FEATURE ARTICLE

Temple Chima UbochiSunday, August 3, 2008
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Bonn, Germany

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TENETS OF ABURI ACCORD:
THE ANSWER TO THE PROBLEM CALLED NIGERIA (I)

Spread the table and contention will cease. (English Proverb)
Everything goes to him who wants nothing. (French Proverb)
The nail that sticks out is hammered down. (Japanese Proverb)
To want to forget something is to remember it. (French Proverb)
The past is a guidepost, not a hitching post. (L. Thomas Holcroft)
The stone rejected by builders has been made the cornerstone. (The Bible: Matthew 21:42)
The more you sweet in peacetime, the less you bleed during war. (Chinese Proverb)
A known enemy is dangerous, but a false friend is worse. (Chinese Proverb)
One meets his destiny often in the road he takes to avoid it. (French Proverb)
There is no economy in going to bed early to save candles if the result is twins. (Chinese Proverb)
We must not allow other people�s limited perceptions to define us. (Virginia Satir)
Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: The last of his freedoms � to choose one�s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one�s own way. (Viktor E. Frankl)


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igeria is a problem that has defied all solutions. Nigeria is an equation that nobody has succeeded in cracking 47 years after it surfaced. The problem is so complex that to get a meaningful solution to it, it needs total dismantling and re-formulation. Mathematicians know that if one tries to solve an equation many times without success, the person needs to try other formulas to have it cracked and if at the end of the day no solution is in sight, then the equation needs re-formulation.

Nigeria has been a big mistake right from the beginning; the infrastructure on which Nigeria stands can�t hold a superstructure because of its shaky nature. When a foundation is shaky; it will be useless to put on its top an imposing superstructure. Suffice it to say that what is up is being determined by what is on the ground. There is fundamental problem that must be tackled before Nigeria can stand on its feet. The problem with the problem called Nigeria is that people have been deceiving each other all along as one nation and have been unable to tell themselves the truth. A country built on lies and deceits has failed to shake off its ugly past which can only be achieved by the people summoning enough courage and then looking each other in the eyes and realising that things can�t work the way they are right now. The problem is a constitutional one.

The Guardian Newspapers of 30 Th July, 2008 quoted Adebisi Adegbuyi, a lawyer, chieftain of the Pro-National Conference Organisations (PRONACO) and Ogun East Senatorial candidate of the Action Congress (AC) in the April 2007 polls as having said:

�The political system we currently operate is dysfunctional. It aids, abets and encourages laziness, which inevitably breeds corruption. Nigeria urgently requires new thinking by new people with uncommon talent and stellar ability to turn things around, and this can only happen within a constitutional framework that will reward hard work and promote honesty. We can achieve this by massively devolving powers to zonal power centres that would give Abuja less money to spend and less work to do because it has been proven that in spite of huge resources at the centre, it has failed abysmally to impact on the lives of our people due largely to systemic failure than lack of determination. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo failed not because of lack of determination but because in my humble view, he chose to conveniently do things the way Nigeria had been doing things since 1966 and expected to achieve different results. The crux of the matter at the risk of repetition is restructuring and its attendant massive political reforms�.

In 1967, Gowon in order to break the backbone of Biafra by making it a landlocked entity, split Nigeria into 12 states from the regional structure it started with on independence. It must be said here that the regional structure was also fraught with problems, but, if it was left then till now to sort itself out, Nigeria would have gotten over most of the teething problems associated with regionality then. After all said and done, regional structure is the lesser of two evils and the best Nigeria can have, taking into cognisance how the nation came into being.

Prior to independence, the north didn�t want self rule for Nigeria due to the fear of southern domination because at independence, the south were way ahead of the north academically, economically and socially. Unfortunately things have remained that way uptill now. Prof Chukwuma Soludo, the CBN Governor and Mallam Bello of Unity bank PLC recently cried out that the north is way back academically and that poverty is endemic there. Who is to be blamed? The north has held political power of this country for 37 out of the 47 years Nigeria has been in existence. And still can�t lift up their people out of poverty, ignorance and diseases not to talk of the whole of Nigeria. That should tell one something about the north; if they have ruled for such a long time and can�t change the people for the better, how long will they need to rule before Nigeria will get better through their hands?

Zayyad Muhammed was quoted by The Tribune Newspapers of July 30, 2008 as having said:

�Northern Nigeria is a region that had for long dominated Nigeria�s political scene, but lags behind other regions in both human and infrastructural development. And it also seems that the leadership of the region is not bothered or simply confused on what to do.

The bulk of Nigeria�s ex-leaders are from the north, and the society expects they have a say in terms of developing the region, but the reality is, they have little or no say. This, some observers think is because of their non-chalant attitude. Some see it as a sign of absence of dependable leadership qualities�.

On independence, the British taught Nigerians how to rig election by rigging the first election that ushered in �self rule� to favour the north to assuage their fears of southern domination. Tafawa Balewa�s NPC was rigged into power making it imperative that he formed the government then. Balewa was only interested in highlighting the north�s shortcomings and in lifting his north and the people out of poverty and underdevelopment that he relegated the business of governing for the best interest of all Nigerians to the back burner. What happened in 1960 through 1966, happened again in 1979 through 1983 and is happening since 2007 till now. As Balewa formed the government in 1960, he appointed many northerners that had only elementary school certificate (Standard VI as at that time) as ministers, advisers and to other high ranking positions as the north hadn�t many people educated beyond that level then. Some of the people that were appointed ministers then were Alhaji Ribadu as the Defence Minister; (who was the father of our no-nonsense Nuhu Ribadu, the former EFCC czar), Alhaji Yar�Adua as the Minister of Lagos Affairs (who was the father of the incumbent president) etc. These men had only little education. Today most of the northerners in Yar�dua�s government despite the fact that they are brandishing degrees of all classes, are behaving like the semi-literate first generation government officials and ministers of the first republic. Take just for an instance; the finance minister of today brandishing a PhD from the elite London School of Economics and Political Science, behaves like a person who has no knowledge of what Econs. 101 (Introduction to Economics) is all about.

In the first republic, there was corruption but not as endemic as it is now. The confusion that went on then in Balewa�s government due to the unqualified men in positions of authority, the Balewa�s preoccupation with the northern agenda to the detriment of the south and the western regional crisis (instigated by Balewa) forced fine soldiers of the then Nigerian army that had unflinching patriotic zeal to topple the government in a coup with the aim of releasing Awolowo from the Calabar prison where he was incarcerated and installing him as the prime minister. Along the line, the coup failed; the men sent to flatten out Azikiwe and others faltered while those sent to eliminate Balewa, Sardauna and others, accomplished the mission. The north then turned around and erroneously regarded the coup as an Igbo one with the attendant consequences. Igbos in the north and west were marked out for elimination as a reprisal and revenge. General J.T.U Aguiyi-Ironsi took over the political power as the head of the military due to the failure of the coup and its aim. That gave the north more reason to justify their erroneous claim that the coup was carried out to install an Igbo man as the head of state. The Igbo military officers who happened then to dominate the top echelon of military hierarchy and even the junior ranking ones were sought after and killed; those that were �lucky� to escape the blanket condemnation to death ran back to the eastern Nigeria. As if that was not enough, Igbo civilians was rounded up in major cities in the north and the west of Nigeria, their properties looted, burnt and confiscated; many Igbo women were first of all raped before being killed. The returnee �lucky� military personnel and the displaced Igbo civilians that survived the pogrom and had to run back to the east, swelled the eastern population, putting the region on the brink of a catastrophe.

The then Majors T.Y. Danjuma, Muritala Muhammed, Shuwa and other northern soldiers planned, kidnapped and killed Ironsi who wrongly thought that unifying Nigeria by taking away greater power out of the regions� hands would have solved the impasse the nation was in.

To be concise and precise: On 17th January, 1966, the former civilian Federal Government of Nigeria handed over power to the Armed Forces. Major-General J. T. U. Aguiyi-Ironsi as the General Officer Commanding the Nigerian Army assumed the headship of the Federal Military Government and established the Supreme Military Council. Subsequently, on 24th May, 1966, he promulgated the Decree No. 34 putting into effect the decisions of the Supreme Military Council to establish a centralized administration for the country. Six days later widespread violence and riots broke out in Northern Nigeria. Thousands of Easterners were massacred.

On 29th July, 1966, a group of Northern Nigerian Army personnel kidnapped and, as was later revealed, murdered Major-General J. T. U. Aguiyi-Ironsi, the Supreme Commander and Head of the Federal Military Government. At the same time they attempted to annihilate all Eastern Nigerian Army Officers and men at Ibadan, Abeokuta and Ikeja in Western Nigeria and at Kaduna, Zaria and Kano in Northern Nigeria. Nearly 200 officers and men of Eastern Nigeria origin were slaughtered. Those who escaped but later returned to their posts following assurances of safety were also murdered. The pogrom was soon extended to Eastern Nigerian civilians resident in Northern Nigeria, Lagos and the West; and by September, 1966, the killings and molestations carried out by the combined forces of Northern Nigerian soldiers and civilians had assumed such large proportions that Easterners everywhere outside the East sought protection within their home Region.

All these massacres, which claimed the lives of over 30,000 Easterners, jolted the conscience and aroused the indignation of the world. They were also fraught with tragic consequences for the country. The bond of comradeship which had previously held the Nigerian Army together completely severed. Mutual fear, suspicion and hatred prevailed to such an extent that Army Officers and men of Eastern Nigeria origin couldn�t then co-exist with those of Northern Nigeria origin. The massive movement of population which resulted from these tragic events also posed serious economic and social problems.

The fleeing Easterners abandoned their homes, businesses and employments and swelled the population of Eastern Nigeria by then nearly two million. As they returned, a potentially explosive situation arose in the East and as a consequence the Government of Eastern Nigeria was obliged to ask non-Easterners residing in the East to leave to their Region in the interest of their own safety. The flight of Easterners also radically altered the machinery and structure of the Federal Government, as Easterners were forcibly excluded from participating in the Federal Government, Federal Statutory Corporations and the other Federal Organizations outside the Eastern Region.

The disintegration of the Army and the mass movement of population, coupled with the necessary measures taken to prevent further friction, conflict and killing, intensified Regional loyalties and made it impossible then for any one person to command the loyalty of all sections of the country.

It was the view of the Government and people of the East then that a solution can and must be found quickly to the country�s problems then and in doing so, full cognizance must be taken of the stark realities then in order to avoid future conflict and bloodshed. The East accordingly co-operated with the rest of the country in efforts to find a realistic solution. But progress in this direction was frustrated by incessant exhibition of bad faith on the part of the Military Leaders in Lagos and the North. A few examples later will serve to illustrate this.

Then, came the greater problem: Gowon took over as the head of state for reasons many still can�t understand. He was not the most senior as military tradition demands, he was not the most intelligent; Brigadier Ogundipe was supposed to have taken over at the death of Ironsi, but, declined to. But still, there were other senior officers that should have taken over, but, to my understanding, the northern military officers made it clear that they will never accept the authority of any southern officer as the head of army and state and every other person acquiesced to that rubbish. Lt. Col. Gowon that was No. 29 on the hierarchy took over. Prior and after the time Gowon took over, the pogrom against the Igbos intensified. Lt. Col. Ojukwu being the military governor of eastern region asked the federal government, which Gowon claimed to head, to bring the campaign of death against the innocent Igbos to a halt, but, Gowon wasn�t in control of the government as he was only a figure head while wicked elements like Danjuma, Mohammed, Shuwa, Adekunle were running things.

To be precise and concise: The disappearance of the Supreme Commander on 29th July, 1966, demanded that the next senior Military Officer should temporarily assume command of the Army and the headship of the Federal Military Government until the Supreme Military Council should determine the leadership of the Army and the country. But on 1st August, 1966, Lt.-Col. Yakubu Gowon, Chief of Staff, Army Headquarters, announced that he had assumed the Offices of Supreme Commander and Head of the Federal Military Government, although there were at least half-a- dozen Military Officers who were senior to him. The Military Government of Eastern Nigeria found it impossible to recognize this seizure of power; nevertheless it was prepared to co-operate with Lt.-Col. Gowon in order to prevent further bloodshed.

At a point, Ojukwu�s hands were tied and he had to declare Biafra as a republic away from Nigeria. Those running Nigeria behind the curtains in connivance with the British wouldn�t want to have that because of the oil in the eastern region. Britain would have supported Biafra to secede, but, never knew the way Ojukwu might take the new republic along if it is allowed to stand. The Brits and other major powers feared that General Ojukwu might turn out to be Fidel Castro of Africa and such a thing will be the last thing they would have wanted because of the oil the break away region is sitting on. Efforts were then made to find peace to the stalemate that was leading the easterners to opt out of Nigeria. Suffice it here to say that Gowon and Ojukwu had personal animosity between them; with the ascendancy of Gowon to the head of state position, Ojukwu never recognised him as such based on how Gowon came to be in that position in the first place, because, he was not the most qualified person for that position that time and Ojukwu was a senior to Gowon. Gowon on his own side saw Ojukwu then as being too intelligent (with his Oxford University resume�) for his likening. This animosity between the two, I must say, helped plunge Nigeria into that fratricidal war. Were different people other than Gowon and Ojukwu at the helm at the federal and eastern regional level respectively, maybe, we would have been saved the agonies, pains, killings, shattered lives etc the war brought about.

THE THANKS IS ALL YOURS!!!

To Be Continued

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