BY SIMON REEF MUSA
For many Nigerians who have observed the painful metamorphosis of our democracy narrowed down to the enthronement of the supremacy of a ruling cabal hinged on ethnic and religious divide, a quote by America’s football punter and writer, Chris Kluwe, provides us with a map for the future.
According to Kluwe, “Every single human civilization has failed over time, and my belief is that it’s due to a lack of rational empathy, of understanding that if you don’t have equality in your society, the conflicts you breed (whether internally or externally) will eventually cause its collapse”.
According to the above quote, the absence of rational empathy that ultimately results in injustice in whatever form must someday cause a collapse of any human system, including nations. This lack of empathy and near complete nonchalant attitude of political leaders will someday unlock a passion amongst the oppressed to break free of their chains of bondage.
For now, ethnicity and religion have become the anvils upon which suppression is foisted on ethnic groups. Not only have our ruling elite taken advantage of these monstrous divisions that continue to constitute grievous fault lines for our citizens, our greedy leaders and power dealers continue to feast and perpetrate their lust for power.
However, Monday’s resolve by the Southern Governors’ Forum on the need to urgently convene a national dialogue to redress Nigeria’s many challenges is breaking this cord of ethnicity. For those who have continued to play the ostrich over the raging bloodshed and ongoing crimes shredding our nation, the Southern governors have appropriately served an alarm sound on national leadership and governors of the North.
To give support to their governors, members of both the lower and upper chambers of the National Assembly from the South have expressed their solidarity with the Southern governors in a bid to tackle incessant kidnappings and other criminal activities in the three geo-political zones of the South.
This is the first time the governors and members of the National Assembly from the South are coming together to take a common position over insecurity. The implication of their standpoint is clear and obvious to any discerning mind. Our nation, faced with activities of deadly terror groups and killer herdsmen, is being driven down the slippery slope of disintegration.
On the same day the governors met, the presidency approved new security measures to tackle rising spates of insecurity in the South-east. Considering the rising occurrences of attacks on police stations and activities of the Eastern Security Network (ESN), the new orders issued on the security chiefs is said to have been aimed at combating the activities of criminals and separatist forces.
Many Nigerians have cast doubts on the ability of our nation’s security forces to bring peace without the support of the zone. Critics of the government’s new security measures are quick to point out that out of the nation’s top security personnel that met with President Muhammadu Buhari, none of them was from the South-east. In what ways can the government obtain synergy without public support from the zone? Can it be fair that despite the numerical strength of the Igbos, none of their son or daughter has been found worthy by the Federal Government to head one of the nation’s security agencies?
More than anytime, Nigeria is about descending into fearful times. The recent declaration by the former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Professor Usman Yusuf, that Southern governors were wrong in banning open grazing without talking to Fulani leaders is reflective of the arrogance of those who feel they own Nigeria.
What should these Southern governors do in the face of open threats on the lives of their citizens? Sit down and look without doing anything? If governors of the North, with the exception of Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State, feel there is nothing to fear despite the horrendous massacre of citizens, why blame these Southern governors for coming out when it mattered the most?
As I have often noted severally in my previous articles, for the present insecurity to be combated in Arewa, the North, comprising North-west, North-central and North-east, must rise from its slumber and tackle the menace of these terror gangs and brigands without regard to religion and ethnicity. In the present circumstances where ethnicity and religion remain crucial in leadership recruitment, the dream of attaining peace in the North and other parts of Nigeria will continue to be a mirage.
Amidst the terror of insecurity that has placed our nation in the frontline of most terrorised nations, Southern governors are seeing grave dangers in not evolving templates to rescue Nigeria from being a frontline member of terrorised nations on earth.
Without any doubt, the North bleeds more than the South from terror attacks and crimes. When a man guiding the blind is more concerned about looking for solutions to cure the blindness, then, it becomes obvious that it is either the blind is simply unconcerned or benefiting from his sightlessness.
Insecurity in the North has turned the zone into a quarantine zone for investments and playground for terror gangs and criminal elements. Apart from once-in-while condemnations by groups and political leaders, some Northern governors are yet to demonstrate genuine commitments towards ridding their states of bandits, kidnappers and insurgents.
Monday’s meeting in Asaba, Delta State, should stir the apathetic spirits of some of these governors in the North. The present problems afflicting our country can only be tackled across political, ethnic and religious platforms. This is the time for patriots from all divides to stand tall against the evils that stalk our land. We cannot remain silent in the face of the raging storm of disintegration threatening to throw Nigeria into the pit of annihilation.
A nation does not burst into a conflagration of disintegration at once; it starts with a little disagreement and, thereafter, snowball into smokes of violence. If the smoke is not handled promptly and on time, a fire may start and spread uncontrollably.
There are many platforms upon which politicians can strike a match for the fire of disintegration. A nation like Nigeria where democracy has been disappointingly slow in addressing the raging injustice could provide fertility to separatist groups to divide our country. We have gone down this path some over 50 years ago, but we must never attempt to tread this path again.
Those who see Nigeria as their birthright and others as servants must be warned to stop fanning ambers of disunity. While politicians may be quick to state that the unity of the country is not negotiable, they must be reminded that the absence of justice for all groups involved in the Nigerian project is a recipe for disintegration.
North or South, we must insist on the equality of our citizenship and enthronement of justice for all groups across socio-political, economic, ethnic and religious divides. Only upon this can we have a nation committed to the true growth of nationhood.
