LET'S FIGHT!

...Why do we always have to resort to ‘let’s break it!’, anytime there are issues we do not agree with, or when things do not go our way?


The outcome of the Major Gideon Orka coup of April 1990 should have thought us that before anyone starts toying with the idea of breaking up Nigeria, the person or the individuals concerned should think again; and that even the might of the gun is not strong enough to break up Nigeria!

Well, I still remember a refrain from the broadcast on Federal radio during the civil war, ‘…to keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done…’ People died to perform that task! Maybe some of us have forgotten that.

Whether he and his colleagues spoke or acted ‘hastily’ or not, it was not just those who were in the government that was being toppled that were horrified about their intentions. Ordinary Nigerians like myself, were terrified about the idea that Nigeria was being ‘sliced’ into bits, as we listened to his broadcast.

We certainly do have our differences. But we also do have more things binding us together, than those that seem to divide us.

So, why must it always be ‘…let’s fight..!’?

Why do we ‘mouth’ democracy, and dream of being where some nations are today, without wanting to take a deeper look at, or learn anything from the experiences they have had, and in some cases, are still having?

Why are we refusing to talk about our painful and unpleasant experiences, what are our Historians and movie producers doing? A Nigerian friend of mine who read excerpts of this book as was posting them on my status on Facebook said, ‘…actually (I) watched a series on Liberia and Sierra Leone(war),recently and I shudder to think if it were Nigeria". I repeat, Nigerians know next to nothing about very important aspects of our National history, while knowing quite some, about what happened/happens in other countries.

Why do we find it difficult, if not outright impossible to believe in or commit to anything, instead of ‘going with the flow’, or joining in the song ‘…if you can’t beat them, join them…’?

Sometime not too long ago, some parents forced their children to join the military. Not so they can serve Nigeria, but probably so they could maybe, get to be in the ‘right’ group, make a coup, and get to Dodan Barracks(it eventually became Aso Rock, via a hasty move to Abuja, courtesy of the Major Gideon Orka coup). Today, the thing in vogue is for parents and kinsmen to push their children to get into politics, targeting Aso Rock or the State Houses, not so they can serve Nigeria, but for purely selfish and greedy reasons.

I strongly believe that we need to do something, through legal and constitutional means, to make Aso Rock and the State Houses less attractive as they are now. That ‘something’ should not be the irritating 'calls' and insinuations, by those who are unable to get to Aso Rock, for Nigeria to be broken up. What is happening in some states, notably Ekiti, that is over ninety percent populated by Ekiti speaking people, should tell any right thinking persons that the solution to our challenges, is not for Nigeria to break up. It is like saying that the only solution to getting credible elections conducted in Ekiti, and get its impoverished citizens to get on with their lives, and enjoy the ‘dividends of democracy’, is to divide Ekiti State!

Some Nigerians are talking of a ‘Sovereign National Conference’, while what they actually mean is a ‘Religio-Tribal Conference’ to be attended by the same recycled and reshuffled politicians, without any clue as to how to focus on issues of national development, other than what which tribe or zone should get, or how to represent religious and other parochial interests.

Now, my question is this, if we could conduct credible elections and elect qualified and national minded individuals, who would respect the constitution and focus on real issues of national development and not those of personal, religious or sectional interest; then who needs any other conference?

Oh, I can hear you say that our Constitution is not perfect! But then, there is no perfect constitution anywhere.

The National Assembly if properly elected, can work at addressing any areas of concern in the Constitution, and then involve the rest of us to lend our voices, through referenda...

----BIAFRA:LEST WE FORGET!