The Challenges Of Nation Building

The Challenges Of Nation Building

Baba EL-Nafaty

— May 30, 2014

Lately there has been an increase in the calls for the dissolution of the federation. Since after independence, in 1960, there were several ethic groups who were not satisfy with the state of the union. On the 15 of January 1966 the military struck, nearly all key figures in the Government of the then Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa were assassinated. Most of the key politicians and senior military officers killed where from the North and South-West. General Aguyi Ironsi an Ibo man, who was then the most senior Military Officer, took over. The coup was generally perceived to have been orchestrated by mainly Ibo Officers from the South East. However, barely a month later Isaac Boro an Ijaw man from Niger Delta raised first standard of rebellion. He declared Niger Delta Republic on the 23rd of February 1966. He rallied round his kinsmen and formed the Niger Delta volunteer force. His rebellion was short-lived. He faced the federal might and was defeated after a twelve days war. He was captured, charged with treason and was jailed. But that was not the end his story.

In july 1966, there was a counter coup by mainly Northern Officers, General Aguyi Ironsi and a few senior military officers were killed. General yakubu Gowon took over. But the tension that was sparked by the first coup did not abate. The northerners who were still aggrieved over the death of their leader especially the Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and the Premier of the Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello begun to fan the flames of ethnic hatred. And Araba crisis was born. (Araba is a Hausa word for divide). In the north, Ibos who are the majority tribes in the south-east were attacked and thousands of Ibos were killed. In the south-east retaliation followed; thousands of Hausa people were butchered.

One thing lead to another, in 1967, the country was engulfed in terrible and costly civil war after the south-east seceded and formed the Republic of Biafra. Before this, Isaac Boro was pardoned and released from prison. He was made a major in the Nigerian Army. He fought on federal side but was killed in mysterious circumstances in Okrika. Rivers State. The spectre that he invoked is still with us.

In the three years’ war that followed millions of people died, many were rendered homeless and the amount of damages was unquantifiable. Fortunately, at the end of the war in 1970 the country started to benefit from the windfall from the sale of crude oil which was first discovered in Olibiri in 1956 and which ironically in the birth place of Isaac Boro. After the war an era of prosperity was ushered. Ethnic and sectional sentiments were submerged and the country moved forward. For the next three decades there was silence in the issue of separation until when the Okar coup attempt took place, in which he excised some northern states from Nigeria.   Instead of taking whole pie which was there for him, he started by throwing a big chunk. It was a dumb move. But the coup was successfully smashed. However, at this point, it is important to note there were some forces that were hell bent on destroying the country. Had the coup succeeded, Nigeria as we know it now would have ceased to exist?

The following year, while the military were preparing to hand over power to a civilian government, Moshood Abiola, a Yoruba man from the south-west won election as the president of Nigeria; but for some bizarre reasons the northern oligarch, who had monopolise power since after the civil war refused to hand over to him. The Yoruba’s who maintained hegemony in the south-west were rightly outraged. Pressure groups emerged and demonstration started for the actualisation of Abiola mandate, this was crushed by the military government.

By 1999, when the military were ready to hand over power, they a chose a Yoruba man, this is done in order to appease the South-west over Abiola’s impasse. President Olusegun Obasanjo who became president in 1999 handed over power eight years later to a Northern President, who died in office after three years. His Vice-President, an Ijaw man from Niger Delta who never dreamt of becoming a president took over. A new opportunity to close the seemingly gaping cleavages has arrived with a new neutral president who is not from any major ethnic group. But unfortunately, a terrible and graved threat arose when an extremely violent terrorist group who wants to establish there on form of pure Islamic state emerged. Within the last three years they have unleashed unprecedented act of terror and have committed unspeakable acts against humanity. The recent kidnapping of more than 200 school girls from Chibok, Borno State has drawn world attention to Nigeria.

In addition, calls to the dissolution of the union continued as the state of the general insecurity increased tremendously in the north. The southern part of Nigeria is very uncomfortable with the state of affairs of the nation. As a result of all this, a confluence of erratic factors and a junction of uncertainty ensured. Echoes of the civil war; of sirens long dead are beginning to be heard. The country is now appearing to be tottering towards an edge of destruction.

In all these, it is very difficult not to accept that the architect of this chaos are some powerful foreign countries who stand to gain from these unfolding tragedy and it is impossible not to believe that there are some powerful individuals within the government with awkward, twisted, warped and nihilist inclination who are not involved.

Many people have continued to blame the present government, but I wonder if they are in place of President Jonathan Goodluck they could do any better. So far there is no Nigerian leader except General Yakubu Gowon has confronted such enormous and herculean challenges.

 SOURCE.... LEADERSHIP

http://leadership.ng/opinions/372667/challenges-nation-building