Nigeria 2019: Why I Have Given Up On Nigeria -By Azuka Onwuka

Before the elections, I made it clear that the 2019 election would be the last chance I would give Nigeria to get its act together. With the way the election went, I have stopped bothering about Nigeria.

I became fairly politically conscious when I was about 16 years old. That was when I began to read books about Nigeria and began to read magazines on Nigerian issues. I saw and understood the challenges facing Nigeria and began to pray and hope that Nigeria would be better and be the pride of Africa and the Black race. My hope was not based on some clear signs of progress or the conviction that Nigeria was taking the right steps, even if slowly. It was merely based on patriotism and positive thinking/sentiments of wishing my fatherland the best.

I watched great Nigerians like Chief Gani Fawehinmi (my greatest Nigerian ever), Prof Chinua Achebe, Dr Tai Solarin, Dr Beko Ransome-Kuti, Mallam Aminu Kano, etc, work to make Nigeria great or write about how Nigeria could be great. They did all that, but unfortunately they died without seeing the Nigeria of their dream.

But after about 33 years of praying and hoping, I have seen that it is pointless hoping that Nigeria will move away from its current path of self-destruction into the path of rationality, common sense, productivity and growth.

I will no longer debate or argue with anybody about Nigeria, Buhari, APC, PDP, etc. If I decide to write on Nigeria, it is no longer with any conviction that Nigeria is getting better. I will do so just to point something out.

I will be more concerned about what happens in Igboland (my ethnic group), Anambra (my state of origin), Nnewi (my hometown), and Lagos (my state of residence). These four areas are making clear signs of progress unlike Nigeria which is moving backwards and not making any concrete plans to reverse the retrogression.

I believe that Nigeria has two options before it:

1. Total and genuine restructuring that will free the states, save them from laziness and make them competitive and innovative and productive.
2. Peaceful dissolution to make the different peoples build their respective countries and pursue their dreams without any encumbrances, just like European countries were partitioned into people of similar or identical values, making Europe the most peaceful and progressive continent in the world.

But I know that Nigeria will never genuinely restructure because of the baseless fears that have been sold to some Nigerians about restructuring and how it will not favour their zones. I also know that Nigeria will not peacefully dissolve, because of fears and the wrong assumption that God created Nigeria to be one.

And because Nigeria is populated by peoples with opposing and conflicting values and dreams, sadly it will continue to shed the blood of the innocent as it has done for decades, and continue to wobble and fumble down the slope as it has been doing even before I was born.

Going forward, I will fold my arms and watch Nigeria unfold. Nothing will shock me anymore, neither will I be worried when things don’t go right as they usually do.

I wish Nigeria the best of luck.