Where Do We Go From Here? -By Marvel Chukwudi Pephel

“Welcome, home” the existential sparrow seems to be saying to everyone of us Nigerians. “Welcome to another season of great emotional turmoil.” When Lord Lugard almagamated Nigeria, he probably didn’t know he was simply festooning a scarecrow to look like a mannequin nor did he know that he was asking water and oil to mix in the murky waters of a flowing stream. Nigeria is a multi-ethnic society full of people who are opinionated and religiously bias, full of people more divided than they are united.

Full of people who betray their brothers everyday. Full of people whose education has not changed even one-fourth of their irrationality. Full of mere shenanigans and vainglorious funfare. Full of bigotry and nepotism. Nigeria has over 250 ethnic groups, the most populous and politically influential being Hausa-Fulani 29%, Yoruba 21%, Igbo (Ibo) 18%, Ijaw 10%, Kanuri 4%, Ibibio 3.5%, Tiv 2.5%. It also has over 500 languages, with English being the official language. Amongst the three major ethnic groups (Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo), it seems the igbos have been relegated to the background when it comes to powerplay – this is evident as the presidential seat seems to elude this group every now and then. The state of Nigeria looks like an Orwellian nation where “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than the others”. Every uprising seems not to yield a positive result, as the political cabals (made entirely of Muslims of the Hausa-Fulani-Yoruba extraction) keep paying deaf ears to the cries of the igbos who keep asking for a chance to stay at the Hem of affairs. Well, there is a political thing about this situation. When the British colonial masters were in Nigeria, they settled mainly in the North which was favourable to them due to the indirect rule that was more direct there than it was indirect. The igbos were more of the resourceful and self-ruling of the groups. And consequently, the British were able to build refineries and military bases there. The British led a series of military campaigns to enlarge its sphere of influence and expand its commercial opportunities. Most of the fighting was done by Hausa soldiers, recruited to fight against other groups. The superior weapons, tactics and political unity of the British are commonly given as reasons for their decisive ultimate victory.

And so when they left, the northern extraction capitalised on that advantage to hold the reins of power. Now giving igbos a chance would seem like relinquishing that power. And so the maxim: “Igbos were not born to rule”. However, what is not up for debate is not if igbos were born to rule or not – the question is ‘Were the hausas and fulanis born to rule over the Igbos?’ The answer is no. The more reason why the Igbos need Biafra to continue being self-ruling as they were born to be. Until then, there could be more crises in a country that was never destined to be united. Now, permit me to tell you that all is not well with this country. With Bola Ahmed Tinubu sworn in as the new president today, the level ground has ceased to be levelled – and the monkeys might start to play on trees of economic growth. When the populace ask for something and you refuse to give them what and who they want, what are you asking for? After the turmoil we all had to go through – no cash as a result of the change of currency notes, the lack of network for monetary transfers – here we are! Policies and orders that make no sense, that do nothing but affect the poor masses. We all know who the populace wants: Peter Obi. But now, we know who won. The 2023 elections have been criticized for electoral malpractice and voter suppression by both voters and opposition parties. As of yesterday, Peoples Democratic Party and Labour Party members demanded the resignation of INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu for compromising the election results.

What is going to be the aftermath of this? Well, I can only tell you as a scientist I am, with Kirchhoff’s laws of emissivity that states that, ‘At a given temperature, the ratio of the emissive power of a body to its absorptive power is constant and is equal to the emissive power of a black body at the same temperature.’ And again, with Newton’s third law of motion that states that ‘For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction’. For now, the 70-year-old Tinubu becomes Nigeria’s presidential-elect and will replace President Muhammadu Buhari, who will leave office on 29 May 2023.

Marvel Chukwudi Pephel is a prolific Nigerian writer. His short story “Cecilia” was a finalist for the 2020 George Floyd Short Story Prize. He is the author of five books of poetry.