Which Way Nigeria?

Are there people who are not worried about the drums of war being beaten at different parts of the country? Perhaps, there are. But the truth is that there is fear and tension in the land.
The rumours of war and disaster  circulating everywhere, especially on the social media, the hate and divisive speeches of people from the North, East, West and South and the constant agitations of various ethnic and religious groups  are clear indications that all is not well with the country.
At a women’s meeting the other day, members were advised to start buying bags of salt and sending to their villages in readiness for an inevitable war. They were told stories of how salt prevented many people from going down with some deadly deceases during the Nigerian Civil War. Those that can afford it were asked to get their international passports and visas ready to enable them escape the looming and imminent danger.  Obviously, many of the women were panicky. They wished something could be done by the government urgently to avert the calamity.
Fortunately,  in  what seemed to be an answer to desperate prayer of many helpless citizens,  the Acting President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, after  a meeting with Northern elders on Tuesday,  warned that the Federal Government would deal with individuals or groups spreading hate speeches capable of affecting the unity of the country. Osinbajo who stressed the determination of government to foster the unity of  the country, said the Federal Government would not allow such persons get away with their action.
Following that was a meeting between Osinbajo and South East leaders on Wednesday.  The aim was to sue for peace and  nip in the bud any crisis arising from the threat by Arewa youths that Igbos should leave the North before October 1, among other threats and counter threats.  The Acting President assured Nigerians that the Federal Government was handling the issue holistically and that there was no cause for alarm.
Osinbajo’s action is indeed commendable. Disintegration cannot be the solution to the nation’s problem. As many notable people, both Nigerians and foreigners have stated, there is enormous gain in our togetherness as a nation. Our numerical strength is a great advantage.
All tribes whether major or minor are stakeholders in the Nigerian project. Therefore, we all stand to gain a lot as a united entity rather than breaking into minor entities. It is true that we have several issues to resolve as a nation but a  working federation still remains our best bet.
Incidentally, what we practise in Nigeria today can hardly be termed a true, working federation. A situation where the Federal Government wields overwhelming power,  controls the entire resources of the country and only dishes out crumbs to the states at its will looks more like a unitary government than a federal system.
Yes, we must remain as one indivisible entity but in doing so, the appropriate things need to be done. Regions or zones as they are called now, should be allowed to control their resources and pay royalty to the Federal Government as it is the practice in other countries.
In 2014, the then President, Goodluck Jonathan spent billions of Naira to organize a national constitutional conference. All the who is who in the country, the young , the old and people from all walks of life were part of that conference After months of deliberations, they came up with a report which was sent to the National Assembly to work on. Sadly, the report has not seen the light of the day.
One of the recommendations of the confab was restructuring which is believed to be a panacea to the barrage of problems facing the country.  There have been calls from many prominent Nigerians and groups for the implementation of, at least, that portion of the report, all to no avail.
Is it not high time the Federal Government paid attention to these calls in the interest of the nation?
One will also suggest that apart from the meetings and consultations with leaders of various geo-political zones, government should also look into the root cause(s) of all the agitations. Many have blamed them on injustice, inequity and unfairness. Lack of these fundamental human principles is a crying evil which must be adequately addressed for peace to reign.
As it is said, injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Indeed, there is no perfect country or perfect person, but we can work hard to build a decent society where justice reigns.
Our leaders should  listen to demands peacefully and not wait until those agitations resort to violence before attention is given to them.  There is no doubt that  if our leaders  had adopted this method,  many problems would have been avoided. A stitch in time, they say, saves nine.

Calista Ezeaku