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Desperate
hours in Nigeria
Indeed, very unsettling signs abound in
the polity today that heighten the fears that Nigeria has, in its march to
nationhood, arrived at a very trying stage. Its ability to turn this
development into an ennobling history would to a large extent depend on the
capacity and willingness of its leaders to wake up to the challenge of true
leadership and steer the nation out of troubled waters. At no time in the
history of this nation has mass
discontent and disenchantment with the federation become so ferocious and
widespread.
In the South East, the Movement for the Actualisation
of the Sovereign State of Biafra
(MASSOB) has been able to win massive sympathy for its advocacy for the
emergence of an independent State of
Biafra. For a long time, it was convenient for Government to dismiss the group
as a fringe, insignificant gathering, but the amazing success of its
stay-at-home order to people from the South East zone on August 26 has now
jolted the Government to the
reality of the capacity and clout of the group, especially as the mass action
equally exerted substantial impact in some States outside the South East zone.
MASSOB uses non-violent means for its advocacy, and relies solely on the power
of logic and persuasion to push
across its agenda, but the
pitiable absence of a superior counter-view from the Government has in no small measure helped boost
its crusade. Instead, Government has worsened the estrangement by its
deployment of force and repression to address the issue.
In the North, there are also a number of militant
groups espousing one agenda or the other. The self-styled Talibans, for instance, have had occasional clashes with law
enforcement agencies in an attempt to advance their struggle. Already, their violent agitation has been
rewarded with some casualties. The Odua Peoples Congress (OPC) in the South
West has also continued to articulate its position on the national question. It
has equally had several brushes with the agents of the law during the course of
its operations.
In the Niger Delta, advocacy has degenerated to
boundless killing, maiming and raping of people in the zone, prompting the
international press to declare that there is “war” in Nigeria. The Niger Delta People’s
Volunteer Force (NDPVF) led by Alhaji Mujahid Asari-Dokubo, former President of
Ijaw Youth Congress (IYC), has of late risen to some prominence among the several violent gangs and cult
groups that have been wreaking mayhem in the Niger Delta since it declared war on the Nigerian State.
Recently it gave an ultimatum to the oil companies doing business in the Niger
Delta to either quit the place or face its wrath. That order, coupled with the
reputation of the heavily armed group for violence and destructions, prompted the American government to
advise its citizens to avoid
Nigeria for now. Incidentally, last weekend, Asari-Dokubo signed a cease-fire
agreement with the Federal Government, after holding talks with President
Olusegun Obasanjo and agents of the the central administration in Abuja.
Other cult groups in the area have equally managed to give some form of
ideological colouring to what were otherwise violent eruptions of mere gangs
put together by politicians to facilitate their quest for power during the last
elections, but which have now outlived
the elections to now haunt us all. The Federal Government should
investigate the origin of these armed gangs and expose their founders, no
matter how highly placed.
It is now evident that we have an inequitable system
that has concentrated all attractions and resources at the centre,
treating the federating units as
mere beggars at the feet of an implacable master. And because the centre has
done so well in its neglect of several zones in the country, discontent has
grown with amazing proportion. But
Government’s distaste for respecting responsible, peaceful
agitation has begun to be costly. Now, the same Government that has for long
refused to enter into meaningful dialogue with well-meaning leaders of the
Niger Delta on very serious issues
that threatened their survival, even while presented in the most civilised way
possible, has now been forced to sit with
warlords at the highest form of negotiation. Is Government now saying
that for any aggrieved group to be heard, it must illegally acquire arms, kill,
maim, rape and declare war on the Nigerian State?
We hold strongly the opinion that a big, strong,
united, but just Nigeria remains the best option for this nation, and its
advantages far outweigh whatever merits that are inherent in the most richly
endowed tiny breakaway republic.
But the Government must be asking itself why these groups are able to
easily win the sympathy of the people. Indeed, the absence of responsible,
equitable governance creates the general discontent that is exploited by these
groups to threaten peace and stability.
We reassert our preference for dialogue and peaceful
negotiation. Government must not
trifle with the legitimate concern of any group in Nigeria. We insist that
there is nothing wrong in debating
Nigeria, and agreeing on the most equitable form of union that would guarantee
that everyone would feel proud to be a Nigerian.
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