Opinion: Will Division Save Nigeria?
By Pius Abioje
Why are some people talking about the possibility of Nigeria's division? Agreed that the country is not working, and it is indeed disintegrating. But, as the Yoruba say, Mo ko o l'apejuwe (I met him requires an explanation, regarding how or where you met him). It is true that the Boko Haram started wahala (trouble) in 2009, but can we compare the Boko Haram of 2009 with the Jonathan-era Boko Haram? Is it not true that the crafted emergence of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, as Nigeria's President, has compounded Nigeria's problem?
We should stop blaming the British government for amalgamating us into a nation in 1914. We should rather be grateful to God, because whatever is lacking in the south, we get it in the north, vice versa. We should also be grateful to our nationalists who did not oppose the Amalgamation as a matter of life and death.
Why should we be looking at countries like Yugoslavia, the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia that have broken-up so catastrophically? Why can't we focus on countries that are managing their heterogeneity successfully? China and India have had, and are still having their own troubles, but they are relatively stable and stronger, and Nigeria is less than one tenth of the population of each of them. Nigeria's population is much less than that of USA which is still looking for immigrants.
I would insist that our problem is leadership, not national sovereign conference. Indeed the call for national conference is becoming nauseating. I praise the National Assembly for offering to give us a good constitution that will address sensitive areas. Their sincerity and sense of urgency are extremely crucial. If they don't address rotational presidency and equitable electoral system, they have failed; if they delay implementation till we conduct the 2015 general elections, they are deceivers, because justice delayed is justice denied.
The Jonathan group has railroaded too many Nigerians into viewing Boko Haram as the driver of Nigeria's terrorism. I feel Boko Haram may end up being Nigeria's Liberator, because whoever will truncate political order in Nigeria will regret doing so. America is sustained by order; with order, no section of Nigeria will be marginalised. Establish political order and an electoral system whose umpires are not chosen by a partisan President and his/her party.
Pius Abioje, University of Ilorin.
Cloud Tag: What's trending
Click on a word/phrase to read more about it.
Kwara State Government New Naira Notes Ahmad Lawan Rotimi Atere Osuwa Emir Of Ilorin John Kehinde Salako N-Power REO CAKES Clara Nwachukwu Yahaya Dumoye Www.Kwarareports.com Khairat Gwadabe Olaitan Buraimoh Ayoade Akinnibosun 11th Galadima Bayo Onimago Code Of Conduct Imam Gambari Mohammed Khadijat Kubura College Of Arabic And Islamic Legal Studies Alabi Olayemi Abdulrazak Adekunle David Dunmade Turaki Arinola Lawal Jawondo Ibrahim Abdullahi Ojuekun Sarumi Neo Mundo Ltd March 18 Alumni Association Of The Federal Polytechnic Offa Oyawoye Aiyedun Tsaragi-Share Oro Grammar School Old Students Association Yoruba Durbar Festival Jumoke Monsura Gafar Yusuf Lawal Women For Change And Development Initiative Olatunji Ibrahim Freshvine Nigeria Limited Transition Implementation Committee Iliasu Kwara Poly SWAN Shururat Olatinwo BIR Bursary Erubu Oba Zubair Abdulraheem Yusuf Yusuf Abdulkadir Abdulwahab Oba Ben Duntoye Abubakar Aliagan National Association Of Nigerian Students Saba Mamman Daniel Ayobami Akanbi Sango-UITH Road Shehu Alimi Foundation For Peace And Development Abdulrauf Yusuf Oba Abu Mumeen Lah Bature Bello Omu-aran Coalition Of Kwara North Groups Abdulfatai Ahmed Toun Okewale-Sonaiya Playing Host Oyeyemi Olasumbo Florence Olam Food Ingredients FOMWAN Haashim Initiative For Community Advancement Yinka Aluko Academic Staff Union Of Universities Kola Bukoye Ilesha Gwanara Road