A king that transformed a jungle to a city will forever be remembered along with a king who turned a city into a jungle. By the looks of things, the country might be divided into many nations soon. When the histories of such nations that were formerly Nigeria would be written, one name that would be written in bold prints will be President Muhammadu Buhari for leading and writing the engravery of once a country.
The prophetic book “There was a country” In this vein, “There was a country,” the last book of the late literary icon, Prof Chinua Achebe, becomes prophetic. When in the early 2000, it was alleged that the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had predicted that Nigeria would fragment in 2015, there was a lot of tension in the country, especially in the face of the general elections that generated so much bitterness and hatred and the country was opposed along ethnic and religious divisions. The elections came and have gone, with many believing the worst was over.
Is Buhari interested in the unity of the country? The worst could have been over if the winner of the presidential election, President Buhari was interested in the unity of the country. He could have embarked on reconciliation and unification across the country so that the outrage and disappointment that came with the elections would be forgotten. Instead, he started to position people from one section of the country and equally started promoting his religion, while he saw the rest as overpowered people, who should not challenge his authority even in a democracy.
Events in the last one year gave rise to the outburst of self-determination by various ethnic groups. Before it was only the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) in the south-east and right now more groups have sprang in the region all working together towards self-determination. Now another uprising is going on in the Niger Delta region. It started with Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), and now many other groups have come out working in the same direction for self-determination.
They are holding the nation to its jugular and their persistent attacks on oil facilities in the region has reduced the nation’s crude oil export from 2.2 million barrels to about 1.2 million. The is because Buhari saw the south-east and the south-south as defeated people. He has been accused to have an agenda to Islamise the country and his actions and body languages confirm such accusation. In his disappointing May 29 broadcast, the emphasis was how to crush militants in the Nigeria Delta and the unarmed agitators of Biafra, but he was quiet over the Fulani herdsmen, who are carrying out evil crime of genocide in the Middle Belt and the South. Should that be the position of a leader who is interested in the unity of the country?
While Fulani herdsmen walk freely with sophisticated war/assault rifles, soldiers saw the gathering of Biafra agitators as an avenue to test their marksmanship; but thumb up for the cruelty of Fulani herdsmen, which the Global Terrorism Index rates as the fourth most deadly terrorist organisation in the world. There is no way the country can stand by suppressing the other ethnic nationalities feeling the brunt of the Hausa/Fulani dominance.
President Buhari and his success in the Boko Haram war We should do a rethink before crediting Buhari with the success in the Boko Haram fight. It is on record that as at the time he was executing the Islamic militant group, the military was yet to get new order for military hardware. The success was because of the cooperation of northern leaders. This is a nation of hypocrisy. We remember that when the former Chief of Army Staff, Azubike Iherijirika was crushing the Boko Haram to finish, northern leaders started shouting genocide and threatened to drag him before ICC and Buhari equally called on former president Goodluck Jonathan to stop killing their people. But what happened, the military came down heavily on the faction under the present government and the northern leaders didn’t cry genocide. Who is deceiving who?
The war against corruption is a mere peer struggle. It is just against those he felt had crossed his paths in the past. We remember that in 1984, the War Against Indiscipline (WAI) in less than one year was ingrained in the consciousness of the citizens. But today, it is business as usual in the Police, Customs, Immigration etc, nothing has changed. For nearly 60 years, Nigeria has gone a long test running and now reduced to hard starting.
We can’t continue trying, the engine has finally knocked and needs either a complete overhauling to re-fix or a brand new one. Everything has gone wrong with us and Nigeria as an entity. Honesty is life and worthy living. We must honestly and in true faith believe patriotism renegotiate to mingle together and re-do Nigeria.