Return To Colonial Anthem: Who Really Owns ‘Nigeria’?

 By Olu Fasan

Nigeria is a product of two perverse rules. One is colonial rule; the other is military rule. Virtually everything that exists structurally in Nigeria today was either created by colonial rulers or military dictators. Nigeria’s very existence and name are colonial creations. Then, Nigeria’s Constitution, system of government – presidentialism – and governance structure – 36 states – are military impositions. Nigeria’s national anthem was colonial, then military, and now colonial again! 

Look around you, nothing structural, even symbolic, is a true reflection of the collective will, or choice, of the people of this country.

The implication is that colonialism and military rule produced a captive people called “Nigerians” who have absolutely no direct input in the creation, name, structure and even symbols of the geographical entity they call their country.

Nigeria: The Making Of Supreme Confusion

 By Chidi Odinkalu

Most people do not know or remember that, strictly speaking, there were and remain no official results for Nigeria’s 2007 presidential election. Organised by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the vote itself occurred on April 21, 2007 under Maurice Iwu, a professor whose academic discipline coincidentally was alchemy. His main qualification for the position of Chairman of the INEC was that he was close to President Obasanjo’s fixer, Andy Uba.

The results began trickling in the following day. Under Nigeria’s Constitution, a winner of a presidential election must secure the highest number of votes in addition to winning a minimum of 25% of the votes in at least 24 of the 36 states of the federation. What this means is that it is impossible to declare a lawful result in a presidential election until the results in at least 24 states have been computed.