BIAFRA: THEN AND NOW (3)
Nigeria as a Federation, as we choose to call it today has never in any time been one homogeneous country. The people and the tribes alike differs widely, that you could easily recognize someone from the North even before he speaks, when we see an Emeka, the Yorubas know even before hearing his name. But like we earlier discussed, d colonial masters decided to keep the country one just to boost their control of vital resources for their economic interests. My people! Are you following me? After 1914, in a saner clime, d amalgamation is supposed to bring the various people together and provided a firm basis for herculean task of establishing a formidable cultural, social, religious and liguistic ties crucial for true unity among the people. But NO! There was division, hatred, uneven development, unhealthy rivalry .... that the only common thing common among the people is the name of their country, because they all have different administrative set up. Our leaders were seeking independence, so Nationalism was growing, however a noticeable problem is that no political party formed at that time was based on national interest but on ethnic and tribal foundations. We got it wrong from the word GO. At independence we could say we some elements of being a true Federation and as one country. But Soon afterwards the battle to consolidate the legacy of political and military dominance of a section of Nigeria over the rest of the Federation began with increased intensity. It is this struggle that eventually degenerated into coup, counter coup and a bloody civil war. But we would like to know the specifics... Ki lo sele gangan? And that is where we are heading now... Hope we remember that towards independence and immediately after d country were governed in regions? Leaders in these regions especially those with formidable base and huge following sought maximum powers for the regions and they fought for it and this weakened the center. At the same time, the ugly embers of tribalism and sectionalism had been fanned into a deadly flame by all the political leaders. They rode on the back of this cancerous tribalism and ignorance and gullibility of the people to power, at the expense of national unity and the nation. This was the Genesis. Are we getting the gist already? Follow me now.... Tafawa Balewa as Prime minister conducted a general census in 1962 and there were allegations of malpractice and inflation of figures of astronomical proportions. The Eastern Region refused the result and called for a 2nd census which result was accepted but with reservations. Should I proceed? Well, before we take a pause to continue later, let me quickly chip in this. In the North, the people of the middle belt area seemed to be fed up with the NPC rule of the North. The Tiv is one of the major tribes in the Middle Belt, openly rioted for almost 3 years (1962 - 1965). Then came the biggest crisis of them all - the general election of 1964. The election was alleged to be neither free nor fair. All devices imaginable were said to have been used by the ruling parties in the regions to eliminate opponents. Our political immaturity don tey.....
We would continue this.......
