SNC: Timely and desirable

I understand the constitution of Nigeria 1999 as amended fairly well. One does not have to be a lawyer to do that but what is clear is that as long as the current structure and contents remain, it is impossible to convene any form of conference that will alter the structure of the nation. I […]

I understand the constitution of Nigeria 1999 as amended fairly well. One does not have to be a lawyer to do that but what is clear is that as long as the current structure and contents remain, it is impossible to convene any form of conference that will alter the structure of the nation. I hear every day people talk about the need to talk. Talk about what? The issues to talk about are staring at us straight and we all know what they are and what the solutions are.

If we know that there is massive looting of treasury, in Abuja especially, and roads, schools, hospitals, electricity and other social infrastructures are out of the reach of the generality of the people, we equally know those who are responsible and how the plunder is going on. What we worry about at all times is when we are not part of the plundering team or group, i.e it is not the man or woman from our ethnic group or region that is looting the treasury.

If he or she comes from our clime, it is okay. Theft can go on but we are concerned if the thief is from another environment. A people can never achieve greatness when they think in a manner like this. More than anything else, the attitudinal deficiency of the Nigerian elites which has been so deeply ingrained in the psyche of the people is responsible for the backwardness of Nigeria and Nigerians.

It is from this standpoint that I always wish that for any reason, Nigerians may go their ways so that we may as groups rediscover their missions and see if they can separately do it better than in this alliance that has been in favor of the minority against the majority. Minority, yes, the class at the top of the echelon of each region and section of the country has made it impossible for the rest to see the light of the day and the result today is what we see in violence across the length and breadth of the nation.

As a Nigerian of Northern extraction I am a victim of the federation called Nigeria and not among its beneficiaries. My section of the country is larger in space and population and yet the economy is massively in the hands of the minority south. It is currently estimated that out of every N10 that is spent by government at the center, N8 goes to the southerners and only N1 and a little is in the hands of the Northerners.

We see the translation of this in form of poverty and want that the people up North are in. We see the level of illiteracy and apprehension which gave birth to the current agitation that is interpreted in religious coloration by the same elite class that is responsible for the creation of the problem in the first place.

Last week in London, President Jonathan told the world that he does not see the correlation between crime and poverty. What a President! A Doctor of Philosophy in the academia is what a General is in the military. If Generals are inept, the result is they have a low morale of troops and will always be losers in war.

If the president does not see any synergy between want and violence, then, Nigerians may as well say that we are in for tougher times because the resolution of any problem begins with the very understanding of the nature of that problem. If after this national outrage and restiveness the president honestly fails to see the linkage between the two, then, the statement will again go that perhaps our number one citizen is either insincere or grossly incapable of holding the trust that he and his party claim the Nigerian people have given them.

In terms of the distribution of national resources, it is clear that there will continue to be huge gaps that would continue to aggravate the social disequilibrium in the country. A situation where the small state of Bayelsa in the South South region of Nigeria will every month collect revenue from the federation account that is more than what the six states in the North East or North Central part of the country collect is surely a recipe for crises because the inequality is so huge to the extent that there are different peoples in the same nation.

All these are not seen as problems by the current leadership in Abuja. It was the former US President Mr. William Jefferson Clinton who came to Lagos the other day to suggest that the problem of insurrection in some parts o the country is rooted in yawning gap in income between sections and individuals.

Societies are not built on the threshold of inequality because inequality breeds insecurity. A recent statistical release shows that what the six Niger Delta states received from the federation account between 1999 and 2010 was over N3.6 trillion, about N600 billion over what the entire Northern states received over the corresponding period.

If we take the privatization of public enterprises and concessioning that has been going on, the Southerners have taken more than 90% of all. Take the sea and airports and you will find that all are in the hands of Nigerians from the South and yet they are complaining.

A survey into federal institutions in the 19 Northern states also put annual enrollment of students from the south in comparative terms with those from the North. It is not the same with federal institutions in the south. What that means is that there is massive inequity in the allocation and sharing of space and resources in Nigeria.

As a Nigerian of Northern extraction, I am ashamed of the status of my people. Last year, the crisis-ridden Plateau State recorded the worst result in secondary school examinations in the country. On annual basis, the numbers of young people who qualify to enter universities from Imo and Delta States are more than those from the 19 Northern states put together. This is a shame and a crisis of no mean proportion which every Northerner must be ashamed of and work towards the reversal of the trend and immediately too.

I agree with the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo who since colonial times had argued vehemently that the Yoruba race was not prepared to be dragged back by the docile North. This situation has not changed and is even getting worst because the population of the 19 Northern states is rising by the day while that of the south is to some extent controlled. You may wish to see it as fertility rate but it is of no positive significance if the structure to engage and occupy such a bourgeoning population is not there and that is the reality in Northern Nigeria. It is estimated that about 6 million children are given birth to in Nigeria annually. 4 million of these are from the 19 Northern states only 2 million are from the south.

Clearly, the North is not on the same page with the South and as such Nigeria may not know the colors of stability in the foreseeable future. One of the options open is the need to do the so-called sovereign conference if possible so that we may all go our ways. What is certain however is that the country cannot continue to survive on the basis of the falsehood that is currently instituted.

Those noisemakers from the south are of the belief that the North does not want Nigeria to break. They are making the greatest mistakes of their lives. I agree that it is impossible given the current order to have any so-called national conference whether sovereign or otherwise, but if there is any way Nigerians would be given the choice as to whether the country should remain one or not, the resounding yes that will come from the North will be amazing. Yes! I am also tired of this contraption that has failed to work not because of a fault of mine, but that of my co-tenant.