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PULL DOWN THE WALL

Nigerians from all parts of the country, across sectoral, cultural, religious and political divides are strongly against any form of separation or division of the federation. The scares of the Odumegwu Ojukwu led Biafra civil war is still very fresh in our memory.
Insinuations recently by Libyan leader Col. Muammar Gaddafi calling for a split of Nigerian into Christian south and Muslim north was largely seen as repulsive and condemnable. Federal government’s spontaneous reaction and recall of the Ambassador to Libya Alhaji Aliu Mohammed, was supported by both Christian and Muslim leaders.

Obviously, Nigerians want to remain as one indivisible entity. However, there are calls for a sovereign national conference to bring about a truly federal constitution. Nigeria is regarded by a school of thought as a mere ‘geographical expression” of the British Colonial masters, brought about by the amalgamation of the north and south when leadership was conceded to the Muslim north under Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa. The British Colonialist did not follow a genuine process of unification as there was no call for a referendum therefore the absense of a consensus amongst the federating regions. This lack of sincerity of purpose on the part of the colonial masters and the lack of consensus by the different sections in the Nigerian state left us as strange bed fellows.

Nigeria is made up of diverse religious, tribal, sectional and political groupings. The killings in March 2010 of over 500 children, women and the elderly in a village in Jos Plateau in Northern Nigeria, by suspected Fulani hardsmen, was suspected to have religious inclinations. The United Nations constituted investigation into the killings fearing possible genocide.

It has become more imperative for us to seek a permanent solution to the frequent riots and clashes amongst different tribes, religious groups  in the country. It is important for us to also start to de-emphasizing those things that causes separation amongst us and consolidate those things that brings us together as a people.

The promotion of one Nigeria by the National Orientation Agency and the Rebranding Nigeria Project along cultural and political lines should be given prominence. Those attributes that tend to divide us should be masked and relegated.

For Nigeria to remain as one indivisible nation, the contraption called ‘three major tribes’ should be eliminated from our body polity. Emphasis should be on majority vote and not majority tribe. This will effectively detribalize the polity. Same applies to religion. Government should stop using tax payers money to fund religion. Rather, it should fund a new cultural revolution aimed at promoting the unity of all tribes and cultures.

Recent accusations leveled against Multi-Choice’s African Magic channel by the Igbo Youths Congress that the network is marginalizing the Igbos by not showing their local movies while giving Hausa and Yoruba films considerable prominence. Such agitations are solemn pointers to this demon called ‘three major tribe. The separation of a people along tribal lines stirs up nothing but conflicts and distrust amongst the people.

You can envisage what will happen when Multi-Choice creates an Igbo channel, people from other parts of the country will start their own agitation as well, and we will never get to the bottom of it. The solution to this, I believe is the creation of a single Movie Magic channel that broadcast films from all parts of the country regardless of region, provided they meet the required standards.

Nigeria needs to step up. I advocate a new ‘One Nigeria’ campaign that will promote peace and justice amongst the. Creating a truly one-people, one-nation ideology whereby we will no longer count tribes but votes. A new society whereby the Muslim and the Christian will become equal. Let us create an harmonious society devoid of acrimony and rancor.

When East and West Germany wanted to unify, one of the most impactful of all the things they did to achieve their reunification was the historic pulling-down of the Berlin Wall. What are our own Berlin Walls that we need to pull down?
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