Is Nigeria Really Too Weak to Break Up?

By Arthur Agwuncha Nwankwo

One common trend which I have noticed in human beings is the inability for people to leave their comfort zones and confront the hard facts of their existence, even when such facts of life are so pressing and yearning for attention. It is like the rodent which was consumed by an inferno when it failed to leave its comfort zone despite being warned earlier by the fleeing lizard. At a point in the history of the Jewish nation, the people abandoned the statutes of their God in pursuit of other gods. Every warning issued by the prophets of old seemed to have fallen on deaf ears.

*Dr. Nwankwo 

God in his infinite mercy raised Amos, the shepherd of Tekoa to call the nation of Israel to order and warn them of the divine judgment that must fall upon the nation unless they turn from their evil ways. But even with all the warnings by Amos, the children of Israel refused to leave their comfort zones - they had fallen so deep into apostasy and deluded themselves that all was well. In the 6th Chapter of the Book of Amos, the prophet bemoaned the inability of the Israelites to leave their comfort zones and embrace righteousness, and in a state of exasperation he declared “Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came”.

This has been the nature of man since the ages. Even in the family setting, when we are confronted with what I may describe as uncomfortable truths; it is convenient for us to deny it. We derive joy in deluding ourselves and pretending that all is well. We refuse to face the reality because we are afraid that the truth will destroy our comfort zones and deny us the grandeur which falsehood brings. We are always happy to indulge in such denials rather than confronting squarely those problems whose existence we deny. Because of this, we hardly make any move forward. 

If you situate the foregoing to Nigeria, you will begin to appreciate the relevance of this discourse. In Nigeria, we delude ourselves that all is well even when the facts on the ground suggest otherwise. We dismiss all suggestions to restructure the country as the ranting of a misguided few, yet the country draws closer to the precipice daily. We dismiss any alarm of cataclysmic uprising in the country because we are too consumed in enjoying the luxury of our loot; and have perfected the art of using the machinery of the state in pauperizing and oppressing the vast, helpless many. We trust in our wealth and chariots and in the security we have placed around ourselves and our mansions. If this were not so, Sule Lamido, former Governor of Jigawa State would not have had the courage to assert that Nigeria is too weak to break up because according to him “members of the elite are united in preserving their advantages over the masses irrespective of their differences of tribe and religion”. It was for this kind of mindset that Amos declared “Woe to them that are at ease in Zion…”