NIGERIA AT 100: THE FALLACY OF A NATION AND THE TRAGEDY OF A WEAK STATE As Nigeria attains her 100years (Centennial) of formal existence as a country, it becomes imperative to carry out a self appraisal of the direction she is headed Vis a Vis her years of formal existence. The amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates by Lord Lugard in 1914, after almost a century of colonial/economic exploitation marked a new dawn in the history /annals of Nigeria as a country. It should also be noted that the history of the constituent units that made up Nigeria predated the amalgamation of the protectorates. The upper parts of the Niger river valley otherwise known as Northern Protectorate was peopled by several ethnic nationalities, prominent among them was the aristocratic Hausa Fulani group, the culturally sanguine Kanuris, the highly republican Tivs, amongst several other sub nation groups. However as at the time the British colonialists got to Northern Nigeria, most of the ethnic nationalities found there were almost subsumed under the Hausa Fulani hegemony albeit unsuccessfully as a result of the Hausa Fulani Jihad led by Othman Dan Fodio. The people found at the lower parts of the Niger River valley otherwise known as Southern Protectorate were also as diverse as the people found in the Northern Protectorate. Some of the ethnic nationalities already existing in the Southern Protectorate includes the gregarious Yorubas, the highly industrious Igbos, amongst several other ethnic nationalities. Hence several ethnic nationalities most of which where living almost disparately, formed the Southern Protectorate which was amalgamated or united with the Northern Protectorate in 1914, to form a new country of people(s) who were living around the “Niger River Area” otherwise known as Nigeria. However, it needs to be noted, that at that time of the amalgamation or cobbling together of these disparate groups from the North and South, it was done for the administrative convenience and economic interests of the British colonialists. These ethnic nationalities were not consulted, neither did they have a say in Lord Lugard’s decision at that time. The decision to form a new country by amalgamation by the colonialists led to the inclusion of several derisive epithets into the national lexicon of Nigeria by several nationalists who fought for Nigeria’s independence from the colonialists. Such epithets include “Mistake of 1914”, “Nigeria is a mere geographical expression” amongst several others. At this point it may be necessary to provide a conceptual distinction between what a state is and what a nation is. In several discourses, these terms have been used interchangeably but on closer analyses, these two terms are remarkably different, but in contemporary times the existence of one ought to provide a basis for the existence of the other. Rosenberg (2011) defines a state as a self governing political entity. He also argued that a state can be used interchangeably with a country. In addition to these, several literature sources enumerated that for an entity to be referred to as a state; it must have the following attributes: population, boundary or defined territory, sovereignty and a government. Rosenberg (2011) also defines a nation as a tightly knit group of people which share a common culture. In other words, a nation refers to a group of people who have achieved a higher degree of social cohesion. From the fore written, it shows that there is a fundamental difference between a state and a nation. Most modern states in the world today are nation states. This means that before statehood is superimposed or declared on a people, they must agree amongst themselves after having attained a high degree of social cohesion that they intend to live under a common authority/government according to some set normative rules otherwise known as constitution. Given the foregoing, it now becomes necessary for us to ask whether after 100 years of existence Nigeria has become a nation state. It is this poser that leads us to examine the centrality of the theme which sees Nigeria as a fallacy of a nation which has consequently imposed a tragedy on the state that was forcefully created by the colonialists making it weak and effete. This structural defect that has a bold imprimatur in the founding of Nigeria has become the bane of development and progress. It has made it difficult for Nigeria to fully actualize her potentials as a great nation. The Nigerian state has not been able to galvanize and harness the great potentials of her people and resources to build a great nation due to her faulty origins and also the inability of the successors to the colonialist founders of Nigeria to build a nation out of the colonial state created. As Nigeria attains a century, and looks forward to the future, it becomes imperative, that her leaders must begin to think of how to build a proper nation state. It is only when this is done that Nigeria shall begin to actualize her full potentials as a great nation. Babs Iwalewa
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 21:26:41 +0000
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