Falola, The Nigerian Condition, Part 1 of 4
Toyin Falola
https://www.newtimes.com.ng/2021/07/26/9575-the-nigerian-condition-and-the-exit-options/
The Nigerian Condition And The Exit Options
By
Toyin Falola
Part 1 of 4 of the series on the “Nigerian Condition”, commissioned by the New Times. In Part 2, we will examine the history of the Nigerian condition.
There is no denying the fact that there is a “Nigerian condition”. It hangs over the country like a dense cloud in the rainy season, ominous and unyielding, and ever ready to haunt its citizens. The Nigerian condition is a peculiar series of primarily related problems deeply rooted in the haphazardness of the Nigerian systems. It is the common noun for names such as systemic corruption, malignant nepotism, gross misconducts, peace-disrupting vices, an eroding value system, but to mention a few. These problems all amount to a thick maze of cobwebs in which millions of Nigerians are trapped and from which they seek to become free.
The Nigerian condition is a plague, one widely believed has so much to do with Nigeria’s entity and causing the notion that the country’s disintegration could potentially bring about change—the real change this time around. This belief has driven the struggles of many advocates. Whether or not the name “Nigeria” or the union of Nigeria’s cultures is the problem, we would get to find out later. There is this overarching quest out of the Nigerian condition—virtually everyone wants to get out, by whatever means possible, be it through “escape” to another country, secession, or the creation of other countries from exiting Nigeria.
Most recently, we have seen the agitations of Chief Sunday Igboho, a pro-Yoruba nation activist. Igboho is one of the couple prime figures who have sought secession or restructuring as the way out of the Nigerian condition. He believes that Nigeria is a fusion that should never have existed. For him and his teeming followers, the way out is that the Yoruba nation disengages itself from the Nigerian state. However, the question that should first come to mind is if this quest is justified. And I say it is. But is it legally acceptable in Nigeria? No. It is currently not. We must learn to distinguish between that which is justified and legally acceptable and that which is justified but legally unacceptable. Agitations such as that of Igboho remain legally unacceptable in Nigeria. In fact, they are considered acts of treason. In stating that Nigeria is one indivisible and indissoluble state, the Nigerian Constitution shows no room for disengagement or secession. In other words, the unification of 1914 was a case of for better, for worse.
Why then should claims be made that the agitations of Sunday Igboho are justified? In answering a question such as this, we must first look into the surface-level motive for such agitations. Igboho, known in many quarters in the Southwestern part of Nigeria, started his agitations with the need to secure Fulani-occupied towns and villages in the Southwest. The Fulani herdsmen crises have become more aggravated than before. There have been reported cases of kidnappings and deaths in Southwestern states since the beginning of the year. The climax of these insecurity-related events came when Fulani herdsmen attacked Igangan and killed one of the small town’s benefactors. This sparked anger in the people, and it was at this time, Igboho became more vocal than before.
Of course, the Fulani, especially herders, have had their settlements in southwestern cities and villages for as long as anyone can remember. Nigerian herders practice an open grazing cattle-rearing system, which makes the weather condition of the South-West most favourable to them. If one spoke to people in the Southwestern parts of the country, one would find out that there are many Fulani settlements. Of truth, there have been Fulani attacks on farms and farmers for as long as anyone can remember; however, the attacks have become prominent in the past few years. This is the root of Igboho’s activism. There was a retaliatory attack on the Fulani people in Igangan, and they were driven out of the town; houses were burned, people were killed, the property was wasted. And then started the Igangan woes, with the Fulani returning, armed to the teeth. They launched a more severe attack on the town and have since launched about two.
In all of these, the affected people believe that the government is neither proactive nor fast in its moves to address the situation at Igangan. What has the Oyo State government done? What has the federal government done? Does the federal government even know? When the people needed a force to stand as their assistance in trying times, Igboho rose and drove the Fulani forces out of Igangan, making Igboho the people’s hero.
Nevertheless, it is pertinent to note that the focus of Igboho’s agitations soon shifted to the disengagement of the Yoruba people and the formation of the Yoruba nation. Had Igboho been planning the secession of the Yoruba people before 2021? We are not sure. However, what we know is that he made a series of public appearances with plans or semi-plans on the disengagement of the Yoruba nation from Nigeria. Igboho and his teeming supporters firmly believe that the Nigerian state unifies hundreds of ethnic groups but is principally for one ethnic group—the untouchable Fulani herders. In Nigeria, all citizens are not equal, just like George Orwell’s Animal Farm situation.
Another question must be asked: have Igboho and his seeming supporters ever considered that Nigeria’s problem is systemic? Do they think that corruption, nepotism, robbery, kidnapping, and the likes would automatically disappear if the Yoruba nation were formed? To begin with, are the Yoruba people united? In the pre-amalgamation Yoruba nation, there were series of wars between Yoruba cities—the sixteen years of wars come to mind. Since his agitations for the disengagement of the Yoruba nation, Igboho has held marches big enough to catch the attention of the federal government. His house was besieged, he escaped; he was declared wanted and has finally been intercepted in the Benin Republic. Igboho’s recent endeavours and eventual arrest prove that the government can become proactive and be hot on someone’s trail if they so wish.
Igboho’s case brings to mind two similar cases—Nnamdi Kanu and Omoyele Sowore. Nnamdi Kanu, Omoyele Sowore, and Sunday Igboho are the three most prominent names in the recent agitations for the dismembering of the Nigerian state. While one of them calls for a revolution, the other two want a secession of their nations from the Nigerian state. Nnamdi Kanu’s agitations have lasted for about ten years now. He founded the Indigenous People of Biafra in 2012 as a movement of Igbo people seeking to secede from the Nigerian state. Are the agitations of the Indigenous People of Biafra justified? Yes, they are. The Igbo have been marginalized from time immemorial. It was this marginalization and brazen racial maltreatment that led to the Nigerian civil war of 1967.
Nnamdi Kanu and the Indigenous People of Biafra call for the secession of the Biafran nation–the Igbo–from Nigeria. Recently, Kanu and his movement called for a referendum in Nigeria, intending to review the Constitution and make provisions for entities that wish to secede from the Nigerian nation. The call for a referendum has been scrutinized and debated in many quarters. The opinions have culminated in one conclusion: the Nigerian Constitution allows for a referendum in only two cases—during restructuring and reallocation or to recall a representative from the National Assembly. This is to say that there are some fundamental problems with the Nigerian Constitution. How could a people who were not united from inception not make provisions for the disengagement of entities if the need arises? Was it intentional myopia? Nigeria, as it is, will only allow for legal secession if its Constitution is amended.
In their almost ten years of agitations, the Indigenous People of Biafra have experienced phases of metamorphosis, from entirely peaceful agitations to semi-violent agitations spurred by the violent responses of the federal government. Since declared the Indigenous People of Biafra as a terrorist group, the federal government has made its leader and members big targets for the government. Scores of youths have been arrested or killed in Southeastern states, some of whom were rounded up on university campuses. Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the movement, has been cunningly arrested and extradited to Nigeria.
Omoyele Sowore is an activist and presidential hopeful whose agitations are slightly deviant from Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Igboho. Sowore has faced several arrests and charges for the scores of protests he has led. For him, what Nigeria needs is a revolution, an immediate one. Is Sowore right in wanting a revolution for Nigeria? He is not wrong; Nigeria needs to be revolutionized, and so do Nigerians. The Nigerian mindset is a plague that brings about the Nigerian condition, and it would take a revolutionary shift to reshape this mentality. True, Nigeria needs a revolution; therefore, the issue is not whether what Sowore is doing is right, but if he is doing it the right way.
Sowore, Igboho, and Kanu have been faced with obstacles in their pursuits for the perceived betterment of their respective nations. These three are only a testament to an agelong quest out of the Nigerian condition. Everywhere you turn, you will see people who are genuinely fed up with the situation in Nigeria and want to escape. Can they escape? Should they escape? What is the history of the Nigerian condition? What is the way out of this Nigerian condition?
Falola is a Nigerian historian and professor of African Studies. He is currently the Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities at the University of Texas at Austin.
Oluwatoyin Adepoju
--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfric...@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDial...@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialo...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/SN7PR06MB7247625CD550E2444C30C35EF8E89%40SN7PR06MB7247.namprd06.prod.outlook.com.