It’s Amusing When People Say Nigeria’s Unity Is Non-negotiable – Atiku

BY AMOS DUNIA, ABUJA – Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said that he finds it amusing when people declare Nigeria’s unity as fixed and non-negotiable while doing everything in their power to destroy that fragile unity, stressing that there is nothing in the relationships among peoples that is fixed for eternity.

Speaking on the topic; “Development and Nation-Building for Nigeria’s Future,” Atiku however, said that he strongly believes that Nigeria can and will remain one strong and united nation with significant strides in economic development to improve the lives of our peoples.

In his words; “However, we must not take it for granted. We must work hard at it and make necessary compromises to accommodate one another”.

He said that when we start developing with what we have, more of our people will want to identify with the country, love the country and commit their lives to the country, saying that when that happens, especially with fairness and justice, nation-building accelerates, however imperfectly.

In his words; “You cannot declare your marriage as non-negotiable while doing everything to sow seeds of discord in that same marriage. Countries can be created by force. You can whip groups of people into forming a country but you cannot whip them into forming a nation. Nations are built through conscious or even unconscious agreement by peoples who believe that being together is, on balance, more beneficial than being apart”.

He therefore declared that the time has come for Nigeria to restructure in a manner that allows various segments to develop at their own pace and not be held back by the centre or other segments.

Atiku said that developed segments will spur development in other segments because what they do well will attract the attention of others, adding that it may make a Nigerian union more attractive and nation-building easier just as he said that our poor nation-building record should not be an excuse for developmental inaction or backwardness.

This was just as he said that kidnappers and all manners of bandits have been allowed to operate so openly and brazenly that it would surprise no one if they applied for registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission and listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

Atiku, who stated these at a Public Presentation of the book, ‘Remaking Nigeria: Sixty Years, Sixty Voices’, in Abuja on Thursday, noted that five years ago, the Abuja – Kaduna Road was not a virtual no-go area while the South- East was not a virtual war-zone, and Amotekun was not needed to protect lives and property in the South West.

He said; “On May 31st, 2016, at this very venue, I chaired the public presentation of a book by Chido Onumah with the eye-catching title: We are all Biafrans.

“In the book, Chido used Biafra as a metaphor for the legitimate feelings of marginalization by diverse segments of Nigerians that cut across the country and the growing agitations by many thoughtful Nigerians for a reset, for a less controlling, less suffocating, and less dictatorial centre.

“More than five years later it is obvious that Chido’s admonition that we needed to fix Nigeria, by heeding those calls, in order to avoid sleep-walking our way towards disaster has not been heeded. Rather, and as a result, we seem to be sprinting full speed towards disaster,” he said.

Atiku also said that fixing or restructuring will help in our nation-building project because it will help to foster a sense of nationhood out of our disparate groups, cultures, religions, and regions.

According to him; “Leadership is critical in the process of nation-building. Leaders give direction and the example they set determines the extent to which their followers will trust them. Without trust, there’s no leadership. Without leadership, a country drifts and becomes more difficult to forge into a nation”.

“Development cannot wait for nation-building. In fact, neither development nor nation-building needs wait for the other. Development can indeed help in nation-building. We can work and talk at the same time.

Nation-building has not ended in the United States of America, United Kingdom, Russia, China, and Belgium, to cite a few examples. Yet they are among the most developed countries in the world. What we need to do is work hard at both.

“There is nothing in the current state of our nation-building that prevents Adamawa, Kano, Lagos or Rivers States from enumerating the number of existing and prospective primary and secondary school students and properly planning educational development in their respective states for the next five or ten years: – classroom blocks to be built, teachers to be hired and/or trained, textbooks to acquire, salaries to be paid, university spaces that would be required in the years to come, and so on.

“The same goes for roads and bridges, hospitals, and water supply. If they do these well wouldn’t Taraba and Benue States copy them? If they do them well wouldn’t Anambra and Kogi States emulate them?

“Nation-building is not just what elites or government officials do. Trade, social and cultural exchanges by ordinary people are critical components of nation-building. In fact, you cannot build a nation out of people who do not have meaningful interaction. And to facilitate meaningful interaction among peoples you need infrastructural development, including roads, bridges, ports, markets, parks and so on,” he stressed.

He also said; “Development and nation-building do not happen by themselves. They are guided by people, especially leaders, thoughtful, insightful, and visionary leaders who are willing to make sacrifices and reach compromises. When people see their leaders making those efforts genuinely, and experience improvements in their lives, they are likely to follow.

“Over the past six years the leadership of this country at the federal level hardly embarked on nation-building. They may have been making (utterly confusing and unproductive) efforts at economic development. “However, it can be rightly argued that they have been un-building the nation by taking conscious and deliberate actions that not only make nation-building more difficult but also undo the achievements made in that regard by previous administrations,” the former Vice President said.

Atiku noted that there were deliberate attempts made since the 1960s to forge a nation out of Nigeria through states creation, federal character, the NYSC, power rotation, unity schools, and multiple federal agencies, adding that however imperfect, these were genuine attempts at giving each segment of the country a sense of belonging and a semblance of justice and equity and promote interactions among the peoples.

He further said; “All it has taken is one administration in six short years to tear up the fabric of that unity and make more Nigerians lose faith in Nigeria and question the rationale for having one united country. One lesson there for all of us is the need to always be vigilant and be prepared to defend our democracy, for it is through the democratic process that we can more easily promote the unity of our country”.