It is thirty five years now since Prof. Mangaliso Robert Sobukwe departed from this planet. But his vision for genuine liberation of our country has refused to go away. Its triumph may be delayed, but it cannot be decimated.
In the very recent past, the western imperialists got hold of Sudan by dismembering it (taking away the oil deposits from the major part of the country), captured the Nigerian oilfields in accordance with the International Court of Justice rulings, annexed Libya through a direct military intervention, conquered Cote D’Ivoire… thanks to a small-scale military action conducted under the aegis of the United Nations. They go about recolonizing Africa through different modus operandi but the desired end is the same. Developments in the past 3 to 5 years indicate that the Agenda of recolonizing Africa is gaining momentum.
Gaddafi, the Libyan leader and current head of African Union (AU) recently called on Nigeria to split on religious lines, Christians and Muslims, in order to address the endemic clashes that have claimed many lives. This call has engendered mixed reactions from many Africans, Nigerians in particular. While many think it is a welcoming panacea to the Nigerian crisis, others, including myself, think otherwise.
A religion-inspired division of Nigeria (a federal government) would never resolve the cause of the recurring clashes; neither would it miraculously heal the symptoms. It looks appealing and easy to suggest division and to presume that it holds the prospect for peace. Divide Nigerian on no grounds other than Islamic and Christian ones and you invite xenophobic attacks, deepen blatant hatred and intolerance and set a bad precedent for Nigeria in particular and Africa as a whole. If Islam and Christianity, which are imported religious belief systems, are formidable forces, potent enough to split Nigeria, anything else, be it political dissent, ethnic differences can equally split any African state or justify further balkanization of Africa.
It is important to note that, Nigeria’s oil, which contributes about 90% of its GDP, is mined in the South, where Christians predominate. Enugu, Lagos, Onitsa and other prominent cities in Nigeria with huge public infrastructure, all built from Federal coffers, from both the North and the South, are all located in the South.
There is this malicious journalistic practice perpetuated in Ghana and many parts of Africa which is essentially working for African disintegration rather than unity and integration.
How many times have you read and heard about captions in Ghanaian media and other media houses in Africa that reads
Is The Media Responsible?
Is The Media Responsible?
similar to this “Two Nigerians and a local nabbed by Police for attempted drug trafficking”? What of this: “One Kenyan, two Ugandans and a local caught for fraud”? Betters still: “Two Ghanaians, three Senegalese and one Nigerian caught by Moroccan officials for illegal migration” This raise questions whether it is the nation that is at fault or the individual African people involved.
