The
way the immediate past President Goodluck Jonathan saved Nigeria from a
predicted implosion in the wake of the announcement of the results of 2015
general elections, is the way the Buhari-Osinbajo administration should save
Nigeria now from threats of imminent disintegration. There is no need
pretending that all is well when, from all indications, the country is under
threat.
The
fact that Nigeria survived much turbulence in the past is no guarantee that it
will always survive. Things have changed. The Nigeria of the 50s, 60s, 70s and
80s is not the Nigeria of today. There is much enlightenment and information
flow now is a matter of pressing button.
Jonathan
did not hold unto the stereotyped belief that no incumbent president in Nigeria
had lost election. Nothing is absolute. If Jonathan held arrogantly to that
false belief as he was being prompted to, perhaps, by now, we would be talking
a different story.
Although,
Jonathan knew that he had the federal might – the military and their arsenal,
police and other arms of security with which to confront any uprising if he had
been declared winner of that election, he put the survival of the country first.
He toed the path of wisdom to the chagrin of the world. There has to be Nigeria
before anyone could talk of governance.
By
holding unto his own personal conviction, which made him declare that he would
not want any person’s blood to be shed because of him, he made history in
Nigeria and, indeed, Africa by whole-heartedly accepting to relinquish power,
which saved the country. May it be well with Goodluck Jonathan for that
singular act.
The
turn of events at present is worrisome. Since the coalition of Arewa youths
issued ultimatum to the Igbo resident in the North to leave the North or be
forced out from October 1, 2017, tension has risen in the ceaseless ethnic
consciousness and agitations that bedevil Nigeria.
Regrettably,
the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) did not hide their support for the anti-Igbo
quit notice. Prominent northern leaders like Professor Ango Abdullahi and
Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, openly backed the youths. But these are the same
elders that were expected to call the youths to order and save the country.
The
only thing comparable to these eruptions was the days preceding the pogrom in
which the Igbo and other Easterners in the North in 1967 were massacred, which
led to the Nigeria civil war. The crux of the Arewa declaration is that with
effect from October 1, 2017, the North will cease to be part of Nigeria union
with the Igbo. In effect, the North has announced its cessation from Nigeria
beforehand.
Expectedly,
the leaders of the Biafra separatist groups under the Indigenous Peoples of
Biafra (IPOB) readily welcomed the declaration as oil that would lubricate the
wheel of their march towards Biafra. IPOB called on all Igbo in the North to
return en masse without wasting time.
Reports
say a coalition of Niger Delta militant groups, in a sharp reaction, rose from
a meeting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State ordering all northerners to quit the
oil-rich region. The militants threatened to attack all oil wells owned by
northerners in the Niger Delta before October 1, 2017.
The
Afenifere of the South-West zone, which appeared to be the only reconciliatory
group, so far, that has not adopted a combative stance, condemned the quit
notice. It went ahead to hold an emergency parley with leaders of the
South-East and South-South, threatening that any attack on the Igbo would be
deemed as an attack on the entire Southern Nigeria.
The
Afenifere described the action of Arewa youths as tragic and called on the
northern elders to call the youths to order. Unfortunately, the posturing of
the same elders has been anything but pacifist.
From
the foregoing, it is obvious that the stage is set for Nigeria’s implosion
except government takes immediate action to prevent it. The responsibility
rests squarely with the Federal Government. The Federal Government should do
something urgent to save Nigeria from disintegration.
Whatever
action government decides to take must be measured to ensure that it will help
to douse the tension rather than escalate it.
Some
people want government to arrest those behind the threats. While this may be in
order, legally, the question is will the arrest of these people help to solve
the problem? Government should not make the same mistake it made in arresting
Nnamdi Kanu of IPOB, which, instead of suppressing the Biafra agitation
popularized it and made Nnamdi Kanu a celebrity.
Few
Nigerians know those behind the Kaduna declaration. I can bet that arresting
them will create another set of celebrities in the North and then worsen the
anti-Igbo sentiment in the north. Besides, there are also agitators in the
South-East and South-South. Who do you arrest and leave the other? Where are
the prisons to keep them? What about the poor legal system that crawls like
snail and also corrupt?
Rather
than arrest anybody, government should act strategically. Government should
invite leaders of the agitators to a round table discussion. Another word for
agitation is disturbance. Something is disturbing something somewhere. The
disturbance is everywhere. What is this? This is what government has the duty
to find out. It will be dangerous for government to refuse to act.
The
prediction that Nigeria was to disintegrate in 2015, though, unfulfilled, to
me, remains prophesy. While the source of this prophesy could be questionable
and not acceptable to many, it should not be ignored or swept under the carpet.
The prophesy could be averted as President Jonathan did in 2015 but the right
conditions must be instituted to perpetually neutralize it. But Prophesies have
time element. The time is open-ended. It may take quite some time for a prophecy
to be accomplished.
Source: guardian.ng
