The list of oddities in Nigeria’s political scene are endless, and as former Military President General Ibrahim Babangida once said of Nigeria’s economy and Nigeria itself appear to be defying all logic. By the very account of Nigeria’s leaders, the situation in the country should have been much worse by now; by their logic Nigeria should have collapsed. However, it is still standing. Every leader that ruled Nigeria with the possible exception of Goodluck Jonathan would accuse its predecessor of unspeakable atrocities, thievery and even treason. But at the same time these leaders would pay glowing tribute to the preceding ones at public ceremonies and would jump with alacrity at those who accuse our leaders of failing. Very odd, indeed. We need to decide and take a position: was the past good or bad?
Another oddity is the loudness of Nigerians in their religiosity. By all accounts, including international surveys, Nigerians are evidently among the most religious people on the surface of the earth. Some of the biggest churches and Christian congregations in the world are in Nigeria. Arguably, Nigerian governments (both the Federal and sub-national ones) officially send more pilgrims to Saudi Arabian and Israel than any other nation on the surface of the earth. Strong adherence to religious identities appears to be more in Nigeria, than most other countries of the world. Muslims in Nigeria appear to be more fervent in their religious Identity politics than Muslims from other parts of the world. Not even Saudi Arabia or Iranians take out their frustrations on their fellow non-Muslim citizens as Muslims in Nigeria do to Christians in reaction to developments in Europe and elsewhere. For example, following the US bombing of Libya in the eighties, Christian Churches were attacked in Nigeria. The Miss World Contest and the cartoon of Prophet Mohammed in Europe also elicited violent attacks on non-Muslims in Nigeria.
The Bible and Quran are used for swearing in ceremonies and at every public function and meetings Christian and Muslim prayers are said. Nigeria, unarguably, has the highest number of days set aside as public holidays for religious purposes.
Paradoxically, our governments (at all levels) are run as irreligious institutions and or public officials who profess to serving God are irredeemably irreligious: they are gods themselves, who decide what they use government and its resources for, without a moral compass. They do every conceivable thing that comes to their fancy, including theft of people’s rights to life and property. They are above the law, making laws that are selectively applied!
Nigeria today has more anti-corruption agencies than any other country: the Code of Conduct Bureau, Code of Conduct Tribunal, The Nigerian Police Force, The EFCC and several other financial Instruments such as NFIU etc. Nigerians are some of the most profiled people on the surface of the earth. Biometric data of Nigerians are taken and domiciled by more than four government agencies and private telecom companies.
Even the banks have adopted and implemented a biometric data gathering system and they keep on their Servers biometric data of all those who use the banks; they also demand for biometrics for simple bank procedures! Yet Nigeria is still regarded by the Transparency Index as one of the most corrupt countries in the world! Criminals, bandits and kidnappers are untraceable even when they use phones to extort money and use banks to transfer such funds.
Yet another oddity is our often-cited commitment to the oneness of Nigeria. We fought a Civil War to keep Nigeria one. Our former military Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, who led the campaign to keep Nigeria had his name Gowon popularly read as “Go on with one Nigeria”.
And so, we are keeping on with the one Nigeria that no group seems to believe in. Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku of Taraba State publicly stated at a peace meeting between the Tiv and the Jukun that the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria could certainly not be more Important than his cultural heritage. His outburst was mild compared to the declaration of Chief Obafemi Awolowo that Nigeria was a mere geographical expression. Or take the northern political establishment which instigated riots called “Araba” (Meaning, let’s split or divide) in the aftermath of the 1966 coup, only to turn around a few months later to fight ferociously to keep Nigeria one. The Yoruba elite keep talking of a Yoruba nation which came to existence only after the 1914 amalgamation of the Southern and Northen Protectorates, a historical development they loathe and blame for their “woes” within Nigeria. Now, there is a strong campaign for a “Yoruba Nation” whose strength seems to have been vitiated by “awa lokan!” The Igbos have revived the campaign for Biafra, which is evidently very popular among the Igbo populace, while strengthening the campaign for Igbo Presidency. As at today, Igbo elites, because of their expansive investments in other parts of Nigeria, dread the split of Nigeria, even if they loathe their political “second class citizenship”.
At the National Assembly debates on regional or ethnic minorities attract the highest attendance and members, gleefully introduce themselves with their ethnic identities a practice that has refused to die. At most government offices, you need to just take a cursory look at the composition of the personal staff of the Chief Executive Officers, and their mode of dressing to know their ethnic, regional or religious proclivities. Those who shout loudest in government positions about national unity, cohesion and nation building are the ones who do not trust anyone who is not from their ethnicity or region. Allocation of government projects follow the same pattern as political appointments and an increasing number of Nigerians have come to imbibe and internalise the belief that if “your own” is not in government you are unlikely to benefit from governance.
The situation was not helped by the debate and rumpus over powershift between the regions a fact that shaped and determined the 2015 and 2023 Presidential elections. The death of President Umaru Musa Yar’adua provided the room for regional and or ethnic struggle for power. For Vice President Atiku Abubakar President Jonathan Should not have taken over from President Yar’adua because it was still the turn of the North. Jonathan’s second term tenure was thwarted mainly by the northern political resolve to ensure that power returned to the North. The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) lost out. Eight years after, it was “emi lokan.” Just as it happened in 2015, five PDP Governors jumped ship and again, the PDP lost out!
Why are we forcing ourselves to stay together if we don’t like each other?
Not surprisingly Nigeria as a country behaves like the generality of Nigerians, doing what it does not like and refusing to do what it needs to do. The immediate past military governments, exported what it did not have and kept importing what it had in abundance. Nigeria sent troops and hundreds of military men paid the supreme price of quelling ethnic and political upheavals in Liberia and Sierra Leone to enthrone democracy while in Nigeria the same military government trampled on people’s rights, jailing scores of human rights activists and embarked on a transition to civil rule programme that was programmed to fail. But for the cold fangs of death General Sani Abacha, whose loot is still being recovered from other parts of the world, would have transmuted into a civilian president with the five political parties he created, which Chief Bola Ige, who later became the Minister of Justice of Nigeria, described as Abacha’s five leprous fingers. Earlier General Ibrahim Babangida had “annulled” the presidential elections, which most Nigerians and international observers believed, Chief Moshood Abiola was the presumptive winner.
Then take the case of petroleum products.
A former Minister of Petroleum had come out with the ridiculous position, in justifying the refusal to repair the refineries, that it was cheaper to import petroleum products than to refine.
In any case today, as part of our living a lie as a nation the immediate government whose major agenda was fighting corruption has already forward sold our crude oil. The same way that our Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) was sold out and the power plants which we gleefully bought and installed are allegedly having no access to the gas that would power them! The news that even the Dangote Refinery may have to import crude oil to refine fits in with the pattern of gross absurdity.
You often do not know whether to laugh or to cry.
We are the most religious nation fighting and killing each other over religion yet we are one of the most amoral without compassion. Our youth are, in real life, competing with Indians for the shameful prize of being the biggest and most successful scammers in the world.
We fought a civil war and our military has warned that it will crush any attempt to split Nigeria yet no group believes in Nigeria. When given the opportunity public officials routinely choose their ethnic and religious identities over Nigeria.
I, dare say, even God cannot save us, and, I know that God says that he will not answer the prayers of one who wavers, is tossed about and is unsure what he wants! Which prayer is God going to answer: those of the poor who go to celebrate and pray for their sons and daughters who come back to share spoils stolen or looted from the public purse with them? Or is he going to answer the prayers of those who steal government money and go to church to do thanksgiving? Or use the stolen money to build churches or mosques? What is the difference between that and the earnings of a prostitute? (Deuteronomy 23:18)
Which prayer is God going to answer: the prayer of those who are praying for “araba”, “Biafra”, or “Yoruba nation” or the prayer of those who preach national unity in the daytime and hold tribal or ethnic meetings to promote their exclusivity in the night?
Nigerians, not God, can and will save Nigeria. God has already done his part. He has told us what we need to do; we have the moral code; we have the laws and we have the directions that have been clearly spelt out. Why pray to God to save Nigeria or the poor when you can do the right thing in your corner? Nigeria comprises people, and what each Nigerian does combine to form the direction of Nigeria. The wrong direction we have taken only shows that majority of Nigerians, both big and small prefer the wrong way. There is therefore, in my understanding, no salvation coming from anywhere.
There is need for those who fear the Lord to speak to one another so that “a scroll of remembrance will be written concerning those who fear the Lord and Honour his name”, by doing the right thing.
Let the ones who do wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be vile; Let the one who does right continue to do right; and let the holy person continue to be holy (Rev 22:11)
The countries that are advancing in science and technology today, whose economies are “booming” and have high standards of living are not religious societies. Regrettably the West (American and European) public systems are backing out of their Christian Identities but they have maintained certain moral codes and standards that hold leadership accountable and remove opaqueness from the public system. Our leaders have copied the now discarded perks of office in Europe and discarded the primary codes of morality in public life!
No country can ensure its continuous existence when contesting ethnic identities make parodies of the very ideals that it seeks. Parodies and anomalies pose greater danger to a nation’s grand narrative, turning the nation into a travesty of itself; and an anomaly that no right-thinking citizens are proud of.
No nation can be built or sustained as a duplicitous grand narrative – the type that Nigeria constitutes itself today.
By Rimamnde Shawulu Kwewum
That’s just the fact about our country Nigeria and it’s politics. In fact, you have intelligently and tactically pointed out the itching parts. However, we must as a nation voids ethnic, religious into our politics and embrace inclusions of all the right thing to ensure peaceful and transparent governance as well as nation cohesion.