No adult living in this country needs to be told that all is not well in Nigeria. One thing I have noticed is that it is easier to dismiss a nagging problem with a wave of the hand than to confront it. When you brush it aside, you breathe easy but the rest so achieved does not endure. On the other hand, the decision to confront the problem head on is very demanding. You may lose sleep for some hours or even some days, expend a lot of energy, time and money but in the end, you can be sure of long-lasting rest.
Unfortunately for us, our leaders in this part of the world, right from time, have always preferred to ignore or dismiss very serious issues that matter to the populace. This act of negligence has had far-reaching consequences culminating in this giant being relegated to the category of midgets through successive eras.
The reason why we keep lamenting about the amalgamation of 1914 is that the country is not working for the ordinary citizens. If Nigeria were flourishing and taking care of every sector, every segment and everybody, we would only remember 1914 in celebration. As it stands now, virtually every segment of the country rues the forced marriage of the North and the South, not because they just don’t like Nigeria, but because Nigeria does not care about their needs.
Of recent, we have witnessed an unprecedented spate of peaceful protests that have brought to the fore the rumbles for a better society. Thousands of energetic young men and women would take to the streets chanting and marching to press home their demand for the release of a man whom they consider to be more concerned about their welfare than the government is. The nature of these protests has been very interesting. It doesn’t matter whether they are faced by an armoured tank or a container load of teargas; they keep marching from street to street and from one city to another, grounding business activities in their wake.
Sustaining this kind of agitation goes beyond politics. It shows deep-seated dissatisfaction among the people concerned. It is not something to be swept under the carpet. It is definitely one of those things that must be confronted and solved.
Port-Harcourt, Enugu, Onitsha, Owerri, Akwa-Ibom, Yenagoa, Umuahia, Aba, Asaba and other cities have all erupted in massive protests in the past few weeks on account of a man that hitherto was unknown. Is it not obvious that these protests are not about Nnamdi Kanu? It is surely bigger than this one man. Maybe in this instance, destiny is merely using him as a prick to arouse the sleeping giant.
Some drama was added to the protest saga when the youths of Kaduna staged their own protest to register their annoyance with the protesters from the southern parts of the country. According to media reports, Kaduna youths are angry with the youths from the South who desire to break up the country. But this is a democracy where everyone has a right to express himself and state his own side of the story.
In a country where the youths are so despondent that they are willing to risk their lives in the desert just trying to escape to a friendlier climate, why will there not be dissatisfaction? A country should not subject its people to the kind of hardship that will make them willing to sell their kidneys to get money. A nation should give its people opportunities to use their talents to make a living. A nation should provide a level playing ground for all and must not be seen to operate on policies skewed against some people while favouring others.
In the immediate past administration, an opportunity presented itself for Nigerians to come together and talk about issues affecting us. The then president shied away from confronting our nagging problem head on when he said they must not discuss the issue of restructuring Nigeria. At that point many people lost interest because that should have been the heart of the discussion.
I want to lend my voice to the call on the present government to wear courage like a garment and confront this problem head on. Place everything on the table and let Nigerians be given the opportunity to negotiate their nationhood.
It is high time the leaders of this country stopped sweeping very important issues under the carpet. As I said before, the current protests are not about Nnamdi Kanu. If the vital issues raised are not addressed now, the matter will come up again sometime in the future in one form or the other.
I fail to understand why the structure of Nigeria is sacrosanct. We know that the present arrangement where the centre preys on the states and becomes all powerful is anti-progress, yet we refuse to even talk about it let alone change it to suit us. Yes, Britain created Nigeria but Nigerians are creative enough to recreate their country so that it will serve their own interest. I believe we can curb the impending catastrophe by simply coming together to chart a new course and a way forward.
Long live Nigeria!
NNENNA Ihebom
