Conceiving a new Nigeria - the Why
"Let he that beareth the burden and the glory bear the responsibility for his story." - Ohis D. K.
TLDR? People like to say ‘a new Nigeria is possible.’ Many have not given much thought to how this Nigeria should be. The reason for Conceiving a New Nigeria (CANN) is because, not only are other prevailing interests guiding the actions of our leaders, but Nigerians themselves should be the architects of their destinies. Read on to understand.
The conversation about a new Nigeria is as old as Nigeria itself. When many people think of a new Nigeria, they conjure some vague imaginations of what the nation would look like. Very few people actually give critical thought to understanding what such a nation should look like. This negligence, empowered by the foreign impositions of the time, is what started Nigeria off on this patchy path. Pathetically, even after extensive political iterations that lasted almost 40 years, we are still left with a sketchy framework. Why? What went wrong and how can we fix it? The past should tell us.
Before independence, our founding fathers were already disunited about how our nation should be built. After independence, faults started appearing in the structure of the newly formed federation. The joy of a new nation was not enough to prevent a splinter in its foundation. This provoked waves of ‘restructurings’ that rode in on cycles of peace and bloodletting. 1999 was supposed to be the year when everything finally came to perfection. Disappointingly, the elite citizens charged with the job of creating a framework for the 4th republic lacked the diligence and foresight that such duty demands. The intellectually lazy and hurriedly assembled document that we call our constitution is the loudest consequence of this. Yet again, the joy of a democratic rebirth, although initially overshadowing these lapses, was unable to mend them.
Evaluating these unfortunate events, one can point out common denominators between them. The most striking of these is that the people of the nation were spectators in the charting of their own destinies. Those on top simply came together on each of those occasions and created what they thought was ‘best for the people’ without actually consulting the people as the customers/beneficiaries. What difference is there between that and the Berlin Conference of 1884 which we’ve continuously blamed for the plight of the African continent? You see, it's very easy to point fingers at others. But if you are sincere enough to look inwards, you may realize you are guilty of the very same sin, only on a different scale.
Consider the creation of states in Nigeria that terminated regional government. Lines were drawn 6 times over 30 years without in-depth consideration of their sociocultural implications. Some of these lines cut across towns and communities effectively separating families and clans into different political enclaves. Most of the damage was done during the early state-creation stages when the states were still quite big. Subsequent restructuring would only exacerbate these problems. Almost all the states with minority populations for whom these were intended, are the ones who are in one way or the other negatively affected. These were done by Nigerians to Nigerians. So tell me, how different are we from the powers that carved out the borders of the world, expanses orders of magnitude higher than ours? Sentiments aside, I think you get the picture now.
It’s not that these Nigerian elites don’t have the capacity to create worthy solutions. After all, they are supposedly part of the people. It’s just that they lack the social intelligence to do so. And as long as they keep thinking in their perverted minds that they have the duty to tell Nigerians what is good for them, we will keep having the same movie replaying in the theatre of this nation. These should already give you an understanding of why we need to conceive a new Nigeria.
Before we go on from here, there are many people already saying, “shouldn’t we be focusing on the legal and political tussles that are currently underway? Shouldn’t we all channel our attention to the issue that is right in front of us?” As sincere as these questions are, they are manifestations of the inherited shortsightedness of our forefathers. That you have a pothole in front of you does not mean you shouldn’t survey the road ahead. Those of us on typical Nigerian roads know that failure to do so may put you in danger of unnecessary vehicular expenses. This is not the first time these events are playing out in this country. 20 years ago, it happened. If we continue on this trajectory, sometime in the future, it will happen again. Which is why we have to answer the hard questions now. We have to do what our fathers couldn’t. We the people, have to create a solution that is beneficial to us and our generations to come. The current tussle, notwithstanding its long-term impact, is for the next 4 or 8 years. A new Nigeria is forever.
We do not know the future, but we can plan for it. We have been yoked together for 60 years. It is impractical to think the yoke will suddenly break. However, if we drop aside our differences and reason together, we can reach a compromise about a system that will be in the interest of all stakeholders involved – a system that will become the new Nigeria. This is what CANN is about.
If you want to be part of this conception, you can follow me on X (Twitter) @kgemperor to stay updated on related developments.