A case for Revisiting of Nigeria’s Amalgamation-THE DIFFERENCE SPECIAL EDITION, OCTOBER 2007

A case for Revisiting of Nigeria’s Amalgamation-THE DIFFERENCE SPECIAL EDITION, OCTOBER 2007

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                                                                                         BY NNAMDI OBODOECHI

Every October 1 Nigeria marks the anniversary of her independence from British rule 47 years ago. Whereas the celebration sees millions of Nigerians in high spirit, the opposite is the case with me.

For me, every October 1 is a day of sober reflection and of deep regrets over the fact that this “mere geographical expression” as the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo aptly put it continues to survive as one country. In fact, every October 1, I feel embittered in my soul about the British through Lord Luggard for amalgamating the Northern and southern Protectorates with the colony of Lagos to form Nigeria in 1914. I see that singular act of amalgamation as a big mistake and the beginning of our problems. I therefore wish to submit that it must be reviewed by the United Nations.

I believe that a sovereign nation should be one made up of people of the same language, culture, ethnicity and geographical features.

Taking a case study of Europe, where I have lived for some years now, every nation over here speaks the same language and has the same culture. Greece, for example, has only one language (Greek) and the same culture. Let me quickly say that countries are not formed on the basis of population, as some are smaller than others, such as Luxemburg, which population is not up to 10 million people!

This is a clear opposite of many forcefully married African countries. In the case of Nigeria, this artificial country has a population of over 140 million people with different languages, cultures, religions, and ethnic backgrounds.

One wonders why Africa’s colonial masters had to amalgamate people of different cultures, ethnicities, religions and languages. What the reason may be, it was done to promote their own selfish interests.

May I point out that the world has ceased to be what it was during the colonial era, when the amalgamation of people that God had created to live independently as sovereign entities was seen as the right thing to do. In Nigeria’s case, it ought to be clear to everyone that the experiment has failed. Rather that bring peace, development and happiness, amalgamation has brought war, marginalisation, gross denial of human rights and needless deaths. What evil consequences of the sad experiment in the amalgamation of African peoples by the British, the French and the Portuguese!

The truth is that Nigeria has largely been held together by force of arms. One evident demonstration of this is the unwarranted continued detention of Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, an Igbo lawyer whose only offence is that he formed the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) to champion the non-violent struggle for an independent homeland for his marginalised people. I wish to remind the Nigerian authorities of the hypocrisy of continued insistence that no one must leave Nigeria when the British at a point listened to the voice of reason and acceded to the request of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and his contemporaries  for Nigeria’s independence, which the government has commemorated ever since on every October 1. This was done in a very peaceful manner with no bloodshed, but today no one in Nigeria can agitate for his / her rights (including the rights to self determination) without tasting the brutality of Nigeria security operatives. Take for example, the condemnable incident where the Nigerian police brutally killed 68 MASSOB members in Imo State for agitating for the revival of the Biafra Nation as the best way to free Igbos / other Biafrans from hatred, marginalisation, intimidation, oppression and unwarranted killings.

We have fought a costly civil war over this issue of separation and we are not praying for a second was in Nigeria, rather, what we are praying is for peaceful division because a second war would have devastating consequences for everyone.

I wish to appeal to our former colonial masters to reconsider their decision of 1914 concerning Nigeria as a country of different cultures, languages and of ethnic groups; I urge them to approach and work together with the United States, the European Union and the United Nations to work out ways for the peaceful division of Nigeria.

“I see that singular act of amalgamation as a big mistake and the beginning of our problems. I therefore wish to submit that it must be reviewed by the United Nations.’’

Nigerians, I tell you, would be better off if they live independently God created them to be. Peace and unity would reign, thus reducing the high level of frustration which keeps which driving millions of Nigerians abroad to be a huge burden on the rest of the world but especially to the West. Better late than never.

Obodoechi is The Difference’s Contributing Writer in Greece.