As it is today, this country will never be united.
There is a truth that Nigeria as a country must come to accept, we can institutionalize an amalgamation and make people of different histories and cultures live together as one, we would have to do more than create laws and tenets to foster unity. It has been 100 years since that amalgamation but nothing suggests Nigerians are more united today than they were in 1914. This country was set up to be anything but united.
The colonial masters never wanted a united country; they just wanted a bigger company with one command than several countries or protectorates with many control centres. It was in the economic and political interest of Britain to form an amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorate.
They certainly had nothing like the unity of the country in their minds. The same goes for the masters of the Nigerian people today. Nigeria’s biggest politicians may fight and argue over the pages of newspapers but more often than not, when interests switch, the dynamics of passion switch with it. You are not likely to see a top political leader who entirely closes the door on another politician. Former Lagos Governor, Bola Tinubu looked like President Jonathan’s main nemesis in the run-up to the 2011 elections, one or two late private meetings later, they both reached an agreement. Business done!
Mind you, you may hear the politician say same, it just never happens that a Nigerian politician closes the door entirely on his/her counterpart. They don’t play like that. If politics divides them, business unites them and where business divides them, politics unites them. Where politics and business fail, family ties often come in useful. Fathers may fight on the pages of newspapers, you should not be shocked to see children of rival politicians sit over drinks, discussing every thing under the sun including at times the political differences of their parents, albeit in a non-combatant mood.
What does all these say about the ordinary man on the street? The Nigerian masses are the biggest loser in the political game. They are not only losers because the resources of the state hardly get to them, they are losers because while being the grass in the fight of political elephants, when such elephants laugh over a joke on issues they agree, the masses often come on the receiving end. You are likely to see average Nigerians punching and cursing one another because they do not agree on political personalities, you are also likely to see such personalities kiss and make up in days, with such citizens never really learning from such experiences. Take a look at social media, check out comments on blogs and articles, you’d find Nigerians are divided along religious and ethnic lines.
The lines appear parallel and unity looks very far away from this land. As it is today, this country will never be united. The corrupt ruling class feeds of the people’s disunity. The divide and rule system works better when the masses are divided and the masses will always be divided as long as the status quo remains the same. What we can do is to understand these realities and guide ourselves appropriately. We cannot do anything about it. The majority of people will always find relevance only in where they come from or the faith they live by rather than by the value they bring to humanity.
Having said that, the ruling class knows better. Where money and power sharing is the issue, the dynamics of interest rule, not the fickleness of ethnicity nor the emotions of religion. You can define what rules you wanna play by. So, who is likely to be your brother in today’s Nigeria?
Your answer depends on what class of the Nigerian society you belong to. I know that members of the ruling class define brotherhood in terms of power and money. Language is last on the table of preference. It is what it is, it is Nigeria as it is.
There is a truth that Nigeria as a country must come to accept, we can institutionalize an amalgamation and make people of different histories and cultures live together as one, we would have to do more than create laws and tenets to foster unity. It has been 100 years since that amalgamation but nothing suggests Nigerians are more united today than they were in 1914. This country was set up to be anything but united.
The colonial masters never wanted a united country; they just wanted a bigger company with one command than several countries or protectorates with many control centres. It was in the economic and political interest of Britain to form an amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorate.
They certainly had nothing like the unity of the country in their minds. The same goes for the masters of the Nigerian people today. Nigeria’s biggest politicians may fight and argue over the pages of newspapers but more often than not, when interests switch, the dynamics of passion switch with it. You are not likely to see a top political leader who entirely closes the door on another politician. Former Lagos Governor, Bola Tinubu looked like President Jonathan’s main nemesis in the run-up to the 2011 elections, one or two late private meetings later, they both reached an agreement. Business done!
Mind you, you may hear the politician say same, it just never happens that a Nigerian politician closes the door entirely on his/her counterpart. They don’t play like that. If politics divides them, business unites them and where business divides them, politics unites them. Where politics and business fail, family ties often come in useful. Fathers may fight on the pages of newspapers, you should not be shocked to see children of rival politicians sit over drinks, discussing every thing under the sun including at times the political differences of their parents, albeit in a non-combatant mood.
What does all these say about the ordinary man on the street? The Nigerian masses are the biggest loser in the political game. They are not only losers because the resources of the state hardly get to them, they are losers because while being the grass in the fight of political elephants, when such elephants laugh over a joke on issues they agree, the masses often come on the receiving end. You are likely to see average Nigerians punching and cursing one another because they do not agree on political personalities, you are also likely to see such personalities kiss and make up in days, with such citizens never really learning from such experiences. Take a look at social media, check out comments on blogs and articles, you’d find Nigerians are divided along religious and ethnic lines.
The lines appear parallel and unity looks very far away from this land. As it is today, this country will never be united. The corrupt ruling class feeds of the people’s disunity. The divide and rule system works better when the masses are divided and the masses will always be divided as long as the status quo remains the same. What we can do is to understand these realities and guide ourselves appropriately. We cannot do anything about it. The majority of people will always find relevance only in where they come from or the faith they live by rather than by the value they bring to humanity.
Having said that, the ruling class knows better. Where money and power sharing is the issue, the dynamics of interest rule, not the fickleness of ethnicity nor the emotions of religion. You can define what rules you wanna play by. So, who is likely to be your brother in today’s Nigeria?
Your answer depends on what class of the Nigerian society you belong to. I know that members of the ruling class define brotherhood in terms of power and money. Language is last on the table of preference. It is what it is, it is Nigeria as it is.
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