[OPINION] Why The Foundation Of Nigerian Nation Is Wrong, By Rev. Fr. Chika Okpalike

“Foundations once destroyed….” (Ps 11:3)

President Barack Obama during his 2008 presidential bid made this statement “The fundamentals of American economy is wrong”, not too long after and shortly before he won that election, Wall Street collapsed and he championed the subsequent bailout. This conviction informed his economic reforms during his tenure, derogatorily referred to as ‘Obamanomics’. At the height of frustration during his forty years reign and having observed the impunity and depravity of his people, King David lamented: “Foundations once destroyed, what can the just do”. Nevertheless he anchored all his hope of a glorious future on God.

The foundation of the Nigerian nation is wrong. It is impossible to build a magnificent structure on a faulty foundation. The discourses I often listen to or read up by Nigerians oftentimes do not seem to take cognizance of this fact. It has been credited to Obafemi Awolowo the statement that “Nigeria is a mere geographical expression”, just like my often quoted maxim attributed to Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu “Nigeria is an amorphous conglomeration of people busy pretending to be a nation”. These statements and sentiments do not undermine the unity of Nigeria; it does not paint a bleak picture of its future as a unit. They are mere truism to help drive the founding and building of a nation that would be strong and sustained.
Beyond political rhetorics, Nigeria of today is the creation by military coercion of a geographical area by defying all rules of geography, of a people denied the fundamental freedom of choice, of a culture flawed by the absence of basic moral code, thereby producing a pretentious nation whose life line is the preservation of a lie. The first republic was peopled by well-trained, disciplined and cultured elite of a western style democracy who thought it best to replicate a kind of British isle in Africa. At the same time, they knew geography and understood the political essence of the ethnic nationalities that made up Nigeria. They retained the broad division of Nigeria into two – North and South – but further subdivided the South into East, West and Midwest. These four regions were set to develop politically and economically independent of each other in a nation that unites them.


In a twist of fate which today is represented in different narratives, sometimes ridiculous, this arrangement collapsed. Suffice it to say that the agitation for self-determination which followed was a rich moment for dialogue but was squandered by a second generation which had become overtly and covertly militarized. This generation spent time and resources decimating ethnic ties especially in the south with the creation of states and propaganda of division. Today Sunday Okechukwu Oliseh from Delta State in not Igbo and Nyesom Wike and Rotimi Amaechi from Rivers State are not Igbo, but a coup led by Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu from Okpanam in Delta State is an Igbo coup. By creating and fostering divisiveness and rancour, this generation killed the health of ethnic fundamentals of the nation. Ethnicity and tribe which should be the buzzword in a united diversity was corrupted and scary to mention. By 1978, championed by one of the deadliest second generation Nigerians, a very beautiful anthem which realistically built unity out of diversity was changed to a military demand for obedience to a dehumanizing structure. Take a good analysis of this:

1960 – 1978
Nigeria we hail thee,
Our own dear native land,
Though tribe and tongue may differ,
In brotherhood we stand,
Nigerians all, and proud to serve
Our sovereign Motherland.

Our flag shall be a symbol
That truth and justice reign,
In peace or battle honour'd,
And this we count as gain,
To hand on to our children
A banner without stain.

O God of all creation,
Grant this our one request,
Help us to build a nation
Where no man is oppressed,
And so with peace and plenty
Nigeria may be blessed.

1978 – Date
Arise, O compatriots
Nigeria's call obey
To serve our fatherland
With love and strength and faith
The labour of our heroes past
Shall never be in vain
To serve with heart and might
One nation bound in freedom
Peace and unity.

Oh God of creation
Direct our noble cause
Guide our leaders right
Help our youth the truth to know
In love and honesty to grow
And live in just and true
Great lofty heights attain
To build a nation where peace
And justice shall reign


The first depicted a nascent and vibrant nation poised to transcend its diversity into a great united nation while the second is a demand for obedience from war veterans who were afraid that the war they waged, the lives and resources they wasted were all futile effort to build a nation wrongly; seeing that the fragility of the nation’s unity is becoming all too intense. Consequently the politics of the third generation still dominated by the younger players of the second generation concentrated on patching and mending the broken and smashed foundation; doing so insincerely and hatefully. Mr Buhari belongs to this generation which ended with Abdulsalam Abubakar. It was this generation who lost the knowledge of geography and created the most laughable geographical area in human history – South south; the first and last time the world will hear of such. This creation was to seal the dichotomizing of the East which started with the creation of Rivers and Cross River States and to appellate some bonafide tribes as minority and reduce the numerical strength of the East formerly known as Igbo. It was this generation who wasted tax payers money to build a refinery in Kaduna, 815km away from the oil wells of Bayelsa, a fortune that will build three international airports, the like seen in Dubai. These are efforts to mend the broken foundation with anger and sadism. Having seen the frustration in mending a broken foundation they called up one of the principal players of the second generation, Olusegun Obasanjo and handed him over the fourth generation and he returned to the former old game. The fourth generation which could have taken off effectively with Umaru Musa Yar’adua was wrestled away from Goodluck Jonathan’s hands by the very enemy of democracy who threw the barracks open to truncate Nigeria’s second attempt at democratizing. Here we are squandering the fourth generation into the fifth.

Yemi Osibanjo took a safer route when he said “The unity of this nation is sacrosanct”, while his boss brutally spurted: “The unity of Nigeria is not negotiable” and unfortunately Bukola Saraki re-echoes this. I subscribe to the opinion of Osibanjo which accommodates possible negotiation if it is what it takes to rebuild the foundation of the nation. It is dangerous amending, fixing or patching a foundation that can be redesigned and reconstructed. It is the just and the righteous who are rising to this truth without fear. Foundations once destroyed, what can they do? David laid an example. Let us rely on God while remaining steadfast and strong, we will get it right someday. God bless Nigeria.