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Mazrui’s treatise on federalism
On Tuesday,
renowned historian, Professor Ali Mazrui had a critical look at Nigeria’s
brand of federalism and declared that the country is sick. He made the
observation at a lecture to commemorate the 70th birthday anniversary of former
military Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon. That the country is sick is just
scratching the surface. In Mazrui’s pithy view, Nigeria, which holds a
very important position on the continent, judging by its mediatory role in
Liberia, Sierra Leone and Darfur, as quick examples of big brotherhood, has
unfortunately missed too many opportunities to become that great nation which
our founding fathers sacrificed their toil and lives for.
Simply put, Mazrui, a
pan-African, stated that since Nigeria’s brand has unfortunately
remained a strange admixture of federalism and military rule thereby giving
birth to unbridled militarism, the task becomes quite onerous.
“Nigeria’s
exceptional need for federalism is partly because of the enlargement of the
scale initiated by the amalgamation of 1914…. It is true that federalism
and military rule make very strange bedfellows. Nigerian federalism has been
distorted by militarism,” he said.
The reality as pointed
out by Mazrui only goes to echo the cries of the civil society groups and other
patriotic individuals that Nigeria has only succeeded in frittering away
abundant human and natural resources in its 44 years of existence.
What is more worrisome
now is that the man who holds the leadership banner of African continent, in
the person of President Olusegun Obasanjo, would prefer the world to see
today’s Nigeria in the garb of a benevolent nation, a colossus of sorts,
doling favours to African countries and fashioning a political direction to
them, rather than addressing those salient, fundamental issues that could
uphold the much-desired federalism.
The Federal Government
would definitely not feel at home with Mazrui’s critical assessment and
would rather, as happened with Professor Chinua Achebe’s comments on the
state of the economy, rationalise issues as usual.
So, while General Yakubu
Gowon (rtd) is being celebrated as the “initiator of true
federalism” for abolishing the sub-regions while he ruled, the nation
wonders on what living history will say about the present administration, which
is yet to admit that Nigeria is in dire straits.
When will the
contradictions of nationhood be resolved? Will the drift to nowhere continue
unabated? Only time and evolving events will surely tell.
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