Is Nigeria Really One Nation? – Femi Fani-Kayode Writes

I love this country with every fiber of my being. For three generations before me my forefathers, including my great grandfather, my grandfather and my father, have made solid and notable contributions to the development of this country in both the private and public sectors.My great grandfather, Rev. Emmanuel Adebiyi Kayode, studied theology at the great Fourah Bay College in Freetown, Sierra Leonne and Durham University in the United Kingdom after which he returned to Nigeria.He was ordained as an Anglican priest, was the first Nigerian to take Christianity to our hometown Ile-Ife and was the first to build and pastor the first Anglican Church in that ancient town.

Throughout his life and ministry he fought for the rights of the poor and oppressed in Ile-Ife, including the people of Modakeke who, at that time, were treated as slaves and serfs.

Femi Fani-Kayode

He did the same in Ondo province and Ijebu where he was later posted by the Church. My grandfather, Chief Victor Adedapo Kayode, studied law at Cambridge University and was called to the English bar after which he returned to Nigeria.He played a key role in the development of education in the country, was deeply involved in the fight against the excesses of our British colonial masters, fought for the rights of the so-called “African natives” and “indigenous population” in the old Lagos Colony and was the third Nigerian to be appointed to the Judiciary after a brilliant and rewarding career as a criminal lawyer.My father, Chief Remi Fani-Kayode Q.C. SAN, CON was born in the United Kingdom, studied law at Cambridge University and was called to the English bar after which he returned to Nigeria.Like his father, he also excelled as a lawyer and he set up the first and most successful indigenous Nigerian law firm of that time with Chief Rotimi Williams Q.C. SAN, CON and Chief Bode Thomas.He went into politics, was deeply involved in the struggle for our independence from colonial rule and he successfully moved the motion for Nigeria’s independence in Parliament and went on to become a Minister and Deputy Premier of the old Western region of Nigeria.I have fought military rule, been involved in the struggle for democracy and I have participated heavily in partisan politics, political commentary and political discourse in our country for the last 26 years.I have had the rare honor and distinct privilege of serving her at the highest level of governance first as a presidential spokesman and then as a Federal Minister in two separate Ministries as far back as 10 years ago.I have suffered persecution, self-imposed exile, illegal and unlawful incarceration and the most vicious forms of insults and misrepresentation for Nigeria over the years and I have also invested my time, resources and energy heavily into the political terrain and development in our country.Yet despite all these wonderful opportunities, the monumental sacrifices that my illustrious forefathers and I have made and our love for and commitment to Nigeria it is time to ask some hard questions.Those questions are as follows. Is Nigeria really one nation or is she many nations forced to remain within an artificial, unworkable and unsustainable entity?Are our people really “bound in freedom, peace and unity” as our national anthem proudly proclaims or is that just a deceitful mirage and never-ending illusion?Is our marriage and amalglamation borne out of consensus and a genuine desire to remain together or borne out of compulsion?Can a nation prosper, excel or achieve its full potentials when its people are perpetually squabbling and struggling over the distribution of its meagre resources and when they have two distinct and irreconcilable world views?Can it thrive when one group wishes to live and compete in the new, enlightened and modern free world whilst the other wishes to go back to the bondage of the dark ages?It appears that more people are asking these questions today than ever before. Is it not time for us to answer them? Must we wait for an ethnic or religious conflagration to occur or another civil war to take place before we accept the fact that there is something very wrong somewhere and that we may well be a nation of ethnic incompatibles?Why is it a crime for anyone to take as much pride in their ethnic nationality and cultural heritage as they do in being a Nigerian? Why is it wrong for anyone to say that ‘I am as proud of being an Igbo or a Yoruba or an Ijaw or a Fulani or any other ethnic nationality as I am of being a Nigerian?’What is the ethos, essence, utility, sustainability and legitimacy of a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-religious plural super-state in which the various ethnic nationalities are expected to subsume their primary identities, de-emphasise the very source and root of their being and literally sacrifice their ancient bloodlines, noble history and rich heritage on the alter of a hybrid and artificial man-made entity called Nigeria?Is it really wrong for any of the numerous ethnic nationalities that make up our country to insist on their freedom and demand to be allowed to develop separately and at their own pace? This is especially so where and when they feel as if they have been turned into slaves and second class citizens by others in their own country?Is Nigeria a nation or is she a mere geographical expression? Is it true to say that there is as much of a difference between a Fulani and an Igbo as there is between a Turk and a German? Is Nigeria anything more than a British fraud set up to serve the economic interests of our former colonial masters?