeria in such a bad state, blamed the current status of the country on poor management of the nation’s diversity.

Since these were the testimonies of those who are in a proper position to know the exact status of the country, the real “insiders”, we will have no reason to doubt them. Our only prayer is that if there is going to be break, let it happen in peace, let the different elements go their various ways peacefully, without rancour and acrimony, and no shedding of blood.

At inception, Nigeria was never one country. It was made up of diverse elements, not related in any way, but brought together by a trading conglomerate called the Royal Niger Company and told to begin to answer one name, “Niger-area”, which suggested no unity, but “a mere geographical expression”, apologies to Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

Even when the British Crown later took over the territory from the Royal Niger Company, they made no serious efforts to unify the people, to make them one nation, as the area was still divided into three distinct political units – the Northern Protectorate, the Southern Protectorate, and the Colony of Lagos, and administered separately. Later, the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria and the Colony of Lagos were unified into one administrative unit, while the Northern Protectorate still remained a separate entity.

In 1914, the so-called unification, or amalgamation of the country took place. But that was merely on paper, as the North was still administered differenly. Frederick Lugard, as the then Governor General, was the only bond of unity, in that while a legislative council made laws for the South, the North was still ruled with proclamations made by the Governor.

It was not until 1945 that a single legislative council began to make laws for the entire country. But still, everything was in a fragile state, and the people in approach-avoidance relationship, until Nigeria managed to gain political independence, on October 1, 1960.

At independence, Nigeria could still not find her feet. It was from one crisis to the other. It therefore became clear that what Britain had packaged was a time bomb ready to explode at any time. The election that preceded political independence was a patchwork of expedients, being an unholy alliance between the Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) and the National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC), while the Action Group (AG), was left in opposition.

The first crack on the walls of Nigeria, was the charge of treasonable felony levelled against the Leader of Opposition, Obafemi Awolowo, and some of his followers, for allegedly plotting to overthrow the federal government. They were subsequently convicted and jailed for various terms of imprisonment, ranging from between two and ten years. Awolowo himself was jailed ten years.

Events followed in quick succession – the Western Nigeria parliamentary crisis, which led to the breaking of the mace on the floor of the House; the declaration of a state of emergency in the region and appointment of a sole administrator to administer the area for one year; the inability of Nigerians to count themselves during the 1962 census, which was repeated in 1963; and the controversial 1964 general elections, when for three days, there was no government in Nigeria.

The straw that broke the camel’s back was the 1965 Western Region election, when caution was thrown overboard, resulting to daily killing of innocent citizens, mayhem, arson and so on. It was like in a Hobbesian state, a state of lawlessness, when life was nasty, short and brutish, the war of all against all. This was what led to the military takeover of January 1966.

From May 29, 1966, to October the same year, Nigeria had virtually lost her soul as hell was let loose, when thousands of Nigerians of Igbo origin were massacred, maimed, brutalized and driven out of various towns in Northern Nigeria. This insanity led to the killing of the Igbo-born military Head of State in a revenge coup, along with hundreds of his compatriots.

A flicker of hope however came in January 1967, at Aburi, Ghana, when Nigeria’s military leaders met, to seek solution to the crisis bedeviling the country. But that golden opportunity was painfully lost as soon as they came back to Nigeria and they began to give different interpretations to the agreement reached in Ghana. Everything went back to square one, and the result was a 30-month bloody civil war, in which millions of lives were lost, and valuable property destroyed.

Unfortunately, Nigerians are poor students of history, and hardly look back to see what happened in the past, where they made mistakes, and how to correct them. They will keep on doing the same thing over and over again, repeating the same mistakes. That is our bane, and why the country has failed to change for the better, but getting worse and worse.

Nigeria at 60 has therefore become an albtross, a heavy load. We look at the future, it is not inspiring. It looks dim and dull, no brightness. We look around, there is general insecurity, everywhere in chaos – Boko Haram, Islamic State of West Africa terrorists, kidnappers, Fulani Herdsmen, etc., all making life miserable and unpleasant to the people.

We become worried in a situation where security agents appear helpless in defending and protecting lives and property of citizens; in a situation where the convoy of a sitting governor was attacked and 18 persons killed; in a situation where senior military officers were daily being ambushed and killed; in a situation where towns and villages were severally attacked and many people killed or maimed, houses and farmlands burnt or destroyed, etc.

As a result, many people became disenchanted and begin to lose faith in the system. They no longer trust or look on to the government for their protection, or for the provision of their basic needs. They no longer see the centre as holding, as not only suffocating, but becoming too far away from them, and which can no longer take care of their needs. Thus, out of frustration or hopelessness, they begin to agitate for separate autonomy, or in the least, for a loose form of association, a little bit away from the centre.

These were the “cracks” developing on the walls of Nigeria, which Vice President Yemi Osinbajo spoke about, and why former President Olusegun Obasanjo proclaimed Nigeria “a failed, divided state”.

Happy Nigeria’s independence @ 60!

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