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| President Muhammadu Buhari |
The cacophonous voices are
deafening. May be, even the deaf can hear the outrage. The blind, perhaps,
can see the carnage. Nigeria is bleeding on all sides, from the Boko
Haram-ravaged North-East and poverty-stricken North-West to the bleeding fields
of North-Central, allegedly by Fulani herdsmen, as well as militancy in the
South-South, kidnappings in South-East and ritual killings in the South-West.
The orgy of violence and
blood-letting is unprecedented even as deprivation is petrifying. Rev. Fr Ejike Mbaka, a well-known
Catholic captured it succinctly in an emotive sermon recently. “Hunger is
everywhere,” he said. He was not wrong. The current plight of most citizens is
horrendous, even as the situation is worse for many Nigerian patients and
students stranded abroad due to naira depreciation and epileptic financial
policies of the government and the regulatory authorities such as the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The destitution across society has
reached exponential levels, requiring serious rescue strategies But little has
come. The reason is simple. The convoluted structure of the configuration
called Nigeria makes it possible for leaders to transform into rulers, for the
vile to become nobles, for the inert to become the stupendous rich, and
unlearned to railroad into the highest seats of power. These years of
mindless enthronement of systemic incongruities in the polity have given rise
to a fractured and sick country called Nigeria.
The nation has been stifled
by roguish rulers operating as military despots or democratic demagogues,
entrenched widespread corruption, favouritism, nepotism, tribalism and
religious extremism as well as abject poverty across the polity. Indeed, the
outcry in the land without doubt is a result of mind-boggling diversion of
public funds by these corrupt leaders particularly military dictators,
politicians and their acolytes.
Sadly, the current
administration at various levels is no different from these of the past, as most
of the key players today are the same old and recycled past military
oligarchs, convoluted politicians, tainted contractors and unsaintly top civil
servants.
Corruption, as it were, has
virtually wrecked the nation’s public sector and has eroded meritocracy
and the ideals of the founding fathers after independence. The level of
infrastructural decay and poverty across the country is unprecedented, with the
epicenter in many northern states. This is rather unfortunate, as the northern
region has produced the highest number of rulers and military dictators,
since independence.
This has resulted in the
increasing clamour for restructuring of the country. Nigeria is not working,
because its present structure is weak and convoluted. It has never really worked.
It will be foolhardy to expect it to work. Every good house, the Bible says, is
built on a strong foundation. Hence, Nigeria needs to revisit its foundation in
order to overcome the raging storms.
Perhaps, if there was
justice across board, the country may have thrived. The current spate of
killings over resources, skewed federal character, religious extremism in
the north, tribalism and ethnic tensions, have more than anything else waned
the fragile unity that may have existed. For whatever reasons, this woeful
tide should end, many insist.
The present regime keeps
chanting the mantra of ‘One Nigeria; claiming that Nigeria is
indivisible, while ignoring the obvious. This position is laughable, as the
Nigerian union was contracted in 1914 by the British colonialists for
administrative convenience, but with a caveat for dissolution, after 100 years
if the constituent parts so wished.
The clamour to restructure
the country has intensified with political leaders and notable Nigerians
leading the campaign. The list includes former Vice-President, Dr Alex Ekwueme, former
Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Chief
Emeka Anyaoku, former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Rt.
Rev. Emmanuel Gbonigi (rtd), Gen
Alani Akinriade (retd), Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Bishop Mike Okonkwo and Dr.
Chukwuemeka Ezeife, among others. Others include Senator Femi Okunronmu, Chief Albert Horsefall, Pastor Tunde Bakare,
National Secretary of Afenifere, Yinka
Odumakin and President, Ohaneze Youth Council, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro.
The President and his
advisers will do well to listen to these calls as well as cries of the people
before it is too late. It is often said that the voice of the people is the
voice of God, thus as the eternal creator, he has the absolute authority to
redefine any nation and its people.
The collapse of the Russian
empire was inevitable. Same for Sudan. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh
used to be one country but are now independent nations. Ethiopia and Eritria
separated after a bloody war. Nigeria’s leaders must spare the citizens endless
ethnic struggles and renegotiate its existence and structure.
A
major fallout of the recent exit of Britain (Brexit) from the European Union
(EU) is a renewed clamour for Scottish independence, which according to pundits,
may possibly lead to the eventual break-up of the United Kingdom (UK). It
is a truism that cowards fear change, while the brave embrace it. This is
an irrefutable fact of man’s dynamism, existentialism and mortality. (Sun)
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