FOUNDATIONS FOR A NEW NIGERIA (1) Wilfred Usani

Argues the imperative of a national charter among ethnic nationalities in Nigeria

In my previous essays I have argued that the problem with Nigeria is the absence of a national spirit to inspire the peoples of Nigeria to take ownership of the country and so advance its development in all spheres. I have argued that without this national spirit, corruption will remain rife no matter the laws put in place and no matter the commitment of any government in power to stem corruption.

The question arises as to how to practically recreate the country Nigeria as a nation. In answer to this question I propose, following the thread of my earlier arguments that the ethnic nationalities that consist within the geographical territory known as Nigeria must come together and agree even if symbolically or notionally to be formed into one united country to be called “Nigeria” and this agreement should be contained in a document to be known as “The National Charter”.

The national charter will be a document which will be akin to a National Bill of Rights and it will articulate the over-arching vision, fundamental principles and ideals and reasons to which the ethnic nationalities consisting in the territory accede as the basic terms upon which the union of the ethnic nationalities into one nation is founded. In other words, this national charter will be the agreement by the ethnic nationalities to be formed into one nation and will contain the reasons for the agreement and the terms of the agreement. In my view, this agreement is critical to the ethnic nationalities and their various peoples taking ownership of Nigeria. It will mean that Nigeria is no longer a creation of the colonial masters but a nation born by or out of the will of the peoples who make up the country.

To achieve this, the government of the day must take the lead. This is necessary in order to maintain order within the territory since the government of the day is the sovereign authority over the territory called Nigeria at the moment.

Having said this, this government like previous governments and indeed large sections of the Nigerian ruling elite fear and oppose any discussions on the structure of Nigeria. They fear that such discussions may unwittingly lead to a break-up of Nigeria particularly having regard to the infrequent but persistent agitations in some quarters for independence and separation from the country.

I think it is safe to say the fears of a break-up of Nigeria are exaggerated because a vast majority of Nigerians believe that we are too far gone as one country to turn down the road of separation into different countries. Many if not all the agitations for separation are merely cries for more equitable terms of association in the union called Nigeria – whether it is “Boko Haram” or “IPOB”.

Notwithstanding, it is important to manage the situation carefully and pragmatically by continuing to emphasise the reasons why even though it is clear to us all that the current state of the union is not tenable for any ethnic nationality consisting in the territory called Nigeria today, breaking up this country as it is cannot be an ideal we must pursue.

In the world as it is today, Nigeria with its resources - both human and material - is the most populous and richly endowed country in Africa and in the black world. As one united country Nigeria is a significant country in the world. It has the potential to become a world leader and indeed the pride of Africa. It is the collective human and material resources of all the ethnic nationalities that consist in Nigeria that gives it that significance. Were the ethnic nationalities not fused together by the British, the ethnic nationalities individually will not have this potential. They will be too small to be able to muster the economies of scale which Nigeria currently can muster to be significant players in international economics and politics.

In the over 100 years that the ethnic nationalities that consist of Nigeria have been forced to stay together as one country, there has been so much interdependence and interconnection socially and economically that it would be easier to find ways to stay together amicably than to find ways to separate. If truth be told, a typical Nigerian meal today consists of products from different parts of the country! The large population of the country, its landmass and diversity of peoples, languages and cultures makes a united Nigeria a more potent economic and political force in world trade and politics and consequently provides better protection to the individual ethnic nationalities than if the country were broken into smaller individual countries. The country as it is today is said to consist of over 250 ethnic nationalities or linguistic groups. There is mutual suspicion between all the ethnic nationalities and people tend to band together with their own particular ethnic or linguistic group no matter how small. For the proponents of a break-up, the question will be into how many countries will the country be broken down into? What type of country will each be? Even if groups of ethnic groups were to bind together to form one country would there still not be mutual suspicions among them in that country which they will still have to address? Wouldn’t each country be so small that they become vulnerable to other countries economically, politically and even militarily? Will the result of this vulnerability not be a worse fate for these ethnic nationalities to suffer than what they think they are currently suffering within the entity called Nigeria? We must remember that during the civil war the minority ethnic groups of the Eastern Region did not buy into the “Biafra” idea for fear of domination by their majority Igbo compatriots. The irony was that “Biafra” itself was an idea born out of the fear of the Igbo of domination by the other majority ethnic nationalities in Nigeria. To this day there is deep suspicion of the Yoruba in all parts of South - Eastern and South – South Nigeria and vice- versa so that those who think the problem of the country is between the Muslim dominated Hausa/Fulani North versus the Christian dominated South should think again. I know many people from Cross River State who rightly or wrongly blame the Yoruba for the failure of the Calabar EPZ and the Calabar Port because according to them the Yoruba fear the loss of economic power to the minorities of the South – South. Usani is Senior Partner in the Law Firm of Ethan & Magdiel and former Special Adviser and member of the Cross River State Executive Council