By Kayode Emola
January 15th 1966 marked the official beginning of the post colonial Nigerian tragedy, with the unsuccessful coup orchestrated by the five Majors. Their ultimate goal was to make Nigeria a unitary government without any consideration to the peculiarity of the country’s indigenous peoples. How can you ask such a country to become one, a country that has over 250 tribes and a multitude of languages, to ignore their customs, traditions and the very essence of who they truly are.
If we revisit event preceding the coup, we see that the five Majors orchestrating it were angry about the way the Fulani hegemony was running the country. Prior to the coup, the Fulani government of Balewa behaved as though Nigeria was their exclusive property. This is due to the way the British government handed Nigeria down to the indigenous people.
In the first republic, the British handed power to the Fulani north because of the skewed arithmetic of the confederation. Despite the Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) having the least popular vote at that time out of the three major parties (the other two being the Action Group – AG – and the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons – NCNC), they had the most seats (134 out of 312 seats available in the federal parliament), thus making them the favourite party to lead a coalition government.
As long as this system remains the status quo, the Fulani are happy to be part of the One Nigeria project. Were this arrangement of making the Fulani people the head of the government to be removed, they would be ready to walk away from the union. That was the dilemma faced by the British too, as they wanted to protect their agelong investment in Nigeria by any means possible. The only way they could do this was to secure the political machine of the Nigerian state, and in that they found the Fulani north to be their willing tool.
The handing over of Nigeria’s government by the British government to the Fulani was done deliberately to weaken the southern people. Firstly, even though the whole of the North combined did not get a majority of the vote of 1959, they were nonetheless handed the power to govern the country. Secondly, it should be noted that the Fulani are not the sole inhabitants of the north of Nigeria – there are over 100 tribes occupying northern Nigeria, further demonstrating that the Fulani have been flexing a muscle that they do not truly have.
After the January coup of 1966, knowing that they no longer had the manipulating strength of the federal government, the Fulani through their agents carried out a counter coup. This Araba operation – meaning secession – took place on 28 July 1966. The Fulani considered it better to withdraw entirely from Nigeria rather than living under the regional system of government agreed prior to independence. In their eyes, it was never about Nigeria but rather all about countrol, and so they have used this control mechanism to subjugate all other peoples in Nigeria.
It ought to surprise any right thinking person that a tribe of not more than 5 percent of the country’s population can so manipulate the rest that it has taken such a long time for the indigenous peoples of Nigerians to actually see what is happening. They deceived every other tribe in Nigeria into believing that they were the most honest and noble people, whereas in truth this was all guile. All in all, it can be said that the indigenous peoples let down their guard, and in so doing, threw away their thinking caps.
For the Yorubas, it didn’t matter who held sway at the helm of affairs in the federal government: it was convenient for tiny minority of Yorubas who benefitted from the rot in the society to make their gullible followers believe that Nigeria will one day be better. Instead of asking for real development for their people and holding the government to account, the Yoruba elders use rhetorics like restructuring to confuse the people, deluding them that the change they desire is about to materialise.
Let’s be clear, if Nigeria were to have been restructured, it should have been done in 1967 under the Aburi accord, shortly before the civil war. However it pleased the north to go into war with the Igbos because they had the support of the Yorubas and other southern tribes. Ojukwu’s sole motivation to lead the Igbos into civil war was for Gowon to agree to restructure Nigeria back into the federal system that it was prior to the January 1966 coup. Instead Gowon further balkanised Nigeria into 12 states, killing any hope of restructuring.
It is on this false pedestal that those canvassing for restructuring have found succour, seeking to ensure their share of the national cake is not diminished. It was obvious from the events of 1966 that the Fulani will not accept being part of a union over which they have no control. They would rather leave Nigeria than hand over the control of the government to another tribe. It is no wonder they are highly suspicious whenever a southerner is at the helm of any of the country’s affairs.
The recent agitation by the Yorubas for their own independent country has forced the proponents of restructuring to rethink their stand. It has now brought the restructuring question to bear, asking what restructuring can do. Nigeria as it is, structured with 36 states, cannot go back to the days where there will be a Yoruba Premier controlling the affairs of the Yoruba people. Neither will there be an Eastern Premier marshalling the affairs of the Eastern region like Ojukwu did. It will forever remain a dysfunctional country designed against benefitting the indigenous people.
Consequently, there is no wonder why the federal government and the Yorubas still clamouring for restructuring are now confused over what to do with the current agitation. Nigeria is already a failed state and unlikely to survive the current barrage of problems it is facing. As long as the Yoruba elders were still clamouring for restructuring, the Fulani oligarch believed their place was safe. The Yoruba people’s clamour for their own independent country will ultimately be the final blow to break Nigeria’s back.
The recent lawsuit by the River and Lagos states on reclaiming back the VAT on goods and services being generated in their respective states holds particular pertinence. Once these elements are taken out of the control of the Fulani, they will be the ones clamouring to leave Nigeria. The Fulani are profoundly disquieted by the concept of a united Nigeria where they are not in control, but as this is increasingly the mood of the other major tribes of Nigeria, it is safe to say that Nigeria is now on its way to disintegration.
I urge every Yoruba citizen to continue to press home their demand for a sovereign Yoruba nation. This is the only way we can ensure that the much needed socioeconomic development of our nation is achieved. We cannot afford to lose sight of this ultimate goal, which will secure the freedom and future of our children yet unborn. In this regard, I want us to know that no matter what, Nigeria cannot be restructured, and the only way out is for every independent tribe comprising Nigeria to go and form their own nation as they choose.
