Why I wrote book on 5 things Buhari must do – Momah

Why did you write the book? I have watched for long and seen the pillage and wanton destruction by Boko Haram, then we also noticed the irredentist activities of the pro-Biafran youths and then of course in the Niger-Delta, we have the Avengers blowing up our pipelines. Recently in the House of Representative, we have […]

Why did you write the book?

I have watched for long and seen the pillage and wanton destruction by Boko Haram, then we also noticed the irredentist activities of the pro-Biafran youths and then of course in the Niger-Delta, we have the Avengers blowing up our pipelines. Recently in the House of Representative, we have had the second reading for the Christian Court bill; all these portend a lot of dangers for our country. When you mix up physical insecurity with religious fanaticism, it is very dangerous for our country. 

Of course, the Christian Court bill is the consequence of the Sharia law; they are trying to counter it. All these bring up a very complex situation for the country. I feel that Nigeria is too big and too precious to be allowed to just disintegrate.  I felt like alerting, especially the youths, of the danger in agitating for the breakup of Nigeria because I believe that Nigeria basically was built on a tripod of the Hausa-Fulani, the Yoruba and the Ibos and if one leg is broken, I believe you can no longer stand on two legs and it will definitely collapse. This is why it is important to let those that are agitating for Biafra to know the consequences of their actions. 

And what are those consequences?

Nigeria has the potential of becoming a permanent member of the UN Security Council and a global super-power in a number of decades to come.  I am doing enough to alert Nigerians to do what is necessary, give and take that will make the country survive. This is the essence of the book, it is just to alert and alarm the war mongers on the grave consequences of the situation of Nigeria. 

When we watch what is happening today in Syria, Libya, and Yemen, it shows you the magnitude of violence that could engulf our country if we go the wrong way. In the past, examples have been made of countries that disintegrated and till date, they are still in war mood. 

Are there parallels to warn Nigeria?

We can start with Sudan. Sudan fought a war for several years and eventually by referendum carved out Southern Sudan, but today, Southern Sudan is at war with itself. We have the example of Somalia which has been at war since 1991, almost 25 years. Eritrea went through 30 years of civil war and it is still restive. We have other examples like in Korea, you know what is happening between North and South Korea since 1950, the conflict has been on for about 66 years, India and Pakistan since 1947; they have been at war in Kashmir for over 70 years. 

If we go into a second civil war, it may last upward of 50 years and I can see most of our cities being obliterated. Because a war that will last 50 years will make us lose about 30 million people.  So, let us not take that route. I believe in dialogue, I believe in give and take. 

Otherwise, what?

I am not saying that Nigeria is perfect. A lot of things ought to be made right and this is why the second part of the book focused on what should be made right in the Nigerian society. 

A lot of things are wrong; the book talked of restructuring and so many other things like respecting the secularity of Nigeria and other issues the book mentioned. So, it is a book that is not saying that Nigeria is perfect. Nigeria needs to take a bold step to make good most of the lapses that has been constitutionally enshrined in our constitution. And those things are things I believe should be made good so that the nation will move forward. 

What would a restructured Nigeria look like?

The re-structuring we are talking about is to cut down on overhead expenses. Instead of having 36 states, can’t we cut it down to 12 states? Can’t we remove the local government areas and have provinces? Let’s say 60 provinces for instance? 

Can’t we have 36 senators instead of 109? Can’t we have just 120 House of Representatives members instead of 360? So, this is the re-structuring I am talking of and once we do this, we will be saving almost N5 trillion annually and that N5 trillion can be put into infrastructure development and offering employment to the youths and cut down on the restiveness of the youths, and then of course, neutralize militancy.  It is a matter of taking the right approach and we will be killing two birds with one stone when we do so. That is basically what the book has tried to do, to alert Nigerians on the consequences of a second civil war and then, suggest what should be done to make sure Nigeria becomes acceptable to all the nationalities that make up the country.