The common news in town currently is that the North is bleeding, which is not a cheering situation, because the unity and oneness of life mean that an injury to one is an injury to all. It was pathetic to hear the voice of a distraught woman, on a radio, confess to regretting voting for “Baba”. It is in the nature of humans to be carried away by sentiments, such that wrong decisions and choices can be made, whose consequence becomes irreparable. It is also in the character of humans that present realities are rarely appreciated until when they are past and gone.
It is futile to argue whether one regime was better or worse than the other, or make comparative analysis when the situation at hand demands a total paradigm shift. Even the alleged statement of a former President that the present one has nothing better to offer than what we have already had, represents what is common with humans. Dancers rarely see their back while they are on stage, neither would praise singers stop giving accolades while the dancer is still dancing. Rather, we see and assess performances better usually when the show is over and actors off the stage.
Obviously, the current situation in Nigeria did not start with the current regime; rather, what is sad is any “would-be-saviour” coming on stage without a proper grasp of the reality on ground, before taking on such task. Those who know how creation is ordered and regulated do know that every situation or effect has an underlying cause, nor can wine be squeezed out of rock or stone. Apart from some known errors made by departing colonial masters, first batch of Nigerian politicians had different world views, orientations, aspirations and affiliations, exposed in 1966.
The cry of “araba” or separation by some lynching mob in 1966 was quickly suppressed by those who knew what would be missed if such agendum was pursued. The idea of wanting to eat our cake and still try to have it, what we call corruption. That faulty mindset is expressed in the current assertion that Nigeria’s unity is not negotiable. Yes, unity is an ideal state to cherish, but where such professed unity becomes a cover for injustices and other malpractices, then such marriage of convenience and lechery would rarely endure. Protests would arise!
Specifically, a second or revenge military coup of July 1966, brought to light a number of issues which many Nigerians would not want to be brought to light. Before the event of July 1966, one had the opportunity of being assigned to some foreign intelligence officers and one priest from Cyprus, on a tour of some towns in Northern Nigeria. One sad experience which the team witnessed was the action of a lynching mob in Kaduna, where a baby was ripped out of the womb of a pregnant woman. Before dying, the woman placed curses on the perpetrators of the act and the region which they represented.
The orgy was so barbaric that those who sought to help were in danger of being lynched as well. The curses and dying declarations of the woman killed in labour, made in Igbo language, did obviously not go in vain. Why did some highly placed Nigerians insist that no public enquiry must be made of what took place in Northern Nigeria between July 1966 and March 1967? Neither was any individual or group spared that tried to keep or preserve any record or picture of what took place in various parts of the North. Such sad events account partly for what we experience now.
It was suggested long ago that those who have a practice of hiring and inviting diviners and marabout from Sudan to do some exorcism as an official engagement, should also do a similar thing to pacify the soul of the woman lynched in labour in 1966. There were certainly many such acts of barbarism across the entire Northern Nigeria, which gave rise to Easterners declaring a state of Biafra which failed to stand. It cannot be that Nigerians have forgotten that ugly episode of our history so quickly, neither should a flashback on that episode be seen as a hate speech. The idea is to stress that we are usually visited by our past.
The Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970) provided opportunity not only for a lopsided representation, but also for placing certain parts of the country in a position of gross disadvantage. Without talking about a war indemnity, it became obvious that the oil and gas resources of the Niger Delta region of the country quelled some vexation. From a revelation by Senator Ita Enang and records of the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), it became known that over 83 per cent of the ownership of Nigeria’s oil blocks are in the hands of Northerners. It is also factual that the gang-up against Goodluck Jonathan’s second-term presidency was based on possible reversal of oil blocks allocation, which is shrouded in secrecy.
There is no quarrel between different ethnic groups in Nigeria, but some disadvantaged Nigerians have serious quarrels with the Nigerian political economy. Many Nigerians rarely know the parasitic and predatory nature of the nation’s political economy, and, the few who know, fear being intimidated by various strategies. But now as the true nature of Nigeria’s political economy begins to bite her citizens there is a growing awareness; South and North!
Hardly is any crime perfect, no matter how perfectly and craftily it may be planned and executed. Nigerians became suspicious when political parties were formed and 1999 election held without anyone knowing or seeing the constitution crafted by the military but because of the desire to get rid of the military, no issue was raised. Now the truth has come to light that the Nigerian political economy must be restructured if the survival of the nation can be guaranteed. But those who have everything to hide with regards to secret deals in oil block allocations, would stand against restructuring, as they earlier ganged up against Jonathan.
While over 80 per cent of Nigerians are poor, hungry and jobless, why are Nigerian lawmakers taking millions of Naira every month as remunerations? Why are protesters visited with utmost venom by law enforcement agents? Can the custodians of the toxic political economy be the appropriate agents to restructure the predatory system being operated in Nigeria? There is a limit to the survival of an oligopoly which is a system of political economy in which 80 per cent of a nation’s resources are controlled and enjoyed by less than 20 per cent of the citizens. It breeds protests!
There is also a limit to the suppression of legitimate protests arising from mass hunger and disappointment with an unimpressive management of affairs that touch the lives of millions of citizens. Despite the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), it cannot be said that the shenanigans of the oil and gas resources of the Niger Delta communities have been resolved. Where justice and transparency reign, neither the North nor the South of Nigeria would bleed. The Nigerian situation calls for immediate, appropriate action, using the language of Justice!

By: Bright Amirize
Dr Amirize is a retired lecturer from the Rivers State University, Port Harcourt.