If you happen to be one of those who disagree with the statement credited to the latePremier of Western Nigeria, Obafemi Awolowo, that Nigeria is a mere geographical expression, then you might need to examine the voting pattern in the April 16, 2011 presidential election. It was all too obviousthe North voted for a northerner while the south voted for a southerner (with Osun State as the exemplary exception). The pattern affirmed our fears that five decades on, Nigeria is still as far from being a cohesive unit as she has ever been. But why Why should the North or South still believe she must promote regional interest to the detriment of the whole Fifty years down the line, why We must ask whyI do not presume that I have sufficient knowledge to give answers to the question posed earlier but going back to my history books, I realise that mutual suspicion among regions, tribal chauvinism, and nepotism in Nigeria are even older than the nation herself. History has it that when the late Tony Enahoro moved the motion for Nigerias independence from British colonial rule, the motion was vigorously opposed by the northern caucus of the parliament. They were jeered and booed by many for being such a slavish lot. But, in all honesty, I do not feel they resisted out of any unflinching loyalty to the British, rather, it must have been a suspicion cum distrust of their compatriots that left them with little choice.The military intervention of January 1966, led by Major Emeka Nzeogu, took this much-mouthed distrust to another level. The North, perceiving that her spiritual and political leaders were murdered in that coup, while certain key southern political players in the very same first republic that was overthrown by the conspirators, were spared, launched a counter-coup six months later.Beyond that, there were well-planned pogrom of Ibos across the North. Do I need state that the reprisals and civil war that followed set the pace for todays house of malignant intrigues that Nigeria isEver since, the white centre of her flag which should have stood for peace, have been repeatedly smeared with the blood of her citizens in spontaneous and bitter inter-tribal massacres.This bloody history has continued to accentuate the mutual distrust, suspicion, hypocrisy, and wickedness of the Nigerian peoples. So often have I heard, gambari lo ba Nigeria je, or fingers pointed at the sanctimonious Yorubas from other tribes.Yet, the truth is that, virtually every tribe has a representative in the political bacchanal that has made Nigeria the wreck she is today. Rather than come together with hammers and nails to build a communal table from which all and sundry would flourish, we came with daggers and sabers to intimidate others in a bid to cart away the lion share of the communal feast. We have been a bad people to a resourceful motherland that bequeathed so much to us.Instead of making an all-embracing mother out of Nigeria, we have made her bear the ill fate of a fat host who must be sucked to death by our legendary avarice. Haa! O se!We have degenerated from being ethnic chauvinists in time past to being highly individualistic rogues. We all are looking for where to plug our purulent haustoria on the hapless host. Only a negligible few are thinking of rescuing Nigeria from the scourge of Nigerians.The just-concluded general election revealed the institutionalisation of tribalism in Nigerian politics. Let him do it, he is our son. It is our turn. Let him loot as he pleases; he belongs to us. He is a shon of the shoil. Power has been zoned to us. No it was to us. Even in my little Ogun State, it was all fuss over whose turn it isEgba against Awori, Yewa against Remo etc. If anything, our unchecked existence as a nation has left us more divided than we were at independence. So bad is it that even breaking up is not likely to solve any problem.In all this, one thing is all too obvious; this politics of zoning and division is beneficial only to the ruling class. It appears to me that they have succeeded in shielding this truth from the electorate who are always their willing instruments in ethnic politics. Of what benefit is the Obasanjo presidency to his neighbours in Totoro or Ota, let alone the Egbas, or Yorubas at large Would we not rather vote for a sincere and visionary Ibibio, Tiv, or Hausa, in place of a kinsman whose antecedent proves beyond doubt that he is just another domineering rogue We need to really sit down and make some stern reflections as individuals and as a people.It is time we faced the reality on ground. We need to look at the way we have fought ourselves like bitter foes, and each fellow ask the next man, fellow Nigerian, are we really brothers What and what has made it impossible for us to live in harmony and mutual trust What can we do What shall be the terms of our co-existenceThe major undoing we have as a people is hypocrisy. We have reached the point where, sitting at a round-table, the Hausa should tell the Yoruba that he does not trust him because he is too ambitious; the Yoruba should frankly reply that he is not comfortable with the Hausas love of power and mass illiteracy. Let the Ibo come out and tell us how exactly he feels. The man from the Delta should tell us that he is not happy with the way we have been parasiting on her resources. The Ibibio, Tiv, Junkun, and Ijaw men should bare their minds, with utmost sincerity, too. Then we can start to discuss how we can co-exist as a people, such that we can come up with a constitution that is truly Nigerian, and not the time-bomb that we have todayThe truth be told, Nigeria, as she is today, is not a viable nation. Only Nigerians can change her fortune.Sowemimo, a medical doctor, wrote in from LUTH, Lagos
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