Nigeria: To secede or not to secede, –By Isa E.Mubarak

Our diverse cultural background, ethnicity and religion should be our strong foundation of tolerance, survival and other psychological barriers, or face break-up. Our divergent views will not let us face issues headlong because of our various parochial interests! We carry our parochial interest to deceitful high heavens.
I’ve always admired the Igbo people, they do not only possess business initiative or are hardworking, they are also innovative and that region seems to be the centre of industrialization in this country. However, they tend to believe they can achieve more as a separate state, if granted, I’m inclined to believe that too. Besides it is of no benefit forcing them to remain in a country they happen to dislike.
In most of the countries in Africa where secession is proposed, poverty trumps violence as the most immediate challenge. Economic growth, the required elixir, would be strengthened by more integration, rather than the fragmentation that secession would engender.
Great and prosperous nations like US, Britain, China, India are great mostly because of their land mass, population and human resources. And Nigeria seems to have all that, we have every tool we need to be the greatest black nation. So, the problem is not secession per se, but corruption, take out corruption and everything will fall in place.
If we should break-up, the Giant of Africa will become nothing but a group of small countries, we will lose our place in the continent, hence the “unity in diversity” is indeed “strength in diversity”. These regions all have their grievances, it’s either their demands should be met or the Federal Government should at least consider restructuring the country. The British may have brought us together without necessarily consulting us, but it is time to decide whether to stay together by consulting each other.

Isa E.Mubarak,
Abuja, [email protected]

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