Why Nigeria Should Divide

“Can two walk together except they agree”? Have you ever imagined what life would have been like, if the nation of Nigeria was never created, well let me help you.

First there would be peace and no tribalism, as no tribe will try to outwit each other, only those from the same tribe will be together.

That is, each ethnic group will be bound together and there will be trust and flourishing, it will be easier to understand each other since we will speak the same dialect and have a common history and most likely common motivation.

Before 1861, we inhabitants of this clime were satisfied, and mostly at peace with each other, trade flourished, until they came, the Brits and they took over everything and when they left, they left the country on a keg of gunpowder and some years later we had the first explosion.

Nigeria is made up of over 250 ethnic nationalities which have been fighting against each other for as long as the nation has been together, because they were forced together.

The dwellers in this part of the world had no doing in their being joined together; Lord Fredrick Lugard woke up one morning in 1914 and was like “hmmm it will be cool to glue the Southern and Northern parts of these lands together”.

This he did without checking with the inhabitants of the land, neither did he consider how compatible the tribes would be, if forced to dwell together.

This has been referred to as an unholy matrimony by some, as the unfortunate couple were not informed of this arrangement; they were just forced to get married to each other. And we know what to expect of this kind of marriage if it were between a man and a woman.

History has it that the news of intended amalgamation was not well received by Southern politicians and the media, but their fight came to nothing as the joining proceeded.

It was also said that the joining was proposed for purely economic reasons; the joining of two treasuries meant bigger coffers and more achievements.

Little did they know that this singular act bred distrust and animosity amongst the various tribes involved? In Nigeria the phrase “unity is diversity” doesn’t hold true and probably never will.

These Are Some Of The Reason Why Nigeria Should Divide

1. We never wanted to be together in the first place. This country called Nigeria was created without input of would be Nigerians, without a consideration for the thoughts and feelings of Nigerians.

The amalgamation was quite myopic, and we have seen the effect ripple across generations to this time. If this forced alliance is not broken the ripple effect will continue unabated.

2. Nigeria should divide because a section of the country (the South Easterners or Biafrans) is obstinate about her desire to leave.

A referendum will not even be needed in this case as the Nigerian civil war is enough proof of the seriousness; I doubt that the Igbos would be swayed.

3. Tribalism and tribal marginalization; Nigeria is a federal state on paper, but in reality it is a tribal state as a lot of times people lose out on opportunities they are qualified for, due to their ethnic extraction.

We know that all tribes are guilty of this, many a Nigerian will rather give his tribes man an opportunity even if he is less qualified than a none tribesman.

Tribal marginalization is also another reason this country should split, the minority tribes especially don’t feel comfortable in the politics of the nation as they feel that they are being sidelined in the most important decision making processes of the country.

Take for example, the Niger delta, they produce over 90% of the nation’s revenue, but the oil producing communities are in shambles, Ogoni land has still not been cleaned up, the major economic activities (fishing and farming) cannot take place anymore due to the pollution. If the Niger Deltans were in charge of their oil, am sure that region would have been cleaned up long ago.

4. Mutual distrust and fear of certain tribes: many tribes have preconceived and mostly misconstrued notions about other tribes.

Others think the Igbos are proud, arrogant and lovers of money, while the Igbos themselves think they are industrious and independent therefore it gives them bragging rights and therefore they will not be mistreated by “lesser tribes”.

Other tribes think the Hausas/Fulani are not well educated and blood thirsty therefore they don’t deserve to rule, while the Hausas/Fulanis themselves think only them should rule since they are descendants of great conquerors and the government was handed over to them by the British at independence.

Other tribes think that the Yorubas are cowards and sycophants, but the Yoruba just thinks it’s not wise to get into confrontations and also believes in minding his business.

Therefore for this union to work we must understand what motivates each other and also have a common objective and singleness of mind.

5. After over a hundred years of staying together, if the tribes in this country don’t understand each other and what motivates them, well in another hundred years we would not understand each other. As it were it’s not too late for this union to be broken; it’s high time all tribes took their destiny in their hands.

6. So many dividing factors; the tribes in Nigeria have very little in common, especially the North and the South. Both in faith and religion, marriage rites and generally way of live, we have too much separating factors and varies ideologies, we should not be together. It’s a miracle that the nation Nigeria has survived this long without annihilating each other.

Although we must give kudos the past leaders of Nigeria for their intelligent work in keeping the nation together, Babangida (IBB), did great in the June 12 1993 crisis, if it was handled wrongly perhaps the Yorubas would have ceded.

Yaradua’s amnesty for the Niger Delta militants was a genius stroke and Goodluck followed in his steps by using the former militants to guide the oil pipelines.

It seems as though the same can’t be said for Buhari and his cabinet, the arresting of Nnamdi Kanu showed anything but genius, overnight he made Kanu into a hero. He wasn’t taken seriously especially amongst the Igbo elites and elders until Buhari ensured it.

For peace and unity to reign, for mutual distrust to end, Nigeria should divide along cultural/religious/linguistic lines, then we will have a lot in common, have a common motivation and ideology and perhaps we can begin to flourish as a people.

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