By Amanze Obi
President Muhammadu Buhari was recently quoted as saying that it is better
for all Nigerians to “jump into the sea and get drowned” than for Nigeria
to divide. The president had his reasons. He said Nigeria fought a civil war which
claimed over two million lives in order to remain united. This supreme
sacrifice by Nigerians for Nigeria ,
he seems to be saying, cannot be thrown away just like that. The country, he
also argued, is strong and united today because some people laid down their
lives. For these reasons, he said he would not allow “kids” promoting the
agitation for the division of the country to have their way.
*Buhari |
A few weeks into
this outburst, the president is already living up to his vow. His army and police
have descended mercilessly on defenceless Biafran agitators, killing scores of
them. The president has also deployed warships and fighter jets to track down
militants who have been blowing up oil installations in the Niger Delta.
Curiously, however,
the president has taken no action against Fulani herdsmen whose murderous
activities have become a clear threat to national unity. Maybe someone should
remind the president that if Biafran agitators and Niger Delta militants are a
threat to national unity, armed Fulani herdsmen are much more so.
There is no doubt
that the president is passionate about the idea of one Nigeria . But
his passion appears to be driven by sectional, if not self-serving factors.
That may explain why he has ignored or overlooked the historical fact that no
country has ever survived two civil wars. If he is truly conscious of that, he
will be less belligerent in his declarations and actions on Biafra , Niger
Delta militancy or any other separatist agitation in the country. The president
is probably under the illusion that a segment of the country will rise against
the federation in the way it once happened with the possible consequence of an
armed struggle.
Regardless of this
extremity in language use by the president, we must indulge him by overlooking
his flagellations about war and suicide and, instead, address our minds to the
idiosyncratic convictions and motivations that inflame the language of passion
in some old breed Nigerians.
We will, without
relying so much on the passions of the Buharis, the Obasanjos and the Gowons of
this country about one Nigeria ,
agree that the country, ideally, is better of as a united entity. We need not
elaborate on this here. Suffice it to say that the aforementioned veterans are
essentially driven by one passion. They do not want their labours over a united
Nigeria
to be in vain. Having fought in their individual and collective capacities to
keep the country one, they would not want to witness a reversal of this in
their life time. That is why they are always on edge whenever any reference, no
matter how casual, is made to the possible disintegration of Nigeria .
However, in holding
on to their passions, it is doubtful if any of these civil war veterans has
stopped to reason or find out why their counterparts from the defunct Biafra do not share in their passion. Eastern elders of
the generation of Obasanjo, Buhari and Gowon may not step out to call for
division of Nigeria .
They know it will be reckless to do so. But they will also not come out in the
way the northern and western elders under reference have been doing to defend
and uphold the idea of a united Nigeria .
Their attitude to all the talk about an indivisible and indissoluble Nigeria borders
on the cynical. They are not persuaded by it.
So, why do the
sentiments of Nigerians differ on this matter? Why are the people of eastern Nigeria , to a
very large extent, persuaded differently? To pigeonhole this issue, we must
take into consideration the fact that life is essentially driven by
contraries. If progress must be made in life, those who operate together or are
in competition with others must recognize that there is more than one way of
seeing reality. Reality, strictly speaking, is multi-faceted. When you hold on
to your point of view and refuse to acknowledge or recognise the other’s, you
are, willy nilly, creating an atmosphere for conflict.
If we live in a
country whose leaders are truly passionate about its survival and growth, we
will be chiding ourselves for our indignant attitude towards national cohesion
and integration. But what is the case here is that different Nigerians operate
from different prisms in this matter. Each sounds as sanctimonious as he can.
When therefore the likes of Buhari, Gowon and Obasanjo speak on this subject
matter, they do so from the angle that suits them. They do not go for the big
picture. If it were not so, Buhari would not have flown off the handle the way
he has done. Because he has chosen to remain deliberately selective on this
issue, he can afford to dismiss the ongoing agitation for Biafra
as the brainchild of “kids” who were not there when the Biafran war raged. He
can also blindly condemn the Niger Delta militants without sparing a thought on
their worries. It is the same deliberate selectiveness that has made it
possible for the president not to see anything injurious in the terrorist
activities of Fulani herdsmen. But if Buhari wants to appreciate the issue for
what it is, he must recognise that the issue here is the prevailing social and
political conditions of the country. A president that wishes his country well
and wants it to stick together will address those knotty issues rather than
roll out the tanks to mow down those who do not share his passions.
So far, we can
safely say that those who have been breathing down on the rest of us about the
indivisibility and indissolubility of Nigeria are myopic. They are living
in the past. They have not taken our present realities into consideration. The
reality of our situation is that Nigeria , as presently constituted,
needs a surgical operation. There are lots of foreign bodies within the
Nigerian system that need to be excised from the system so that it does not
suffocate to death. If I were those who hold so dearly to the idea of one Nigeria , I will
readily ensure that those infelicities in the Nigerian system that are
inhibiting peaceful coexistence and national cohesion are done away with.
One of such
anomalous situations is the unbridled arrogance of the new terrorists whom we
have mistakenly been calling Fulani herdsmen. Since these terrorists carried
out their organised massacre in Enugu
state, many have come to agree that we are no longer dealing with herdsmen. We
are, instead, dealing with murderous marauders and invaders on a mission of
annihilation.
That is not all.
The government also protects them by not going after them or asking questions
about the source of their arms. That was why the president made no reference to
them in his Democracy Day speech while he threatened fire and brimstone on
Niger Delta militants and Biafran agitators. The president’s selectiveness
makes the armed herdsmen look like a special breed that every one else must
submit to.
Those who make
noise about one indivisible Nigeria
ought to be appalled by this. They ought to know that this army of occupation
that is terrorizing the country is the real threat to the unity of the country.
They are more dangerous than the unarmed, harmless agitator for an equitable Nigeria .
President Buhari
should tread cautiously lest his passion for a united Nigeria ends up to be a misguided
one.
*Dr. Obi is a former
Commissioner for Information in Imo
State
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