The silver anniversary of Egbe Omo Yoruba, North America comes with a mixed feeling. On one hand, it is a great pleasure to be alive to see the tiny seed become a giant tree. On the other hand, it is frustrating that the challenges it confronted 25 years ago are still alive and well.
The need to, in collaboration with other pro-democracy organizations, confront military dictatorship gone berserk following the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election, led to the formation of a pan-Yoruba organization in 1994. Thanks to the resilience of members who gave all they had, that battle was won. Five years after, the military retreated in disgrace.
One of the memorable moments of the organization was the 1997 convention in Houston, Texas when Chief Anthony Enahoro gave an inspiring keynote address. That speech, which zeroed in on the challenge of our quasi-unitary federal system and the responsibility of the Yoruba nation as a major federating unit, was a clarion call to action, and it continues to resonate in Nigeria’s current wobbly existence.
Titled “Nigerian Federalism in the 21st Century”, Chief Enahoro’s address challenged our sense of history and nudged us to understand and be proud of our place in it as a people. Underscoring the reality of different nations with “their separate identities, histories, languages, religions, cultures and stages of civilization”, Baba decried how European nations “created, contrived or arranged” African countries just to serve their own interests. Unfortunately, those African countries subsequently endorsed the arbitrary boundaries and built their nationalist struggles on those boundaries, thus destroying “indigenous languages, political cultures and national identities, which in some cases, had existed and flourished for a thousand years or more.”
Still, however, the founding fathers of Nigeria took up the challenge posed by those peculiarities of a multinational state. They created a workable federal system that sought to protect languages, cultures and identities as much as possible. But in their zeal for uniformity, the military rubbished that arrangement and created a big mess.
Enahoro therefore challenged us to “resume and pursue the federating postulations of our founding fathers to their logical conclusion, and by so doing, liberate ourselves finally from the bondage of European colonization.” In particular, the elder statesman warned his Yoruba audience that failure to pursue the goal of genuine federation means that the Yoruba as a people could face disintegration if the path of a unitarian political system was not resisted.
In the course of the years since that convention, the Egbe has had many other inspiring speeches from prominent Yoruba leaders, including, among others, listed here from oldest to youngest, Baba Abraham Adesanya, Chief Bola Ige, Chief Olu Falae, Chief Bisi Akande, General Ipoola Akinrinade, Chief C. O. Adebayo, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Gov. Rauf Aregbesola, and others. They all echoed the same message focusing on true and fiscal federalism as panacea for Nigerian stability and progress.
The question then arises, why have we not followed up our thoughts and words with action? In 2005, the Obasanjo administration organized a constitutional conference on political reform. Yoruba activists, organizations, intelligentsia, and retired generals held series of meetings to present a unified Yoruba position at the conference. Titled Yoruba Agenda, it was coordinated with the Southwest governors and their aides. But at the eleventh hour, five PDP governors bowed up, insisting that as zonal political leaders, they had to prepare the Yoruba position.
Many believed then that it was a script from the highest Yoruba office holder. It didn’t matter. What mattered was that the exercise suffered terribly from partisan bickering. The ruling party was wary of the opposition’s strategy. It was a lost opportunity to join other zones which also craved a reformed federation. History repeated itself in 2014, this time, the opposition was cynical about the politics of the ruling party’s last-minute change of mind about a national conference. Fast forward to 2019, it is General Obasanjo that is calling for another national summit. And the beat of politicking goes on.
Yet there are inescapable realities that every group and the country at large must face squarely if the prediction of a failed state must be reversed. Why is this important? In Failed State 2030: Nigeria- A Case Study, a 2011 Occasional Paper No. 67 by Colonel Christopher Kinnan and others of Air War College, USA, the authors noted that in a 2007 Failed State Index, “with the largest population in Africa and a top-20 economy, (Nigeria) was ranked 17th most likely to fail” on a list of 148 countries. It is a dire assessment of the state of the nation. But there are more notable points in the study.
First, the factors that the authors identify as conducive to state failure include “an uneven economic and social development; a failure to address group grievances; and a perceived lack of government legitimacy.” All three are unfortunately as Nigerian as our national anthem.
Second, in 2011, the study notes that “the youth bulge in Nigeria may swap roles from productive laborers to disaffected rebels in the next two decades.” In 2019, we are already witnessing widespread banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery, and cultism by rebellious youths.
Third, the authors suggest that a state that fails may require up to 56 years to recover, or it may never recover.
Fourth, a failed state is a threat to the survival and prosperity of ethnic-nationalities. Therefore, when a multinational state like Nigeria fails, even the quest of ethnic-nationalities for independence may not be realized. So much then for the drumbeats of war and our passion for ending it all so we could go our separate ways.
What does this all mean for our present heightened political rhetoric? First, another civil war is not an option simply because it will not end well for any zone. 2019 is not 1967. To borrow an analogy from the study authors, our china plate is so full of many cracks now that allowing it to drop on a hard floor will lead to many broken pieces. Neither the north nor the south is monolithic.
Second, then, acknowledging this fact of our condition requires us to tone down the rhetoric and develop mutual respect for our differences, whether political, economic, religious, ethnic or linguistic. Developing mutual respect means not seeking an undue advantage over others or exploiting our positions of authority over them.
Third, security is the most important function of any government. But, in our present inadequate constitutional arrangement, the federal government has an overall responsibility for the security of the nation since it controls the police and the military. Without state and local police, which are more effective in the management of security, the center must either beef up the number and effectiveness of the national police and military or be prepared for incessant complaints on insecurity.
Fourth, as I observed a few weeks ago, we must separate the crisis of farmer-herder conflicts from the general insecurity across the country. The former needs well thought-out policy that does not alienate groups and communities or pit them against one another. States, which have control over land, must be the loci of any policy formulation and implementation. Already, some states in the South, Ogun, for example, have vowed to create ranches.
Fifth, however, even if we succeed in resolving the farmer-herder conflicts, it will not solve all our security challenges. Kidnapping, armed-robbery, and cultism have always been with us. If Fulani herdsmen were to relocate completely to Sambisa forest, kidnapping for ransom, armed robbery and cultism will not go away in the South.
Sixth, we will have violent crimes unless we take care of our youth bulge. Functional education that prioritizes employability and entrepreneurship are essential to any successful management of our energetic population. The federal government must lead the effort in the mobilization of every tier of government towards a future that falsifies the prediction of state failure.
As members converge on Baton Rouge, Louisiana this weekend for the Egbe’s silver anniversary, I congratulate President Durojaiye Akindutire, his executive, and members. I pray that the next 25 years are more glorious than the preceding. Ase Olodumare!
