By Kayode Emola
Recently, the talk of restructuring Nigeria has hit the airwaves as though it is the panacea for our development. Proponents of this cause however laudable are failing to understand that Nigeria cannot be restructured. Not simply because of how events have unfolded in Nigeria since 1966 after the first coup but because restructuring is not just feasible.
Firstly, to stop Ojukwu from having his independent Biafra country, the Gowon government hurriedly created 12 states on 27 May 1967. Today, we have over 36 states in Nigeria plus the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). How we break down all these 36 states back into just 6 or 8 regions remains to be seen. The best that will come out of any such proposal for restructuring are the creation of more states, more local governments, more government officials and more misery for the people. All my people will do in such situation is to pray for a messiah that may never come.
Secondly, restructuring is just a hoax to make the people believe that Nigeria can still work. The many problems bedevilling Nigeria cannot be solved by legislation, it has to be discussed in a round table by all the stakeholders involved just like the three regions were negotiated between 1957 to 1959.
Additionally, every solution for Nigeria will come with its own pain and gain but we have to take the bull by the horn and not merely romancing the problem and hoping that it will go away. Nigeria has gone beyond bad and merely hoping that it will work again is just a wishful thinking.
If we understood how the regions were broken down in order to favour state creation, we will understand that restructuring was already dead-on arrival. However, I salute the courage of our fathers especially in Afenifere who are still championing restructure as a solution for Nigeria.
Many of us are no fools, and we cannot be cajoled, what Nigeria need is a true national dialogue before it is too late. Not the meri go round rhetoric approach that leads to nowhere.
The Fulani bandits that are terrorising our towns and villages do not understand the word restructuring. Their motto is jihad and conquest and that is the code they live by on a daily basis. If we continue to shout restructuring from now till eternity, that will not change the status quo of things in Nigeria, it is only prolonging the doomsday for Nigeria.
Nigeria is already doomed to fail, many countries like it in the past ended up breaking apart, some into 2 separate independent nations and some into 7 or 8 other smaller countries like in the case of former Yugoslavia. If anyone still thinks that Nigeria can continue to weather the many storms and challenges it faces, then they better think again.
For Nigeria to be restructured back into regions will mean that the Fulani hegemony is completely broken; this they will never allow and would rather allow Nigeria to be broken than restructured. The earlier our Yoruba elders and leaders understand this, the better our chances of saving our Yoruba ancestral land.
Some have even begun to promote the 2014 Goodluck Jonathan national confab document as a solution to Nigeria’s wonky national arrangement. It is high time they knew that it is also not a saving grace for Nigeria. The country they love to cherish and protect is not there anymore, it is long gone.
Many people feel offended when you tell them that Nigeria should breakup. Well, I don’t blame them, their ancestors were first taken as slaves and dehumanised in foreign lands. Then their parents were also dehumanised in their own lands and forced to speak foreign language as their first language in their own land which was handed over to them. So, it is the only thing they’ve ever known and that is the trauma they are still going through themselves so trying to change that mentality will require a great task.
Let me be crystal clear, Nigeria will break up either by choice or by force because the way it is going is not sustainable, and the people will be forced to react at some point. If we think we’ve heard the last from those that organised the ENDSARs protest, then we should be in for a rude shock. If the Nigeria politicians don’t make room for peaceful dialogue when there is still opportunity, then they may be caught up in the impending doom that may befall the country. I hope and pray that our politicians do the right thing whilst there is still opportunity, to before warned is to before harmed.