Better to renegotiate Nigeria’s unity

LEKAN SOTE FROM PUNCH

Those (mostly ex-military officers) who insist that Nigeria’s unity is not negotiable also contributed to making Nigeria difficult to live in. Practically all military coups in Nigeria were staged largely by members of the same ethnic group, safe for few “outsiders.”

The January 1966 coup was carried out mainly by Igbo officers; the countercoup of August 1966 was spearheaded by northerners. The coup that ousted General Yakubu Gowon in 1975 was engineered by northerners.

Also, the abortive 1976 coup in which General Murtala Muhammed was killed was essentially a project of Middle Belt officers. The 1983 coup that ousted President Shehu Shagari and that of 1985 against Major General Muhammadu Buhari were led by northern military officers.

The first failed coup against General Ibrahim Babangida (retd) was executed by Middle Belt officers in 1986, while the second, staged in 1989, was the handwork of a mix of officers from the Middle Belt and the South-South. Also, the phantom coup of 1997 against General Sani Abacha was led mainly by Yoruba officers.

This tendency is the greatest proof that even military officers, who preach the unity of Nigeria as if it was the Holy Grail do not completely believe in it: Sounds like they mouth the unity mantra to be politically correct, or because it serves their personal ambitions.

An unconfirmed story claims that whereas men of the Nigerian military of the colonial days would immediately obey a white military officer, they would rationalise on the motive of an order given by a Nigerian officer from a tribe other than their own.

The recent violent skirmishes between the Yoruba and their Igbo guests in Lagos State around the recently concluded general elections demonstrate that Nigerians are forcing themselves, or are being forced, to live together.

If there had been genuine conversations to fashion out the terms of their association as citizens of Nigeria, every ethnic group would have known how to conduct themselves and what to expect from the other.

For instance, this lack of formal negotiation led to the suspicion and unease that accompanied the attempt by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari to introduce Ruga farm settlement, in whatever variation, to the people of that part of Nigeria hitherto known as Southern Protectorate.

The Yoruba of South-West Nigeria and the Igbo of South-East Nigeria were the most vociferous against the Ruga idea. Even former President Olusegun Obasanjo accused the President of attempting to fulanise Nigeria.

And the Yoruba rights activist Sunday Igboho issued an ultimatum for the Fulani to vacate Oke Ogun in Oyo State, while videos showed the Igbo showing the unwanted herders the way out of “Ala Igbo.”

Some governments, like that of Ekiti State, even enacted laws to control the movement of the (mostly Fulani) herders. The Western Nigeria Security Network, known as “Amotekun,” was created by the Yoruba. The Igbo too created their own counterpart force, though it doesn’t seem to have sound legal and operational footing.