IV. LINK BETWEEN POLITICAL LEADERSHIP AND INDUSTRIALIZATION IN NIGERIA
From the above analysis so far we can observe the role of leadership in pushing the above named countries into regional powers and first world countries. For a country to be politically relevant in the world scene it must be economically strong and viable. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and Lee Quan Yew were leaders who recognized this fact and worked hard on it. Both leaders were not without opposition; there has never been a leader who has been able to please everybody. They were able to conquer opposition with the general support of the people. The political careers of both men attest to the “miracles” that can be achieved when the leadership of a country is strong and also devoted to the development of the country. Their career also highlights the importance of political stability in a country.
Nigeria was not as bad as Turkey or Singapore when it gained political independence in 1960 and became a republic in 1963 thereby severing all political ties from Great Britain. While it is agreed that the British colonial policy had been one of exploitation of resources which was common to all its colonies, the early political leaders recognized the fact that to be a regional player it must foster rapid industrialization of the country which was why import substitution method of industrialization was adopted in the first republic.
In order to see Nigeria’s political climate in proper light, we have to look at the political structure of the entire country before amalgamation in 1914. The British named the country after the river Niger. It is made of up of three major regions namely; North, East and West. The North was majorly Muslim and was a highly centralized society. The rulers were absolute and a feudal type of society that existed in middle ages Europe was present. The west was semi- autocratic. Their political system included checks and balances and its citizens were enlightened. The east consisted of republics. Each community was autonomous and there was no absolute ruler. Male citizens converged on open squares to make decisions affecting the entire community. This type of political society was reminiscent of the Athenian type of democracy.
These were the type of political system met in place by the British. The system in the North and West was retained but warrant chiefs were appointed for the easterners; this created problems for the British until they handed over political control. The Northern and Southern part of the country was amalgamated in 1914 for primarily administrative purposes with Lord Frederick Lugard as the first Governor- General of a united colony of Nigeria.
The economy operated under the British was mainly agrarian. The North was known for its groundnut pyramids, the west for its cocoa and the east for its oil palm. These products would make Nigeria an important part of the Great Britain’s world war two efforts. The country became important as staging posts for troops and supplies as well as being a primary supplier of essential supplies to British troops ( James, 2004)
Several scholars believe Nigerian Nationalists secured independence for the country on a platter of gold. Unlike African countries like Zimbabwe and Zambia who had to resort to violent tactics to win their freedom, Nigerian nationalists made use of the pen as the greatest and most effective weapon in their arsenal. There are scholars who believe the British left too early.
The 1960’s was a decade of a heavy change in world politics. It was a decade when many African countries gained independence. The United states had just emerged as a world power, the cold war was raging, former world powers were losing their colonies world – wide, more black Africans had become educated and the black soldiers of Nigerian descent who fought for Great Britain in the jungles of Burma shattered previous beliefs of the white man’s physical superiority and invincibility.
Thus while in the previous decades the British colonial masters had made use of the existing chiefdoms to perpetuate their rule only appointing British officers to oversee them (except the easterners who has warrant chiefs appointed); concessions had to be made for educated Nigerians to be able to fit in society especially those who had schooled abroad. It was as if a kingdom had to be carved out for the new educated elite. So it was from 1914 Nigerians started being introduced to the governance of their own affairs due to the intense agitation of the new educated elite otherwise known as Nationalists.
Nationalism grew out of the frustration of the new and growing educated elite. Who having returned from their various universities abroad (United Kingdom and United States mostly) were unable to find employment befitting their education status. Thousands of others who were not so lucky were stuck in lower stages of education with no hope of advancement. They were still being rules by their illiterate chiefs who had no voice of their own. Thus they became in their own views second class citizens in their own country. Of note is that the northern part of the country was virtually untouched by the plague of radical nationalism. Education was reserved for the children of the elite, thus they were satisfied with British rule and seem to only be dragged along with the rest of the country.
Northern versus southern riots broke out in the ancient city of Kano in 1953. This riot was a direct response to what Northern elders and youths termed insult to their leaders when the latter visited Ibadan the capital of western Nigeria for a conference in 1950 (Wikipedia).
When the motion for independence was moved by Anthony Enahoro in 1956, it was unanimously shot down by northern delegates who only advocated an “independence as soon as applicable” stance (James, 2004). This incident alone should have made the British realize that the entire nationalist movement was built on a foundation of personal and regional aspirations and not a truly nationalistic one. What the British did was to help a band of common men to take over power from the old aristocracy. When the British came, they met traditional rulers over territories (in most cases an established monarchy) and in places where there were none, warrants chiefs were appointed from among the people. The British decided to rule through these rulers. Why was power not handed back to these rulers when the British decided to disengage? Because rulers were content, at least most of them. The new nationalist who looked eager to rule were put in place of the British above the traditional rulers. So a new breed of elite was born into the Nigerian society with the advent of Nationalism and independence; the political class.
The political class was never united but the prospect of independence alongside the new found political and economic power it would bring blinded even the most cunning of them. The political associations and political party formed in the period before independence were ethnic based each one not being able to win an election decisively in the other’s region of influence. Thus, it was easy for the Northern People’s Congress to sweep majority of the seats in the parliament during elections.
Most great democracies and countries that have broken the jinx of the third world got together to determine their basis of coexistence. Thus, Singapore left Malaysia and Turkey abandoned the Ottoman Empire to die a natural death. At independence however, most Northern Nigerian leaders were afraid of domination by their more educated Southern counterparts especially those of Eastern origin. The Northern region had threatened to secede in 1960 and 1966 but was persuaded to remain in the union by the British especially as oil had been discovered in commercial quantity in the country.
Fierce rivalry among the three autonomous regions accounted for the fast rate of development recorded in the first republic (1960-1963). While Britain took that as a good sign that all was well with this new country, the Action Group crisis in the Western region and the census crisis of 1962/1963 shattered all expectations of the western world. By the time the first republic was terminated via military coup in January 1966 thousands had been killed especially in the South Western region of the country. Some of the reason given for the coup by the coup plotters was massive corruption among the elite, insecurity of life and property and non respect of the federal constitution amongst others. The prime minister was assassinated alongside the premier of the northern region. The young majors who led the coup could not complete their mission however and Major Gen Aguiyi Ironsi the head of the military took over the government and thus formed the first military government of the republic of Nigeria. His first decision and costliest mistake however, was to abolish the federation and establish a unitary structure for Nigeria akin to what obtained in the military high command.
Initially the five Majors were hailed on the streets of Nigeria as saviors. The populace had grown tired of their new overlords and welcomed the change open heartedly. As the days went by however, details of the coup itself leaked to the public and perception changed when ethnic sentiments were whipped up by remnants of the political class. Most of the powerful people in the country had been northerners therefore most of them died. The coup plotters were mainly of eastern origin, the new head of government was also of eastern origin. The northern elite saw the coup as a ploy by the easterners to dominate the rest of the country. The new government did not help matters also by refusing to prosecute the coup plotters it had in its custody and its unitary decree further fueled the suspicion of the northern elite. These incidents exposed the weak foundations on which the Nigerian state was built. This period presented a perfect opportunity to go back to the drawing table and create something unique to the country and its people without British influence. What happened instead was the northern elites made a recruitment drive of northern youths into the armed forces and six months later carried out its own counter coup which snowballed into a pogrom. Unlike the first coup that was based on ideology and a sincere drive to save the average Nigerian from his new overlord. This coup was to carry out revenge of a perceived injury and take control of government so as to checkmate the progress of members of the country who were of eastern origin. Thus the coup led to an all-out civil war which lasted for three years (1967-1970).
There are scholars who believe that the Nationalist squandered the independence and future of the country because they did not shed blood for it. A bit of bloodshed would have prepared us better in dealing with the rot we are currently experiencing (Omideyi, 2009). Looking at history and the present trend one cannot help but agree that our political elite have a winner take all mentality. They treat the citizens like conquest and their struggles are only for their pockets and that of their immediate family. Conditions are worse off than they were in the 60’s but not really different. The country leadership style is unlike the experience of Turkey and Singapore that was earlier discussed in this paper. That could be the reason for the state we are today with respect to industrialization.
V. RELEVANCE OF POLITICAL IDEOLOGY TO INDUSTRILIZATION IN NIGERIA
Consistent and coherent views about key issues that affect government and the society as a whole are the hallmarks of a great political ideology. In the United States for instance there are two main political ideology the two political parties adhere to; liberal and conservative (cliffnotes.com). An ideology is a set of philosophical premises that defines the ideas a politician builds his brand with. A standard used to attract people with similar ideas to support them.
A political ideology is a set of ethics, rules and principles of a social group (political parties) that suggest ways in which they think society should work and proffer political solutions and a cultural blueprint for achieving same. An ideology is a tool used by a political party to capture and maintain power (quora.com).
Political parties are made up of people who share the same interests and work towards achieving them. The main interest of political parties is to capture political power and dictate who gets what. They get the opportunity to literarily shape the world in their own image. A political ideology characterizes the beliefs of a political party which translates to the beliefs of a certain section of society because members of political party are also members of a society. Sound political ideologies create strong political parties. Strong political parties create strong political systems and strong political systems create a strong society both economically and politically. The stronger the political system in place the stronger the economy and the more industrialized it becomes; turkey and Singapore are a great example of this. Political parties are seen as markers of democracy. Even one party communist state like the people’s republic of China still perform certain aspects of internal democracy (electing party leaders).
Functions of a political parties as discussed by Omotola (2009) include; accountability; control over government administration; political representation through expressing people’s demand by interest articulation and aggregation as well as structuring electoral choices; intermediary and mediatory role between the government and the electorate.
However, Nigeria’s political parties seemed to be formed for the sole purpose of capturing power and keeping it indefinitely. These parties lacked coherent political ideologies capable of moving the country forward. The 1999 constitutions bars any form of independent candidature quite unlike what obtains in the United States. Every candidate must be sponsored by a political party (See sections 131c, 177c, 65(2)b, 106(d) of the 1999 constitution as amended). But the political parties have only produced few strong individuals with Nationalistic tendencies to match those of the first republic. These individuals were either killed or removed from office via military coups, others were harassed politically throughout their tenures. The political party in Nigeria is one of the weakest political institutions in the country. When it comes to creating a political party in Nigeria we have our own principles quite unlike any other democracy in the world; we introduced religion, ethnicity and the power of incumbency in our political system. The general view of Nigerian political parties is that it is a vehicle for personal ambitions and ethnic electioneering in place of ideological elections and principled governance ( Dorrell, 2014).
The golden era of Nigerian politics was during the first republic. Although the parties had been aligned along ethnic lines the major parties had a sense of ideology and were not as tribalised as the parties of the second republic. In that era an Igbo man would win an election in the northern city of Kano in spite of the Northernisation policy of the Northern People’s Congress (NPC). The Action Group (AG) and the National Council of Nigeria and Cameroon (NCNC) were known as progressives and if you voted for their candidates you would expect policies centered on education, health and community development. The NPC was dominated by Northern Elites and the AG and NCNC by enlightened and British educated Southerners. Intense rivalry between the political parties extended to the regions which spurred intense economic progress and development on all fronts thus making the first republic the golden age of industrialization in Nigeria. The major political parties were centered on key figures and individuals who attracted large following with their charisma and leadership skills. Thus the NPC had key figures like the Sardauna of Sokoto, Ahmadu Bello and his deputy Tafawa Balewa and the AG had key figures like Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Chief Samuel Akintola as his deputy.
One can observe that despite the ideology pursued by each political party the country imploded as a result of suspicion and disagreements between key figures in each political party. The chaos that took over the Western region in 1962/63 was as a result of disagreements between Akintola and Awolowo. The lawlessness that prevailed was a direct reason for the bloody coup that followed. Further suspicions among key military leaders led to a bloodier counter coup and eventually a civil war.
The Nigeria Military became a political party when it took over the reins of government. Soldiers who were supposed to die in protection of the state became the custodians and distributors of power with no burden of accountability. This period coincided with the wave of military coups on the African continent. Most of the military dictators on the continent between 1960 and 1990 were course mates at the British military defense school in Sandhurst. Therefore military officers became head of state, governors and military administrators. They took over the role of politicians and then centralized the country in accordance with military hierarchy. The officers, who carried out the counter coup of July, 1966 gave Decree No. 34 (Unitary Decree) as one of the reasons for the bloody coup. But General Yakubu Gowon who took over from J.T.U. Aguyi Ironsi not only further centralized the country but partitioned the country into twelve states along ethnic lines; a move that was meant to prevent the Eastern region from seceding from the Federation.
Despite its excesses however, the Gowon administration was able to fight and win a civil war without borrowing a dime. The young Nigerian state was awash with petro-dollars amidst an oil boom. Thus the economic direction of the 70’s were directed at rebuilding parts of the country that had suffered damages during the war; particularly the South-East. The oil glut that hit from 1973 however dwindled the country’s earnings as it has almost completely abandoned agriculture and focused on oil as its major export. The political instability and civil war of the late 60’s had contributed heavily to this.
The Murtala/Obasanjo administration tried to correct this by introducing economic policies to re-introduce agriculture as a major foreign exchange earner for the country. The regime embarked on a massive purge of the civil service and general public in its early days in an attempt to bring back sanity to the society. Murtala was killed a few months into his administration in a failed coup attempt and Obasanjo his Vice took over. By 1979, the military would write a presidential constitution for the country patterned after that of the United States of America and supervise an election that would see Shehu Shagari of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) emerge as the first Executive President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. They were five major parties in the second republic and they were all offshoots of the major parties of the first republic and further divided along ethnic lines; the country had nineteen states by this time. According to the presidential constitution that was adopted by the country, the Nigerian state was federal in nature and provided for a unicameral legislature at the state level and a bi-cameral legislature at the federal level. Each state was supposedly semi-autonomous as it was with the regions in the first republic.
In practice however this was not to be the case. Unlike what obtained in the first republic were the semi-autonomous regions had control over their resources. The federal government controlled the resources of the semi-autonomous state of which had been limited to crude oil. Oil was drilled mostly in the states of the old eastern and mid-western regions by private oil firms like Shell who pay rent to the federal government; the oil is the sold back to the country as refined petroleum and diesel. The federal government then takes the lion share of the rents and shares the rest among the state and local governments.
The second republic was rife with politicians who clawed their way up and believed in equal sharing of the national cake. Thus there was endemic corruption and abuse of office leading to further chaos in the political sphere while managing to impoverish Nigerians further. Unlike the first republic politicians most of whom had been educated elites educated abroad and so had lofty ideals and levels of development for their regions which they aspired to achieve despite their individual differences. There is a general belief that the best brains of that generation died in the civil war that lasted from 1967-1970. Both military and civilian both sides had irreplaceable loses some of whom are Christopher Okigbo a famous playwright of his time. The second republic politicians were mostly half-baked, semi illiterates who had been keen followers of the first republic leaders. Although there were a few remnants of the old guard that remained, they were too few to be of any effect. Chief Obafemi lost the presidential election to Mallam Shehu Shagari.
The military regime of General Buhari that ousted the civilian regime of Shehu Shagari tried to take a disciplinary approach in solving the country’s economic and social problems. The man Buhari was a strict disciplinarian and he tried to shape the country in his own image. His ideology was discipline and he started the compulsory sanitation exercise and the war against indiscipline brigade. General Babangida who took over in a bloodless coup was popular for legalizing corruption and implementing the Structural Adjustment Programme which saw Nigeria take a loan from the IMF for the first time in its economic history.
General Babangida’s tenure marked a turning point in Nigerian economic and political history. The first few months of the Babangida presidency saw diffusion of powers between the president, a council of military rulers and civilian advisers and technocrats. It began to look like grand designs on rulership a few months into the presidency however. Babangida personal rulership project was designed to accumulate all powers and dispense all patronage for as long as possible (Amuwo, 1995). There was celebration in the streets of Nigeria when General Buhari and his stern faced deputy Tunde Idiagbon were removed from power in a bloodless coup by Babangida. Babangida looked youthful, energetic and full of smiles that seemed to affect the general mood of the country. Just like every new leader too he repealed some of the decrees of his predecessor to gain legitimacy to his rule. By throwing open the prison gates for many of the political detainees; unchaining the press through a repeal of Decree 4 of 1984 as well as promising respect of fundamental human rights, Babangida rapidly concluded his initial political rites of legitimacy and support building (Amuwo, 1995).
The Babangida regime bore the following hallmarks;
1. Nigeria’s foreign policy became more participatory. Nigeria involvement in the internal politics of other African countries through ECOMOG
2. Adoption of SAP policy
3. Nigeria involvement and membership of the Organisation of Islamic States
4. Survival of the Gideon Orkar coup in 1990 that had a high collusion of civilians who had grown tired of the despotic nature of the regime
5. Suppression of the press and mass arrests of dissenters against the regime
6. Political assassinations
7. Botched attempt at a return to democracy when two political parties were imposed on the country. (third republic)
8. Annulment of June 12, 1993 presidential election which was presumably won by Chief M.K.O Abiola
9. Institutionalization of corruption (creation of extra-ministerial departments, gulf war oil windfall etc)
Babangida “stepped aside” on the 27th August 1993 handing over to an Interim National Government (ING) led by Ernest Shonekan following the backlash of the June 12, 1993 annulment crisis. Ernest Shonekan would spend just three months in office before being toppled by Sanni Abacha.
The Abacha regime came at a period of a peak in the abuse of human rights in Nigeria. While the Babangida regime had started Nigeria on the path to international isolation due to extreme cases of human rights abuses and the June 12, election crisis, and the Abacha government put Nigeria in a “pariah” status in the international community (Idachaba, 2001).
The Abacha regime was said to be brutal by all standards, imprisoning and executing scores of political enemies and dissenters. He was viewed as the most corrupt Nigerian leader ever amazing a fortune the bulk of which were found in the vaults of Swiss banks. Years after his death his fortunes are still being discovered by the Nigerian government (Gale, 2005).
The following are the hallmarks of the Abacha presidency;
1. His coming to power was not officially regarded as a coup. He took over the reins of government being the most senior minister when Shonekan resigned.
2. Arrest of Chief M.K.O Abiola on charges of treason. Abiola would die in prison a month after Abacha on the 7th of July 1998.
3. Secret trial and killing of Ken Saro Wiwa and the Ogoni eight who were environmental activists.
4. Massive crackdown on the media, civil rights group and pro-democracy campaigns
5. Official and unofficial exchange rate for the dollar which created colossal rent-seeking, with many “chosen” associates buying at the official rate and reselling at four times the rate in the black market (thecable.ng, 2016)
6. All the refineries packed up and Nigeria became a perpetual importer of petroleum products (Nigeria still imports fuel in 2017)
7. Nigeria became instrumental to peace and political stability in Liberia and Sierra Leone at the cost of thousands of dollars and Nigerian lives
8. He set up the Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund, which was widely acknowledged to have performed well in infrastructural development and intervention programmes in education, health and water
9. The Abacha presidency planned to transition to a civilian regime with him as a civilian president
10. Like the Babangida presidency Abacha imposed five political parties on the country who unanimously “chose” him as their presidential candidate.
When Abacha died on the 8th of June 1998, massive celebrations erupted in the streets of Nigeria. Abdusalami Abubakar took over the reins of government and fast tracked the return to civilian rule which saw the emergence of Olusegun Obasanjo as a civilian president. He was inaugurated on the 29th of May 1999. This date has been sacrosanct as democracy day in Nigeria ever since.
Obasanjo led two tenure of civilian presidency that saw Nigeria move from a pariah state to being a regional leader once more. Economic and social reforms were carried out and efforts were made to reconcile the government with the people with the creation of the Justice Oputa panel; a platform for people to seek redress done to them during the military regimes of Babangida and Abacha. Anti-corruption agencies were established and general re-orientation programmes for the Nigerian populace which had suffered untold hardships under the military regimes from 1983. By the time the fourth republic came into existence, the average Nigerian mentality had shifted from wealth through education and hard work to get rich by any means possible. Like we observed earlier corruption had been institutionalized under the Babangida regime and only grew bigger under Abacha. The richest people in the society from mid-1980 thrived on government patronage and corruption. Therefore, the politicians of the fourth republic were self-serving people who saw politics as the fastest means of wealth accumulation. Thus elections have become a do or die affair in the country.
Unlike the politicians of the first republic, majority of the politicians in the fourth republic had no other means of livelihood other than politics. Some took it as a full time career. An example is the immediate past president of the country Goodluck Jonathan. He resigned from his position as a lecturer and rose through the ranks from a deputy governor to president. He left office after losing the 2015 presidential election to Muhammad Buhari.
Obasanjo took over a country that faced many problems, including a dysfunctional bureaucracy, collapsed infrastructure, and a military that wanted a reward for returning quietly to the barracks. He retired hundreds of military officers who held political positions, ordered the release of scores of persons held without charge, and rescinded a number of questionable licenses and contracts let by the previous military regimes. The government also moved to recover millions of dollars in funds secreted in overseas accounts (globalsecurity.org).
The fourth republic came about because of the desire of the military government of Abdusalami Abubakar to hand over to civilians. The three parties that were formed thereafter lacked clear cut ideologies. They seemed only eager to take over power especially at the powerful Centre and hang on to it for as long as possible by any means possible. One of the chieftains of the people’s democratic party the party that ruled at the Centre for sixteen years would go on to rule for a hundred years. They were voted at the office after sixteen years after a coalition of opposition parties came together to work hard on it.
Despite the many successes of the administration however, there were still cases of fantastic levels of corruption, abuse of human right and the infamous third term agenda which was decried by all and sundry. Although the economy improved massively under the administration, the government was often at loggerheads with labour unions over issues such as oil pump price and remuneration of workers.
The eight year tenure of Obasanjo was full of drama and intrigue on the political scene. Under Obasanjo there were squabbles between politicians and even his own vice-president Atiku Abubakar. There was allegations of witch hunting of political opponents using state apparatus like the Economic and financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Every Nigerian leader that has tried to make a difference has either been frustrated out of office, denied the position of president or assassinated. Aguiyi Ironsi, Murtala Mohammed, Obafemi Awolowo, Goodluck Jonathan, Chief MKO Abiola, Odumegwu Ojukwu, Ken Saro Wiwa, Major Ifeajuna, Giden Orkar, Maman Vatsa, Isaac Adara Boro among others. These people died fighting for a truly federal country were peace and justice would reign.
The inherent lack of ideology among the political class has produced a sleeping giant of Africa fifty seven years after independence. The newspaper headlines of 2017 are no different from the newspaper headlines of the late 70’s. The political class seem to work in their own interest going by the discoveries and can of worms being opened daily by the anti-graft agencies. The major infrastructures that are supposed to have jumpstarted industrialization remain moribund (Ajaokuta Steel in Kogi, Oluwa Glass in Ondo, Bitumen in Ondo etc) and this was due to indifference and corruption. After the indigenization policy was put in place, most of the indigenous directors saw the appointments as an opportunity to get their share of the national cake and therefore went ahead to loot the treasury with impunity and no thought of what to leave for future generations.
VI. CONCLUSION
Deduction from the above discussion is that the political class merely supplanted the British in the administration of the country. The politicians of the first republic were perhaps the most ideological politicians ever. Most of what the society is made of today is the result of their visionary leadership. No matter their political differences they actually had the welfare and technological advancement of their various regions at heart. Thus, enduring legacies like the University of Ibadan, University of Lagos and Ahmadu Bello University Zaria remain some of the best institutions of higher learning. The federal government has not done any major industrial projects in the country since the 1980’s and most public institutions like NITEL are now moribund with some of them having been sold.
In Nigeria what actually obtains as can be observed from this paper is that each leader military or civilian demonizes the work of their predecessor and starts the process all over again. The leaders are not usually in office for as long as they would like before another party takes over and the process begins all over again. So the country ends up going round in circles seeming to make progress but actually retrogressing
For instance after having an intensive campaign and making a myriad of promises the ruling All People’s Congress threw most of the previous government’s policies both good and bad. Ministers to key portfolios and ministries took eight months after the new president was inaugurated to fill. By this time the economy had been without direction and had slipped into a recession following the drop of oil prices worldwide.
The fourth republic has seen a lot of cross carpeting of politicians between political parties. Every politician trying to go over on the ruling sides because of the winner take all nature of the average Nigerian politician. Inherently these politicians fight themselves like the proverbial elephants and the citizens are left to suffer for all their indiscretions like the proverbial grass and ants that suffer when two elephants fight.
Between 2015 and 2017 so many members of the PDP have crossed over to the ruling APC that public opinion has finally realized these set of politicians have nothing to offer and the country may have eventually noticed that all these politicians are actually of the same class and virtually have nothing to offer.
VII. RECOMMENDATIONS
In 2014, the then President Goodluck Jonathan called for a national confab. The crux of the deliberation was a restructuring of the country. For this country to make progress, there is need to go back to the beginning. It is equally important to negotiate the terms staying together as one people and one nation. The union of 1914 was not a voluntary union. The North threatened to secede in 1959; the East seceded for three years before being brought back to the fold after three years of bitter civil war. The Henry Orkar coup of 1990 threatened to secede the core northern states from the federation. Every day fragmented unions and agitations grow out of the frustrations of the normal people. The Boko Haram and the Niger Delta militias are one of many, lecturers still go on strike due to government’s inability to maintain the existing facilities. It is therefore necessary to change our ideology from self centeredness to the development of our nation. Presently, civil education that is taught in all the schools should not end up in the classroom, but be practiced anywhere we find ourselves. Equally important, is the need for leaders to lead by example.
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