By
Brady Chijioke Nwosu
A king that
transformed a jungle to a city will forever be remembered, at the same time, a
king that turned a city into jungle forever would not be forgotten.
The way things are
going, it is obvious that many nations are likely to emerge from Nigeria .
When the histories of such nations that were hitherto Nigeria would be written, one name
that would be scrolled in bold prints is President Muhammadu Buhari for
presiding and writing the epitaph of ones a country.
In this vein, There
Was A Country, the last book of late literary icon, Prof Chinua Achebe
becomes prophetic.
When in the early
2000, it was alleged that the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had
predicted that Nigeria
would fragment in 2015, there was palpable tension in the country especially
in the face of the general election that generated so much acrimony and hatred
and the country was polarized along ethnic and religious divides. The election
came and gone, many heaved sighs of relief, believing the worst was over.
True to their
thoughts, the worst could have been over if the winner of the election, President
Buhari was interested in the unity of the country. He could have embarked on
reconciliation and unification across the country so that the grievances and
disappointment that attended the election would be forgotten. Instead, he
started to position people from one section of the country and equally started
promoting his religion, while he saw the rest as conquered people, who should
not impugn his authority even in a democracy.
How can somebody be
pissing on your head and be telling you that it is raining?
Events the last one
year gave rise to the frenzy of self determination by various ethnic groups.
Before it was only MASSOB in the Southeast and right now more groups have
sprang in the region all working in synergy towards self determination.
Then, like a joke,
another uprising is going on in the Niger Delta region. It started with Niger
Delta Avengers (NDA), and now many other groups have come out working in the
same direction for self- determination. They are holding the nation to its
jugular and their persisted attacks on oil facilities in the region has reduced
the nation’s crude oil export from 2.2 million barrels to about 1.2 million.
The reason is that
Buhari saw the Southeast and the South-south as conquered people. He has been
accused to have an agenda to Islamise the country and his actions and body languages
lay credence to such accusation.
In his disappointing
May 29 broadcast, the emphasis was how to crush militants in the Nigeria Delta
and the unarmed agitators of Biafra , but he
was mute over the Fulani herdsmen, who are carrying out heinous crime of
genocide in the Middle Belt and the south. Should that be the position of a
leader who is interested in the unity of the country? While Fulani herdsmen
walk freely with sophisticated war/assault riffles, but soldiers saw the
gathering of Biafra agitators as an avenue to test their marksmanship; but
thumb up for the atrocities of Fulani herdsmen, which the Global Terrorism
Index rates as the fourth most deadly terrorist organisation in the world.
There is no way the country can stand by suppressing the other ethnic nationalities
feeling the brunt of the Hausa/Fulani hegemony.
While the president
was on official visit to his Kastina State , he dismissed the agitation of Biafra and said
that for Nigeria
to break up, that it was better for all of them to be drawn.
That is living in the
past. As it is, this country may not survive under him. Nigeria is in a
parlous state. It is dying, and it won’t be the first country that has ceased
to exist as it was. This is the naked truth unless somebody is not looking at
what is going on. There are cracks everywhere, the foundation has been weak,
and has been destroyed. Ethnic nationalities are more than ever coming up
agitating for self determination.
Go down to history.
Look at the former Federation of East Africa, which dissolved into Kenya , Uganda
and Tanzania .
The British also created the West Indies Federation, which also failed and you
now have Jamaica , Trinidad and Tobago ; they also created
Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland , it
failed. The only federation they created then that has not failed is Nigeria,
which is bound to fail if we don’t sit down and talk and that is why when Biafra
declared independence, British fought tooth and nail to make sure Nigeria
didn’t fail because they hold it as the only success they have in the British
empire. They also created the Federation of Malaysia and Singapore , but
it failed. The time that Biafra was pulling out was also when Singapore was pulling out of the Federation of
Malay, Singapore and North Borneo , put together by the British.
If President Buhari is
conscious of this, he should not be belligerent in his tough talk of Nigeria
being indivisible. You don’t force national unity by fiat.
Like all pluralistic
societies, Nigeria ’s
corporate existence will always be a subject of intense agitation. This is
more so as the country is an artificial creation standing on a false
federation. Presently, there’s growing mistrust among all ethnic nationalities
against one other.
All through history,
it a common knowledge that no force has ever been able to permanently suppress
ethnic nationalism.
By the President’s
position, that it is better for all Nigerians to “jump into the sea and get
drowned” than for Nigeria
to divide, he is prescribing the 1994 Rwandan tragedy. He should come down
from his high horse and to allow our nationalities to choose their preferences
peacefully. Instead of holding on power by Crisis Theory. Slobodan Milosevic
failed to adhere to this wisdom in the defunct Yugoslavia ; the outcome was a war
that claimed 140,000 lives. His obdurate refusal to negotiate caused violent
seizures and the country splintered into six different nations. The old Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
is now history. Sudan went
the same raucous path, before South Sudan was
carved out in 2011.
In the face of
agitation for self determination, he should toe the civil line by replicating
the September 2014, when Scotland held a landmark referendum on whether to
remain in the United Kingdom or not. The “Yes” side won with 55.3 per cent. The
UK
is holding another referendum this June to determine its membership of the
European Union. The British Prime Minister David Cameron is only campaigning
for the country to remain, not threatening his people. In 1993, the old Czechoslovakia
arranged a peaceful separation, an exemplary model on how to organise an
amicable political divorce between incompatible political entities.
An interim government
arrangement maybe an amicable exit strategy. Nigeria cannot pretend about this
artificiality any longer. No threat can crush these cleavages, as shown in Catalonia , which has
been campaigning for independence since the 16th century. Instead of the
agitation to wane in the face of the Spanish government’s repression, it is
growing stronger.
Buhari is afraid of
break up of the country, but he is not doing anything to arrest it.
The Inspector General
of Police, Solomon Arase who has just few months in office added another
comic relief after the massacre of armless Biafra agitators by soldiers in
Onitsha, and Asaba by directing the police to disarm the armed less people,
while allowing herdsmen to walk freely with AK 47 and other assault riffles.
We should do a rethink
before crediting Buhari with the success in the Boko Haram fight. It is on
record that as at the time he was decimating the Islamic insurgent group, the
military was yet to get new order for military hardware. The success was
because of the cooperation of Northern leaders. This is a nation of hypocrisy.
We remember that when the former Chief of Army Staff, Iherijirka was crushing
the Boko Haram to finish, Northern leaders started shouting genocide and
threatened to drag him before ICC and Buhari equally called on former President
Goodluck Jonathan to stop killing their people. But what happened, the military
came down heavily on the sect under the present government and the Northern leaders
didn’t cry genocide. Who is deceiving who?
The war against
corruption is a mere peer struggle. It is just against those he felt had
crossed his paths in the past. We remember that in 1984, the WAI in less than
one year was ingrained in the consciousness of the citizens. But today, it is
business as usual in the Police, Customs, Immigration etc, nothing has
changed.
On which side has the
country not been pulverized? The economy is on its knees. According to Bloomerg,
the president has in one year brought Nigeria ’s economy on its knees. The
article noted how there was a wave of optimism, a year ago that the
ex-military ruler could revive a nation battered by falling oil prices and
decades of corruption. Now, it states that Africa’s biggest economy is on its
knees and Buhari has been forced to throw in the towel …, stressing that “it’s been a lost year” and that Nigeria
will soon enter a recession, according to the central bank, and an upsurge of
militant attacks since February has sent crude production, which usually
accounts for 70 percent of government revenue, plummeting to an almost 30-year
low.
For nearly 60years, Nigeria
has gone a long test running and now reduced to hard starting. We can’t
continue trying, the engine has finally knocked and needs either a complete
overhauling to re-fix or a brand new one. Everything has gone wrong with us and
Nigeria
as an entity. Honesty is life and worthy living .We must honestly and in true
faith believe patriotism renegotiate to mingle together and redo Nigeria . But
first, release Nnamdi Kanu.
*Brady Chijioke Nwosu is a
former PDP Governorship Aspirant in Imo
State . He can be reached
through bradychijiokenwosu@gmail.com 08023035430
Brady Chijioke Nwosu, your article is a breath of fresh air. The Nigerian Government knows all the facts you laid out in your article but they would not act because they have not finished the purpose of the arrangement called APC. They also won't act on your article because it was not written by a non-Igbo.
ReplyDeleteThe hard fact is that APC is an arrangement of the Moslem Southwest and Moslem North to prosecute an agenda that propagates their interest. It is an arrangement that is supported by the US and UK governments. APC's first national committee did not have a single Christian as a member until there was a national outcry. APC wanted a Moslem Moslem candidacy until Saraki advised against it. Remember that an opposition candidate (Buhari)in a Nigerian election went to both countries (US & UK)to address them before a vote was cast. Speaks volume. As an Igbo man, I feel like a porn in this political chess game being played out by the Moslem Southwest and Moslem North with an empathetic supervision from the US Government and of course the UK. I am saddened by the implications of this arrangement. And they are many. My brother keep up the public information. We read you and we pray for an amicable implementation of the recommendations of the National Sovereign Conference report.