News From Nigeria
We must teach our history. I cannot find any reason why Nigeria’s history is not being taught in Nigerian schools. This is a terrible mistake. What are we afraid of? Whose idea is it, that teaching Nigerian history will be unhealthy to our nation?
This must be one of the mediocre ideas of the mercenaries that imprisoned Nigeria for more than fifty years. Our history is who we are and why we are here and where we are going.
As a nation, we are not perfect. We have made mistakes and we have done some good things. Our history is the record of this journey as a nation. Our history should give us constant hindsight so that we don’t repeat mistakes. If we take the good and bad and give a proper account, it will be discovered we have made some great strides as a people.
We fought wars and we have managed to win the peace. Out of the cacophony of our existence, we have produced the Nigerian character. The Nigerian is the product from this blast furnace. It is this character that is under attack throughout the world. Nigeria does not have the monopoly of criminality. What the West is attacking is the virility of Nigeria. If we know this, it will give us the fortitude to persevere.
We cannot know who we are if our history is not made known to us. Knowing who we are will give us the ammunition to fight in a world that has become hostile to the Nigerian. We will be able to define ourselves instead of letting others define us. We must tell our story if not others will tell it and are unpalatable by using our least common denominator. We are Nigerians and we are not more corrupt than any other group of people.
The western press can make you hate your friends and make you love your enemies. At the end, it induces its audience into a state of celebrated ignorance. As Africa is waking up from its doldrums, the west is beginning to recalibrate their positions. They have chosen Nigeria as the bogeyman because the Nigerian represents everything they fear about the awake African.
For centuries, they used their instrument of coercion and education to tell the lion that it can only survive by stealing food from the hyena. A few Africans and the Nigerian never accepted this. The lion, within, was never slayed. It roamed without a purpose and it used its strength to attack its own kind and listen to the tails of the gazelle. It wandered in self-doubt. Every now and then, there is a glimpse of the glorious past which appeared as hallucinations. The dreams became more vivid and took on a reality of real life. He is the lion and must not wait for the meals provided by the hyena. He is the lion and must make his own kill and establish his pride. This is Nigeria from Slavery to Colonialism and Neo-colonialism. We lost our way. It is this awakening that the World is fighting. They have made the Nigerian a pariah because he wants to stand on his own two feet. The attack on the Nigerian is the attack on the manhood of Africa.
From wars, coups and disrespect, we have survived what the world has thrown at us. Out of this crucible, we have created a citizen who believes in himself and his people. This is what the world is attacking. Every one of these attacks tries to gain legitimacy by using our own against us. In South Africa, the black South Africans blamed the Nigerian for his problem. In West Africa, the Ghanaians blamed Nigeria for their problems. In America, the black America blamed Nigeria for their problems.
When Trump started his orgy of deportation, the black Americans were celebrating the deportation of Nigerians. When the world and our own are against us, we have to rely on each other and our history. Due to the lack of this history, we cannot tell the world what Nigeria has done for the freedom of all black people in the world. If we have history, we will tell the South African that we paid a heavy price to fight for their freedom. Western Companies like Shell, Barclays and others were nationalized due to their relationship with apartheid South Africa. Nigeria spearheaded and funded the anti-apartheid committee that negotiated the final phase of apartheid.
If we have history, we will tell the Ghanaian that the stability they enjoy in West Africa today was made possible by Nigeria. When Sierra Leone and Liberia caught fire, Nigeria became the fire fighters. America that created Liberia was nowhere to be found. People were dying in thousands and they were preaching human rights to those who were dying. Nigeria created the peace and did not ask for their land or their gold. Nigeria brought the soldiers who died in that war to be buried in Nigeria. We did not even ask for a place to bury our dead. We did not ask for their Diamond or their Gold. Nigeria did not impose any system of government on them. America or Britain will never give that kind of selfless service.
My country Nigeria did that. If we have that history, we will tell the black Americans that during the oil embargo of the 1970, a certain American president visited Nigeria to request for energy. The price of energy was prohibitive .Americans were losing their homes and could not afford to mitigate the brutal winters. Nigeria helped America by supplying them fuel at a very reasonable price, and also donated fuel to various foundations in America who were helping the poor to survive those brutal winters.
To top it all, Nigeria took an unprecedented step to assist Historical Black Colleges in America who were in danger of closing due to a serious financial crisis. Nigeria seized this opportunity. Nigeria awarded scholarships to many Nigerians to further their education at these Historical Black Colleges.
This is the beginning of Nigerians moving to the United States for education. The presence of Nigerians in those colleges brought a new lease of life to them. Today the Black American and the South African and the rest have joined the league of those who hate Nigeria with passion. Out of our difficulties, we have created a unique individual we call the Nigerian. He may be beaten but his head is unbowed. He is not bound by geography. His identity is justice, enterprise and fair play. We may tear at each other from North to South, East to West; let us never forget that the strength of our fabric will stand the test of time if we learn to understand that we are one people bound by a common identity that seeks justice and fair play in our common struggles. This struggles, created this individual we call the Nigerian.
When the World tugs at us, we remember that we are more than the sum of our differences. The Nigerian is not bound by geography or race. The Nigerian has a keen sense of justice. and knows that we are more than the sum total of our differences. He is indefatigable. The Nigerian is the hope of the African renaissance. The World is beginning to recognize this Nigerian and they all want to be members of this tribe. All that is needed to be members of this tribe is a keen sense of justice, agape love and fair play. Indeed, love of service and enterprise. Let us be this Nigerian. The world is waiting.
DR AUSTIN ORETTE WRITES FROM HOUSTON, TEXAS
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) over “the proposed salary increase for political and public office holders in Nigeria particularly the president, vice-president, governors, their deputies, and lawmakers.”
RMAFC had last month disclosed the commission’s proposal to increase the salaries for the president, vice-president, governors and their deputies, and lawmakers in Nigeria, claiming that the salaries for these office holders are ‘paltry.’
In the suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1834/2025 filed last week at the Federal High Court, Abuja, SERAP is asking the court to determine “whether RMAFC’s proposed salary hike for the president, vice-president, governors and their deputies, and lawmakers in Nigeria is not unlawful, unconstitutional and inconsistent with the rule of law.”
SERAP is asking the court for “a declaration that the proposed salary increase for the president, vice-president, governors and their deputies, and lawmakers in Nigeria is unlawful, unconstitutional and inconsistent with the rule of law as it violates the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] and RMAFC’s Act.”
SERAP is seeking “an order of injunction restraining RMAFC, its agents and privies from taking any step to review upward the salaries of the president, vice-president, governors and their deputies, and lawmakers in Nigeria.”
SERAP is also seeking “an order directing RMAFC, its agents to review downward the salaries and allowances of the president, vice-president, governors and their deputies, and lawmakers in Nigeria to reflect the economic realities in the country.”
In the suit, SERAP is arguing that, “restraining the commission from arbitrarily increasing the salaries of the president, vice-president, governors, their deputies, and lawmakers would serve legitimate public interests.”
SERAP is also arguing that, “The RMAFC’s constitutional and statutory mandates do not imply the unrestrained powers to increase the salaries of the president, vice-president, governors, their deputies, and lawmakers.”
According to SERAP, “Reviewing downward the salaries of the president, vice-president, governors, their deputies, and lawmakers would be entirely consistent and compatible with the Nigerian Constitution, the country’s international human rights obligations, and the current economic realities in the country.”
The suit filed on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers, Kolawole Oluwadare, Ms Oluwakemi Oni, and Andrew Nwankwo, read in part: “When the exercise of RMAFC’s constitutional and statutory mandates clashes with Nigerians’ fundamental rights, the public interests in upholding these rights ought to prevail.”
“The imminent pay rise for political office holders is a gross violation of the provisions of chapter 2 of the Nigerian Constitution relating to Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy, and the country’s international human rights obligations.”
“The combined provisions of chapter 2, and chapter 4 on fundamental rights particularly section 42 give meaning and substance to the socio-economic rights of Nigerians and their right to equality and non-discrimination.”
“The RMAFC should properly discharge its constitutional and statutory mandates to ‘monitor the accruals to and disbursement of revenue from the Federation Account and ‘advise the Federal and State Governments on fiscal efficiency and methods by which their revenue can be increased.”
“The imminent pay rise for political and public office holders in Nigeria particularly the president, vice-president, governors and their deputies, and lawmakers is a gross misuse of the RMAFC’s constitutional and statutory mandates.”
“The RMAFC has neither unrestrained constitutional and statutory mandates nor unbridled discretion to increase the salaries of the president, vice-president, governors and their deputies, and lawmakers.”
“The RMAFC has improperly and incorrectly exercised its constitutional and statutory mandates by increasing the salaries of political office holders. The proposed salary increase is a violation of the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution, the country’s human rights obligations and the legal doctrine of reasonableness.”
“RMAFC cannot legitimately or justifiably increase the salaries of the president, vice-president, governors and their deputies, and lawmakers at a time when over 133 million Nigerians are poor and several state governments are failing to pay salaries of workers and pensions.”
“RMAFC seems to act consistently to give advantage to political office holders over the interests of poor Nigerians. The RMAFC, in the exercise of its constitutional and statutory mandates ought to balance the interests of the marginalised and vulnerable sectors of the population against the ‘interests’ of political office holders.”
“The RMAFC ought to prioritise cutting the excessive amounts yearly budgeted as allowances for political office holders and life pensions for former presidents, vice-presidents, governors and their deputies, and lawmakers.”
“The idea of representative democracy, fairness and equality and non-discrimination would mean little if the salaries of political office holders are arbitrarily increased while millions of poor Nigerians continue to pass through harrowing times and watch their standards of living plummet.”
“The grim condition of many Nigerians is worsened by the deterioration of public services where access to pipe-borne water and affordable health-care remains a dream and the supply of electricity is epileptic and unreliable in an era in which globalisation has made such services ubiquitous and cheap.”
“The RMAFC Chairman Mohammed Bello on 18 August 2025 reportedly stated the commission’s decision to propose a pay rise for the president, vice-president, governors and their deputies, and lawmakers in Nigeria on the seriously flawed ground that the salaries for these office-holders are ‘paltry.’”
“The commission claimed that the ‘review package’ ‘remain fair, realistic, and sustainable,’ and ‘align with the country`s current socio-economic realities.’”
“According to him, the allocation formula was last overhauled in 1992, saying that there had been several executive adjustments since 2002, but a full-scale overhaul had not been undertaken until now.”
“Justice Chuka Austine Obiozor of the Federal High Court Lagos ordered the RMAFC to review downward and fix the salaries, remuneration or allowances of members of the National Assembly to reflect the economic realities in the country.”
“The judgment dated 4 June 2021 followed the consolidated suits brought by Mr Monday Ubani, Mr John Nwokwu, more than 1,500 concerned Nigerians, SERAP, BudgIT and Enough is Enough Nigeria (EiE).”
“Under sections 154(1) and 156(3) and paragraph 31, Part I of the Third Schedule to the Nigerian Constitution, members of the Commission are appointed by the President subject to the confirmation of the Senate.”
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.
Kolawole Oluwadare
SERAP Deputy Director
7/09/2025
Lagos, Nigeria
Emails: info@serap-nigeria.org; news@serap-nigeria.org
Twitter: @SERAPNigeria
Website: www.serap-nigeria.org
For more information or to request an interview, please contact us on: +2348160537202
The prize of democracy is eternal vigilance. It will be reckless and the failure of democratic norms to leave a bull in a China shop. America has seen this kind of presidency before. Andrew Jackson was known for being crude and lawless when he rose to the presidency through populist campaigns in 1824.
American presidents have always genuflected to the caprice of land-owning white men. The demand for land by this group led to the Indian Removal Act of 1830. This was when America was a frontier nation. All Indians living in the east of the Mississippi were forcibly removed. This led to the trail of tears.
His presidency was just as erratic as Donald Trump’s presidency. He was censured by the US congress for firing the treasury secretary and trying to turn the American treasury to a private depository. He had slaves but was not outwardly hostile to blacks. But his statements on black slaves were telling: They should remain slaves or sent abroad. When asked whether he owned slaves, he said he has not bought or sold more than one or two slaves and he believes he was more or less the slave in the relationship.
He suppressed any movement for abolition of slavery during his presidency. He was a southern plantation owner with a lot of slaves who testified to his cruelty. What he is known for is his erratic nature, cruelty towards non-white peoples and lawlessness like Donald Trump.
Thomas Jefferson was so alarmed that he wrote of Andrew Jackson “He is one of the most unfit men for the place, he has no respect for law, his passions are terrible, and he is dangerous “.
Some of his actions supporting nullification of federal laws increased tension between North and South that led to the American civil war. It appears Donald Trump is copying a lot from Andrew Jackson.
The pardon of the rioters of Jan 6 has left a sour taste in the mouth of most Americans including a lot of his supporters. At this moment, Republicans are in the majority, and they are too scared to say no. There is no one to bell the cat.
Some of his policies are beginning to be seen as cruel to those who have no voice. He started with undocumented persons, now he is moving to cut care for elderly and disabled. This is why the opposition is growing.
The answer to Trump is not escapism for black people. Black Americans are the conscience of America. Democracy in America today is the result of black struggles. In fighting for their freedom, they freed everyone to enjoy the promises of America. They are the only group who has consistently spoken the truth to Pharaoh. A lot of immigrants who don’t understand this history always think they are succeeding until they meet the impediments of irrational white people who want to claim back their lost glory and make America white again.
Trump is the result. During the elections, you can see this irrationality in immigrant voters, descendants of Palestinian and Mexican and probably Nigerians too. The Palestinians mocked Kamala as being in the pocket of Netanyahu. They called her genocide Kamala. They gave victory to Donald Trump in democratic strongholds of Michigan. White women have also started crying. I don’t care.
They proudly cast their vote for Trump without knowing some basic history of Netanyahu and American politics. American politics is always crazy. The constant is Israel. The Democrats tried to moderate the behavior of Israel, while the Republicans are in support of anything Israel wants. For a Palestinian to look to a Republican president for some relief against Israel is like looking for water in the Sahara.
Netanyahu is also a special case. In his first year in office, Clinton was fuming after he had a meeting with Netanyahu. He asked his staff who he thinks he is, talking to the President of the United States that way. His staff replied. That is Netanyahu, Sir, he thinks he is the President of the United States, and you are his chief of Staff. That was then.
Bibi Netanyahu is all American. He grew up and studied in the United States. He knows the ways of Washington more than Donald Trump and Donald has surrendered the driver seat to him. Now the Palestinians and Mexicans are calling on black America to help them fight back. Black Americans say: we are looking forward to going on vacation at the new holiday resort that Donald Trump is constructing in Palestine. We have fought so much, we deserve a break. See you guys in four years if you have not been deported for protesting Israel occupation and Trump’s New Jerusalem: A place where all the angels of the choir are well paid by ELON MUSK. The angels are all white not Jews.
God bless Donald Trump. He has concentrated his energies on immigrants and the police have forgotten about black people. That is freedom!
All these folks voted against their personal interests and are supposed that Donald Trump will do Donald Trump. Now that the chickens are coming home to roost, they are crying ignorance. This is a democracy. It is your responsibility to know.
DR AUSTIN ORETTE WRITES FROM HOUSTON, TEXAS
The person who cries loudest when a stone is thrown into the market is the one who has been hit. To him, everything is about tribal affiliation. For someone to grow, he or she must at some point learn whether his interaction is positive or negative with the people around him
A recalibration is not a weakness. I am an Isoko man from Delta state. This is what people like you will call a minority. Unlike you, I don’t wear my tribe on my forehead. I only use it as a reference point here .It does not connote power to me and it is not my whole identity.
When you use yours, it is everything to you because you have been raised to believe that without it, you have no power, and you have no identity.
When you are not invited to the high table, it means you are totally subjugated, and you feel your entire tribe is marginalized and your whole existence becomes meaningless.
It is a sad life when the definition of us becomes the group. This illusion obscures our humanity and our real identity as a person. This is the limitation that takes away the natural order of growth that increases our understanding of our environment and we are glued to the mirror and Narcissus becomes our best friend. Any counter view is considered an existential threat that must be eliminated with acidic fervor. Language becomes crude and vulgar and meaning is lost and progress stunted.
I don’t have those kinds of attachments and hang-ups because my existence is beyond anything that confines me. You have been raised to think otherwise. You are your tribe and your tribe is you. This ossification makes your cage very uncomfortable. No matter where you go, you can never belong.
I am a citizen of the world. I am home anywhere because I have never been raised to lord it over other people. I am not disappointed when I don’t meet your expectations which are clannish and subterranean. You take it as a personal affront when an independent observer talks about the need to rethink. From my vantage position, I can see how the interplay of Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba affects the other people that you and others hardly think about. From the way I mentioned the tribes, you can see that they are in alphabetical order because someone like you will complain that i did put Igbo last.
I have written more on the Hausa / Fulani relationship and its effect on Nigeria. No one from there has accused me of myopia or stupidity. I am an equal opportunity offender. Why would you want me to include the South-West in an essay about Igbo and Fulani? You can write about the marginalization of Igbos if that is what you are worried about. You can also write about the relationship of Igbo and Yoruba. That should keep you busy because you have so much grudge. It is time the South-East people learn to deal with issues dispassionately.
How can a member of the big tribe preach marginalization to those of us you call minority? Everything in our land is harvested, devastated and divided among Igbo, Hausa and the Yoruba in Nigeria. Do the people from the dominant groups actually spend any time talking about justice? Your attitude is poor because it is self-serving. People like you only talk about justice when your tribe’s man is affected.
The Igbo candidate lost in the last election. If he had won, he would make everyone around him Igbo. I see nothing wrong with that. My quarrel is that we are not restructured, and the federation is lopsided. If we are well structured and every region is in charge of their resources, I will not care if you become president and all your family members become your cabinet. This is because most of the decisions they will make will not affect me and at that time, there will be a workable system that will check that kind of abuse. It is normal for people in high places to appoint people they can trust and have the vision of the leader. Buhari put all his people there. It was terrible because most of them were incompetent. In a well-structured country, it will not be necessary to be a kinsman in order to be appointed. We just want those who could do the job. The system we have now is the winner takes all. When Goodluck Jonathan was president, the majority of the cabinet was Igbos. The West and the North complained and they wrestled power from him. It was due to the insularity of the Igbos that Jonathan lost.
You are wrong to complain that you are marginalized when you could not work hard to re-elect the person who gave most of his cabinet positions to the Igbos. Your marginalization is self-imposed.
Learn how to work with others and they will work with you. It is pathetic when people like you whine about marginalization, when in actuality, you lack the discipline, dedication and the humility needed to form workable alliances.
For your homework, go and study how Bola Tinubu gained power. He stooped to conquer. I don’t think stooping is in the lexicon of the Igbos. This is why power will always elude you. You think we should beg you to lead because you are very smart. You are going to wait a very long time if you don’t change your attitude
Remember I am an equal opportunity offender. I will revisit this subject.
DR AUSTIN ORETTE WRITES FROM HOUSTON, TEXAS
It takes time to form a country. It takes patience and dedication to change attitudes. When people from disparate places and cultures are brought together to form a Nation, it is never easy. In the long run, the tears and toil are worth it because the interactions lead to expansion of consciousness which drives human progress.
The journey of nationhood is not for timid souls. It was never easy for countries like India and China to rise. These countries have more divisions, ethnic, religious cleavages and groupings than we can ever imagine. The main thing that worked for them was that they never gave upstart military officers the chance to upend their civilian administration and throw their country into a fratricide war.
In times of distress, there are people in Nigeria who still look to the military for solutions. This is shameful. The military caused our problems. How did we arrive at this place where a lot of Nigerians still think the military have solutions to our problem? Are these folks’ victims of Military Induced Mental Retardation (MIMR) (pronounced Mama)? These people still think this way despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary. This is the reason why the various legislative bodies have not seen it fit to abrogate the decrees of the military that ruled Nigeria on behalf of a certain group of people. This mentality is dangerous to our body politics. This is why a lot of these politicians pay courtesy visits to these soldiers of fortune that turned Nigeria into the Pariah nation.
MIMR is the reason the Nigerian lawyers don’t know their role in a democratic society. MIMR is the reason why we don’t have legal reforms. In a constitution that guarantees freedom of movement, the Nigerian is harassed daily on the highways by state agents.
Are we at war? Why is our freedom restricted? No lawyer has taken the government to court for this constitutional violation. This is pathetic. We need serious legal reforms. The method of appointing judges is very antiquated. We need to know the character of those who will be judges. Knowledge of jurisprudence should not be the only criteria. During the military years, the Nigerian lawyer played the role of stenographer for military decrees, and the judges took their decisions from the soldiers. Now they are playing almost the same role as politicians who have no idea why they were elected. They have abandoned the practice of law to become jesters at the feet of reckless politicians and conveyors of injustice at our courts. Our courts harbor judges who suffocate justice under their robes and consider military decrees of bygone era as a guild post for our state of jurisprudence.
All over the country, you see governors and other politicians seizing and damaging people’s properties without just compensation and there is no lawyer in sight to argue on behalf of the afflicted. A Dangote truck will damage and incinerate people on the highways, and no case is brought on behalf of the victims. The Nigerian Armed Forces go into a village for security duties and destroy the village, no justice for the victims. The governor pays a courtesy visit to the commander in chief. No lawyer files a lawsuit on behalf of the victim. The officer who issued the command to murder sleeping villagers is left to repeat the same scenario in another jurisdiction. We will protest if this happens in Palestine. It is happening in the Democratic Republic of Nigeria where the rights of the citizens are undermined daily by those they elected. These politicians did not gain power by a coup. If you listen to them with your eyes closed, you will think they are military officers who have just gained power through a coup d’etat. They don’t seek consensus. They give directives. Some of them defy court rulings with fanfare. The military infantilized everyone in Nigeria, but they pushed the lawyer back into the womb. This is atrocious.
As a nation, we must consider the fifty-five years of military rule in Nigeria as the years of locust. The journey of great nations is always evolutionary. The military years were the years when hatred of each other became ossified and personalized as the military played us against each other to prolong their power. The revolution is always a lie.
In history, most periods of revolutionary zeal turn to mirage. We will have good leaders, and we will have bad leaders. Each period is an opportunity to learn what to do and what not to do. The rush to think that some army general will appear and use a magical wand to achieve all we wish for is infantile and dangerous. No soldier can develop any nation. Nigeria is a testament to that foolery. It is the willingness of the people to understand the necessity to build bridges and lasting institutions of harmony that moves a nation forward. The rule of law is the cornerstone in this exercise. If we have the rule of law, the Nigerian will feel protected in any place he calls home. Ethnic crisis and tensions will dampen because he knows no matter what happens, the law will protect him from ethnic or religious vigilantism that is the breeding ground for timid souls that are still married to the past.
These people must be made to see the supremacy of the law as the sign of our progress. The journey is arduous, and our dream should be about building frameworks that last beyond our existence, because the nation that we dream of should always be a continuous journey of those who believe in tomorrow and understand that the yearning and aspiration of our people shall never die. This is all we can ask for as we toil in our little corner, to build tomorrow for the next generation.
We must strive to make tomorrow a brighter proposition for those coming after us. It is when we arrive at that place, we can say our work is done. This singularity is love that binds us beyond ethnic and religious proclivities, which robs us of our basic humanity. We can start this journey today and also understand that others who share the same aspirations with us may start their journey tomorrow. The wisdom we seek should give us the patience to know the difference and endure the pain and loneliness of waiting for those who are not ready today but will join us tomorrow.
For those who seek truth, justice and fairness, tomorrow is a distant horizon we must gaze at with hope, endurance and fortitude. Tomorrow is not a destination; it is a state of our being. The futuristic tomorrow may never come but our state of will be fulfilled and rewarded as our collective struggles will build monuments that last beyond our time. That is the tomorrow we seek, a place where our dreams will never die.
DR AUSTIN ORETTE WRITES FROM HOUSTON TEXAS
The more things look different, the higher the chances of finding similarities if we look closely. Those at the opposite end of the spectrum are mirror images. If we move too quickly, we are subjected to the parallax effect where everything is moving except us. In this scenario, we are not the cause but the effect.
I have lived with Igbo and Fulani people. As a student of behavioral science, I don’t see any difference in these groups. They may hate and admire each other but they are having the mirror effect on each other.
The Fulani people are fatalistic while Igbo are nihilistic. A keen observer can predict these groups in any given situation. The level of narcissism between these groups is superlative. The Fulani trust no one outside their conclave.
In the last election, the South-East gave 99% of votes to Mr. Peter Obi. At what point does self-love become injurious to the group? This is the question we can answer if we are able to calibrate the interactions that might be injurious to people who are not members of the group.
Igbo and the Fulani may differ in temperament, but their world view is the same. Both groups want the same results, but their methods are different. The Fulani people use religious manipulation while the Igbo people use manipulated commerce. At the end of the day, the objective is the same. They want to be in charge. The Fulani will boast of their piety while the Igbo people will brag about their wealth. The Fulani man tells us he is closer to God so he should be the head while the Igbo people will tell us God has blessed them with so much wealth so he should be the leader.
It is the failure to understand this mirror effect that has made some promoters of Fulani and Igbo agenda to jump to conclusion with emotional fervor.
The Igbo and the Fulani people were in alliance in the First Republic. Due to the oversized egos of these ethnic groups, Nigeria suffered a mortal injury. They were in Alliance in the First Republic and that Republic fell apart because they could not control each other and they could not control their basic instincts.
From this ancient grudge are the seeds of the new mutiny. The first person that told Nigerians that God bequeathed Nigeria to Igbo people for proper stewardship was Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe. Ahmadu Bello heard the speech and rephrased it and made it abundantly clear that Nigeria was the estate of his grandfather. The alliance between Igbo and Fulani was a marriage of convenience. Ahmadu Bello saw it as an opportunity to keep Igbo close so that he could put a check on their behavior. Nnamdi Azikiwe saw it as an opportunity to plant the Igbo people in every federal position to fulfill the manifest destiny of Igbo as ordained by God.
As soon as the alliance was formed, things fell apart and the nation was no longer at ease. The friction within this alliance was so bad that Ahmadu Bello had to remind Zik that it is the Prime Minister who is the Commander in Chief of the Army, and he was the only one who can give directive to the Army. When the name of Aguyi Ironsi was submitted to be the next Chief of Army staff, Ahmadu Bello vetoed it three times. Tafawa Balewa made a personal trip to Kaduna to accede on behalf of Ironsi. Ahmadu Bello reluctantly agreed and told Balewa that he is surrounded by Igbo, and he fears he will not be able to extricate himself from Lagos. He told him that the Igbo people in the cabinet are conducting themselves as if they were the senior partners in the alliance.
His worries came to pass, and the rest is history. Our democracy was derailed, and war ensued. When Ojukwu declared secession, he sent a message to David Ejoor who was the Governor of the MidWest Region that he was going to invade the Midwest region. David Ejoor pleaded with him that the Midwest region was neutral in the quarrel between Igbo and Fulani. Ojukwu ignored his plea and invaded the Midwest Region. Ejoor barely escaped with his life. Ojukwu appointed Colonel Okonkwo as Governor, and the Mid-west region became hell on earth. It was murder, rape and forcible conscription of the youth into the Biafran Army. Banks were looted and public institutions were vandalized. Nothing was sacrosanct.
Why kill us if you ask us to be in the same country of Biafra with you. What would we be if Biafra had prevailed? We could have been prisoners of war. If the Fulani people did this to us, the Igbo people will call it a Jihad. Nigeria has had an uneasy peace since the end of the war. There were some ill feelings between the Igbo and the Fulani, but it was not this palpable.
During the Presidency of Goodluck Jonathan, the Igbo people were a majority in his cabinet. The Fulani people were on edge. There was no Biafran agitation. Then Buhari came in and there was a sudden effervescence of bitterness and animosity. Why? The Igbo like the Fulani people have become uneasy because Buhari‘s compass only pointed North. His family was his cabinet. Suddenly, Nigeria became a zoo because the Igbo man was no longer in charge.
You can now see clearly the mirror effect. When the Fulani ran the North, all the important positions were occupied by the Fulani. When Igbo ran the East, all the important positions were occupied by the Igbo. The minority in the North suffered and the minority in the East suffered. It was the oppression by the Igbo that drove Southern Cameroon out of Nigeria. The minority in the East is uncomfortable with the Igbo and the minority in the North is uncomfortable with the Fulani. You can now see the similarities clearly.
The Fulani don’t see themselves as Nigerians because they colonized the North and no local force has been able to force them out. The administrative system of the whole North was put in place by the Fulani.
What is happening in the North is akin to apartheid. In their shrewdness, they tell the Hausa people that they are superior because they are Muslims. Igbo people regale others with their prowess as the richest people God created, and the minorities of the East are very lazy. This propensity to be crude and vulgar is no different from the Fulani who calls someone infidel and want the person to submit to his authority. The Fulani people have a sword, and the Igbo people have a machete.
Promoters of the Igbo agenda take affront to this comparison because in their world view, they placed themselves higher than the Fulani because of education. Education and civilization are not synonymous. Education makes you haughty. Civilization gives you the ability to adapt. They took offense because of this observation. Their offense is not about the observation. They take offense because one ascribes everything negative to the Fulani, and they see this observation as pejorative. That is on them for failing to see the kaleidoscopic mirage that have blinded them to see how they can forge a relationship that is not based on animus.
In our present Nigeria, we have to find a way to work together without distrust. The Fulani man sees himself as a colonial master. This leads to arrogance and aloofness that is offensive to others. On the other hand, the Igbo are the only tribe in Nigeria that never had any form of monarchy in their history. This led to a culture of individualism that could be injurious to group cohesion. This is why someone who calls himself an Igbo king does not understand the lack of etiquette in forming a kingdom under another kingdom. In the past, that is considered an act of war because you have to conquer the kingdom before you can set up your Royal lineage. This lack of awareness can only be celebrated by those who trivialize the culture of others. This is similar to the Sultan of Sokoto in telling Nigerians that Islam trumps our culture. The more things look different, the more they look the same. Be observant. The two regions that are very restive in Nigeria today are the North and the East. They are ready to destroy the edifice if their group is not in charge. You can you see the similarities now. The umbrage in the response by a promoter of the agenda of the two groups will be the same if a Fulani had replied. You feel you are superior, and the Fulani man feels the same. This egotistic behavior blinds them from seeing the ripples of their actions. This lack of self-reflection is the reason Nigeria is in a vicious cycle today. The Fulani people want Nigeria to be Arewa while the Igbo people want Biafra. This syndrome of atomization is the cumulative resultant forces unleashed by these ethnic groups.
We will never resolve this state of our entropy as long as these groups think the only way forward is to subjugate each other and the rest of us. The Igbo and the Fulani people are very much alike. Both have nomadic instincts. The Fulani people want a mosque in every corner. The South-East people want a shop in every corner. They don’t care about what the landlord wants. In the rare occasions when the landlord dares to suggest his existence, the Fulani will call you an infidel while the Igbos will call you Igbo-phobia. These groups have insularity built into their cultures with culpable deniability. It is more glaring with the Fulani people. This insularity is what makes assimilation with them almost impossible.
The Fulani people are trying their best to give the Igbos the Cameroon option while the South-East people are looking for a way to give the Fulani the minority option. Both groups are not in favour of structural reforms. The shared vision of both groups is to be allowed to roam in Nigeria without the encumbrance of local leaders. The Igbos will have Eze-Igbo in every village, and the Fulani man will roam his cattle everywhere and build his mosque in every village. This will make the needs of the locals subservient to their incursion because they will be protected by the federal might which they control.
DR AUSTIN ORETTE WRITES FROM HOUSTON TEXAS
Is President Bola Tinubu the cause of Nigeria’s problem? Some time ago, I wrote that I did not endorse Tinubu because he will reduce the misery index of Nigeria. I did not endorse him because he will stop corruption and other ills that plague the Nation. I did not endorse him because he is a saint. The only reason i supported him was that of all the candidates, he was the only one with the sagacity to push Nigeria from the status quo of mediocrity.
So far so good, I am not disappointed. He is doing so well. He has ruffled the feathers of the imposters who assumed that Nigeria belongs to them.
The Tax Bill is our ticket to restructuring. I have always believed that the federation cannot progress unless those who believe in unitarism are excommunicated from the bus of progress. They will call Tinubu many names, but he will go down as the author of New Nigeria. We will all be equal in this federation.
I want to live in a country where there is fiscal justice. I want to be certain that the tax that comes from my boozing is not used to sponsor hajj for those who will destroy the establishment of those who sell beer. There is the case of the oil. I am from the Niger Delta. We need 60 percent of the oil and no Sheik from outside the region should tell us what to do. We don’t tell them how to pray. Why are the ports in Niger Delta not operational? We had Koko Port, Warri Port and Burutu Port. We were a country.
My people are tired of applying for visa to clear goods in Lagos. We are tired of staying in a place that has so much federal money thrown at it but cannot manage to come up with sensible urban and housing policy.
A visit there is a journey of chaos. What are the senators doing? Can they work harder and give the Niger Delta the Dangote Deal? Dangote is in Nigeria with his own refinery and ports. What is next for him? With the way things are going, he might end up with his own currency. Who says monopoly doesn’t pay?
Nasir El-Rufai has been popping up lately, threatening the president with electoral misfortune. Can you imagine the effrontery? He became a governor with Amajiri votes and he did nothing for them. These people think they own Nigeria. Where was he when Buhari filled every position with his and his wife’s relatives?
Restructuring means you spend and manage what you produce. It is the law of the farm. You reap what you sow and don’t raise your livestock in another man’s garden without any compensation. There is Mr. Peter Obi who thinks the road to the presidency is through educating the Almajiris. If it didn’t work for Goodluck Jonathan, why do you think it will work for him? El-Rufai is no fool. He has the Amajiri votes locked up. The solution is to ship the Almajiris to my village. We have highly motivated mothers who will adopt them and turn them into lawyers, engineers, doctors and respectable members of our society. The amajiris are orphans with living parents who don’t care. We can care for them in my village. With 60 % derivation, the sky is our limit. After they come of age and have become very educated, we will send them to the North to recolonize the North.
We need home grown colonizers in the North. They will bring progress faster to the North than the Fulani who are in a race to return to the 7th century.
Now they will accuse me of asking them to turn their hearts away from the gods of Saudi Arabia to the gods of my village. Who knows, some of them might become educated Imams and not hypocrites who hide Ogogoro in their prayer kettle and underage girls, under their agbada. They will not be hypocrites. This will bridge the gap in the distribution of graduates during NYSC.
Peter Obi should address this. Why should states that have so many Almajiris and no graduates have more NYSC graduates serving than states that are producing graduates? We must correct this Dangote equation. Obi should learn from Tinubu. You don’t placate bullies. We are on the way to a new Nigeria, the end of serfdom. The cacophony all over the place is beginning to be louder than Biafra. The halls of academia have just been opened in Southern Zaria and El-Rufai is apoplectic. He cannot even comprehend that Nigeria can grow beyond one school of aviation. He is inviting Nnamdi Kanu to Dinner and wants to review Nnamdi’s notes. These are interesting times to be alive in my dear country, Nigeria.
We will end up with a federal government that does not baby sit any region. We must have a government that does not rob Peter to pay Paul. No region should become bloated and lazy with excess fat. Those who are addicted to that feeding bottle should be weaned. That is true federalism and equality. Are the Fulani and Biafrans against this? They are five and six. Don’t let their recriminations fool you. They have one agenda. They are one and the same side of a bad coin.
DR AUSTIN ORETTE WRITES FROM HOUSTON, TEXAS
A QUESTION OF JUSTICE BY DR AUSTIN ORETTE
There is no development if it is done at the expense of the rule of law and the confiscation of people’s properties. The greater part of development is the upholding of the rule of law and justice.
Since I can remember, successive Nigerian governments have treated the rule of law as an inconvenience. The rule of law is the bedrock of any society that wishes to develop. It is the sine qua non of a developed society. It is the main difference between developed and underdeveloped countries.
Successive Nigerian governments from states to the federal have made the demolition of people’s properties as a developmental tool. This is wrong at all levels. This they do without any conveyance from the courts. This is anathema to the rule of law.
Our laws must develop more than physical structures. These gross violations of the rights of the people by government are the root for all the insecurities and anarchy in the land. The Nigerian government proposes and disposes. This is wrong. The damage done to the economy by these actions is monumental. No one in his right mind would bring money into such economy where policy summersault and brigandage are the order of the day. Those who are there are just agents of capital flight.
I have always said that the National Assembly have betrayed Nigerians by being a collection of military boys who lack the acuity to create an enabling environment for the development of our laws. They take these fat salaries and go to Abuja to sleep. They have done nothing to expunge bad laws in the Nigerian statute books. This is very wrong.
At the end of apartheid when Nelson Mandela took over, the first order of business of the South African Parliament was the expunging of bad laws that were passed during apartheid. That is what they call development.
Since the inception of civilian rule in Nigeria, the successive governments from state to federal level have not reviewed any of the bad decree passed by the departing military personnel. They even refer to these military decrees as act of the National Assembly. Some of these laws are still observed to the detriment of the citizens. Olusegun Obasanjo passed the Land Use Decree. Since that decree was passed, a lot of Nigerians have had their properties confiscated or demolished by agents of government without any conveyance from the courts. This is abnormal. No one should be surprised that this is the major reason for insecurity and anarchy in the land. This is the reason for the stagnation of the economy. There is no rule of law in Nigeria and government agents are the people using government to violate the rights and properties of the people. No nation can develop in the terrain of injustice.
From time to time, the Nigerian government goes begging for people to bring their hard-earned money to invest in Nigeria. A foreign entity recently announced an investment of 600 million dollars in Nigeria. This is not money compared to what Nigerians can push into the economy on their own. The people in power are too blind to see, or they deliberately ignore the Nigerians in diaspora who can flood the place with cash and lift the economy. They are financially buoyant and technically savvy. The Nigerian diaspora remits more than 25 billion dollars to Nigeria annually. This is the official amount that is documented. This doesn’t include unofficial remittances. This is the power that Nigerians in diaspora have that the government is deliberately ignoring because they know that the day these Nigerians make Nigeria their home, the shenanigans of the peacocks will be over. These Nigerians are savvy and technologically equipped. This is the formula that built China and India. Those countries gave their people in diaspora muscle, and they exercised it.
Today the Indians and Chinese are in Nigeria discriminating against Nigerians. No foreigners will bring his knowledge and talent to a place where the pronouncements of those in government and government officials become law. Nigerians in diaspora are very sensitive to this lack of rule of law. A lot of them have lost their lives because they succumbed to the yearnings. This curiosity has been dampened by these unfortunate incidents. They know that life and properties are not guaranteed in Nigeria, and they have slowed their foray into Nigeria.
The hurt is too much. China and India leapfrogged into the twenty first century by using their diaspora. Nigeria has more ingredients than these countries, but still on its knees and continues to treat the rule of law and justice as a gift it bestows on “deserving” citizens.
Nigeria is a place where a fellow Senator will suspend another Senator. Is our democracy a joke? It is a big joke as those in power think they can bend the laws to punish their detractors. The whole judiciary is corrupt. The criminals who should be in jail are in high positions enacting laws to imprison the people. The lawyers are nothing but high priests in the court of Herod. Their main job is to collect bribes for the judges. The rest of the people can be damned.
Development is not a gift you impose on people. It is a process that is necessary for the survival of a people. The development of the rule of law is the sinequanon of progress. Unless we champion the development of the rule of law, we are going nowhere. This is where our emphasis should be instead of building roads and bridges that lead to a cul-de-sac. The absence of the rule of law makes these constructions nothing, but monuments to our ego.
Dr Austin Orette writes from Houston Texas
The reason why we are so full of cynicism and nihilism is because we have not been able to dig deeply into what afflicts us and propound lasting solutions to our problems. All the solutions we have at this time were hurriedly foisted on the nation by a beleaguered and departing military.
When people compare Nigeria to other countries that are doing well, they tend to forget one big elephant in the room. Those countries they compare Nigeria to were never subjects of coup and counter coups. There was something very peculiar about the military regimes that ran Nigeria. They totally abrogated any form of democracy. From 1966 until 1999, Nigeria never had any parliament. As bad as Saddam of Iraq was, he did not abolish the parliament of his country when he took over. Citizens still had a modicum of debate on local issues. This was not the case with Nigeria. The military came in and threw away the culture of debate that was very robust in Nigerian nascent democracy.
In the first Republic Tafawa Balewa will address his constituency about the goings on in parliament. Other regional leaders did same and citizens were engaged. What is happening in our present situation is the harvest of the many years of military misrule. The present crop of politicians is the product of the military. They have no clues and are very imperious and distant from the people they serve. A majority of them are illiterates, clueless and products of forged certificates. Up from 1999, I am yet to see any representative or senator address their constituents about any solution to the myriads of problems facing the country. They are distant from the people who elected them and imperious like the military that selected them. They have no sense of civic responsibility. They are there to coast and collect their huge salaries and allowance and go home. The Nigerian parliament is a big joke. It is like Will Rogers Republic. Anytime they make a law, it is a joke and anytime they make a joke, it becomes a law.
As citizens, we have to think deeply on how to get rid of this odious system without involving the military in our body politics. A military regime is always a curse on any nation. The military cannot solve any problem. It is very unfortunate that prominent Nigerians succumb to this foolishness and visit people who were nothing but soldiers of fortune. Anyone who gained power through the military in Nigeria was a soldier of fortune who in a democratic system will be a nonentity.
Buhari was a military leader. He became clueless as an elected leader. David Mark spent more than twenty years in the Senate, and nobody knew what he stood for. I gave these examples so that Nigerians can see that the Military have no solutions. They are all about bravado and subterfuge. Nigerians must articulate the way forward. The reason why there is cacophony of ethnic reductism is that Nigerians don’t feel represented at any level. All the tiers of governments in Nigeria are sham. The leaders are not properly vetted, and they are very distant from the citizens that they are supposed to serve. They are imperious. They use their security to clear citizens from the roads they did not construct. We have to think deeper.
The present constitution cannot be workable in Nigeria no matter how much we tinker with it. That constitution is a product of military Regime that alienated and infantilized the citizens. They say it is an American style Constitution. That is a big lie invented by the military. The similarities between US constitution and the Nigerian constitution are night and day. There should be no comparison. The American constitution frees the citizens; the Nigerian constitution imprisons the citizens. The Nigerian constitution caters to a unitary executive while the American constitution is a federal document. To suggest otherwise is a big fraud.
In order to extricate ourselves from the imprisonment of this document, we must evolve a system in which every citizen will feel represented in a multicultural and multiethnic society. This is what I advocate and what I think will work for a country like Nigeria.
Nigeria already has six geopolitical zones. Each geopolitical zone should elect its President and Vice President who will represent each region at a council of presidents at Abuja. This council of presidents will be for a period of six years. The presidency will be rotated among these six presidents every year. The substantive president for each year will represent Nigeria at international Fora for that year. Their vice presidents will be the liaison and head of regional parliament. For any legislation to be law, two third must accent. The Senate should be abolished, and Reps should become senators for a term of five years.
The various houses of assemblies should be collapsed into the regional assemblies. The title of governor should be changed to state Coordinator who will be Chair of the state contingent at the Regional assembly and be answerable to the citizens. Most of these state assemblies are doing nothing apart from influence peddling.
A situation where the representatives of the people cannot be challenged in open debate is odious. This is what we have now. When each region sees their representation at the center, the agitation for North Central, East and west will evaporate and Nigeria can concentrate on the business of building Nigeria. All the aforementioned can be tinkered with by scholars and we can have a workable constitution.
Another aspect that will be relieved is the heavy logistics involved in trying to elect one candidate throughout the country. Now people will just elect who will represent them at the center. Let political scholars get involved in this project instead of lying to ourselves that we are practicing true democracy. We also must eschew this culture of Nihilism and engage in rebuilding the edifice that was destroyed by the military.
DR AUSTIN ORETTE WRITES FROM HOUSTON TEXAS