RE- ENGINEERING NIGERIA: Identifying and Correcting Past Mistakes (PART 1)

A surfer once opposed my view in a write up “Nigeria at 47: Who are our heroes?” And I think his emotions are justifiable. I enjoy cerebral duels and I am attempting to highlight some of our historical landmarks with a view to determining where we went wrong and suggest how (if) we can retrace our steps… Yes time check: 1960 (not again!) That period fascinates me a lot because it was the time of innocence for Nigeria, a new country, new hope and a promise of a brighter tomorrow, so the officers who lowered the Union Jack must have thought while hoisting the new Nigerian flag and sang ‘NIGERIA WE HAIL THEE/ OUR OWN DEAR NATIVE LAND/ THOUGH TRIBE AND TONGUE MAY DIFFER/ IN BROTHERHOOD WE STAND/ NIGERIANS ALL/ ARE PROUD TO SERVE/ OUR SOVEREIGN MOTHERLAND!’’. (”Dem never born me dat time o! I just dey chill jeje with my maker waiting to make my entry”)

The colonialists predictably handed power to the North because it had been its most faithful and loyal servant from the days of indirect rule; the West and East were considered volatile and unreliable. According to a historian the people of western Nigeria (the Yorubas) ‘‘demonstrated a high propensity for disloyalty and secession”, this evaluation of the West was made in spite of the fact that it was the North that had actually seceded sometime in 1959 only to reverse its decision because the Britons promised to hand over the reins of power to them in order to strike a political balance.

The East had been in charge of the military and were already established as astute tradesmen while the West had cornered industry and corporate Nigeria, the North had virtually nothing, geographically it was not as endowed as the south, the recent discovery of crude oil in commercial quantities in the South was another reason why Britain could ill afford to entrust its investments in unreliable hands, so to the North was power zoned and the political equation was deemed balanced.

This was Nigeria’s first post amalgamation political mistake; I call it mistake No. 1. The leadership of the country should have been determined solely on merit amongst all the contestants; for instance even in the North Sir Tafawa Balewa was not the most popular, (talk less the entire Nigeria) , the Sardauna of Sokoto Sir Ahmadu Bello was by far the political godfather of the North and in later years relationship between both became strained with neither willing to back down, Sardauna will not come to Lagos and Balewa will not go to Sokoto. The 4th columnists in the party were to later exploit this fracture to a fatal end in later years with both politicians paying the supreme price for this display of ego. it officially signalled Nigeria’s sojourn into political wilderness, to the path of political unrighteousness, of rigged elections and spiritually it was a bad omen, to begin ones life on a wrong footing is tragic.

The political upheavals that rocked Nigeria in the early 60’s began in the West between the ruling NPC a pro North party and the NCNC pro south; Chief Obafemi Awolowo had vied for the Prime Ministerial post but failed in his bid and when the North preferred Azikiwe to him in the appointment of a president he created his own party the AG, the western MP’s pulled out of NCNC in protest and joined the AG and overnight Chief Nnamdi Azikiwe’s Presidency became all but ceremonial. The NPC had formed a coalition government with the NCNC while Awolowo’s AG became the opposition party. Regional partisanship was birthed at this point and Chief Awolowo could be credited with it. In a speech he delivered to the Western MP’s he urged them to cross carpet from NCNC to the AG to ensure that the West was duly represented in national politics of the time because according to him the Hausas and Ibo’s have their party and should not rule over the Yorubas on their soil (Lagos).

Mistake No.2 our constitution should not have allowed the hurried formation of a 3rd political party the way Pa Awo did.

See part 2