Nigeria, a nation of multi-ethnicity generally held together by fear. Nigeria, east, west, north and south is generously endowed with mineral resources of which few countries of the world can boast of. Nigeria has the natural resources few countries can only dream of. It is rich in all ramifications. No part of Nigeria is without sustainable raw material. If this is the case, why are Nigerians subjected to prolonged poverty (UNSDPF 2018 – 2022)? Nigerians are not supposed to be hungry and begging for what to eat. The reason why this is happening in Nigeria is due to the so-called corruption that has permeated into the blood stream of successive Nigerian governments since 1966 when the Igbos were displaced and other tribes that took over from the deserted positions of the Igbos tried to enrich themselves to equate themselves with the Igbos. Before then, Nigeria was managed meritoriously with consensus. Prior to July 1966, every Nigerian was holding a post that he deserved. For the first time in 2016, I watched the Alhaji Tafawa Balewa’s speech to US in 1961 and I was marvelled, proud and appreciated the Nigerian first republic politicians. The man spoke elegantly and diligently with Queen’s English. Those surrounding his office were men and women of honour. These men and women led by Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Saduana of Sokoto and Obafemi Awolowo fought together to gain independence for their people. They had dreams to make their Nigeria the pride of black nations. Leading a nation such as Nigeria with various ethnicity, was not an easy task, hence they made mistakes as humans. These first republic Nigerians, managed the country with consensus, though they might not have satisfied everyone. Out of nowhere, came these young Nigerian soldiers, led by a twenty nine (29) year old; Major Chukwuemeka Kaduna Nzeogwu, organised and executed a coup that really shattered the fragile unity of Nigeria. These young soldiers did not consult any political or military leaders of Nigeria before they struck. They saw evil creeping into Nigerian politics and wanted to stop it but like the politicians, they made mistakes because they were humans. They did not intend to favour any tribe. They did what they thought was best for Nigeria, hence they were let down by unforeseen circumstances (I believed in the account of Major Ademoyega, the only survivor of the five majors, and the man who held the true history of the event January 1966). This honest mistake truly shattered Nigerian unity, hence the ensuing counter coup and other coups that rendered Nigeria hopelessly unmanageable.

That singular event ushered in sectionalism, nepotism, my-turn syndrome and corruption that is now hunting Nigerians and their government. New leaders were made under gun points. Old things passed away and the new Nigeria begun, greed and fear. Since the emergence of the Nigerian New World Order, the centre could no longer hold. The intentions of the military and their civilian conspirators were dubious, every man to himself. Gather as much as you can carry. The appointments were by no means meritorious. It was nepotic and many a time used for gratification, hence the rise of ineptitude, mediocrity and selfishness into Nigerian governance. New leaders emerged from the ashes of the first republic. Nigeria as a nation died in 1966 and all actions have been directed to resuscitate a dead nation. I do not blame Nigerians. Who wants to bury his dead? Everyone hoped that his dead would be resuscitated, hence they cried uncontrollable when the dead is taken for burial. Let us stop crying and make use of what Nigeria has left behind. At the end of every man, his children share his assets and go forth to start new individualised lives. Let us stop crying and do the needful, which is to divide the assets of Nigeria according to our tribes to start our individualised lives. Starting individualised life does not mean one should forget and neglect his brother. No, at this time brothers depend on each other according to needs. Why should a brother be afraid of starting a new life? I help my brothers, you help your brothers and your brothers help you. It is a chain of connectivity. Onye aghala nwanneya in Igbo. Meaning you should not leave your brother behind. This is the culture that binds Igbos together. Why are we afraid of practising such culture in Nigeria? Why are Nigerians being held together by fear against their will?

My intention of writing this is to enquire about the reason why Nigerians are afraid of speaking out. Nigerians live in bondage, each blaming the other for his downfall. The first republic leaders were not stupid to negotiate a Nigeria with relevant parts. That is what the British has and that is what Nigerians aspired to from the beginning. Yes, I can understand others arguing that unitary government was the work of an Igboman. The Igbos started it all. Nzeogwu and his group started the coup, and General Ironsi started the unitary government. While I praised our first republic political leaders, I can categorically state that all of them have openly complained about the unity of Nigeria. None of them but Zik wanted it. They saw it a slave shackle that bond them together and had dreamed of the day it would be broken. Lt. Colonel Murtala Muhammed in January 1966 saw the reason to liberate his people from the slavery hence he launched a counter coup to take his people out of it. He could have succeeded but for the intervention of others who reminded him of the opportunity to form a new leadership and to hold the mantle of power. I am not writing to divide Nigeria that is already divided like a broken pottery. I am writing to remind Nigerians to return to our old ways of the 1960s, where every man and tribe was treated according to his own merit. Nigerian formation is the same set up as Britain with relevant parts: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. All these nations govern themselves, and Scotland has its own currency and has been campaigning for full independence without Python Dance 2 to intimidate them. Let Nigerians do things the British way, and we will be happy. This is the basis of restructure and from there each part seeks full independence based on referendum. Let us stop kidding ourselves and intimidating ourselves. Nigeria would eventually be divided, why should we kill ourselves for it. The division of Nigeria is a good thing. All will go to his region and develop it. None will blame each other. There will be healthy competition. With this, hunger, suspicion and fear would be banished.

Now, Nigerians of all walks of live have expressed their fear on the enforced unity of Nigeria. As it is today, no Nigerian is safe. Nigerian security has not protected anyone. Killers are roaming the streets and villages freely, killing at will and nothing has been done about it. I was surprised to listen to General Theophilus Danjama who was at the apex of Nigerian government and security advising Nigerians of self-defence. If one cannot listen to TY Danjuma on issue of security, who else in Nigeria can he listen to? This man has been there, seen it and done it in Nigerian politics. In fact, TY Danjuma was the man who made July 1966 coup successful. Without him, the coup could not have succeeded. This man has been silent on almost all political issues in Nigeria, and now he is speaking out. Nigerians must know that these strategies of fear, intimidation and harassment will not stop Nigerians going their separate ways. Nigerians have openly called for restructure. That means, we want to go back to our old ways of consensus and collective responsibility. Let us build a country where everyone is included. Not a country controlled with fear, greed and military might. Let us start with a referendum to ask Nigerians of their opinions of Nigerian political system. Let us stop intimidated people. This strategy of intimidation has reinforced the determination of Nigerians to be free from slavery, and to be independent. People see Nigeria from the outside and think that all that glitters is gold. Well, it is far from it. Those inside see chaos, anarchy and irredeemable damage caused by corruption. It amazes me how all the beneficiaries defend the indefensible state of Nigeria. They individually milked Nigeria dry, en masse unspeakable wealth and used it to enslave Nigerians. This is unforgivable crime against the state of Nigeria. The North has been in power longer than any section of Nigeria, yet their people are so backward, so poor and so displaced. Very few shared the wealth of the people; send their children abroad to the best colleges and universities. Their children return to continue to enslave their people. Chief Awolowo, from the position of weakness, gave his people the opportunity to have free education for all. Due to Igbo culture of independence, the Igbo elite could not suppress their people like the North did. However, the elites of the north, the east and the west collectively stole what belongs to the people, and use it to enslave them politically and militarily; hence they ruin the mentality of the people. They corrupt their people with bribe to rig all elections in Nigeria since 1970.

I have been thinking about the mentality of Nigerians. The political system in Nigeria has moulded a certain mentality for Nigerians after years of corruption, bribe, nepotism, ineptitude and unaccountability. To be fair, General Murtala Muhammed tried to stop it. Nigerians watched powerlessly as military and political leaders boldly stole the nation’s wealth. Those who spoke out were intimidated. Honest men were untimely retired, and many were unfairly prosecuted. Gradually, Nigerian military created multiplied monsters in each region of Nigeria. They empowered themselves to steal, and corruption run away untouchable in Nigeria. It laid eggs of greed, fear, derangement, hopelessness, poverty and anarchy, hence the emergence of all sorts of criminalities in Nigeria. The military empowered the civilian friends and servants, and the civilians pledged allegiance to the military. The whole thing formed a cultural web, intertwined with each order in corrupt practices. They formed killer-squad, made up of poor masses whose only hope of livelihood is to associate and be obedient to corruption. All these unbelievable acts affected the mentality of ordinary Nigerians, hence they are quiet, succumbed to picking the crumb; if you cannot beat them, join them. Many Nigerians are committing crimes unwillingly but it is the only option of livelihood. The corrupt cultural web beclouds most Nigerians, hence some boldly sell their votes, and others are intimidated into selling their votes. Listen to Nigerian elected politicians and you will find out that they all have stories to tell of bribery and corruption. Listen to them and you will find out that none won his election. They all talk about “delivery” of candidate. What does delivery of candidate mean? It means that the political god-fathers decide who is to be declared winner due to allegiance and the highest bidder. It is shameful. Nigerians glaringly watch their votes counted for someone else they did not vote for. They openly watch and could do nothing as INEC officials declares results based on instructions. With all this, Nigerians suffered emotionally, hence they shamelessly accept bribe. Accept bribe or not, your vote would be counted for someone you did not vote for. Nigeria stinks! Why does Nigeria have elections every four years, hence it is a smokescreen? Psychologically, Nigerians wither away slowly, and the residue is presented as tribalism and lack of commitment, hence the attempted abduction or killing of Nnamdi Kanu, the only man to speak out in Nigeria. Based on the above, what is the solution?

The truth is that the unity of Nigeria is broken as a broken pottery and cannot be put together again. We watch and listen to people; the beneficiaries of corruption give us lecture on how to manage Nigeria. What I wonder about is, do these corrupt leaders sincerely believe that Nigeria can be patched to form a united country? One can only be a beneficiary of corrupt practices in Nigeria to believe in its unity. Ordinary northerner does not know the extent of corruption in Nigeria, and if he knows, he would be the first to ask for the division of Nigeria in the name of restructure. Let every tribe or region go home and reorganise themselves. The Yorubas are already organised as they have the system of obedience to their leaders. The reorganisation of Igboland would be war, fiercer than the one being exercised in Nigeria at the moment as all the thieves and the betrayers of Igboman would regret their actions. The north is as divided as a broken pottery (thanks to Nnamdi Kanu who gave all Nigerians the courage to speak out) and it will take the intervention of miracle for them to return as one-north. As it is now, the north needs the restructuring of Nigeria more than the south do. There is no need of Nigerians killing themselves in the name of Fulani herdsmen. Every Nigerian loves peace. However, we are instigated by corrupt leaders who are aware of their fate should Nigeria ever be restructured, hence they are fighting against restructure. 2019 should have been a sober reflection instead of having general election of which we know should be rigged as usual. 2019 general election is meaningless, it will not usher in any new thing instead it would create a new set of political thieves, god-fathers and blood suckers. How long should Nigeria recycle corrupt practices? The political system we have now is not working. It has never worked anyway. Are we insane in Nigeria, doing same thing over and over again with same results (the poor getting poorer and the rich getting richer)? Who does not know in Nigeria that the system is not working? The deaf knows, the dumb knows, the blind knows and even the deranged knows that Nigeria is jagajaga. What are we going to the poll again in 2019 to do? Nigerians are emotionally challenged. I am tired of writing to the same people who do not listen to me. However, I will continue to write, maybe someone somewhere will listen.

Nigeria is a broken pottery. Mentally, Nigerians wonder and wander, hence they are in all parts of the world enslaved. Well, they call it hustling. Who wants to hustle at the expense of his life and happiness? My people are reduced to slaves in foreign lands, and all the political thieves enrich themselves in hundreds of billions of any currency. Nigeria is just five hours away from Britain and the politicians cannot learn anything from their good practices. Nigerians talk about being enslaved in foreign lands, and forget the perpetual slavery in Nigeria in the hands of oligarchs. Should Nigeria continue to go the way it has been going, sliding downwards, there is no way of recovering. Whosoever tells you that Nigeria is developing is deceiving you and himself. Nigerians earn NNG18,000 per month. At today’s rate 495 to £1, it is £36. If this is not slavery, please let anyone educate me. Politicians earn hundreds of millions of Naira. The best paid civil servant earns about NGN250,000, equivalent to £500 per month. A room in London is more than £500 per month. How does the government expect the professionals to put in their best? How can we stop Nigerian police from taking bribe? I am quite sure that the pay structure is the same even to the Nigerian army who put their lives on the frontlines. With all these, how could any man be against restructure of Nigeria? Is your Nigeria so sweet to you as it is now? You can only say yes if you are one of the corrupt politicians. Who will emancipate my people? Who will help me in educating my people? Nigerians have suffered untold hardship. Now, the government of Nigeria has termed truth as hate-speech. This article may be termed hate-speech as well. It is time Nigerians woke up from their slumber, especially, the working population of Nigeria who are being enslaved in their own country. No one will save Nigerians but themselves. Do not expect any foreign intervention as they are all in it together. The so-called foreign powers collude with Nigerian government and politicians to enslave Nigerians in their own country. If you do not say here I am, no one will say there you are. Nigerians should sum up their courage to say enough is enough. All that Nigerians need now is to restructure their country to reflect the present reality. THINK

By Oguchi Martins Egbujor

UK Based Lecturer and Writer of Strategic Management