Making a marriage work could be the most tedious task in the world, especially when the marriage has a faulty foundation. I happened to witness the build up to the marriages of my two sisters and was struck by the scrutiny my parents subjected each couple to, in order to establish satisfaction and preparedness. The state of affairs in the union, the cost of maintenance and even the fruits are noteworthy variables when contemplating one. Unlike the writer’s parents, Lord Lugard and the controversial Lady Shaw were quite uninterested in the opinion and views of the parties they joined together I.e –Nigeria.
They like my government texts assured, were insensitively obsessed with the prospect of consolidating economic, social and political gains for Britain in her colony. And so without due regard for our hyper-Heterogeneous nature, the wedding ceremony went ahead.
Thus subjecting an unborn multitude of generations to avoidable headache. Popular sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo sensed the inadequacies in the young union, when he branded Nigeria nothing more than a geographical expression. Expectedly, the marriage has not been unaffected by selfish ethnicity. As early as the 1950s, during our struggle for independence, interests were divided. The 1953 kano riot a major keynote. In the words of Dankwart Rustow, subjectively, a nation must be characterized by feelings and attitudes among the people which leads them to make their own national identification. This includes a psychological sentiment of national consciousness and love for the state. We did not only lack the objective requirements of nationhood but the subjective.
The first republic was flooded by regional and ethnic characterization of political movements. The north, east and west had the NPC, NCNC and the AG respectively. The bigger storm was on the way. When ideological differences wouldn’t help matters in the wild wild west, Major Kaduna Nzeogwu and his cohorts felt it was high time. Tafawa Balewa (The Head of Government) had being overthrown sequel to which he was killed like an animal in a coup labeled an Igbo one. The Premier of the North, Sir Ahmadu Bello, was also killed in cold blood alongside one of his wives and a dim- witted but loyal bodyguard who tried to defend him with a bow and arrows. When fate placed powers in the hands of General JT Ironsi, he, instead of mending fences and pursuing justice promulgated the famous decree 34 which established an anti-decentralization policy through a unitary regime in a heterogeneous state. He failed to allay the fears of the already paranoid minority. The North decided to Roger this bloody message. On 29th July 1966, a group of Northern soldiers replied 15th January’s bloody overthrow. They then carried out a Genocidal vaporization of the Igbo population in the north.
The man touted as the true president Nigeria never had, Odimegwu Ojukwu, couldn’t stand this. He had to lead his people out of this sub Saharan Egypt. Unfortunately, he couldn’t prevent the Federal Forces from sailing across the Niger, and his people were coerced back into an abhorred union. The aftermath of the war has not being encouraging. We have continually lingered in the doldrums of corruption, misrule, tribalism, nepotism, hatred, deceit and political cum economic instability. The Grund norm attempts to foster national policies on integration by purporting that we have solemnly and harmoniously agreed to live together as an indissoluble sovereign nation under God although no records show representation for the atheist population at the drafting of the laws, yet we claim our laws are an embodiment of the peoples’ and assume this people want to live under our terms.
An absolutely unnecessary marriage has necessitated corrective measures that stall progress. We now sacrifice capable, merited, and visionary rule for ethnic sentiments. In a bid to maintain balance, we sacrifice excellence for mediocrity- under the guise of Federal character. It is even rumored that national footballers are picked on the basis of this principle! We attempt to strike a balance which at this moment is shaky. Chinua Achebe’s foremost work seems a prophecy of these times. The North/east falls apart and the government at the center seems not to be able to hold her. Section 10 of the 1999 constitution that establishes secularism, now faces a strong test as one of the fruits of a wrong union threatens its survival. Part of us, under the guise of Antoinne Destutt de Tracy’s coinage relentlessly aims at justifying belief via madness.
With every sense of respect, unity under a marital mistake aged hundred years can only make the sufferer stronger than attempts to repudiate will. We now face problems that promise us extinction, suffering and an existence lacking meaning. We are a strong people and our survival till now evinces that. We now must channel all of our strength, experience, fortitude and character together to battle emerging menaces. We may have been a marriage of convenience but what Lugard has been joined together, let no bombs put asunder. God bless Nigeria.
