appreciate this fact may require a dose of creative thinking.
Nigeria's stubborn thorn in the flesh is its adamant repudiation of
the self-evident concept of the changelessness of change, upon which
sits a crippling unwillingness to engage that same constancy of
change. There are two random but famous declarations – one little
remembered today, the other something of a mantra – that neatly wrap
up the national antiparty to inexorable change and its management.
On January 15, 1970, there was a ceremony at Dodan Barracks, Lagos,
the then seat of political power. Biafran acting Head of State,
General Philip Effiong, Colonel David Ogunewe, Colonel Patrick
Anwunah, Colonel Patrick Amadi and Police Commissioner Patrick Okeke
had gone to submit Biafra's document of surrender, which officially
marked the end of the civil war. "The so-called rising sun of Biafra
has set forever," declared Head of State General Yakubu Gowon, on that
occasion.
In the leaps and dips of Nigeria's turbulence, it is common to hear
politicians of varying persuasions declaring, as a way of "helping" to
stabilise the listing ship of state, that "Nigeria's unity is not
negotiable."
Between Gowon's presumption of Biafra's finality, which rode on the
crest of triumphalism and was hailed as prescient by many, including
Gowon's biographer Professor Isawa Elaigwu, and the incessantly voiced
exclusion of terms on Nigeria's oneness, lies the country's
problematic.
General Gowon is alive and bouncing.
Were he to honestly comment on his 45-year old declaration today, he
would readily admit to not having thoroughly considered all sides of
everything. For it is clearly outside the bounds of political
authority to decree the irreversible amputation of human predilection
and proclivity.
The current hoopla around Biafra lends credence to the assertion.
Now, there is something baffling in the oft-repeated statement on
Nigeria's unity not being negotiable. The statement does not mean that
Nigeria's unity is a fait accompli. It simply insists on a spiteful
denunciation of any thought of mapping out a sustainable road on which
the assumed or anticipated national unity must travel, free from
iniquity and cataclysms; a method for mastering the imperatives of
national unity which is, anywhere in the world, a particularly
daunting proposition. It is because Nigeria has kept its back
obdurately turned to change that even the littlest molehill on its
uncharted road invariably becomes a precipitous mountain.
Why is Nigeria incapable of learning from history? When Biafra came in
1967, it was way ahead of its time. Since January 15, 1970, the
world's political map has continued to be redrawn. Emperor Haile
Selassie would have started, and branded any dream in which Eritrea
was mentioned a nightmare. Eritrea gained international recognition as
an independent state in 1993.
South Sudan was only a fictional construct in 1970; it became an
independent nation in 2011. Bangladesh was non-existent in 1970; it
declared its independence from Pakistan a year later.
The Soviet Union dissolved into 12 independent states in 1991. By
1992 Yugoslavia had fractured into about seven independent countries.
On January 1, 1993, Czechoslovakia split into Czech and Slovak
Republics. Scotland held an Independence referendum early this year
that failed.
There is a powerful Catalan movement pushing secession from Spain.
Separatist tendencies are not on the wane in Cabinda.
What to bear in mind is that most of the secessions or agitations for
secession in the world are along ethnic lines. For an ethnically
composite country like Nigeria, the way to avoid potential split props
is not by precluding discussion on contentious issues, and it is not
by expeditionary repression of peaceful dissent. After all, dissent is
not and should never be construed as a crime in a democracy.
Why is Nigeria incapable of learning from history? When Biafra came in
1967, it was way ahead of its time. Since January 15, 1970, the
world's political map has continued to be redrawn. Emperor Haile
Selassie would have started, and branded any dream in which Eritrea
was mentioned a nightmare. Eritrea gained international recognition as
an independent state in 1993. South Sudan was only a fictional
construct in 1970; it became an independent nation in 2011. Bangladesh
was non-existent in 1970; it declared its independence from Pakistan a
year later. The Soviet Union dissolved into 12 independent states in
1991. By 1992 Yugoslavia had fractured into about seven independent
countries. On January 1, 1993, Czechoslovakia split into Czech and
Slovak Republics. Scotland held an Independence referendum early this
year that failed. There is a powerful Catalan movement pushing
secession from Spain. Separatist tendencies are not on the wane in
Cabinda.
What to bear in mind is that most of the secessions or agitations for
secession in the world are along ethnic lines. For an ethnically
composite country like Nigeria, the way to avoid potential split props
is not by precluding discussion on contentious issues, and it is not
by expeditionary repression of peaceful dissent. After all, dissent is
not and should never be construed as a crime in a democracy. A country
of disparate peoples can only be held together in peace and harmony by
the glues of visionary leadership indexed on tried and tested
political structures of equity, fairness, justice, innovation and
practicality. This cannot be said of Nigeria.
Look at neighbouring Ghana, which, like Nigeria, is multi-ethnic. Who
ever heard of secessionist agitation in that country? Here is a point
made in a June 28, 2012 Memorandum submitted to the House of
Representatives Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution by
the Ohanaeze Ndigbo: "In our socio-political and economic intercourse
all groups (big or small) must be allowed free-play and equitable
access to our country's resources and strategic political command
posts, including particularly the presidency. Sustained imbalance in
sharing responsibilities and the 'national cake' could conceivably
induce in those units aggrieved a rethink of the value to them of our
much vaunted national unity."
One possible way of checking skepticism on Nigerian unity is the
implementation of the report of last year's National Conference.
Unfortunately
, chameleons, who throughout their dubious political careers had
hoisted the National Conference placard, turned up on the eve of the
last presidential ballot to execrate the idea.
Chuks Iloegbunam
-Vanguard
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