Even during the height of the anti-apartheid struggle we never heard calls for the creation of separate Zulu and Xhosa nations

Ayo Akinfe

(1) As we try to figure a way around Nigeria’s current debacle, can we please learn from history and get to understand that sometimes people suggest treatments to a problem that are 10 times worse than the original ailment

(2) Africa was easily colonised and cantonized by the European powers because she was made up of small, weak and mini kingdoms. Only a few like the Zulu Empire, Sokoto Caliphate, Benin Empire and the Mahdi’s theocracy in the Sudan actually put up a decent fight

(3) I am glad that during the fight against apartheid, South Africa learnt from this. They did not take the bait of the Afrikaneers who were trying to divide them along ethnic lines by propping up the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) which positioned itself as the champion of the Zulu nation

(4) Mongasuthu Buthelezi was backed to the hilt by the apartheid regime who were hoping that his IFP would divide South Africans along ethnic lines. However, the tactic failed thanks to the nationalist agenda of the ANC

(5) Even when Zulu thugs were murdering South Africans in their thousands on a daily basis, the liberation struggle never degenerated into an ethnic spat. There was never a call for an independent Xhosa nation and the Zulu did not allow Buthelezi to mislead them into becoming another homeland nation like Swaziland or Lesotho

(6) Apartheid and its Inkatha ally rained 10 times more terror on South Africa than the Fulanis are currently visiting on Nigeria but the people stood steadfast. We should learn from their political maturity

(7) The only misguided miscreants calling for secession in South Africa was the Neo-Nazi AWB. To all those secessionists in Nigeria, I would say be a bit more mindful of the company that you keep

(8) Just as the AWB wanted South Africa balkanised, I am sure the colonial powers, especially France would love to see Nigeria carved into mini states that can be picked off and exploited at will. France currently controls the mineral resources of most of its former West African colonies because they are weak and small. They dare not try that with Nigeria and we will keep it that way by not taking their bait

(9) In the run-up to freedom, I remember Madiba saying that the AWB is a small matter that can be dealt with. We should view these armed Fulani herdsmen the same way. A few thousand illiterate nomads who have constituted themselves into a rag tag army of religious fanatics should be something even our local militia like Amotekun can deal with

(10) Can every Nigerian make a solemn pledge today that they will never ever again call for the dismemberment of the world’s largest black nation. Nigeria is the pride of the negro and our only hope of sitting at the high table of humanity. This Fulani crisis will pass, so no over-reaction please. Throwing out the baby with the bath water is committing economic suicide