Nigeria: Beginning of the End?

NIGERIA: BEGINNING OF THE END?

The riots that rocked London, Birmingham, Manchester and other English cities laid bare the fallacy that Muslims are to be found at the centre of every uprising worldwide.  This new found “theory” had gained currency since the advent of the so-called ‘New World Order’ as enunciated by George Bush Sr. at the beginning of Gulf War I in 1990.  It also coincided with the demise of the USSR and communism the world over.  Muslims everywhere are labelled terrorists for demanding social justice from their various governments.  The phenomenon has recently gained acceptability with the Nigerian government and media.  Am happy to note that the British media attributed the London riots to social problems and was not given any religious toga, the presence of Islamic Bank of England notwithstanding.  The Deputy Prime Minister of England, standing in for the Prime Minister who had gone for holidays, also blamed social problems for the uprising.

Though the wind of protests is sweeping many countries, particularly in the Middle East and the Maghreb countries of Africa, the Nigerian media chose to give them different names and labels depending on where the troubles are taking place.  In Bahrain, Yemen and Nigeria, it is Islamic fundamentalist while in countries like Libya and Syria, the troublemakers are freedom fighters to be glorified, egged on.  Even in Nigeria, Niger Delta brigands are called ‘militants’ fighting for “resource control” while those killed, maimed or kidnapped are just collateral damage; those in the North Eastern geo-political zone in particular and the north in general are Boko Haram ‘Islamic fundamentalist’.  Even where elections were rigged and people protested, it was a premeditated attack by goat herders and Boko Haram elements and not a protest by voters who felt short-changed by godfathers to armed robbers.   This profiling that slowly crept into our body politic is a very dangerous development but our pressmen seem to derive pleasure from.

The main difference between the riots in England and those in Nigeria, in my opinion, is the fact that despite the ferocious nature of the riots in almost all the major cities of England, the authorities diagnosed the causes as a socio-economic problem relating to poverty, unemployment and general dissatisfaction with the conditions of living.  In Nigeria, religious leaders were at the forefront of labelling protests against social injustice as an ethnic and religious uprising.  The media took up from where the clergy men stopped by making dumb analysis like – the north is protesting because a northerner was defeated; the Muslims are protesting because a Muslim did not win the election - very pedestrian, uninformed and myopic deductions by people claiming to be enlightened.  The fact that the people were protesting the unprecedented rigging and denial of their choice by a government bent on retaining power no matter how many people are killed was not an issue to those waiting for every opportunity to hang ‘northerners’ to dry.  When a man drove a car beneath a plane at the Calabar Airport last year, invoking the wrath of Christ on those considered anti-Christ by him, he was promptly labelled a loony; when some oil thieves exploded bombs in Abuja on October 1^st, 2010 and claimed responsibility, no less than the president came out to defend those who claimed responsibility.  The president went further to claim to know who did the dastardly act but certainly not from the Niger Delta because, according to him, he grew up there and therefore knew the people.  When Charles Orkar, their armourer was arrested, he was taken to Jos prison.

When Mohammed Yusuf was arrested, the authorities summarily and extrajudicially executed him and no so-called human rights activist shed a drop of tear.  While Orkar is a militant fighting in the cause of his people, Mohammed Yusuf was a terrorist fighting for no cause and therefore deserved to be shot like a mad dog.  And you wonder why Nigeria is not developed?  How can we develop like other civilised countries if after fifty years of independence we still cannot recognise truth wherever we see it; how can we ever hope of competing with such countries like Ghana, Botswana or even Malawi when our attitude is always ‘us against them”?  Today, Nigeria is divided into “ethnic nationalities”, “races” and “religions”.  This is what we continue to pretend doesn’t exist.  The recent general elections in the country lay bare what we refuse to see and accept.  Everything is alright now, according to our sectional media since the hated, parasitic north has “lost out” completely both politically and economically.

Much as I try not to apportion blames for my predicament, I have to admit that I have always held Babangida responsible for taking the north to where we are today.  In trying to expurgate his “sin” against the country, or a section of it as the press chose to see it, Babangida mortgaged the collective destiny of over 80 million northerners by going the extra mile to ensure an ex-jailbird became the president of Nigeria at the onset of civilian rule in 1999.  The annulment of the June 12^th, 1993 elections was done with Babangida’s interest only and the elevation of a psychopath to the exalted office of the president of this country was also done with his interest at heart only; so if there is fairness, why should I continue to pay for something that I wasn’t part of?  The ascension to the presidency of Obasanjo was the beginning of the disintegration of Nigeria, as we know it.  Suddenly ethnic assertiveness became the fad.  But if we really want to be truthful, the seeds of what we are witnessing today was sown during the wasted years of Babangida.  Most of the political actors today sprouted during his presidency and they are now at the forefront of insulting him.

All these got tacit support from our so-called opinion leaders who thought that since they are not at the receiving end of our hardships, Obasanjo and his successors can roast all of us in hell.  With very few exceptions, the northern leadership – political, traditional and religious – have failed the region woefully.  Those of my generation are the worst hit and our current crops of governors are the worst culprits.  Our own docility and timidity cannot not be excused no matter how you look at it.  The campaign of hate against the region which began over fifty years ago will not come to an end until the day we decide to go our separate ways and go we must.  What I don’t know is if it is going to be the Czechoslovakia way or the Sudan way.  If our leaders are comfortable at being called parasites, I am not.

A couple of years ago, a US based Think-Tank made a prediction that Nigeria was unlikely to remain the same nation with the same borders and characteristics that we all know by 2015.  This analysis drew a lot of condemnation across the length and breadth of the country.  Giving recent developments in our polity it will be foolhardy to continue to think that this is not a possibility.  As for me, I can clearly see the writing on the wall.  Don’t you?