“Nigeria: To Break or Not To Break”Chief Femi Fani-Kayode’s articles whether they are controversial or not, always leave in their trail a long period of debate – and his latest won’t be an exception. Whether it is by design or his brilliance just seems to spark an intellectual discourse, I don’t know and that is not the purpose of my rejoinder. “Nigeria: To Break or Not To Break” explored some hard facts that if looked at carefully, exposes the well concealed fears of majority of Nigerians. I belong to this category of Nigerians but even at that, my apprehension is not hinged on whether Nigeria will break, because it won’t, it is hinged on whether we can take advantage of our differences, mutual distrust/suspicion of each other and other such “negatives” that threaten our corporate existence now and build a future where tribal and religious sentiments do not have a place. Right now everything looks uncertain what with the political crises here and there; the insecurity occasioned by the activities of Boko Haram, kidnappers, armed robbers etc and the careless utterances of some Nigerians, whose only interests lie in self and not the common good but I make bold to say that despite these dark times in our country’s history, the solution lies not in thinking break-up but build up! Mr. Fani-Kayode posed some salient questions and I’ll try to provide responses as best as I can without prejudice to contrary opinion. “Is our union working?” he asked, sadly the straight forward response that comes to mind is no. It is not working but neither is it grounded. We have come a long way and by 2014, we would have spent 100 years in what some have termed a “forced” marriage.However, we would be deceiving ourselves if we say during this period we have not achieved a measure of success; now, even that is subjective, depending on what you term “success.” Within the last century, we have seen other big countries split into two or more smaller units but somehow, we have managed to stay together albeit grudgingly. Why is that so? Why haven’t we gone our separate ways like others? The answer is simple and you are free to disagree but I think it boils down to FEAR! The same fear that those in Egypt, Syria, Tunisia, Libya and others have been able to conquer, is what is still holding this country together. Of course, there are other factors but most are scared of an uncertain future outside of Nigeria. Will an Oduduwa Republic guarantee the average Yoruba man a better life? Will a Republic of Biafra lead to the much desired industrialization and technological advancement of the Igbo race? Will an Arewa Republic change the socio-economic and educational backwardness of the average northerner? Will an Ijaw Republic transform the environmentally degraded Niger Delta to a Dubai or UAE for example? And what about the Middle-Belt and other such ethnic minorities that don’t even know where they will fit in if the “break-up” ever happens. Who wants to be saddled with the burden of an uncertain future outside what Nigeria offers? We might not be getting the best service available out there but is it not better we spend our time and energy thinking and formulating strategies on how to build up our country to the standard we want her to be rather than dissipating same on an uncertain venture? I sound like a coward, right? Like someone who will never take risks or venture into new territories? Maybe, but that is because I know that rather than waste energy cutting down the only tree I’ve got because it has not bore me fruits yet to make firewood to keep my bedroom warm or boil water, ............TO BE CONTINUE
Posted on: Tue, 17 Sep 2013 08:58:37 +0000
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