What is there not to love about Nigeria? With over 200 million people, two hundred and fifty ethnic groups, Africa`s largest oil and gas reserves, a cache of solid minerals as well as endlessly fertile land, the giant country that lies at the heart of Africa and the core of global consciousness as the most populous black nation in the world has the attention of even the world`s busiest.
Within and outside the country, many look with bemusement at the eternally conflicted love child of Lord Lugard`s 1914 tryst between the Northern and Southern Protectorates, the giant contradiction that has improbably become the Giant of Africa – even if only in name.
In 1914, with one gravely nonchalant stroke of Lord Lugard`s pen, the points of Nigerian convergence and divergence were indelibly marked. Many years down the line, the beacons remain as immovable as ever, indicating at once the grievous mistakes of the colonialists famished for wise counsel and the gracious fortitude of the colonized who seek to right ancient wrongs.
Nigeria has come a long way since. Oloibiri in Bayelsa state gave the country oil in 1956 while independence came on October 1,1960 to open a new page for the country. Those given to happier times would prefer to gloss over the military coups of the mid-1960s and the calamitous civil war of 1967-70. But there can be no escaping how forcefully, like anvil and hammer, those events shredded the skirt of Nigeria`s unity, bearing in the process a nakedness that continues to embarrass even till this day.
The loveless marriage has produced many gloriously joyful moments on the bed of strange bed fellows. There are the writers who have gone on to win universal acclaim; there are the athletes who have brought the country priceless medals; there are the everyday Nigerians who have shown incredible reserves of fortitude to represent the country in countless spots around the world.
Yet, for all its abundant fruitfulness, the misunderstanding grows by the day and with the divisive politics of 2023 looming, the tide of discontent is primed to swell. Because in Nigeria corruption has lain waste to men and matter, the only industry that thrives, albeit fitfully, is the politics industry. Thus, rumours are always rife that Nigeria`s North would throw everything but the kitchen sink to retain power as it is the only thing they can hold on too.
If this appears too outrageous to be true, think how terrorism has eaten up buildings that once housed those committed to education and farmlands sworn to agriculture as well as spawning IDPs in droves. For the North, it has been one fast return to neighbourhoods long abandoned.
On its own part, the South has grown even gloomier, its steps along Nigeria`s journey to nationhood appearing increasingly leaden. So, in a lot of places, conflicts simmer in what has all along been a thoroughly troubled marriage. Many of those who have been called upon to intervene have turned out to be incurable optimists, predicting that the country will come good in no distant time. But when?
There has also been calls for the country to be restructured so as to give dying sections of the country the opportunity to breathe life into their desiccated structures. But again, it appears that the forces that do not want Nigeria to move forward are ill at ease with any conversation about restructuring.
In the face of all these, the Niger-Delta continues to sulk as wealth found in its soil is dug up and used to fund the country`s extravagant sprees of corruption even as the region remains steeped in incredible neglect.
From the Southeast, the IPOB, in spite of its many foibles, continues to tap into ancient Igbo grievances to sorely test the durability and viability of Nigeria`s troubled union. There appears to be a consensus that if answers are not found very soon to the tough questions posed, history may return with a vengeance.
What is there to love about a country whose people are as tough as its luck? What is there to love about a country where the aged and aging have appropriated for themselves the levers of political power? What is there to love about a country where the sons of Cain and Barabbas rove and rampage, plundering rural communities? What is there to love about a country where a top cop wanted in another country continues to indulge his appetite for the illegal here?
What is there to love about a country where many are unemployed with young people choosing to flee to backwater countries? What is there to love about a country where the last embers of patriotism are being cruelly extinguished by a gale of despair and desolation?
It is hope. In many ways, a loveless, luckless marriage continues to seed hope that someday the Giant of Africa may snap off its shackles and rise to take its place in the pantheon of nations while crushing all those who today continue to make its fetters firmer.
Kene Obiezu,
keneobiezu@gmail.com
