By EMMANUEL YAWE –
There is an ongoing narrative one gets trending on Nigeria in the media about the inevitability of the country’s break up. This is obvious as one reads through the print and social media social as well as listens to the electronic media. Often, the break up is presented as a popular proposition for the citizens of the south of while those of the north are presented as a supporters of the status quo.
The lazy, not too bright pundits who put up these theories of a break up along north/south lines must have suffered a rude shock from Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State when he said last Thursday at Arewa House in Kaduna that:
“Nigerians must be reminded that we do not need to see eye to eye to walk hand in hand. We have fought a civil war before because we couldn’t manage these flaming passions. That is enough. It is now time to be civil with one another and use our diversity as instrument of good over force of attrition and division. Our enemy is on the horizon and we must hold our hands together and march on until the enemy is defeated. United, no foe can defeat us.”
These are the words of a southern leader of note, the governor of one of the richest oil producing states in southern Nigeria. Certain the governor does not sound like a rabid rabble rouser, intent on breaking up the country. The governor was not speaking to himself, he was sharing his inner beliefs with a cheerful, supportive and enthusiastic crowd of patriots from all over Nigeria brought together at the behest of the Arewa Media Interactive and Development Forum to discuss the vexed issue of National Question. And it was not a crowd of political party hacks and or uninformed political thugs and fanatics. It was a well groomed crowd of the well informed Nigerians who have seen it all.
He went down historical and philosophical lane reminding the audience that; “for decades, the drumbeats of our nation have been filled and seared the ears about the fragility of unity and elasticity of the tolerance our diversity. Some have prophesied the imminent demise of our Nation, so many scenarios depicting the coming Armageddon have been pushed, prognosticated and predicted. But upon all these, our country remains intact. Though the contours of our unity may not be straight, though the lines of development may be zig zag, the tone and tenor of our discourse discordant and divergent, but the soul and spirit and the identity of our Nation remains sacrosanct. And on this all, all Nigerians of goodwill have come to a solid agreement”.
Giving as an example Nigeria’s soccer victory at the Atlanta Olympics in the US in 1996 he predicted that a united Nigeria will dare and overcome all obstacles on its way to progress. He said that victory in the US Olympics was based not on adequate preparation but on unity of purpose which overwhelmed inadequate and haphazard preparations for the contest.
The Governor heaped the blame of the country’s woes on the elite of Nigeria whom he said have misled the country for selfish ends. It was his opinion that if the elite behaved properly, Nigeria will attend very great heights among the comity of nations.
Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, who was at the lecture agreed with Governor Udom Emmanuel saying Nigerians are trapped in the net of poverty, insecurity, backwardness and bad governance in the last few years of democracy.
The 2019 presidential candidate of the PDP gave his personal example as an example for all Nigerians to emulate:
“I don’t see any Nigerian as Igbo, Hausa or Yoruba. When I see you, I see you as a Nigerian and I expect the best from you; that is why I didn’t select where I should marry from. I married women from the diverse background because I don’t look at their backgrounds. I only see them as wonderful Nigeria women.
“All Nigerians are equal and supposed to be treated equally. Therefore, unity is not about homogeneity, but it is by accepting the diversity in differences between us, not using this differences as a yardstick in judging others this kind of unity cannot be achieved by accident there must be strategic efforts to promote unity.
“Research has pointed out three primary sources of lack of unity in Nigeria. For religious differences we have to accept that it is not possible for the whole world to embrace one faith and it is not our choice the faith we practice, the only thing we can do is to accept that others have different faith and that is how God designed the world to be, and it should not be the basis for our socialisation and politics.
At the lecture, Governor Udom sounded honest, earnest and if the applause he received from the large, informed crowd is anything to go by, his message resonates well with a cross section of the Nigerian society. Governor Udom is indeed a rare breed and when his type comes out to speak against bigotry, greed and bad government, like Martin Luter King did so many years ago in the US, they have the capacity to lead society in the right direction.
For now, the urbane civilized and evidently detribalized, state chief executive has spoken. It remains for Nigerians to take his word or leave. Reports have it that he is walking his talk in Akwa Ibom and moving the state to greater heights. We hope one day he will be given the opportunity to lead Nigeria whose unity he spoke so passionately about last Thursday at the lecture organized by Arewa Media Interactive and Development Forum in Kaduna.
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