From: barnhart@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Mr. Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS:NIGERIA: STRUGGLING TO SAVE ITS UNITY, SURVIVAL THREATENED
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 14:02:34 GMT
Organization: Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A.

Copyright Inter Press Service 1993, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: NIGERIA: STRUGGLING TO SAVE ITS UNITY, SURVIVAL THREATENED


an inter press service feature

by remi oyo

kaduna, nigeria, dec 29 (ips) -- thirty-two years after its
independence from britain, nigeria's existence as a nation is
still being questioned.

''will nigeria fall apart?'', ''can the union hold?'' are
questions increasing asked by a population only too aware of the
problems of nationhood.

among the west african country's 86 million people, the lines
of cleavage are more than just between the north and south,
islam and christianity.

dominated by three ethnic groups -- hausa-fulani,
yoruba and ibo -- important minority communities in the
middle-belt and oil producing regions of the south are
increasingly restless, demanding a greater say and share,
resisting the hegemony of the ''big three''.

one answer has been decentralisation. the number of states in
the federation has steadily increased from three at independence
to the current 30 introduced by president ibrahim babangida.

but since the late 1980s, nigeria has witnessed some of the
worst sectional strife since the events that led up to the
secessionist 1967-70 civil war in which over a million people
died.

in 1986, it was revealed that nigeria had secretly joined
the organisation of the islamic conference. it sparked fears
among christians that the country's secular status was
threatened, and proof to some of the lean by babangida -- a
middle-belter -- towards the north.

islamic fundamentalism has met christian militancy head on in
violent clashes in a number of towns in the north, becoming an
almost regular event. the ensuing politicisation of religion
has proved deeply destabilising.

southern christian leaders have accused the government of
northern-muslim bias, while a respected islamic scholar
publicly insisted that the north would never accept a
southern-christian president.

an attempted coup in april 1990 proved how serious the
''national question'' had become. the solution offered by the
middle-belt and southern officers was to expel from the
federation five mainly hausa-fulani northern states. (more/ips)


nigeria: struggling (2)

in a newspaper interview here, retired army general and
former minister of defence under babangida, domkat bali said:
''the main problem with nigeria is that we are yet to form a
nation. it is yet to become a nation that people will say 'this
is our country'. we are still very clannish.

''so, until nigerians have common values acceptable across
the land and until we begin to share the saying that we have a
common destiny, we won't be a truly nigerian nation'', the
respected general from the middle-belt noted.

historians point out that none of the communities within the
present boundaries of the state -- from ancient empires and
kingdoms to insular forest-based peoples -- were consulted in
its creation. even the name 'nigeria' is artificial, coined by
the mistress of the first colonial governor.

self-governance, freedom of worship and education via
koranic schools was assured in the north, direct rule
was the order of the day in the south where european
missionaries introduced limited western-style education.

at independence, nigerians were ill-prepared to tackle the
fall-out of colonial policies which had encouraged people to
identify themselves on the basis of ethnicity, ensured lopsided
education and citizens distrustful of themselves.

ethnicity remains a major factor in decision making.
educational achievement, and commercial power remains biased
in favour of the south, while the north sees itself as a symbol
of political authority through its majority population.

at the national level, measures to ease the problem of
diversity and hometown loyalties have exascerbated the issue.

''federal charecter'', a quota system employed by all federal
institutions to ensure equal representation works against merit.
a form of positive discrimination, it is a bone of contention
for those who lose out. the practice of ''zoning'' party
political posts to regions in rotation has also more to do with
the balance of power and patronage than quality of appointees.

increasingly to the centre of the debate is the thorny issue
of minorities and the principal of derivation in revenue
sharing. people talk about those contributing most to national
revenue receiving the least in state allocations. those that
contribute less -- an obvious reference to the north -- appear
to take an unduely large share.

the equation for federal allocations to the states is
currently weighed towards land mass, population and school
enrolment. (more/ips)


nigeria: struggling (3)

''the areas of the biggest conflicts are not really among
the areas of largest (tribal) groups'', says senior politician
and lawyer bole ige, a yoruba. ''the largest conflicts will come
(from) the minority areas particularly the oil producing''.

the minorities of the niger delta, south of the country and
rich in oil have been the most vociferous.

oil accounts for at least 80 percent of nigeria's foreign
exchange earnings but the communities live in conditions
according to ige, ''so de-humanising that the people are not
going to keep quiet when the time comes''.

''may be at that time, the biggest national groups will be
begging them to remain in nigeria not the other way round'',
he argues.

''there is no way in which any country especially a
(federation) can run away from the issue of revenue  by
derivation unless you are a thief'', says ige, a former state
governor.

''nigerians have to decide whether they want to remain
together. i have no doubt that many of us, including me, will
advocate very strenuously that we should stay together and that
the country should not break up'', he adds.

ige, 62, shares the belief in one nigeria with 82 year-old
isa kaita, former education minister in northern nigeria.

kaita, decorated by the british and his own country, does not
see the possibilty of a break up even in the face of crises such
as the religious riots that have rocked northern cities since
the 1980s. ''what we need is peace and a firm handling of
elements of disunity,'' kaita, a hausa, says.

the repeated calls for a national conference to discuss
the issues surrounding the threats to unity and stability have
not won acceptance in official circles.

the feeling in the east, theatre of the civil war is that
calls for disintegration are ominous.

in paid advertisements, retired rear admiral ndubuisi kanu
and three other leading ibos say: ''the only way out is for
leaders from all sections of the country to get together and
talk things over''. but they stress that the government and
future administrations should, ''reflect the participation of
the different groups that make up the country.''

''there are no problems of nigeria that are unique to
nigeria, so we must seek to answer the problem as other
people have'', ige advises. (end/ips/ro/oa/92)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african