Nigeria: Building A Nation Without Nationalists?

By Kayode Komolafe

While Nigeria marked the 57th Anniversary of her independence on Sunday one streak of the national mood was not explicit in the messages sent on the occasion. Here is the point: it is hardly fashionable anymore to wave the flag of Nigerian nationalism or defend the unity of the country as a matter of historical responsibility. The latest fad is that of championing ethnic, regional or religious interests at the huge expense of national integration and cohesion.

*President Buhari

The tragedy of the moment is simply that it used not be like this; a generation of Nigerian youths once made Nigerian nationalism their career. For example, the young men in the Zikist Movement proudly and selflessly fought in the spirit of Nigerian nationalism; they did not champion northern or southern interests. No, a century of British colonialism did not come an end on October 1, 1960 without a fight.

To be sure, there were no guerrilla fighters who went to the bush; but there were radical youths agitating in the cities. As the late Marxist historian, Bala Usman, used to put in his inimitable polemical fashion, the struggle for independence was for the nationhood of Nigeria and not for ethnic or regional divisions. In fact, 70 years ago, some of the young men were so immersed in the liberation of Africa such that Nigerian independence was expected to be the launching pad for the total liberation of the black people. It was not for nothing that the appellation of the chief inspirer of the young nationalists, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, was not “Zik of Onitsha” or even “Zik of Nigeria.”

Nnamdi Kanu, Hate Speech And Our Ostrich Attitude

By Nnamdi Okosieme

Before I address the issue above fully, let me a few points clear.

1. I do not think much of Nnamdi Kanu; I am not a fan of his; I do not agree with his methods but concede he is entitled to seek a better life for himself and his people.
I also think we would have been spared all his drama, shenanigans and tantrums if our president had not been heedless enough to arrest him instead of finding a more workable approach to tackle the challenge he presents.

*Nnamdi Kanu

2. I believe that those who call for tinkering with Nigeria as it is presently constituted not only have every right to do so but are indeed right for there is a lot that is wrong with this country. That tinkering can come either by way of geopolitical restructuring or constitutional amendment or whatever works best. But tinkering? Certainly!

3. I believe that it is wrong to threaten to lop off someone's head or disembowel him simply because he does not subscribe to your views. In that regard, Kanu and others threatening people with death are way off the mark and dead wrong. In the main, rather than advance their cause, it actually diminishes it.

Now, to the issue above. Hate speech is decidedly abhorrent for if left unchecked engenders violence and spawns genocide in the end. When Hitler was threatening Jews and pigeon-holing them, the rest of the world went about their business unperturbed. Europe and America which had the political and military might to intervene looked the other way until the chickens came home to roost.

Warning to the Nigerian Authorities Concerning Ndigbo

Press Release By The Eastern Mandate Union (EMU)

You will recall that on Friday, June 9, 2017, the Eastern Mandate Union (EMU) had in extraordinary emergency meeting following quit notice issued to Ndigbo living in northern Nigeria by the confederate of Arewa Groups issued a communiqué requesting all our people living in northern Nigeria to begin making preparations for relocation down south especially to their homeland.

*Dr. Arthur Nwankwo
Chancellor, Eastern Mandate Union (EMU)

We are further alarmed that despite the condemnations of that quit notice by various sections of Nigeria and the international community, the Arewa Youths have continued to act like the lords of the Manor; and have continued to intensify their threats with neither reason their guide nor cause their actions. Despite the directives by the Inspector-General of Police for the arrest of the leaders of the Arewa Youths, there appears to be a glaring incapacitation and unwillingness on the part of the security agencies to rein in the Arewa Youths and bring them to justice.

Rather, we have been inundated with tepid assurances from both the government and some northerners that there is no cause for worry by the Igbos. We are not taken in by these vague and sham assurances basically because these are the same rhetorics that preceded the 1966 pogrom.