Global Issues
The Future Of The Defunct Federation Of Nigeria -By J. Ezike
Lately, some notable politicians have showed support for the restructuring of Unitary Nigeria. Even wartime generals have suddenly turned “civil” in their language and appear somewhat willing to cast their blessings on the inevitable. I mean, we never had seen a time when the Nigerian military class of 1966-1999 would entertain any dialogue that would prove to be potent enough to indict the Union of Attrition or its fraudulent constitution forcefully handed over to “we the people.” Some would say that the watchmen slumbered for too long or perhaps sat with their eyes wide open and in conspiratorial silence as they bore witness to the gradual collapse of the House of Lugard. And that their patriotism which they proclaimed and continue to proclaim in their khaki uniforms and military boots, in their Agbada and Suit and with their guns and ammunitions did not only bleed the Union but also the human beings entrapped in it.
But these watchmen know one thing which most Nigerians do not know. I mean, the consequence of accepting the terms of being a Nigerian and proclaiming to be one. By such mantra they renew the contract that numbers that days on earth and positions their fates, their bloods on the queue that guarantees their inevitable slaughter. It may not happen in the hands of the Fulani Herdsmen or their sibling brothers in Boko Haram and Miyetti Allah. They may not have their deaths checked by the rifles of the soldier or the police but the land itself upon which Nigeria was founded has enough teeth and a sizable stomach to consume them all.
We have seen gory images of human beings grinded in fatal accidents on the Nigerian roads that serve as death traps. We have seen the insecurity that subjects us all as animals in abattoir. No one knows who is next in line to be slaughtered, but the possibilities are almost infinite. And some still have a sense of hope as if blinded to see and numbed to feel what Nigeria is transcending into. They seem as sheepish as ever. Little wonder their bloods bring so much excitement in that abattoir they proclaim as their home and have proven symbolic of their fates. And so they queue in line “braying” a promise of loyalty to the “butchers” whom they deem as “shepherds.” And even the gods agree that their patriotism has never been coinworthy or righteous enough to command divine intervention.
Now, as the pandemonium for self-determination takes Nigeria by storm, the watchmen have remembered their duties. And the social media is once again buzzing with the “restructuring jingle” that appears seasonal and mentioned only as a makeshift plan to douse the agitations by various regions and factions advocating for a total rejection of the 1999 military constitution to be followed by a nationwide referendum to “determine” and to “test” the resolve of the tribal constituents. In sequel to these ongoing events, the military bands of 1966-1970 are now beginning to sing a new chorus but with the same old lyrics that resonate with the mood of the Biafran War except that this time, the tone is inveigling, it is dangerously seductive and misleading.
Their song still gravitates around the old idea of “One Nigeria” but this time there is a sense of caution applied in the usual rhetoric of the Sokoto Caliphate that forbids the renegotiation of the Union by the unanimous conditions insisted or agreed upon by “we the people.” Today, it is no longer “One Nigeria”. What we have now is a refurbished caliphate-imposed ideology known as “New Nigeria.” Both coinage carry the same meaning, the same political overtone, the same hegemonic import of “keeping Nigeria one by every means necessary” which is reminiscent of what General Yakubu Gowon had stated in the waning days of the Biafran War “Keeping Nigeria one is a task that must be done.”
After encountering the barrage of criticism for five decades and still suffering the guilt of the Igbo genocide he had spearheaded, General Yakubu Gowon has finally stepped on board to proffer the updated version of his One Nigeria. The butcher-turned-bornagain Christian took the podium in the “Dialogue for National Unity” held in Abuja on the 5th of March 2020. The theme of the summit which was centered on a skewed definition of restructuring and the crafty rotation of presidential power with Ndigbo as the target in 2023, was simply an invitation to the entrapped tribal constituents, most especially the regions collectively referred as Niger Delta, to sing along to the hook for the Caliphate’s hit chorus “New Nigeria.”
The Sokoto Caliphate’s schemes have come of age and there are always political singers readily available to promote its movement that campaigns for the unity of Nigeria to be established by gun, fear and terror as opposed to dialogue, referendum and the people’s consent.
We saw the daylight robbery in Imo State. We witnessed the mafia-style judgment that bullied Emeka Ihedioha out of Douglas House. We were all awake when the APC-led Supreme Court on the 3rd of March 2020, ensured that the will of the Sokoto Caliphate in Imo State remained unchallenged and that the “selected” governor, the “fourth child” in the rankings of the gubernatorial election was accorded the birthright of the “first child.” This is the exact definition of New Nigeria.
We heard about the incident that took place in Umu Awulu community in Anambra where Fulani herdsmen on motorbikes were found wielding AK47 rifles, riding through the Igbo heartland with war-disdain and with an explosive mixture of audacity and authority, like your favorite swordsman charging the warring head of his horse into an enemy’s camp and daring to seize and destroy anything on sight. This is the exact definition of New Nigeria.
We heard about the senate bill that would afford members of Boko Haram and like-minded terrorists a scholarship abroad, to acquire the same western education which they abhor and which birthed the bloody movement that stands fully grown and well sponsored, well equipped and well organized and very likely to become the greatest export from the giant of Africa. We have seen the support of this bill by the senate which suggests to any discerning mind that the government of Nigeria is “certainly” the sponsor of terrorism in the country. And it would be reasonable to say that the three arms of government in today’s Nigeria are: Boko Haram, Herdsmen and Miyetti Allah. This is the exact definition of New Nigeria!
And so when General Yakubu Gowon highlighted the ties between Ndigbo and marginalization, he did so not with the intention of admitting the symbolic suffering of the entire “Niger Delta” but to offer the idea of “New Nigeria” as the only viable solution to their ordeals. Gowon is simply adding maggi, salt and pepper to the “shit” which Ndigbo and their tribal neighbors have been forced to eat since 1970. We have been eating “shit” in the name of One Nigeria but now Gowon had thought it wise that we eat “shit” in the name of New Nigeria. In his own words: “People who came in yesterday who have a duty of respect are now the ones talking. Going forward, we must create a federal democracy that will respond positively to all the aspirations of our people not about East-West but all about working together in equality, bringing in the youths and the women to build a new Nigeria.”
General Gowon talks about bringing in the “youths” to build a “New Nigeria.” But I have thoughtful questions for General Gowon: Which youths is he broaching about? Is he referring to the almajiris of the North who have no minds of their own and are typically the zombies of the Sokoto Caliphate? Or is he referring to the youths of the South (Biafra and Oduduwa) and the MiddleBelt who have been “lionized” by their sufferings such that the anger embedded in their agitation is symbolic of justice? What federal democracy is he ranting about? Is he referring to a “federal democracy” that will be established within the defunct federation of Nigeria aided by the rogue constitution which promotes a government of the Fulani, by the Fulani and for the Fulani? He talks about “going forward” but how do we go forward when the “sinking ship of the Nigerian State” as aptly described by Barrister Tony Nnadi have “landed Nigeria by default at the Araba terminus?” Gowon talks about a New Nigeria against the backdrop of wickedness and evil that lasted for over 52 years, killing millions of innocent lives, rendering millions impoverished and turning millions into desperate migrants. He talks about a New Nigeria which offers same fate as One Nigeria where the ingenuity of the Igbo is proscribed. A New Nigeria that deems it necessary to strangle the creative and innovative potentials of Biafra and Biafrans. A New Nigeria that provides free education to Fulani terrorists but haunts and persecutes Igbo scientists, economists, technologists, entrepreneurs, manufacturers and industrialists.
General Gowon should be informed that the Nigeria he fought for in 1967-1970 as the commander of the British-led Nigerian Army is a dead meat. And according to science: it defies logic to heal what is dead and buried. Nigeria, One Nigeria, New Nigeria or whatever it is called, is dead and buried. And we the people, the youths have collectively decided not to go any further with this arrangement, this forced unity imposed on us by the murderous Sokoto Caliphate. General Gowon should be informed that the future of the defunct federation of Nigeria borders on two fates: a peaceful disintegration via referendum or a repetition of 1967!
