Photo credit: Humangle
These, definitely, are not the best of times in Nigeria. We are surely going back to the Hobbesian state.
Murders are more than rampant now. Kidnappers have been let loose watching to steal fellow humans. Primitive rituals are the order of the day now. The Yahoo boys are yet to repent. The boko haram crisis is yet to be settled. Religious problems too are there.
But one problem that is perhaps the most menacing is that of ethnic agitations. Most dominant ethnic groups are now insisting on going their own ways.
The Eastern part of the country dominated by the Igbo has not had any of its indigenes crowned as President in the last half of the century. The Igbo were engaged in the civil war which lasted from 1967 to 1970.
Before the war, there had been a coup and a counter coup. The first coup was perceived to be an Igbo led affair. The counter coup was organised by Northerners.
Some of the Igbo are feeling cheated. They are feeling there can be no solution in their being part of Nigeria. They want a separate republic of Biafra.
The Northern youths have taken it upon themselves to give the Igbo an October deadline to leave the North. Although most elders in the North, especially those in government, have severally disowned themselves from the action of the youths. However, the youths are insisting that the Igbo must leave.
In fact, another twist was recently added to the Igbo must go call in the North. An anti Igbo song which has gone viral has been introduced to show the seriousness of the Northern youths.
In the western part of Nigeria dominated by the Yoruba, only a few people are asking for an Oduduwa Republic.
My thinking is that if the situation is not well managed, we may end up having another pogrom. It might start from the North. It will not just be anti Igbo, it will be anti Southerners.
It’s not as if I have personally noticed any major moves to manage the crisis. Meanwhile, some Igbo leaders have urged Igbo indigenes in the North to return to the East. But most of them are sitting pretty, hoping and praying that the situation will eventually be settled.
My advice is that, if there’s no positive assurance that they will be safe, all Southerners should leave the North as soon as possible.
081317
