I read the caption “I won’t preside over a Nigerian break up” credited to President Goodluck Jonathan in some national dailies of February 25, 2014. It was echoing then British Prime Minister Winston Churchill who quite confidently, on November 10, 1942 said, “as the King’s first Minister I am not going to preside over the liquidation of the British Empire.”
Churchill lost the elections that followed in 1945 and by 1947 with India the “Crown Jewel” of the British Empire granted Independence, we saw the beginning of the “Liquidation of the British Empire.” The truth is Nigeria is just like an Empire. So many small countries tied together.
I observe that Churchill and Jonathan are Black Hat (Bowker and Fedora) wearing leaders belonging to the conservative school of politics and they are both November children, having been born November 30, 1874 and November 20, 1957 respectively.
Churchill was in the midst of the Second World War (against the Nazis) and Jonathan the Boko Haram War. Some would say placing Jonathan besides Churchill is silly but the tools available to Jonathan were not in existence during the times of Churchill. Churchill would have been prepared to kill to get a smart phone of today. I hope things will go well after the general elections of 2015.
Augustine Togonu-Bickersteth, London, England.
