I sat ensconced in my sofa a week ago ruminating on all what had happened to our dear country since independence. I had thought about the 30-month civil war and its aftermath – the hues and the cries – the poverty and penury. I had thought also about the journey we have made as a nation since then – the lost opportunities, the failed and failing infrastructure, the broken promises. Above all, I had spared a thought for millions of our compatriots suffering from one form of deprivation or another, caused by the mindless behaviour of the political class. Grieved and overburdened by the thoughts I decided to write this letter to all Nigerians as we draw closer to the elections.
The main reason for writing you at this critical time of our national history stemmed from the fact that we have failed to learn any lessons from the sordid experiences of our past. It is sad that we have continually failed to appreciate the abundant talents God has given to each of us to develop our country and make it the dreamland we have always craved for.
Have we paused to ponder why we are where we are today and why we have not reached the Promised Land – a journey we began on the day of amalgamation in 1914? For 101 years we have journeyed to nowhere in particular. That is what it seems. What else would it be that we have wasted numerous opportunities that came our way to make Nigeria great?
Yes, we are one united nation! But how sincere have we been with one another? We profess our patriotic inclinations openly, while deep inside us we hate one another morbidly.
We fought a bitter 30-month civil war, in which millions were massacred, properties worth billions of naira wasted. We are yet to recover from the tragedy of that war and behold some of us are already sounding the trumpets of another war.
What on earth would make us reason so irrationally, forgetting too soon the tragedies that had befallen Rwanda, Somalia, Liberia, Sudan, etc? Can we afford another (bloody) civil war? Can our fragile nation survive another round of internecine war with its grave consequences?
I have asked these questions to agitate our minds about the impending danger to our national survival. Those clamouring for war, probably, did not witness the last one. For if they did, they would have known that war is a curse on any nation. The worst thing I would ever wish an enemy is war. We were toddlers when the civil war in Nigeria broke out. As impressionable as we were we still felt the pain of the waste and desolation that was the lot of our people.
Can we spare a thought for the countless assaults we have mounted on Nigeria? How we have ravaged its resources and wasted its virginity. From 1957 (when oil was discovered in commercial quantities in Oloibiri) till date, Nigeria has bled ceaselessly from greed, malfeasance, corruption, wickedness and hatred, ethnicity and nepotism, infrastructural decay and exploitation of the weak by the poor.
From the first democratic dispensation in the late fifties till the present one Nigeria has grappled with these multifarious problems, with no end in sight. Instead of counting our blessings as a nation we count dead bodies of our fellow compatriots killed by us for our selfish interest. Who would ever have believed that 55 years after independence Nigerians would still be engaged in barbaric acts against one another? Life means little to us anymore. We kill with relish at the slightest provocation and even flaunt it to the outside world.
We have banded ourselves into militia groups, fighting for autonomy in a nation our forbears poured out their lives to found and unite. We have allowed our narrow parochial interests to obfuscate our sense of judgment and draw us into endless war of attrition against one another. What do we stand to gain if Nigeria is destroyed? God who brought us together as one people knew of our diversities from the onset and yet allowed us to be one nation. Why then do we want to dislocate the well-ordered structures that the good Lord has bequeathed to us?
It does not matter any longer how any individual or group feels about the nation Nigeria. The era has passed when such persons or individuals had the opportunity to disagree. In the build-up to Nigeria’s independence individuals and groups made their own contributions to the debate for independence. After all the debates we agreed to live together, irrespective of differences in tongue, culture and religion. Why then do some people, despite these realities, still promote divisive tendencies?
The truth I would want to tell us this day is that no amount of restiveness or insurrection can divide Nigeria. The unity of Nigeria was cemented on the altar on which the precious blood of our founding fathers and mothers was spilled.
It is unfortunate that those who champion the new plot to destabilise Nigeria are the same people on whom its future rests. Is it not the same people who are the insurgents that hold our nation hostage – threatening its peace and continued existence? What future then do we have if our able-bodied youth are used as thugs, kidnappers and insurgents to cause disaffection among our peoples.
It will be a tragedy of epic proportion if we failed to put a stop to this madness and redirect the energies of our youth to gainful enterprises. Those that exploit the vulnerability of the youth to dislocate the social fabric that binds us together should be made to know the huge disservice they do to our great nation and made to pay for it. We can no longer afford to sit and watch, while some disgruntled elements foment trouble and cause the loss of innocent lives.
This clarion call has become necessary, because of the ominous signs hovering in the sky. It is only a fool that will sit and watch his house burn without making any effort to salvage it.
The 2015 elections are just a week away and already tension has reached a palpable height. Some groups have threatened fire and brimstone should their candidates ever lose. Whey then do we have elections? Elections are the statutory process designed for us to elect our leaders. Any other process is not only illegal but subversive and illegitimate. It does not matter what we think is the best way things should be done. What we should concern ourselves with, at least for now, is what the law and the constitution state.
The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria clearly stipulates the guidelines on how we should choose leaders to man key federal offices. There is no where it states that any disenchanted citizen or group should resort to self-help. All the insurgencies across the country are illegal, illegitimate and a negation of the sovereignty of this nation.
It is curious that we have all suddenly lost our scruples. Those who should speak up have chosen to remain silent and watch things get worse, forgetting that all of us will be imperiled should Nigeria go down today. My people have a popular proverb which states: He that sounds the trumpet of war should not forget that war is death.
There is nothing that can be compared to peace and love. In love we are united, in peace we progress. Hatred and animosity cause us to falter and destroy all we have laboured for as a nation.
The forthcoming elections are not designed to estrange us. Rather they have been planned to afford us the opportunity to elect men and women who would pilot our affairs for another four years. To make these choices accordingly, we need to be adequately informed and prepared. Quality leaders can never emerge from any process that is compromised or faulty. We need to stimulate our thought process through meaningful discourses and mutual interactions. Definitely not through threats of war or intimidation!
If we believe we are one, indivisible nation, why then should a section of the country hold the rest of us to ransom? We have sufficient space to ventilate our grievances and still remain one people. How many lives have been lost to the insurgencies across the country? Countless numbers indeed! These innocent people have been mauled by their fellow citizens for no fault of theirs. Many of them killed left their ancestral homes in search of greener pastures. But lo and behold, what they got in return was premature death.
What could cause us to raise even a finger against one another? Have we suddenly forgotten that life is sacred, and no man or woman has the right to take it? Even our own lives are not ours. They belong to the Maker.
Everywhere you go in Nigeria today what you hear are threats of separation. Separate for what reason? Just to satisfy our whims and caprices? There has never been any genuine reason for anybody to clamour separation. The way God has designed our nation it is difficult for any section to go it alone. Those that produce oil may not have other things necessary to survive alone. The same thing applies to those that have been endowed with agricultural wealth. What all this means is we need one another to survive.
Instead of agitation for self-determination we should rather pull resources and develop our nation. The United States, despite its huge population, expanse of land, cultural diversity, has remained one. The racial scourge that had threatened to divide them was destroyed through personal sacrifices of their leaders to save America. Abraham Lincoln is today remembered all over the world for his feat in this direction.
Do we not have leaders in the mold of Abraham Lincoln, who can make huge personal sacrifices, to keep Nigeria one? Where have all the courageous and selfless men and women gone to? It seems everybody has lost the courage to speak up. Is it because of fear or what? How could our leaders stay and watch the she-goat deliver its kid in titters?
Why have parents allowed their children to lose control? Our families have become a hunting ground for vandals, criminals and cultists. Now that the elections are almost here many parents cannot account for their children. While a few of these parents have lost the courage to control their children, many others are ignorant of what their children actually do.
As we read this piece many of our children and wards are being equipped to be used as thugs for the elections. They have been quarantined in hidden places and indoctrinated on how to kill and maim. For how long will things go on this way? For how long will they be used as pawns in the chessboard by greedy and disgruntled politicians?
Our politicians have done a great disservice to our nation. I regret to state here that 50 per cent of our current problems were caused by the political class. They are the people who spread the messages of hate to create acrimony, which they exploit for their selfish desires. They are also the same people that sponsor violence and ethnic disharmony in order to cause confusion in the land and, by so doing, achieve their selfish political ends. Put together, our nation would have made much progress if our politicians had conducted themselves honourably and selflessly.
Let me warn all of us: the seeds of social disharmony, religious radicalism, and ethnic clannishness we have sown will soon grow into a colossal monster that will consume those that planted them. I have never doubted the biblical positing that nobody can mock God; for whatever a man sows he shall reap. Those who create crises in the land and pretend they would not be found out should know that the day of judgment will come soon – like a thief in the night.
We owe it as a patriotic duty to participate fully in the current electoral process and work for the emergence of quality representatives who would manage our affairs for the next four years. We must ensure that we collect our permanent voter’s cards and come out and exercise our franchise.
I urge our politicians to exercise restraint and avoid anything that will scuttle our fledgling democracy. No sacrifice is too much for us to make to move Nigeria forward. As President Jonathan has always said, no election is worth the blood of any Nigeria. This is a very powerful statement. But the courage to put it into practice is the challenge that faces every Nigerian politician.
As for INEC, they have a huge task on their hands. They must work assiduously to ensure that the elections are not only free and fair, but credible. If they failed to get it right this time then they have succeeded in mortgaging the peace and security of this nation, and posterity will never forgive them.
All of us must rise up today and say no to violence, no to corruption, no to election manipulation, no to killing and no to religious fanaticism. We need to do something today to save our tomorrow.
The future of Nigeria and our continued existence depend on these elections. We cannot afford to be apathetic. If we failed to exercise our right to choose our leaders we would have ourselves to blame when the day of reckoning comes.
I pray God to bless Nigeria and protect us all.
Thank you.
