South Sudan and Eritrea have proven that secession is an ill-wind that is a harbinger of poverty and under-development 

Ayo Akinfe 

(1) I gasp when I see how shallow the response of some of our people to the current challenges Nigeria is facing as a nation. Rather then seek solutions to our problems, they allow their base and primordial instincts to take over, calling for the balkanisation of the nation into mini unviable states and kingdoms. Do they not realise that one of the reasons why Africa was colonised so easily in the first place was because she was made up of too many small and disparate kingdoms 

(2) For starters, Nigeria is made up of 350 ethnic groups who speak a total of 650 dialects. Are these secessionists suggesting we carve Nigeria into 650 countries? Nobody has come up with a figure but I would like to know if they propose two, three, six, 12, 19, 36, 350, 650 or 774 separate nation states 

(3) Africa is made up is 55 nation states and it is no secret that most of them are unviable, weak, small and incapable of standing alone. Were we back in the 19th century, they would easily have been gobbled up the way say Samori Toure, Usman Dan Fodio, Chaka the Zulu or Ibn Batuta expanded their empires. Unfortunately, in 2021 you cannot just march your troops across national borders conquering and subjugating people as the old Oyo Empire did when Alaafin Sango marched his troops into Dahomey 

(4) Eritrea and South Sudan have both become independent nation states lately and the evidence is there for all to see. They have both regressed tremendously since seceding,  becoming Africa’s two biggest basket cases. In the case of Eritrea, this coincides with Ethiopia enjoying unprecedented economic growth 

(5) South Sudan and Eritrea are both members of the Inter-Governmental Development on Authority (Igad) regional group of nations. Igad is made up Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda. Igad nations have a population of about 280m people and a gross domestic product of just $272bn. With a population of 200m, Nigeria’s GDP is almost twice that of the Igad region 

(6) Eritrea and South Sudan have known nothing but wars and border disputes since “independence.” I hope all those advocating for these phantom Oduduwa, Biafra, Arewa, etc republics realise that this is what they are wishing on themselves. It will take at least 50 years of non-stop war to even decide on where their borders will be 

(7) If I had my way, Igad would be one nation with the necessary checks and balances to guarantee ethnic harmony. Their problems are identical to what we have in Nigeria and all it needs is visionary thinking to come up with a roadmap not primordial ethnic jingoism

(8) President Buhari may be dividing Nigerians along ethnic lines, empowering murderous Fulani herdsmen and blatantly showing himself to be a narrow sectional leader but hey, by 2023, he will be gone. Nigeria will outlive President Buhari’s shameful tenure in office, so over-reacting to his lamentable legacy is tantamount to administering yourself medicine that is more toxic than the original ailment 

(9) Africa does not need more than 15 nation states if she wants to compete on the global economic stage. Any averagely intelligent person can see that China and India with their populations in excess of 1bn are going to dominate the 21st and 22nd centuries, so if you want to compete with them, be equally equipped 

(10) I want Nigeria to kick-start this African consolidation plan by merging with neighbours Benin Republic, Cameroon and Niger Republic to form the People’s Republic of Songhai. What I envisage is a socialist economic giant south of the Sahara made up 1bn people, a GDP of $20trn, an annual budget of $5trn, an army of 10m standing men, an economy that accounts for about 20% of global industrial output and one third of world food production. 

I have been to the mountain top and seen the Promised Land. Sadly, those who see the Promised Land never get there but I am in no doubt that Songhai will materialise one day!