Many people have been
calling for the disintegration of Nigeria.
“Nigeria should split”, “we are tired, Nigeria should be
disintegrated”, these were some of the comments made by Nigerians on nairaland.
The question that keeps popping up in my mind is, on what basis do they want
the split of a country that was created over 90 years ago?
A group of US military experts said Nigeria would be disintegrated and its collapse would be directly connected to corruption, tribalism, ethnocentrism and political crises
Some political leaders said
that the 1914 amalgamation was a mistake and Nigeria cannot last. They also mentioned
the fact that Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sudan corrected that mistake by
separating.
Must we follow their examples if it worked for them?
One major factor to their success was due to the fact that
the people shared a common identity, a common principle and objective. This
factor can be attributed to their levels of efficiency, society and economic
prowess.
Is the 1914 amalgamation responsible for the lack of infrastructures for the development of the youths? We have over 20 million youths without jobs and this has lead to increase in crime rate in the country. Is 1914 also responsible for the insecurities in Nigeria? Many innocent lives have been lost as a result of the activities of insurgencies especially in the northern part of the country while section leaders watches and creates the impression that Nigeria can go to hell.
We celebrate democracy in Nigeria, what laws have been passed
since 1999 that resulted in improvement in the lives of Nigerians?
Nigeria has retarded in13 years of unprecedented receipts
from oil and gas sales with governments that only promise to make the country
better.
Is 1914 responsible for our leaders going abroad for medical
care? Government hospitals are unable to provide basic health services, even
the leaders do not trust the health services they provide for the people.
The security and welfare of the people should be the primary
purpose of the government. When will Nigeria provide electricity for its
people? Nigeria is a nation blessed with fertile land and resources, yet we cannot
feed the nation. 8 billion is spent daily on importing rice and wheat into the
country.
Will our leaders ever
send their children to public schools they have made available to the masses? Will
our leaders ever contemplate patronizing Nigeria’s public transport system?
The problem is our leaders and not Nigeria.
Most of the calls for disintegration of Nigeria are routed
in frustration at the loss of relevance in the power calculations.
The disintegration of Nigeria would bring nothing other than war. If you don’t agree with me, ask those that were alive during the civil war which has lead to the shaky foundation upon which the entity called Nigeria stands today.
1914 amalgamation was and will never be a mistake.
If it is difficult for these leaders to manage Nigeria as it
is , what would be the case when the so called ‘disintegration’ come into
place?
