Nigeria: What does the future hold?

SIR: Inter-communal clashes, bloody sectarian violence, Boko Haram insurgency, and herders-farmers clashes have weakened Nigeria’s unity and put her at an equidistant between war and peace. In fact, Nigeria totters towards the precipice given the fact that rabble rousers, ethnic chauvinists and champions, and religious bigots are mouthing inciting, divisive, and incendiary rhetoric.

So, now, nobody can gainsay the fact that Nigeria’s problem of disunity has been impeding our collective efforts to achieve rapid economic and technological advancement. However, our ethnic and religious squabbles predate Nigeria’s attainment of political freedom in 1960. For example, then, in the first republic, the major political parties, namely Action group (AG), National Council of Nigeria and Cameroons (NCNC), and the Northern People’s Congress (NPC) were formed along ethnic and religious lines. The egregious doings of the founders and leaders of those political parties deepened our ethnic and religious fault lines instead of fostering peace and unity in Nigeria.

In order to curb our problem of disunity, allay the fears of the minority ethnic groups, who felt that they were being dominated, and bring the government near to the people at the grassroots, the country adopted the federal system of government. But Nigeria’s practice of federalism is a grotesque travesty and caricature of true federalism. Our country is federal in name but not so in practice.

Nigeria is in this precarious and dire condition because it has been led over the years by political leaders-who lacked a sense of probity, vision, ideologies, and fealty. And they profited immensely from our dysfunctional systems of doing things. The profligate, visionless, and directionless leaderships of Nigeria caused the ruination of our economy and our technological stagnation.

Besides Nigeria’s intractable problem of disunity is the issue of corruption, which has bedeviled our dear country for a long time. The January 15, 1966 coup plotters cited corruption as one of their reasons for toppling the government of Alhaji Tafawa Balewa. Fifty four years after the execution of that bloody coup, corruption is still the cankerworm destroying the fabrics of our society, and hindering our national development.

This current APC-led government coasted to victory on the coat tails of its campaign mantra of change in 2015, and its vow to stamp out corruption in Nigeria. But has it effectively tackled the monster and menace of corruption in Nigeria?

It is sad that corruption like cancer has become malignant in Nigeria with its dire consequences. A country weakened by the corrupt deeds of her leaders at different governmental strata cannot leapfrog to the acme of technological and economic development.

The wobbling fumbling APC- led government, which cannot combat financial crimes in Nigeria, has failed abysmally in diverse areas to re-make Nigeria and take her to a great economic and technological height. That’s why millions of Nigerians have become disillusioned and disenchanted with this government.

At this juncture of our chequered national life, the continued existence of Nigeria as one country is dependent on its restructuring and our leaders’ practice of true federalism. Restructuring Nigeria will tackle and solve the issues of Nigeria’s internal contradictions and marginalization.

No country that is being ravaged by corruption can become great. Besides using agencies like EFCC and ICPC to fight corruption in Nigeria, effecting moral regeneration among Nigerians has become an urgent desideratum. A person with probity, positive morality code, and active restrictive mechanism cannot contemplate carrying out evil deeds, not to talk of him or her executing those deeds.

• Chiedu Uche Okoye, Uruowulu-Obosi, Anambra State.