The quest for unity in Nigeria and the role of unity schools

I am delighted to join you today in celebrating the 50th anniversary of this great institution, the Federal Government College, Kaduna.

Let me begin my brief remarks by expressing my sincere congratulations to the management and staff, both current and past, for their contributions to the growth and success of the School through the past five decades. Your dedication, commitment, sacrifices, and service have been essential in building the institution to the lofty heights it has attained. I pray that your reward will be substantial here on earth, and in your lifetime.

Let me also congratulate the products of this School, especially the alumni who have put this event together, for their outstanding display of commitment and comradery. You have not failed in your roles as ambassadors of this school. I encourage you to continue to be there for one another and for your Alma matter.

It seems to me that this year is a year of celebrating great feats in the lifespans of some of our nation’s most enduring institutions and I am pleased to not only witness but to also participate in the programmes. Only last week, I participated in activities marking the centennial anniversary of my own Alma matter, the Baptist Boys High School, Abeokuta, which included an 18km walk and a novelty football match. I am sure some of you must have seen the videos on the internet.

Today the anniversary train has moved to Federal Government College, Kaduna for the 50th anniversary of the school. Next month, it will move to the Federal Government College, Ilorin, also for their 50th anniversary to which I have been invited.

When I was asked to make remarks here, I thought it would be more rewarding for us to look at the issue of our nation’s quest for unity and oneness and the role of unity schools in the process, especially during this period of political tension across the country.

What is unity and why is it important in society?

Many English dictionaries describe unity as a state of being one, a state of togetherness or being in full agreement. Unity is a core value in society. It is the bedrock of all activities involving two or more people. When people are said to be united, it often means they have shared values and ideals, a common goal and are working together to achieve the same objectives. Unity is, therefore, a key ingredient in achieving success in any human activity involving two or more persons. Where people are not united, there is divergence of purpose and a greater chance of confusion. Where each person in a community is working at cross-purposes with others, the result is chaos.

The biblical story of the Tower of Babel is a strong illustration of the consequences of disharmony and disunity. In the story, we find that when the people spoke the same language and worked together, they were able to begin the construction of the Tower of Babel but when God caused them to speak different tongues and not to understand one another, they were thrown into confusion and the building of the Tower was stopped. In the Bible also, Prophet Amos asks a rhetorical question; “can two walk together, unless they are agreed?” (Amos 3:3)

Like the Bible, the Qur’an is abound with similar passages on unity and the consequences of unity or disunity. Indeed, disunity among any group of people can stop them from building anything or achieving any objective.

Nigeria belongs to us all and no part of the country should be left in doubt about their place in this union on any basis whatsoever; ethnic, religious, language, region, culture or social standing

Fostering Unity in Nigeria

So how has Nigeria fared as a nation since its creation? The level of unity is the measure of the level of nationhood of a country. Have we been united as a people, living together, working together and for a common goal?

One of the most significant events in the history of our country happened in January 1914 when the British colonial administration under Sir Frederick Lugard joined the Northern and the Southern Protectorates to form one single country called Nigeria. It is remembered as the Amalgamation (meaning unification) of 1914. That event was the foundation upon which our country as we know it stands. The amalgamation was, however, not intended to forge a nation with a common identity and common goal as some of the independent nations of the world were forged. Indeed, the unification of the Northern and Southern parts of what is today known as Nigeria was done for administrative convenience of the colonialists. Even after the amalgamation, there is no evidence to show that much was done by the colonialists to create political, economic, or social cohesion among the colonised people coerced to become one geographical and administrative entity. On the contrary, a draconian policy of “divide and rule” was adopted by the British to prevent opposition to its authority from within.

In the build up to our nation’s independence from British rule, our leaders recognised the need to prioritise the unity of the country. Let me quote Alhaji Tafawa Balewa from a speech he gave when he addressed the Nigerian House of Representatives in 1957 on the day the motion for Independence was passed.

“The future of this vast country of Nigeria must depend in the main on the efforts of ourselves to help ourselves,” Balewa said. “This we cannot do if we are not working together in unity. Indeed unity today is our greatest concern and it is the duty of everyone of us to work to strengthen it.”

Even before they secured independence, Nigeria’s political leaders took steps that they hoped would put the country on a path of national unity by adopting a federal system of government. This was recounted by Tafawa Balewa who stated that:

“To me the most important result of the constitutional changes in 1954 was the introduction of a federal form of government for Nigeria. I am pleased to see that we are now all agreed that the federal system is, under present conditions, the only sure basis on which Nigeria can remain united.”

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The idea was unity in diversity.

Whether or not the Federal System of Government has been successful in promoting national unity remains a subject of debate. What is clear is that many critics since independence have called for a reform of the federalism practiced in Nigeria. In his 1964 speech at the University of Nigeria Nsukka, the then President of Nigeria, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, opined that “the theory and practice of federalism need some reorientation in order to make the federal system adaptable and workable to people who live in underdeveloped economies.”

Dr. Azikiwe presented, in the same speech, what he considered a practical solution to Nigeria’s unity question. He said;

The only effective way to maintain the unity of this country is to concede to each Region, each Province, ‘and each Local Authority, throughout the whole country, de jure equality and de facto inequality. By de jure equality I mean that every Province and every Local Authority in each Region in the Federal Republic of Nigeria are legally equal to the extent that it becomes a categorical imperative for the Federal Government to provide each of them, on a clearly defined basis, with the basic necessities and amenities of modern life in their respective areas of authority irrespective of the federal nature of our country. By de facto inequality, I mean the acceptance of the obvious fact that not all the Regions, Provinces, and Local authorities are equal either in their area or population or natural resources or financial means.

The outbreak of civil war in 1967 demonstrated that the efforts to forge national unity were not successful. The divisive nature of the events leading to the war and indeed the war itself caused the Yakubu Gowon military government to declare that “the job of keeping Nigeria one is a task that must be done.” This objective of achieving national unity or unity of purpose became a major pillar of all post-war polices. Successive governments followed the path giving birth to policies such as the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme, the establishment of more Unity Schools, creation of states, the Federal Character and quota system, appointment of Vice-Chancellors outside their own universities etc.

Unity Schools and National Integration

For the purpose of this event, we will focus a little bit on the role of unity schools in promoting national integration.

The earliest attempt to establish unity schools was in 1966 when three Federal Government Colleges were established in Okposi (Eastern region), Sokoto (Northern region) and Warri (Midwestern region). By the end of the Civil war and with the creation of states, the Gowon administration decided to establish more unity schools in all the 12 new states including your alma mater which was established in 1973. Today, there are 104 Federal Government Colleges across the nation all with the objective of using education as a tool for fostering unity through location and admission policy that reflects the federal character of Nigeria and curricula that prioritizes patriotism, collaboration, tolerance, and inter-relationship. Many of the alumni here today would not have been in Kaduna for their Secondary education were it not for FGGC, Kaduna. Some of the friendships you have formed across Nigeria wouldn’t have been possible without the unity school system. Imagine the business partnerships that have come out of it! I believe that some of the students might have rudimentary knowledge of other languages. While I was in government I had interacted with those who came to see me as two or three friends whose friendships were forged in the unity schools. It helped their businesses and their politics and it was good for Nigeria. These apply in all the 104 locations of the unity schools.

But can you do more to foster unity as alumni of unity schools? I believe you can and you must. Nigeria has invested in you resources to make you different and be ambassadors and apostles for Nigerian unity, oneness, and integration mind you, I say integration, not assimilation or absorption. You must forge very strong alumni association for the progress of your school and for unity, peace, stability and progress of Nigeria. You can imagine how much effect a position taken by an alliance of Government Colleges alumni associations will have on the country especially on issues pertaining to unity, peace, security, development, democracy and good governance. You can make yourselves a formidable force not to be ignored.

Unity and the future of Nigeria

Once again, our nation is dancing on the precipice and some of us are truly worried about the state of affairs today. I expressed that worry in my open letter to Nigerians and Nigerian youths on New Year’s Day. As I stated in the letter; “If we fall prey again, we will have ourselves to blame and no one can say how many more knocks Nigeria can take before it tips over. To be forewarned is to be fore-armed.” Of course, I pray that Nigeria will never tip over. But “work and pray” is the motto of one school that I like very much. We must constantly work at it and pray.

My worry is premised on a number of issues. First, I am concerned that the current state of our nation’s economy has widened the gulf of inequality and left many people in despair. Inflation is on the rise; poverty and hardship have returned to many households. The last decade has reversed many of the economic gains that were made in the first decade of the century. There is a general sense of hopelessness across the nation with seemingly uncontrollable insecurity.

In addition to the economic hardship is political mischief. Never have we been so politically divided along religious, ethnic and other fault lines and deliberately so. Appointments in government are skewed and lopsided on basis of nepotism and mediocrity and disregard of merit and competence. Elections are here and may compound the problem. Political parties and politicians have now been emboldened to discard some of the things that were put in place to give all groups a sense of belonging. Exclusion is being taken as normal. Disunity stares us in the face and many of our leaders are more concerned about their selfish interests than the survival and health of our nation.

Let me reiterate that the concerns being raised about the nature of the options before us in the Presidential elections for instance are real and should not be trifled with.

Nigeria belongs to us all and no part of the country should be left in doubt about their place in this union on any basis whatsoever; ethnic, religious, language, region, culture or social standing.

The beauty of democracy is that the options before us cannot be imposed on us if we all do what we need to do to send a message to those who have had the audacity to present those options to us with little or no interest for the 225 million Nigerians.

If we choose to do nothing, we will only have ourselves to blame. If we choose to do the right thing, we will by so doing return this country on the right track; one which gives all our people a sense of belonging and a sense of unity of purpose and a stake in the project Nigeria; a project that will give all of us peace, security, stability, shared prosperity, hope and progress and a place within the comity of nations.

Let me conclude my remarks by once again thanking the organisers for inviting me to share this great moment with you. As you celebrate fifty years of excellence, I pray that this school will continue to live up to expectations and will continue to contribute to the unity and growth of our dear country, Nigeria in oneness, peace, security, stability and progress.

I thank you for your time and for listening.

Remarks by Former President Obasanjo on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of federal government college, Kaduna