By Chief Mike Ozekhome
INTRODUCTION
This week, we continue our discourse on the urgent need to restructure Nigeria to prevent its avoidable inexorable implosion and breakup through sustained inherent self-contradictions.
Religious divides have created deep rooted enmity between the Northern and the Southern sections of this country. Voters in this nation are swayed by tribal and religious sentiments, rather than by ideology. The elites are the greatest promoters of this national malaise.
It is difficult for Nigeria to make progress in an environment of hostility, belligerence and mutual distrust. This is what the present flawed structure of Nigeria typifies.
Religious differences have been the chief cause of break ups amongst various groups in the world. The North and South Koreans broke up because they practiced different faith; Pakistan carved out from India due to religious differences. Southern and northern Sudan went their different ways caused by religious undertone. The list is endless the world over.
THE REALITY
The reality is that Nigerians are living in a state of despair and as Irish-born British statesman and political philosopher, Edmund Burke (1729 – 1797), puts it, “there is a limit at which forbearance ceases to be a virtue”. The time to discuss Nigeria, the time to restructure Nigeria, is now. Because for Nigerians to have an enduring peace and meaningful progress, there must be a consensus of consciousness amongst our people. Peace cannot be built on exclusion, or marginalization. It will only be peace of the cemetery or grave yard – ethereal, unnatural, eerie.
Nigerians from both sides of the divide are resolute and resilient. Majority of Nigerians wish this country works for the good of all. We all wish we can beat our chest with pride about our dear country, Nigeria: A country that affords everyone an opportunity to grow, irrespective of circumstances of birth, social standing, tribe, religious affiliation, creed, or gender.
Nigerians are interdependent. Each region relies on the other for survival. Recently, the scarcity of tomatoes in the north affected the quality of stew in the southern parts of Nigeria. Many homes in the South western states of Nigeria have faithfuls from two major religions in Nigeria- Christianity and Islam. Each section relies on the other to strike a semblance. Life is about balance. Opposite attracts. The northerners needs the zest of the southerners while the southerners need the chariness of the northerners, to create a compound synergy. The rain and the sun, though ecologically different and opposing, are both helpful and needful for the life of a plant-both giving out oxygen. Differences can be leveraged if properly managed.
Ghanaian educator James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey (1875 – 1927), captured it synchronically when he said,” You can play a tune of sorts on the white keys, and you can play a tune of sorts on the black keys, but for harmony you must use both the black and the white.”
However, with the present unprecedented spate at which Nigerians are expressing displeasure over the way the country is structured, concerned Nigerians are deeply worried about the future of this country. I am one of them.
If the voices of the generality of the masses are not heard logically, some elements may be forced to give voice to their agitations illogically. This is what we are guiding against by the call for an urgent need to restructure Nigeria, as presently constituted. IPOB, the Niger Delta Avengers, Boko Haram, MEND, etc, are examples of elements who may have opted to follow what some regard as illogical part to the solution of restructuring Nigeria. Who knows the next group waiting to emanate? Only an inane man would watch, arms folded, while his home is under flames without making some effort to salvage his personals.
Jeremy Bentham (1748 – 1832) British philosopher, economist, jurist, and social reformer, captured it philosophically,” When security and equality are in conflict, it will not do to hesitate a moment equality must yield.”
There is a clear imbalance in the way the present Nigeria is structured and the only logical way to keep the unity of this nation is by creatively rearranging the present state of things in a way that the wishes and aspirations of generality of Nigerians can be expressed, appreciated, and accommodated. Unity is not forced. It is earned, watered and nurtured.
The present structure of Nigeria was a British machinery used as colonial domination to repress and plunder our people, who were ignorant of their true dubious intentions.
WHAT TO DO
Truth is, if we do not demolish the present colonial structure totally, completely and thoroughly, it would be impossible for us to make progress economically, socially and politically. Historical experience shows that when the people actively participate in the work of establishing their government with awareness of being a main player in the construction of a new nation, the masses of the people can bravely overcome whatever difficulties and obstacles that may arise.
The task before our leaders therefore, is to quickly educate our people, to be fully awakened and to lead them to join hands to restructure this nation. They should be aware of who defends their interest and who harms their interest, irrespective of religious affiliation or tribal sentiments. Two factors used by the political elite to weep up sentiments and hoodwink the masses into following their treacherous ideas. Just like the British elites used the Royal Niger Company as a subterfuge to penetrate our people. Religion, says Karl Marx, is an opium of the masses.
We should therefore do everything to perseveringly publicize and explain to the people the urgent need to restructure this nation and the various roles they are to play.
Karl XIV Johan (1763 – 1844), French-born Swedish general and monarch, referring to the death of Napoleon I, said: “Napoleon has not been conquered by men. He was greater than any of us. God punished him because he relied solely on his own intelligence until that incredible instrument was so strained that it broke.” We need the collective intelligence and wisdom of the masses to recreate Nigeria. Anyone playing the awkward role of redemptive Messianism is simply out of tune with reality.
One of God’s anointed servants and a revered preacher of the word of God, Pastor W.F. Kumuyi, in an interview granted to Daily Sun News Paper, on Tuesday, July 12, 2016, gave us his wise counsel, when asked on his take on the call to restructure Nigeria, “ … I think at this time now we should listen to everybody… put everything on the table and without any selfish interest or ulterior motive, and then as a whole nation we might have a kind of panel , to make a choice on what will move the nation forward and what will keep the nation as an entity. Restructuring should not lead us to a kind of division into fragments where a southerner will have to get visa before he can go to the north and northerners have to get visa before they can come to the south. I don’t think we should come that way. But as we put everything on the table and we dialogue, I believe we will reach the best solution.” Restructuring does not refer to balkanization or dismemberment. It is the exact opposite.
Legal juggernaut and one of the influencers in the legal profession in Nigeria, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, had this to say on the way forward for Nigeria, during an interview at the United States Consul General’s residence in Ikoyi, on the 4th of July, 2016, “everybody is saying we are in a world where we have to discuss. Look at what happened in Britain, that is democracy in action. The centre in Nigeria is overbearing and selfish, that is why states are poor. What we are running now is dictatorship, we are being ruled by force, Nigeria does not belong to a particular individual but to all of us, the more reason why we have to discuss, and it is out of love, out of patriotism that we are saying let us discuss Nigeria…if we don’t do it now our children will have problems in the future.” I agree with my egbon.
Paul K. Feyerabend (1924 – 1994) German philosopher, in his essay “Against Method” puts it succinctly, “Unanimity of opinion may be fitting for a church, for the frightened or greedy victims of some (ancient or modern) myth, or for the weak and willing followers of some tyrant. Variety of opinion is necessary for objective knowledge.”
If we are to make progress as a nation, the confidence of the people must be obtained and one of such ways is to give the people a voice and make the masses part of the remolding process of the country. This is the solution to breaking the vicious cycle of going back and forth as a nation, with no meaningful progress. Or as captured by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870 – 1924), Russian revolutionary leader, “One step forward, two steps back…It happens in the lives of individuals, and it happens in the history of nations and in the development of parties.” Nigerians must take the bull by the horns and break away from this jinx, this fixation, this stereotype.
Nigerians must make conscious sacrifices for the unity of this nation to remain intact. We cannot continue to hold on to old beliefs and attitudes towards one another to the detriment of our nation and expect a new consciousness to develop within our people. We cannot build a unified country with segregated policies and mindsets.
Former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi (1917 – 1984), once said during a press conference in New Delhi, India, “You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.”
In order to carry out the task of restructuring this country, it is necessary to organizationally unite all people who love this nation, irrespective of status, religious affiliation and ethnic background and bind them as a single rallying force. Winning over the masses and firmly rallying them organizationally is one of the vital forces that can propel the successful cohesion and remolding of Nigeria. (To be continued).
FUN TIMES
There are two sides to every coin. Life itself contains not only the good, but also the bad and the ugly. Let us now explore these.
“A woman sends a Text to Her Husband
Husband, don’t forget to buy BREAD when you come home from work and your girlfriend Valerie greets you.
Huband: Who is Valerie?
Wife: Nobody, I just wanted you to answer, to have confirmation that you saw my text.
Husband: But, I’m with Valerie right now, I thought you saw me?
Wife: What??! Where are you?
Husband: Near the bakery.
Wife: Wait, I’m coming right now!
After 5 minutes, his wife sends a message:
Wife: I’m at the bakery, where are you?
Husband: I’m at work. Now that you’re at the bakery, buy the bread! Thanks”. -Anonymous.
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK
“The idea is not to restructure the economy as much as to seize the opportunities available that we didn’t address before.” (Mohammad bin Salman).
