Hi @Sontel.
First of all, there’s no clear agreement as to where ‘North’ and ‘South’ is. Does the ‘North’ include predominantly Christian states like Plateau and Benue?
Now I’ll answer those questions one by one.
…do you really belive Nigeria has come to a point where she must break up?
Not yet, although this is not to say that I believe that Nigeria should NEVER break up. There is nowhere that it is written in stone that Nigeria must stay as one.
But like a bad marriage, I think that intermediate options should be explored before a final divorce. And in this case, the divorce is bound to be very messy. I think about what happened in the partition of India in 1947; I would not want that to happen in Nigeria.
And if you don’t, where do you think we are getting it wrong?
I think that a lot of the problems that people think should be solved by a break up would be solved if:
[a] There was a higher degree of autonomy in the way each state ran its own affairs. If a person now knows that the reason that he is suffering is not because of someone in Abuja, but because of his own kinsman who is running affairs in his own state, then he knows that he should focus his anger on that kinsman.
An improvement in infrastructure and security, thus leading to an improved economy. I see no reason right now why state governments cannot make concerted efforts to improve their infrastructure now instead of waiting for the Federal Government (especially now that the Federal Government has said that state governments can get involved in providing electricity).
One challenge for the states would be getting money to pay for infrastructure projects. Right now, states depend heavily on allocations from Abuja, but what they should be doing is raising their own revenue (internally and externally).
The issue of state security is another matter, though – I think that the Federal Government may not want to release its hold on the police.
Anzaa Msonter 11 months, 2 weeks ago.
