It took me a while before I settled down to write this note. I am very sad and angry. I carry a pain that only true change for the better will heal. It is a pain about my nation - Nigeria. In just 3 years, we will celebrate our centenary anniversary as a nation-state having been foisted to live together since 1914 by the British colonial masters. I now see the lack of wisdom of the amalgamation which only served the interest of the British.
The colonialists were not bothered about the differences in culture, values and lifestyles of the people they forced to live together as a nation. We are today suffering from the decision of some selfish colonial masters who were only interested in their imperialist agenda.
The fact that we are a union of strange bed-fellows reared its head early in our quest for independence. The Southern part of Nigeria through their representatives in the Parliament under the British asked for independence in the early 1950s but the North stated that they were not ready. Why? They must have seen that the gap that existed between them (the North) and the South educationally was very wide and so they felt they weren't ready just yet. Finally, when it was obvious that independence couldn't be stopped and we got it in 1960s, the North did everything possible to hold on to power. The discontent in the nation and the inability to co-exist because of the wide differences led to the first coup and then the counter-coup and then the Civil War where over 1 million lives were lost.
After the Civil War, Northern military officers held on to power till 1976 when General Murtala Mohammed was assassinated in a bloody coup. General Obasanjo's hurried hand over to Shagari, again a Northerner is a further confirmation that the north has always had political power but never developed the economic and educational capacity of its people. Shagari's reign was interrupted after he won a 2nd term in office in 1983 by a fellow northerner - Major General Muhammadu Buhari. Babangida took over and in 1993 after the transition program failed and Chief M.K.O. Abiola was denied his mandate, Abacha was left behind and he carried on till he died in 1998. Abdulsalam Abubakar's 11 month transition program birthed an inevitable democracy in 1999 when Olusegun Obasanjo took the reins of power.
The north has had its fair share of rulership in Nigeria. See where our nation is with all they had "contributed" through their being at the top. If indeed we are ONE NATION as we are often acclaimed to be, why should the north rise up in anger when a southern minority is positioned to becoming a leader?
The elites in Northern Nigeria are not helping matters. They whip up religious sentiments amongst their uneducated followers and they create a mob mentality that endanger the corporate existence of the nation. The average man on the street in the north does not see why he should allow a "kafir" (an infidel - someone who is not a Muslim) rule over him as a leader - even if that person gets a democratic mandate from the generality of the people. He has been brain-washed by his elite leaders and his religious preachers that no infidel or Christian should be allowed to lead Nigeria. As far as they are concerned, Nigeria is about the north, about Islam and about them! This is what is at the core of the constant religious and secterian riots in the north and it is the reason why Christian targets like businesses, churches and personalities are always attacked.
I will be discussing the NIGERIAN QUESTION in the next couple of days... Are you a Nigerian living in Nigeria or you are in the diaspora (including African Americans whose roots are traceable to Nigeria)? I want you to join issues with me as we discuss the future of this nation.
Stay connected and keep your prayer line up to heaven open. God bless Nigeria.
The colonialists were not bothered about the differences in culture, values and lifestyles of the people they forced to live together as a nation. We are today suffering from the decision of some selfish colonial masters who were only interested in their imperialist agenda.
The fact that we are a union of strange bed-fellows reared its head early in our quest for independence. The Southern part of Nigeria through their representatives in the Parliament under the British asked for independence in the early 1950s but the North stated that they were not ready. Why? They must have seen that the gap that existed between them (the North) and the South educationally was very wide and so they felt they weren't ready just yet. Finally, when it was obvious that independence couldn't be stopped and we got it in 1960s, the North did everything possible to hold on to power. The discontent in the nation and the inability to co-exist because of the wide differences led to the first coup and then the counter-coup and then the Civil War where over 1 million lives were lost.
After the Civil War, Northern military officers held on to power till 1976 when General Murtala Mohammed was assassinated in a bloody coup. General Obasanjo's hurried hand over to Shagari, again a Northerner is a further confirmation that the north has always had political power but never developed the economic and educational capacity of its people. Shagari's reign was interrupted after he won a 2nd term in office in 1983 by a fellow northerner - Major General Muhammadu Buhari. Babangida took over and in 1993 after the transition program failed and Chief M.K.O. Abiola was denied his mandate, Abacha was left behind and he carried on till he died in 1998. Abdulsalam Abubakar's 11 month transition program birthed an inevitable democracy in 1999 when Olusegun Obasanjo took the reins of power.
The north has had its fair share of rulership in Nigeria. See where our nation is with all they had "contributed" through their being at the top. If indeed we are ONE NATION as we are often acclaimed to be, why should the north rise up in anger when a southern minority is positioned to becoming a leader?
The elites in Northern Nigeria are not helping matters. They whip up religious sentiments amongst their uneducated followers and they create a mob mentality that endanger the corporate existence of the nation. The average man on the street in the north does not see why he should allow a "kafir" (an infidel - someone who is not a Muslim) rule over him as a leader - even if that person gets a democratic mandate from the generality of the people. He has been brain-washed by his elite leaders and his religious preachers that no infidel or Christian should be allowed to lead Nigeria. As far as they are concerned, Nigeria is about the north, about Islam and about them! This is what is at the core of the constant religious and secterian riots in the north and it is the reason why Christian targets like businesses, churches and personalities are always attacked.
I will be discussing the NIGERIAN QUESTION in the next couple of days... Are you a Nigerian living in Nigeria or you are in the diaspora (including African Americans whose roots are traceable to Nigeria)? I want you to join issues with me as we discuss the future of this nation.
Stay connected and keep your prayer line up to heaven open. God bless Nigeria.
My brother. More ink to your pen. Right on point. Its high time they accept our equality irrespective of ethnicity and religion. Waiting earnestly for the next post.
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