The civil war was a triumph of collaboration and the survival of
the democratic order so far has been the
product of tolerance and cooperation by all sides.
The most remarkable and yet most commonplace symbol of Nigeria’s resilience as a nation today is its continued existence, whenever the political elite gathers for one form of ceremonial celebration or another, usually in Abuja, it must occur to any perceptive observer that this incredible conglomerate has managed to overcome extraordinary challenges in order to survive thus far.
The greatest threat to the corporate existence of the nation emerged as a result of the military’s intervention into the polity. If the soldiers had not intervened the Nigerian civil war and the disenchantment that brought it about might never have occurred. In spite of this, the legacy of the military era has survived as the most astringent but also resilient political force in the land.
The emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari as the champion of the new democratic order is the enduring witness to this fact. In spite of this endemic anomaly in the political arena of the national system Nigeria has survived with an unexpected amount of stability and regulatory order in spite of its strenuous confrontation of the political challenges that are necessary to keep the nation unified.
In its first six decades of existence Nigeria has become a crucible for the development of national cohesion, but in that task it has stumbled.
However, in stumbling over this all-important task the Nigerian political establishment has largely displayed a penchant for national coherence and unity of purpose. The standard reaction to the most devastating attacks on Nigeria’s national cohesion has been denial of culpability by those in power as well as denial of participation by those whose interests are threatened or betrayed.
This exchange of deniability has now led after six decades to a dangerous national impasse in spite of the fact that the nation has overcome incredible moments of near fracture.
When some influential commentators such as a former head of state, and Nigeria’s only Nobel awardee lend their voices to the chorus of critical commentary that suggests that national disintegration is a distinct possibility then the process of political discourse that encourages national cohesion could be undermined.
However, it is imperative that such comments should be regarded as emanating from the extant political circumstances and are therefore legitimate elements of the political discourse that the nation has generated in its six-decade-long process of becoming. In its sixty-year existence as a work in progress Nigeria has earned a reputation as an intrinsically self-determinate entity and especially as an advocate of regional integration and unity.
Unfortunately, its strength as a champion of regional interests could be undermined by failures of national cohesion, Undoubtedly the nation needs leadership that understands both its regional imperative and its national necessity, The marriage of these two forces will create a specific Nigerian political characteristic that will enhance the West African global presence.
As has been proven in the past especially when Nigeria led the region to confront instability in Liberia and Sierra Leone such an initiative can upgrade the national relevance of the nation’s self-assessment. Although it sometimes appears as if those moments of glory are deliberately forgotten or ignored Nigeria has had several such memorable moments in its six-decade-long life and it is imperative that these should become indices of history in the narrative of national life.
For example apart from remembering General Yakubu Gowon’s magnanimous pronouncement of “No victor, no vanquished” at the end of the civil war his role in the founding of ECOWAS must be recorded as his most vital and influential act as Nigerian head of state.
The truth is that Nigeria has become an important global presence in spite of its undoubted failures of domestic policy implementation, Most of Nigeria’s rulers regardless of their liabilities have recognised the attention that their country attracts as the most populous black nation in the world, and Africa’s fastest-growing economy, What they should take greater interest in is the natural and fundamental attention that the world pays to the Nigerian presence wherever it shows itself and what this means in terms of the potential for domestic economic growth and national progress.
Nigeria’s development was overshadowed from the beginning by the perception of regional rivalry within its national borders. Of the three founding fathers of the independent nation, only Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe consistently preached nationalist unity while the Sardauna Sir Ahmadu Bello promoted Northern protectionism and Chief Obafemi Awolowo preached Western regional self-sufficiency.
The echoes of these perceptions of the Nigerian dream have survived the six-decade-long journey of the nation’s existence and influenced in a profoundly fundamental way the course of the nation’s political growth during the military era.
As a consequence the development of Nigeria’s Federal Democracy has been deeply flawed and is in need of corrective action from the polity, It is for this reason that the voices of the dispossessed so-called minorities in Nigeria today should be heeded.
Their call for greater inclusiveness will promote the true nationalism that will enhance Nigerian self-determination and self-sufficiency to the level that was perceived as possible when the country won its independence sixty years ago.
To fall short of this will lead to national disintegration and go against the grain of the national will for survival which has prevailed so far.
It has become imperative that Nigeria’s leaders admit their failures and also recognise their people’s expectations. It is only when the leadership achieves this harmony of purpose with the people that the true potential of Nigeria’s greatness will be realised.
Unfortunately, the opportunity for this blending of purpose which should be provided by the practice of democratic choice throughout the country appears to being undermined by the survival of selective privilege, an inheritance from the military era, However, in recent times there have been signs of change that show that Nigeria’s will to overcome and survive challenges to its existence is still alive and well.
The triumph of Godwin Obaseki in the Edo State gubernatorial contest was one such signal which has raised the hopes of those who believe that Nigeria can survive as a truly democratic Federal entity for at least another sixty years, It is a fact however that such signals are becoming rarer and the idea of communal loyalty which enhanced Obaseki’s chances is being threatened by the promotion of partisan loyalty especially where such partisan loyalty is cloaked in regional garb.
If there is one thing that the experience of Nigeria’s first sixty years should have taught us it is that the nation can survive its most dangerous threats only when the various interest groups find ways to collaborate.
The civil war was a triumph of collaboration and the survival of the democratic order so far has been the product of tolerance and cooperation by all sides.
When inordinate regional bitterness was deployed to scuttle Dr. Goodluck Jonathan’s tenure he graciously conceded defeat and thus saved the nation from witnessing what could have been a bloody outburst of post-election violence.
The nation witnessed many incidences of such tolerance and patience during the bleak years of the military dictatorship especially during the Abacha regime and because of this Nigeria has survived and triumphed over sixty years of extraordinary trials.
