By Segun Gbadegesin
Who is really rooting for national unity? I don’t mean enforcing. And I certainly don’t mean imposing. What’s the difference?
Between 1967 and 1970, the Gowon military administration fought a civil war against secessionist Biafra. “To keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done” was the rallying battle cry. Biafra lost. But even with a compassionate “no victor, no vanquished” declaration, winning had consequences. National unity was enforced on the battle field and imposed on the country.
Half a century later, we know how that enforcement and imposition worked. Agitation for Biafra has never been louder. The nation now faces deepening disaffection across other zones and agitation for self-determination and declaration of autonomous republics in the Southsouth and Southwest.
How is it that fifty years after a devastating civil war with two million souls lost, we are still this much divided? And the political leadership, and yes, the military leadership that fought that war and supervised the nation for much of that time, have failed so woefully in forging national unity?
There have been two approaches to addressing these questions. One is the pessimist’s “what do you expect?” shoulder-shrug answer. “Have you come across a nation-state such as ours begotten by a colonial or other external imposition, ruled under a divide-and-conquer strategy, survive and prosper as one nation? If not, why do you expect a miracle in Nigeria?”
The second approach, a combination of philosophical and metaphysical-religious answer, is an attempt at addressing the rhetorical query of the first. It argues that the past is not a guaranteed evidence of the future. That the sun has risen every day in the past millennials isn’t sufficient to conclude that it will rise tomorrow. By extension, the fact that colonial imposition of nationhood on disparate entities has not succeeded anywhere, if true, isn’t sufficient for the inference that it will not succeed in any one particular case. From the failure of nation-state in former Yugoslavia, USSR, or Czechoslovakia, it doesn’t follow that it cannot succeed in Nigeria.
Following from the philosophical answer, the metaphysical-religious answer then hits us with a fait accompli. God was the reason for the British colonization of the pre-Nigeria entities. God was responsible for the amalgamation of 1914. Without God the British would not overpower 250 nationalities and force them into one nation. And what God joins together, humans must not try to put asunder. This approach, incidentally, has been favored by our political, military and religious leaders, especially in trying times.
Going by the famed religiosity of all the ethnic nationalities that people the Nigerian geographical space, the preceding approach should normally click in our consciousness. We should accept the verdict of the Almighty in our lives and trust that the One who caused it has the power to fix it. Why has it not worked that way? Is it because the human spirit tends to rebel against its creator? Or is there more to the will of God that has not been reflected in our national experience and which we earnestly seek after?
The attractiveness of God in every religious persuasion is that God, as a God of justice and fairness, abhors injustice, hates oppression, is contemptuous of discrimination, and condemns marginalization. Every Holy Book attests to this nature of God. And prophets of old who were much closer to the Divine mind and through whom the will of the Almighty was revealed from time to time, not only attested to this, they also engaged in real struggle for justice. “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream”, Prophet Amos preached.
If God requires justice of his creation, then where it is lacking, the people have a right to seek redress, and in the event that redress is denied, the struggle for separation may be justified. Thus, the elders of Israel approached King Rehoboam, begging him to lighten their burden. They rooted for unity and were reluctant to seek separation. It was when the King denied their appeal that they retreated to their separate tents.
Our leaders embrace the metaphysical-religious approach stated above. For them, Nigeria is destined to be a nation. But we have experienced crises of injustice and unfairness. We are at a breaking point of malaise. From complaints about growing insecurity, too much centralization and lopsided political structure, to marginalization in federal appointments, ethnic nationalities have raised their voices separately to high heavens. What has not happened is a national synchronization of voices on a multi-nationality, multi-religion, multi-professional basis in the search for answer and resolution.
Let me explain with an example from our recent experience. The struggle for the return of civil democracy in the depth of military abuse of political power in the 1990s was fought on many fronts. But we cannot deny that the most effective of these fronts were the national ones when various political and professional groups coalesced into formidable national groups that cut across ethnic and religious divides. In the homeland there were NADECO, UAD, CD, G34, and others. In the diaspora, there were WCFN, UDFN, NADECO-Abroad, and others.
Such national coalition of forces, made up of concerned citizens from diverse backgrounds, ensures that their agitation is taken seriously and political leaders are not paranoid about ethnic or sectarian bias against them.
Who are the stakeholders in the project of national unity and what influence do they have?
Traditional rulers surely have a stake. But they do not have a constitutional role, which they have been seeking. Besides, the national entity representing them is a government creation. What credible independence can they have to make a difference? Clerics who ought to do more by combining their voices as oracles of the divine being are only after increasing their size of followership, thus acerbating the gulf of division. Elective officials don’t always behave as if they have a huge stake in national unity. They are after winning elections and ruling, especially at the center, where the resources are. Many pay lip service to unity without lifting a finger to make it happen.
Youths certainly have a stake in what becomes of Nigeria. Unfortunately, they are handicapped and therefore ineffective, because their present itself is mired in uncertainty as the group most negatively impacted by the trajectory of the nation. Professionals have a stake in the success of project Nigeria. They are nationalistic in outlook with pan- national organizations such as NBA and NLC. They are in a strong position to do more to impact the discourse on what must be done to ensure unity and avoid another civil war.
This brings us to zonal elders. When an elder is around, a new baby is not born with a crooked head, is the Yoruba view of the role of elders in a community. And when elders are missing, then a community is not far from destruction. Elders and zonal leaders across the country have been vocal in articulating their various nationality concerns, be it on marginalization, kidnapping, farmer-herdsmen attacks, or cultism and banditry. They have held separate nationality summits where the S-word has sometimes featured.
What they have avoided thus far is to follow the example of the elders of Israel in their petition to Rehoboam. Ethnic nationalities must now mobilize their representatives from various zones, get together, and work out a proposal on the conditions for national unity for the deliberation of Mr. President, NASS, and the National Council of State.
I do not see why there can be no agreement on such conditions. Through various organizations and outlets, Northern zones have indicated that they are not against restructuring. Characteristically, Southern zones have always insisted on restructuring as basis for national progress and advancement. While frustrated groups have been vocal about secession, the major organizations across the Southern zones have focused demands on restructuring.
These Southern zonal leaders must now get out of their comfort zones, reach out to their Northern counterparts for inter-zonal meetings to resolve this perennial problem. Then we’d know who’s rooting for national unity. Otherwise, such a meeting may also determine the terms of peaceful separation. Heaven will not fall!
