The vicious cycle of revenge!
Wikipedia has it on a page titled ‘Royal Niger Company’ that the territory called Nigeria was later sold at the turn of the 20th century (January 1, 1900), for £865,000, by the Royal Niger Company to Her Majesty’s Government. Goldie is recognised in a book titled ‘Empire’, written by Niall Ferguson, as ‘an adventurer, a […]
Wikipedia has it on a page titled ‘Royal Niger Company’ that the territory called Nigeria was later sold at the turn of the 20th century (January 1, 1900), for £865,000, by the Royal Niger Company to Her Majesty’s Government. Goldie is recognised in a book titled ‘Empire’, written by Niall Ferguson, as ‘an adventurer, a drifter, the descendant of a family of smugglers from the Isle of Man’. So were a vast majority of the whites who came looking for opportunities on the ‘dark continent’, Africa, in the days of yore.
The modus operandi was to bring goods from their own country and sell at inflated prices to unsuspecting natives, and to surreptitiously and many times forcefully, steal or ferret out valuable resources from those native ‘territories’, for disposal at good prices in their own countries. The British were the leaders, but the French also gave them a good run for their money. Before the Brits, the Portuguese and Spanish had carried on this roguery on a much smaller scale since the 13th century. The first set of Portuguese in Nigeria, landed in Lagos around 1444. The name Lagos itself is from the Portuguese language. The intentions of the initial western adventurers into Africa were therefore far from holy. When I hear the western media today complaining about corruption in Africa or piracy in China and so on, I can only marvel at the manner in which they try to promote ignorance amongst their teeming viewers. Civilisation as we know it today, is established wholly on mass murder, piracy and thievery!
However, it must be agreed that as much as the incursion of the westerners brought Africa much grief and displacement – problems from which we still wallow till date – it also brought many advantages such as in healthcare and technology. It is difficult to tell though, whether we are better off with the system imposed on us by colonialism, or as we were originally. It is also difficult to tell, if we would have caught up with the rest of the world in terms of technology and so on, and how long it will take, because we never really had such challenges as they had and so were generally laid back as a people.
All the above history and much more, starting from the origins of our colonisers, Britain itself, is contained in my being-published book, CRUSHED! It became important to give a snippet because of current happenings in the Nigerian socio-political landscape.
It came to pass, that after the fusion of the north and south ‘protectorates’ of Nigeria, the north was kept almost intact in terms of the governmental and social structures. One might say the Brits were getting tired of trying to force people to change to their culture. Or that they were already getting irritated by the obstinacy being displayed by southerners, even up to Benue, whom some of the extremists amongst the British felt were becoming recalcitrant for asking them to leave. It could also be because the structures on ground allowed for the British administrators to practice the famous ‘divide-and-rule’, a system of government largely credited to Lugard’s ‘genius’. Or better still, it could be because, as adherents of Islam, the vast majority of northerners quickly acknowledged what happened (the incursion of the colonialist and the brutal suppression of their own armies by the whites), as the will of Allah. The Brits therefore clearly saw northerners as better friends, and may have felt more comfortable having them in governance as they (the British), left at the prodding of the USA.
The south of Nigeria was integrated into government since 1922, but the north did not get that privilege until 1947. The 25 years difference is a clear generation, and caused problems. Again I think it was due to the reluctance of the British to tamper with the structures on ground in the north. The north was closer to the Islamic civilisation, headquartered in Constantinople, modern-day Turkey, which was far greater and stronger than Europe in its hey days. That clear one-generation gap is the reason why Federal Character and so on, has become part of our constitution today.
Immediately the north was integrated into governance, and northern leaders were required to go to Ibadan as members of parliament, problems started to crop up. Sir Ahmadu Bello recorded it in his book, ‘My Life’, that they – the northern leaders – were being derided by some of the southern leaders as ‘cattle-rearers’, or bush men in general. He particularly felt bad at the treatment he and others got from Mr Bode Thomas among others. In my view, the southern leaders only allowed power to get to their heads at that time, by discriminating against their brothers from the north. But whereas I can excuse their flippancy in those dark ages, it has become evident that we should use our many means of communication today – GSM, internet, Skype, Blackberry, Facebook, Twitter and so-on – to forge alliances and unity, as against what we now use them for (hatemongering among the youth and the ‘enlightened’). Readers, go on Saharareporters.com, or 234next.com and see what your children are becoming! I believe we are one, north, south, east and west!
When the motion for Nigeria’s independence was moved in 1953, it was only natural for the northern leaders to be apprehensive because of the 25 years gap between the north and south. They therefore refused to support the motion, saying they should be given more time to catch up. The southern leaders were incensed to great limits, and the northern leaders while leaving Ibadan, were stoned at every train stop until they left the southern territories. The Sardauna swore never to come back to the south.
The north must have strategised to take action and protect itself (from southerners) after the 1953 incidence. But it later agreed to support independence for Nigeria in 1960. Then by January 1966, Ahmadu Bello and some other leaders were killed by Kaduna Nzeogwu and co, and a string of coups continued till 1979. Nzeogwu’s coup was just one of the gimmicks with which the USA ensured its supremacy as the British Empire retreated. It was in the days of the Cold War, when many proxy wars were fought in developing countries between Russia and the USA. Intelligence people in the USA already recognised the strategic potential of Nigeria and must have instigated the first coup as they did in many countries – Egypt, Venezuela, Guatemala, the Congo, Panama, Ecuador, Sudan, and many, many more. But Ahmadu Bello, a Sokoto prince, whose grandfather, Sultan Bello was an author of several books even way back then, is not someone that can be cheaply liquidated amongst such a people, without serious repercussions!
Therefore Nigeria has been caterwauling in a vicious cycle of revenge, from north to south, and back. We shall continue to examine the events next week from another perspective. But suffice to say that the next election in Nigeria is being peddled on that premise – the need for ‘revenge’ against the north. I will not be part of that revenge. I believe we can still engage ourselves intellectually and sort our problems out. Revelations coming out recently points to a deep-seated obsession with revenge amongst our people. We must be extremely careful.