Akeem Atoyebi
Thinking mainly in terms of administrative cost implication and efficiency, the British colonialists amalgamated what was hitherto known as the Northern protectorate of the River Niger, the Southern protectorate of the River Niger and the colony of Lagos into what is today known and called Nigeria in 1914. Neither the Northern nor the Southern Protectorate ever before the amalgamation was culturally and politically homogeneous as an entity.
The Northern Protectorate consisted of tribes such as the Hausas, Fulanis, Kanuris, Bornos, Junkun, Tivs, Ebira, Igalas, Idomas to mention just a few. Each of these entities maintained their claims to cultural superiority and independence, though brought under one political system already established by the Fulani Jihadists, but further strengthened by the British colonialists system.
In the Southern Protectorate, the composition was not any different. Several sovereign nationalities were lumped together under the Protectorate: the Yorubas of the West, the Ibos of the East, the Ijaw, Itsekiri, Bini, Urhobos of the Niger Delta among others with each also clinching to their identities’ indomitability. Lagos a Yoruba coastal settlement by the Atlantic Ocean was treated as a distinct colony by accident of history.
Neither the South nor the North was free of internecine wars before 1914 amalgamation to the extent that the union became a blessing as a disincentive to the internecine wars as attention shifted to competition and survival strategies within the bigger nation after the amalgamation.
The amalgamation made a Nigeria that suddenly became the biggest assemblage of the “Blackman” anywhere on the face of the planet Earth made us a potential economic and political power. The amalgamation made us to immediately become the giant and big brother in the Africaeven over and above nations that gained independent before us on the continent.
A Nigeria with vast cultural assemblage that makes us envy of all eyes, and with such an intimidating economic potential that makes us subject of international conspiracies. Such was the product of the amalgamation that many today casting opprobrium on the union, condemning with glee as if been big is rather a curse.
Our problem as a country to my mind neither actually started from 1914 nor immediately after our independence in 1960s when we moved from 3 regions (North, East and West) to 4 regions (+ mid- West region in 1964) but in 1966 when our military tasted the forbidden fruit.
Up till the time of the 1966 coup d’état, the Nigeria federation was a near perfect example of a Federal system. Each of the regions was autonomous politically and economically with their different regional constitutions thereby allowing them to engage in very healthy developmental competition. Whilst treated as equals, there was no condition of a uniform growth and development.
Each region grew at her own pace relying on the strength of her agricultural produce and human resources to develop her region while pay taxes to the Central government to sustain its own Administration. There was nothing like Federal roads, schools, hospitals and there was no Federal character principle.
In fact, very little was the attention placed on the Centre to the extent that the Late Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto and the Premier of the Northern region in 1959 could barely donate his lieutenant in the person of Alhaji Tafawa Balewa to the center while he remained at the home front to face the more important issue of developing the North in competition with the Awolowo of the Western region and the Zik of the Eastern region. Internecine wars of course took a break as the energies found useful engagement in the Inter-regional competition for development and there was neither militancy nor kidnapping.
However, that entire healthy scenario was halted in 1966 immediately after the coup and counter-coup as Nigeria’s Federal system was sacrificed on the altar of military command structure and thereby leading Nigeria to a unitary system of government in spite of our obviously irreconcilable cultural, religious and educational disparities. We cease to grow and develop competitively but uniformly.
The military balkanized the regions with the creation of states and more states, local governments and more local governments. They institutionalized an “Almajiri economic where Governors from the federating units swooped on the Central government monthly with dish plates tied round neck to take allocation or “share the National cake” instead of generating wealth from the federating units and pay royalty to the centre as it was until 1966.
Very unfortunately, the period of our military interregnum coincided with the era when our oil was just hitting a good price at the international market and so there was enough money to fund our delinquencies. Gradually, we abandoned our regional products and grounded our regional economies in no time. The groundnut pyramid vanished from the North and the Cocoa House in Ibadan became a mere historical effigy.
The Palm oil and Rubber plantations in the Eastern flanks became deserted and all our elites became government contractors overnight. We lost control of ourselves to unbridled foreign taste absolutely as we began to sleepwalk in to a waiting danger while we literally refused to be stopped.
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