Leonard Shilgba
Calls for "restructuring" Nigeria these days are becoming so loud and frequent, some being unpretentious euphemisms for break-up of Nigeria. Being a fellow that has written copiously about an improved coupling of Nigeria, I am disappointed at the hypocrisy that I read about concerning the subject.
Are the calls for "restructuring" not becoming a mockery? When certain people, who live off public offices or hanker after appointment into public offices don't have their way, then they join the choir of "restructure Nigeria." Ask them to tell you what they mean and you will be nauseated by their simplistic ignorance. I think the deviously selfish and openly unlearned have seized upon a serious national cause to ingratiate their lusts. Thus a genuine subject, just like many others in our politics, has sadly become a victim of the blister of corruption.
The comedians who are perfecting their acts on the podium of "restructuring Nigeria" must be enjoying themselves lately, no doubt; except that they should be advised to seek another subject that will make them funnier.Let us ponder the break-up of Nigeria. First of all, where have the apostles of Nigeria's break-up derived their authority from? Have they conducted a referendum among the citizens of their intended nation groups before asking President Buhari to call a referendum on Nigeria? And did President Buhari campaign on a referendum on Nigeria? Surely, the mandate Nigerians gave President Buhari is different. I should think that if any Nigerians wish to have a referendum on Nigeria, they should look out for and support a candidate for the presidential election who would run on that agenda. They should not be so impatient and seek to smuggle in such a referendum and foist it on a sitting president who never campaigned on it, for that would be corruption. David Cameron only did what he had campaigned on, so why manipulate Buhari into a Cameron?
Besides, why the haste; why not take the decent route of patient build-up to gain legitimacy on their cause? A few people here and there forming various associations or "pressure groups" on "self-determination" cannot earn more than news media blips. None of those groups can approximate either in authority or organization to the Ojukwu Biafra machine, even which failed to crank up when it mattered most. What is worth doing should be done well. Our separatist agitators must show some seriousness.
There is nothing wrong when a majority of a nation group chooses to break away from a country; but in order to avoid painful failure and anarchy, three things must happen:
1. An undisputable leader for the cause (separation) must emerge. No nation group in Nigeria can presently claim to have such a leader; Niger Delta, Igbo, Yoruba, Tiv or Middlebelt, Hausa or Fulani, etc., have no such leader at the moment.
2. Connection and trust between the elite and the masses must be strong and unyielding. The corruption among the elite has created a chasm between them and the masses, too big to be filled with the filler of trust.
3. Enlightenment of the people about today's plight and the beautiful fruits of the Promised Land must be complete. Do you tell your ethnic folks how badly they have fared in Nigeria? Let them know how better their fortunes will be in the new nation you now tell them of. Show them the fruits of evidence in this "wilderness" called Nigeria. Demonstrate to them now how just, fair and kind to them you will be then. Don't tell them you will be born again then, you will not be corrupt and oppressive then, and that you will suddenly acquire the skills of statecraft then. If you are not better at home with them than the pharaoh you point out to them, why must they follow you to the unknown?
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