Many years after the amalgamation of Nigeria, the country has continued to patch up its unity. Also, sixty years after Independence, many Nigerians, including political leaders, have continued to see the country from the ethnic point of view. Everything is being ethnicised. Increasingly, the most populous black nation in the world appears bulkanised by widening fault lines and ethnicisation of policies and programmes.
Today, both the Federal and state government actors still preach the need for unity in Nigeria, a thing that ordinarily should have been taken for granted many years ago.
Recently, Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun said his administration would continue to encourage inter-ethnic relationships among various groups residing in the state.
Abiodun, who made the pledge while receiving at his Oke Mosan office, the Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero, said: “We believe ethnic groups residing in the state must also have a voice.”
The same pledge to promote the unite of all ethnic groups in the country was also made not too long ago at different fora, by the Governors of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-olu, and his Kwara State counterpart, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq. They are not alone in trumpeting this noble and ideal programme. But the problem seems to be that the policies being pursued at higher level appear to be saying something different.
The recent #EndSARS protests across several states in Nigeria which led to the murder of some citizens, including protesters at the Lekki toll gate, Lagos State, perhaps, vividly captured the growing discontent among Nigerians, especially the youths over the state of affairs, widening inequality and division, among the people.
There is a growing hate for one ethnic group or the other. This is manifested in incessant threats by indigenes on non-indigenes to leave their place of residence and go back to their ancestral homes.
In the 21st century Nigeria, and several years after the civil war those pre-war behaviours are still seen.
On many occasions, the Arewa had issued written threats to some non-indigenes in the North to leave.
There was also a threat by a traditional ruler in Lagos that some non-indigenes would be drowned in the Lagoon.
Recently, certain elements had in the wake of the #EndSARS protests and the massive destruction by hoodlums in Lagos, canvassed expulsion of certain non-indigenes.
Read also: Inter-ethnic dialogue is the first step towards Nigerian unity
This oft-repeated rhetoric is only creating fresh bad blood in society, which also has the tendency of snowballing into something sinister.
Unfortunately also, many steps of the Federal Government and its body language have continued to exacerbate the ethnic fault lines.
Presently, there is growing concern that the country was headed in the wrong direction which can be seen in appointments in government, hate speeches against one ethnic group or the other, to attempts to force people back to their ancestral homes despite their establishments in their places of residence, there is the feeling among the citizenry that the gun of indigeneship is perhaps, sounding louder in Nigeria.
Moreover, the faulty implementation of the Federal Character principle in favour of some ethnic nationalities against others, have continued to cause adrenaline rise in the country.
Though the Federal Government has repeatedly denied that President Muhammadu Buhari’s appointments favour any particular section of the country, saying proponents of such do not take a holistic review of the President’s appointments, critics insist that Nigeria has never had it so bad.
There is the belief that the incumbent administration headed by Buhari has not done enough to unite the country; rather it has further fueled ethnic division since it assumed office in 2015. His sectional policies, appointments and pronouncements have pitted one section of the country against another.
For instance, two years ago, the incumbent administration clamped down on the secessionist movement, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), led by Nnamdi Kanu, declaring it as a terrorist organisation, while alleging that the group was a secret militia, which used weapons, and extorted money from civilians at illegal roads blocks, armed military officers in a commando style subsequently invaded and sacked Kanu’s ancestral home, an action that allegedly led to the death of his parents, afterwards.
Observers say that the treatment meted out to IPOB was a clear deviation from the soft approach often adopted by the government when dealing with the Miyetti Allah, the foremost Cattle Breeders Association in the country whose members has been alleged to be responsible for the spate of killings, kidnapping across the country especially in the North.
The administration recently moved to censor and regulate the media, check free press, the social media and review the National Broadcasting Code, raising the fine for hate speech from N500,000 to N5 million; these have further heated up the polity, fueling insinuations that the administration was targeting the opposition.
Observers say that the government’s onslaught against the media is particularly surprising considering that the administration rode on the back of free and uncensored media to win the 2015 election.
But in the face of a public backlash, the information minister, Lai Mohammed, recently said that the new fine was imposed to deter desperate people from airing broadcast content containing hate speech
“What motivated the amendment was that when the fine was N500,000, we saw the provision being violated at will because the amount was very easy to pay,” he said.
“Iceland has a provision in its penal code against hate speech and the punishment is up to five years in jail,” Mohammed said.
“In Norway is up to two years imprisonment while South Africa separated hate speech from the protection their citizens can get from the constitution,” he added.
Analyst Wale Ogunade, said the current situation was sad and worrisome, pointing out that the government must be seen to treat everybody equally because the country was a multiethnic one where everyone has equal stake.
According to him, “The current situation is sad, worrisome; we must not pretend, Nigeria is a multi-ethnic society where everyone has equal opportunity. The only unfortunate thing is that the government has further divided us, using the stick against this person, while using carrot on another.
“But we all belong to a country called Nigeria and we believe in the unity of the country, those who commit offence should face the same law or be treated the same way others are treated. There should be no exceptions or sacred cows. But if government is treating some people differently, then there would be problem, there would be tension and mistrust.”
Earlier in the year, AbubakarDangiwa Umar, former military colonel had accused President Buhari of dividing the nation along ethnic and religious lines, warning that lopsided appointments in government would spell doom for the country’s unity.
In an open letter to the President, Umar had said the country was near the precipice as a result of his alleged unpopular policies that have undermined the unity of the country.
He warned that unless Buhari’s administration changed its style of governance the country was heading for doom.
“Mr. President, please belong to all of us at this time and in light of all that has happened since you took office, any conversation with you Mr. President cannot gloss over the chaos that has overtaken appointments into government offices in your administration.
“All those who wish you and the country well must mince no words in warning you that Nigeria has become dangerously polarised and risks sliding into crisis on account of your administration’s lopsided appointments which continues to give undue preference to some sections of the country over others.
“Nowhere is this more glaring than in the leadership cadre of our security,’’ the former state military administrator said.
A similar position was taken some months back by some leaders of the Southern region who filed a suit at the Federal High Court to challenge President Buhari’s alleged marginalisation of the region in appointments made by his administration since 2015.
The leaders had asked the Court to fine the President and three other defendants in the suit N50billion for allegedly violating provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the federal character principle.
“The sharp division in Nigeria is not unconnected with President Buhari’s leadership style from the onset. It has often been said in many quarters that the current government is for the people of a section of this country with the way appointments are made into various positions.
“Some of these appointments do not reflect the principle of Federal character in the constitution. Unfortunately, people complained and the President himself said he can only work with people he knows and the 97percent vs 5percent slogan emerged from the president himself.Top chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC) themselves complained but the President seems not perturbed about the matter.
“One of the expected roles of President Buhari is to ensure peace and unity amongst Nigerians; this is what should be done consciously, through his direct and indirect actions,” political analyst Adeoye Adelaja said.
Adelaja further lamented that the incumbent administration has not shown the desire to unite the country with its actions and policies.
According to him, “Attitude of government does not, in most cases, show that they are working for the unity of all, because how do we send soldiers to combat Boko Haram, same Boko Haram who have killed hundreds of our men in the front line of war, are getting pardoned, sent on scholarships abroad, but the people with genuine agitations are being crushed with brute force.
“Recently, innocent and peaceful protesting Nigerians demanding the end of extortion, torture, extrajudicial killings by SARS and other security agencies, were crushed with force. This does not show any sign that the government wants to achieve peace amongst those they swore to protect.
“We are in a situation where when you are out to demand the rights of people, say police for instance, the government will send the same police to chase you away from protesting.”
According to Adelaja, “There won’t be a need for the government to be putting in place laws or policies aimed at gagging media or citizens if they are performing.
“The draconian style of intimidating media houses is not the best way if the government is working to serve the people. In a democratic process, citizens have the right to peaceful Assembly and free speech, this is why Nigerians must never get carried away again with packaging of any and despot to power. The terrible choice Nigerians make at the polls will always haunt them, therefore, they need a change of pattern.
“Prior to the 2015 Presidential election, the government in power supported free speech, anti-government protests, but they are in power now, they are pushing for all kinds of policies through the National Assembly to regulate social media, TV and other news media.”
“I am calling on the National Assembly to revisit the amended electoral act of 2018 and pass it into law, because the document will help Nigerians in its electioneering process to choose good leaders that they will truly elect by themselves,” he further said.
Yinka Odumakin, an activist and the spokesman of Afenifere, said: “The point is that we don’t have a leader that can put us together; a presidency that believes that it is we and them; the body language is very clear: he believes in the North against South, Muslims against Christians; herdsmen against farmers and Fulani against other tribes.
“Look at what he is doing in Niger Republic, is he from Niger? When he was the military head of the state, a Nigerian aspired for the AU secretary our President, who was a military head of state then voted for the man from Niger republic because he was Fulani man, against the man from Nigeria, so we are seeing now that division we don’t have a leader that can put us together.”
According to him, “It is my people against others don’t forget that some years ago, he led a delegation to Oyo state to tell the government that his people were been killed in the state, but the then governor Lam Adesina told him how can you a former head of state come here to talk about your people being killed; you should be a nationalist.
“So, we have a divisive leader, he can’t put us together that is why in Nigeria we are more divided now than we have ever been. There is no agenda to put us together; the leadership is only after narrow interest. When herdsmen were killing Benue people the President called the governor and said go and learn to live with the people killing you.”
“How many herdsmen have been prosecuted since the killings started? So, we don’t have a leader that can bring Nigerians together that is why you are seeing the divisions,” he said.
