By By Olajide A. Obi
Let me first off take this opportunity to thank the Lagos State government for returning history to the curriculum of public secondary schools. It will help the coming generation to have a grasp of events that unfold in the past and help them navigate through the present and future.
History made it known that, since the forced marriage between the Northern and Southern protectorates in 1914, there has been one issue or the other among the married couple.
The wife attempted a divorce in the late 1960s which resulted in the civil war as the husband said he is not ready to part ways with his wife. And the forced marriage continues to the detriment of the wife.
All along, until recently, the issue of divorce came up again, and this time it is now wives and not wives married to the same husband who wanted to go. The southwest, southeast, and south all want to go their separate ways.
The 2023 electioneering process put a halt to the agitation for divorce since each region of the country believes, that it is their turn (Awa lokan) to be the president of the country, forgetting the reasons they wanted to secede earlier.
Each region has a presidential candidate and the people, expectedly, prefer to vote for their own man.
Looking keenly at the situation on the ground, it comes to mind that this is the right time to settle the long-time dispute among the three nations that made up Nigeria. The country should be divided and each candidate should just be automatically the president of his country and case closed.
If you don’t know there has been a dispute among the three nations, let me quickly remind you of the Kano riot of 1956 which was a result of the motion for “self-rule” moved by Chief Anthony Enahoro in the Federal House, as it were at the time.
What of the first military coup that has the majority of the Hausa/Fulanis killed while the Igbos were spared, or the retaliative coup where the Igbos were the target?
All of these and more are what the three different nations with different cultures and understanding of life have been battling with and I am sure it is not stopping soon.
It is on this note that I am suggesting the creation of three independent nations out of Nigeria. Each presidential candidate should, therefore, unopposed be the President of his region.
Olajide A. Obi writes from Lagos, Nigeria.
