t took quite a while for Promise to pick up the phone. When he eventually did, the explanation was that he was avoiding in-coming calls especially at certain periods of the day. Apparently his relatives and friends have been calling almost non-stop. What could be wrong, if any? The economic crisis is heading down there in measured steps but surely and certainly; but no; the news in the air used to be dominated by what the Central Bank of Nigeria is doing or not doing to stabilize the monetary system, albeit the exchange rate, one US Dollar to the Naira. The same news also doubled as the excitement of anticipation. The callers were indirectly beckoning on the special one living in America at a time the man in question is sleeping with one eye open, living in consummate fear and praying fervently the next shoe would not drop before it is due to drop. If there was one time when these home folks needed his money, let it be now, the moment that counts more than anything else.

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While traffic is seemingly down at Western Union and Moneygram locations in America, people are busy elsewhere crowding around at the local currency markets across Nigeria. They are imagining the rains coming down bringing bundles of the American green no matter the order but preferably in $100 bills. Unfortunately, Promise would not have enough, what they are looking for; but the phone must keep ringing. The story would hardly be any different even if he chose to initiate the calls; the difference would be in knowing what he now knows and yet not fully prepared to talk about.

The man is lucky to have a part-time job at this moment; but would it matter to the callers? It would not be the first time Promise heard the following comments: "If the condition in America is much harder than it is in Nigeria, you might as well come back home to join the crowd". In simple translation, "The man is in America and has no Dollar to send to us here in Nigeria; why is he there then?" Promise said he got an idea. He had told some of the home folks his bank folded, closed down; the stock market plunged with investment portfolios nose-diving and still headed south. He could continue making up stories to the extent of time it would take the exchange rate to approach $1.00 to N200.00. By then, his best option would be to disconnect the phone or change his number. Either way the crisis would never cease to create another opportunity for missed calls.

Promise is like every other American; they all lost their banks. In the real sense, everybody and anybody who owned a home prior to the financial meltdown surely had an investment. Home ownership was one such investment whose value appreciated in due course of time. That appreciation meant the market value of the home as determined and appraised by competent professionals provided an instant bankable statement of account. The difference between what is owed on the mortgage and the current value of the home constitutes the home-equity.

That difference is positive when home value exceeds what is owed and negative if otherwise. For so many years home equity has generally been positive and invariably has become America's personal bank. People have had to borrow part of their home-equity as needed and for every reason under the sun. As interest rates dropped, homeowners seized the opportunity to refinance their mortgages; doing so had the chance of increasing the equity on their homes just as it left a false sense of relief, the ability to owe more than the previous mortgage; in doing so people were never overly concerned or mindful of any serious consequences whether intended or unintended; that kind of personal income disposition made the difference for the good times. Invariably, the low interest rate would mean the mortgage clock has been reset for extended terms and conditions. That way, people enhanced their leverage and access to cash from accruable value of their homes while still living in such homes. This unique personal banker system has been providing liquidity and fluidity to real assets, essentially turning them into the people's cash cow for so many years. Keeping that cow alive would ensure more and more milk as many times over and as long as the animal was still alive to breathe and breed. Individuals also had the choice of borrowing against their homes for upgrades and improvements, thereby giving additional value and subsequent equity to such homes.

Promise like many others made use of the home-equity loan in financing the building of that giant edifice, the village monument back home in Nigeria, what the people prefer to call the "Homeland Mansion". Only politicians, high ranking pastors and evangelists, bankers, oil company executives, Alaba market importers, commodity merchants, senior civil servants and specially skilled professionals and otherwise, the 419 super dupers, the professional kidnapers and their agents own similar structures. One has to see any of these mansions to realize how those homes provide unique signature brand of attention and identity good enough for the hero-worshippers, otherwise the recognition bestowed on the few that "deal only in cash".

The man has received so many chieftaincy titles that he has since lost count; and he is not alone, among the "High Chiefs", those with multiple titles. How then could the one with the special title "Pocket Never Dries #I of Creek Town" turn around and tell the home folks he has no US Dollar to send? His story is exactly part of the personal stories across America, the real meaning of surviving the financial crisis in America for Nigeria. Not all those owing more than their homes are presently worth, have mansions in Nigeria; collectively their stories are real and could be told in a single stanza. To such people and many others, the US economy cannot be fully revived until these "personal banks", the home equities head back north into positive territory. It is likely to take another generation for what is upside down, currently lying prostrate but belly down, to get back up on its feet and firmly so. Until then, what is there for the Nigerian folks still oblivious of the prevailing circumstances beyond their environment but must keep calling long distance looking for cash?

Promise told one such caller, "If you find Mr. Cash tell him I need a bail out". Incidentally the stimulus package from the Federal added just $10.00 to his pay check per pay period but his state treasury decided to equally jack up his withholding tax. Thus whatever Obama has been able to give him among the rest so-called 95% of Americans in tax-cut, the governor of his state in the US has taken away with the left hand in withholding percentage. Precious is really in trouble but hardly alone.

In the past few weeks the phones have continued to ring; this time for a different reason and the news has been quite grim. The armed invasion of Niger Delta has advanced beyond historical proportions, perhaps in excess of the usual police action taken in the wake and early throes of Nigeria's foremost civil war; it has been 42 year ever since but the repeat performance would seem to defy the rust of age and time. Federal troops under the unified command of a Joint Task Force (JTF) have yet to march into the jungles of Bayelsa. Members of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) and other allied militia groups have been fully engaged in the Warri sector of the conflict where heavy artillery bombardment and indiscriminate air raids have been silencing voices of dissent and militancy. However, the noise of confusion, sponsored propaganda machinery from both the informed and the uninformed, including retail peddlers of horror stories and rumor-mongering have touched off the panic button. As the federal troops lock horns with the elusive Mr. Government Ekpumopolo and his Tompolo forces, the familiar scenes of human strife, unidirectional displacement of people mark Nigeria's 42nd anniversary of organized siege and terror. The ugly faces of hardship, the long trains of refugee movement towards destination unknown showcase the return of strife. Nigerians residing far from the war zone seem oblivious of all the facts, the harsh realities facing their fellow countrymen and women stranded in the delta creeks. Their country is back in the news just as it was in the beginning when Biafra came to become. Unfortunately this time around the South-south has no one to rally the troops; Adaka Boro and Ken Saro-Wiwa are no more. Goodluck Jonathan the one selected to be Vice President is all ten gallon "whiskey hat" with no power and certainly anything and everything but good luck; Edward Clark is too old to be relevant; Alams has yet to recover from his night flight from the UK jail. Where have all the men gone, when they should stand up to be counted?

When the going got tough in the hay days of Biafra, during and after, Ndi-Igbo never got any cooperation, not even some lame respect for courage and bravery from any and all "Mba Miri"; Ndi-Igbo stood firm, gave everything in human effort, and expended blood, material resources and all disposables defending Eastern Nigeria, homeland to the same people Nigeria is now seeking to eliminate. The abuse received did not end with the confistication, the appropriation and misappropriation of personal belongings of Ndi-Igbo fleeing conflict zones but also continued as looters cast lots and laid claim to the so-called "Abandoned Property" estate. Mba Miri chose to side Nigeria; worked assiduously to defeat Biafra and eliminate Ndi-Igbo.

The same extended arm of Nigeria's so-called federal government is out killing the people to acquire and redistribute their resources. The return of the civil war debate, all the reasons for "One Nigeria" previously on a vinyl are now on a recorded video for all to recall and remember. The argument is that no responsible government should sit back and watch its resources be trampled upon by armed thugs on a mission. Incidentally, the so-called "responsible" government refused to fix all the reasons for which there was Biafra; thus, 42 years and counting the war slogans are back. Just as it was before, Nigeria will win the war and perhaps all subsequent battles but victory will be temporarily expedient but perpetually elusive.

Before this latest salvo from the mangroves, Mr. Promise also heard about what the leadership of his people is doing to address the harsh economic times. The South-south governors and their cohorts holed in at the Tinapa Resort Calabar for a 3-day summit. The South-south Economic Summit as it was dubbed was essentially another jamboree talk-shop; the political power grid came to grips, rigged in full regalia in a replay mode to hear what has been retold several times over. This time the experts would be imported from far and near to repackage and in familiar terms, "rebrand" shared communal problems of "One Nigeria". Unfortunately, Governor Fashola of Lagos State, the only elected leader not possessed by the Nigerian demon was never invited for a show and tale. The Tanapa Summit left out the one expert busy with real salvage work, sieving through piles of layered rot and decay. As Babatunde Fashola is busy reclaiming Lagos State for real, his counterparts elsewhere in the South-south are drinking "akara water" listening to power-point presentations, lectures from local champs and their associate imports.

Precious is the son of the soil from Bayelsa state; what exactly do his people have in common with the rest of Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Rivers, Delta, Edo, the entire South-south? The differences in tribe, tongue and ethnicity are as broad as could be found anywhere else in Nigeria. Each of the minority groupings is suffering from the same internal identity crisis, trying to stand on its own to wield a sphere of influence or risk being consumed by its neighbors in the greater "One Nigeria". This struggle for self-actualization and recognition is not only political but inherently predicated in language variability and selective cultural dominance. The Edo sees his culture and language as being more superior in heritage when set against any of Ishekiri or Ijaw and vice versa. The justification is not as important as the reality of purpose distinguishing one ethnic grouping from another. In the same vein, the Calabar man has his own belief and understanding; those attributes define the commanding emotional intelligence he would bring to the Tinapa summit.

It is too simplistic to argue that the English Language under which these summits are conducted is Nigeria's language of instruction and authority. The truth is that the English Language also creates perfect strangers among Nigerians.

A typical Nigerian is never who he claims to be until his identity is revealed. If he says he is from Imo or Anambra, Enugu, Abia or Ebonyi, the follow-up greeting could be "Nna-a Kedu"? The guy from South-south most probably has to be Edo to understand fellow Edo person; the worst would be the one from Asaba (Anioma) who often claims he is not "Nwa-Onyigbo" just as the Ikwerre man in Rivers. Both of them are from the South-south but sharing ethnic culture and language affinity with people from the Southeast.

To understand this problem better would be best taking a leap of fate to the northern states. The geo-political divisions of the North remain what they are, just political sub-divisions. The walls of these subdivisions are seemingly lose and weak. Their power and influence remain subordinated to a relatively stronger unifying variance, what ordinarily would be identified as an old "Linguistic Dominion" still prevailing and holding strong. Thus, most people from Ilorin, Jos, Minna, Kano, Kaduna, and essentially the North Country, speak and understand Hausa/Fulani language. There are minorities in the North but the common bond has become the super glue, the language of communication, what would pass as the pragmatic instrument for regional integration. Unfortunately for the South-south, the major unifying factor is a common cause based on anger and frustration directed towards too many enemies with none qualifying as the real "common enemy"; among the difficulties has been how to forge and fuse that seemingly common cause towards convergence beyond the selfish "common" interest. In 42 years, only Biafra offered that opportunity and framework for regional integration. Unfortunately the same strange elements in the South-south now singing chorus in swan song helped to destroy the only protective cover that would have guaranteed their survival. Since then Nigeria has excised Bakassi from the mainland, ceding the same to Cameroon under the orders of a foreign court. The new war is raging and only the Good Lord knows which other parts of the South-south would fall victim, and be dismembered and pulverized into dirt and rubble before this ugly campaign is over.

Why has it remained intractable a problem forging a regional economic union anywhere in Nigeria even in those places with active communal engagement? The Southwest is essentially occupied by the Yoruba nation just as the Southeast is home to Ndi-Igbo. The North historically belongs to the north. Religion outside the corrupting influences of Islamic fundamentalism and Wahabbisim would for the purpose of this discussion be considered rather irrelevant as an essential identifier towards regional economic integration. The Southwest for instance has both Moslems and Christians; regional ecumenism does not seem to go further than the walls of the church or the hallow grounds of "Moshilashi" or mosque. The religious riots that flare up regularly in most urban centers across the North Country prove the point. They are directed against non-believers essentially southern Christians, an attempt at separating Nigerians in their own country. Both the Southeast and the Southwest used to have very well educated population with ample manpower supply.

The land is fairly fertile, and equally endowed with natural resources. Why has it become so difficult for the Yoruba to come together, rally around an initiative for a common purpose to solve and resolve problems? The same question could be asked about Ndi-Igbo. The answer goes to the unfortunate; the leadership in both geopolitical regions has been too busy playing politics of greed and personal destruction. To the Southeast and its equally destructive elements, the civil war never ended for the right reasons. That excuse is as lame as a tired horse. To the Southwest and its non-conformists and profession charlatans, the struggle for control is perpetual. These radical element in the West just as their counterparts in the East have never succeeded in transforming destruction into constructive venture in the sense of replacing the "old and negative" with something uplifting "new and improved positive", certainly not in ideas, not in concrete service to the people they claim to lead. Their claim to One Nigeria has remained business as usual, institutionalized corruption and recycled mediocrity. Only by divine intervention would the kind of Babatude Fashola, the rare breed in the land emerge from the rubble and get a chance to make a positive contribution for the common good. In the main, those with the wherewithal to advance the cause of human value and dignity have failed to lead. They have become responsible for propagating universal irresponsibility still championing the cause for One Nigeria in their own image and likeness.

On the other hand the North does not have enough educated human capital with relevant intellectual fire-power to restructure its way out of the morass left behind by corrupt illiterate oligarchs many of whom were blinded by the glitters of position and power. The irony is that the one-eyed man ill-equipped and ill-disposed to be in-charge of anything as complex as "One Nigeria" always controlled what he could not manage. It was not a surprise to read where Chief Godwin Dabo, the notorious survivor of the "Tarka-Dabo Imbroglio" of the 1970s made the case for continuing the same not just for the North but the entire country. Not counting, the year is 2009 and the man was not just stating an opinion. Dabo's candid position for the North and for all purposes the rest of Nigeria is that "control is more important than good governance".

Chief Dabo's assertion could be lost in translation for the simple minded Nigerian busy chasing rats and mosquitoes around the so-called corridors of power in Abuja. Keeping the lid on a unitary, federal government would make it impossible to implement a constitutional democracy let alone advance the cause of "State Rights". To buttress the point, Chief Dabo also hinted the North would not "allow" Vice President Goodluck Jonathan (Constitution or no Constitution) to assume office as president should that need arise in the event occurring earlier than Yar'Adua would complete his tenure. The impending constitutional crisis for Nigeria has been discussed in this stance before based on the uniquely awkward principle in party selection mechanism for who becomes president. According to Chief Dabo, that party-contrived mechanism, the "Zoning Formula" would in essence set aside the merits of any constitutional provision.

It would essentially remain superior to the articles defining rights and privileges pertaining to the office, duties and processes upon which succession would be based. Dabo's contention and its applicability in real life and real-time scenario might remain unknowable at this stage until tested by reality of events. However, the implication that Nigeria is simply an accident waiting on the fringe to happen could not be discarded with a spit of tobacco. The corollary is that no regional integration can fully mature as a follow-up advisory deriving from a Tinapa-kind economic summit if the central government presided over by Chief Dabo's chosen one in Abuja decides otherwise. Controlling the pace and nature of development in other parts of Nigeria is certainly a major component of the North's "One Nigeria" agenda. For the North, controlling the key agenda items, their implementation and scope will have the chance of reducing lag time and distance of abstract separation, giving an ultimate meaning to the "North-South Dichotomy".

Thus, in an ideal setting, "One Nigeria" for the South-south means having more control in the petroleum resources of the Niger Delta; the Southeast and the Southwest would most likely see One Nigeria in terms of actualizing true "federalism" where the federating entities have defined roles, with rights and privileges deriving there-from. The North sees "One Nigeria" controlled by a "Unitary Government" of the few and by the few in the interest of beggars. In Chief Dabo's "One Nigeria", such a control is more important than good governance and not any aimed at empowering the people to be the best they can be.

There have been complaints and rumbling in various quarters regarding ministerial appointments and key heads of departments; the Yar'Adua administration is being accused of filling those positions with people from the North thereby ignoring the tenets of "Federal Character", Nigeria's platform for affirmative action based on quota. There is nothing the president is doing or has done in this regard that has never happened before. Historically the petroleum ministries, water resources, agriculture, internal affairs, security chiefs are considered key towards holding firm to Dabo's prescriptive control mechanism. The appointment of Alhaji Sanusi to head the Central Bank as a replacement to Charles Soludo would not be anything new and different. In the 1980s was Idika Kalu not replaced by Alhaji Abubakar Alhaji after the former cleared the slug left behind at the Ministry of Finance? It was the waning dog days of Babangida's "Structural Adjustment" policy, the same that ultimately set the trampoline for "Lootocracy", the massive transfer of Nigeria's treasury into foreign vaults.

There is at least one glimmer of hope that controlling power this time around would at least usher in good governance for the chosen "special" people. With Yar'Adua, Sanusi, Lukman, Bakindo, Muktar, Shamsudeen, Dangote (the so-called richest African) and all the central government power structure, belonging to the north, the place mat is set for transforming the North Country. It has to be done this time around or never.

The challenge would be for instance to turn Ahmadu Bello University into the Harvard of Nigeria; build the best hospital anywhere in the north to stem further exodus of the rich and the well connected to foreign countries for minor ailment; give the people food and water; resuscitate all key industries hitherto moribund; doing all these would make the North Country the show case of "One Nigeria" never seen in the annals of history. Let the "gold rush" be towards Kaduna, Kano, Maiduguri and Sokoto for a change. If there is one piece of One Nigeria reclaimed by the "resource controller" even if situated primarily for the benefit and exclusive interest of the northerner so be it. However, it would be considered extremely unfortunate after another 8 years and the North Country remains same arid zone of disease and squalor. While Yar'Adua and his people are being breast-fed by this One Nigeria "Nanny", the rest of Nigeria can only survive by employing the "Fashola Model". The North is not going to back down on its chosen consumption course, certainly not as long as the milk remains sweetened and homogenized. The ultimate outcome and the sorry implication for the rest of the country would not be known until sometime in the year 2015. By that time Promise would have missed more calls.