For the nation to grow, the tribe must die

By Ayo Akinfe

(1) Today is April 22. On this very day in 1990, Major Gideon Gwarza Orkar took to the airwaves to announce that the government of General Ibrahim Babangida was being overthrown. The main issue the plotters had with the government was nepotism

(2) As it happened, the coup was defeated but I for one learnt a lot from the experience. Nigeria is an amalgam of nationalities, the third most diverse nation in the world after Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. We are made up of about 250 ethnic groups and have about 650 dialects. Managing this melting pot is not for the visionless. To govern Nigeria, you need to be aware of these sensitivities and have a master plan to avoid them boiling over

(3) No African nation is monolithic but even by African standards Nigeria is complex. We are about seven typical African nations merged into one - Sokoto Caliphate, Kanem-Borno, Middle Belt City States, Niger Delta City States, Igbo City States, Oyo Empire and Benin Empire. If the government bears this mind with all its actions, we will avoid a lot of the ethnic tension we currently live with

(4) Ghana for instance is as complex as the Niger Delta City States. Ghana has maybe as many ethnic groups as the Niger Delta. It is thus no surprise that Nigeria proposed independence in 1951 and Ghana followed suit but as it happened, Ghana ended up getting independence three years before Nigeria in 1957. Our various ethnic groups were still wrangling among each other and could not agree on a way forward whereas in Ghana, the Asante and Fante reached an agreement and that was it

(5) In Nigeria, we never really reached a consensus about independence until 1954 when Tafawa Balewa came back from the US. When he saw what was happening there, he managed to get the Northern Peoples Congress to change its stance from “independence in our lifetime” to “independence now.” One can question if we had the skills set, structure, orientation, productive capacity, discipline and know-how for independence but hey, we became independent in 1960 and have been on this bumpy ride ever since

(6) After his return from the US, Tafawa Balewa said: “If the various and disparate races in America can live together and forge a common goal, so too can we.” His idea was that nationally should end up triumphing over primordial ethnicity. This principle was encapsulated by the former Mozambican president Samora Machel when he said: “For the nation to grow, the tribe must die.”

(7) As things stand, Nigeria has not made the kind of progress we should have when it comes to integration. Our elite keep dividing us along ethnic and religious lines and the masses keep falling for it. Over the last four years, ethnic tension has grown dramatically in Nigeria because the federal government has been insensitive to the matter, has fuelled nepotism with its appointments and there are no sanctions for irresponsible utterances. Whenever there is a clampdown, it is highly selective as we have seen with the case of Nnamdi Kanu, which only fuels the crisis

(8) Gideon Orkar’s coup actually came about because its main backer was told by the government to appoint a Fulani director to the board of his private fish company. This incensed him and he spoke to his friends in the army. I doubt if Babangida knew there was such resentment among Middle Belt officers. Since independence the Tivs in particular have always had an issue with Fulani domination. It is unbelievable that nobody has had the foresight to resolve this matter

(9) As we embark on the next phase of national development with Buhari’s second term commencing on May 29, a Nigerian Equal Opportunities Bill needs to be sent to the National Assembly to address the issue of nepotism. The biggest victims are actually members of Nigeria’s ethnic minorities. Ask yourself if Nigeria is prepared to elect an Idoma president with an Itshekiri vice

(10) As from today, I would like everyone to make a solemn pledge that they will never invite ethnic tensions, regard a fellow Nigerian as inferior and never exercise nepotism when it comes to decision making. We have come a long way as we have the Super Eagles, inter-marriages, suya, pepper soup, etc, which unite us but it is not yet uhuru