Between Amotekun and the mistake of 1914

The late Sardauna of Sokoto and Premier of the defunct Northern Region of Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello, was the first to draw the attention of Nigerians to what he called “the mistake of 1914.” He was obviously making reference to the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorates by the British imperialists in 1914 to form a politico-administrative contraption to be known as Nigeria just as it is today. To the late Sardauna, it was a grave mistake to have lumped together the different nationalities with often discordant cultures and values in the Northern and the Southern parts of the present day Nigeria to form a kind of association of incompatibles.

Whatever drew the attention of Bello to the grave mistake, the issue of Operation Amotekun appears to have made the mistake more glaring even after more than 100 years of grappling with the “mistake” without any coordinated efforts to sincerely address the problem of national integration frontally. To say that the different nationalities are united remains an exercise in self-delusion.

In fact, one of the beneficiaries of the parasitic relationship in the unworkable contraption had likened the unity of Nigeria to a Catholic marriage, saying that even though the marriage might not be happy, it will not break. He, however, failed to observe that when the elastic limit of such marriage is exceeded in modern day, it breaks irretrievably. In fact, no marriage at all could be better and safer than unhappy and turbulent marriage. Whenever you hear anyone saying that Nigeria’s unity is non-negotiable, apart from the fact that the person is likely to be one of the beneficiaries of the prevailing anomalies in the country, what he or she is saying unwittingly is that in Nigeria, we are postponing the evil day.

The vexed issue of restructuring the polity appears to be an easy way out of the pending calamity. But the major beneficiaries of the lopsided arrangement in the parasitic relationship among the ethnic groups within the pseudo federation would not spare any effort to continue to defend the status quo. This they are ignorantly doing to the peril of the nation’s future and happiness of the people.

Amotekun, a security outfit being put in place by the states in the defunct Western Region of Nigeria (Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Ekiti and Lagos), is no doubt, a child of circumstance and necessity. The level of pervading insecurity in Nigeria today is unprecedented. Even during the Nigerian civil war, except those in the areas close to the war front, lives and properties of Nigerians were not as threatened as we have now. Those who are supposed to address the problem of insecurity in Nigeria today are either lacking in the capability and/or the willingness to do so.

Therefore, Nigeria is, at present, very close to a state of anarchy. No one in the country today is sure of his safety, especially if one has to travel from one place to another, except, perhaps, those in the corridors of power.

The situation now is comparable to what happened at a point in the history of Biblical Israel during their early years in the land of promise. The Bible records that in those days when there was no king in Israel, everyone was doing what was right in his own eyes. Hence, all forms of atrocities pervaded the nation with the attendant insecurity of lives and properties.

Today in Nigeria, everybody appears to be doing what is right in his own eyes especially those who see themselves as untouchables and the criminals. The Fulani jihadists, under the guise of being herdsmen, believe that no one should challenge them while moving about menacingly with AK-47 riffles and other dangerous weapons. And of course, no one is challenging them. They are raping, killing and maiming innocent Nigerians with unreserved impunity. How and where the Fulani terrorists get their exclusive weapons of destruction remain a no-go-area in a nation characterised by unprecedented confusion. Armed robbers, kidnappers and bandits of different forms are having a field day in Nigeria today, inflicting immeasurable sorrows on hapless Nigerians on a daily basis.

So, the issue of Operation Amotekun is a reaction of the governors in the old Western Region to the pervading insecurity in the country with spiral effects in their areas. Since the security of lives and properties is the number one duty of a government, the governors decided to combine efforts to address the problem frontally with an outfit called Operation Amotekun. These governors, though not united by party politics, are united in their consciousness of the nature of the people they govern, that they are not like robots.

Their decision and efforts, however, provoked negative reactions, especially from some people in the Northern part of the country who only saw in the action of the governors an imaginary first step towards the dissolution of the wobbling federation. Some of those reacting felt that their parasitic exclusive benefits in Nigeria’s pseudo-federation was under a serious threat by the decision and action of the South-West governors. They carried their desperation to the extent of even threatening politicians in the South-West if not everyone in the area with retaliatory actions.

How does one explain a strange situation in which someone plans to protect his household against robbers, bandits and terrorists and another person from somewhere else would feel offended or threatened? So, in a way, such reactions are unwittingly pointing to “the mistake of 1914.” Some people believe that to preserve and strengthen their hegemony politically in the shaky contraption called Nigeria, they have to dictate the extent to which others could protect themselves not to talk about the limit of what others are entitled to benefit in the awkward arrangement of the polity. This is still a reflection of “the mistake of 1914.”

It is the “mistake” that will make the mediocre decide what their brilliant compatriots should do or not do. It is “the mistake of 1914” that would cage an Obafemi Awolowo politically and throw up some political imbeciles who would eventually lead the nation into catastrophe. “The mistake of 1914” would permit the emergence of a Sani Abacha to loot and milk the nation dry without any consequences, but as if he had the right to milk the nation dry. There are still monuments named after Abacha to immortalise his looting spree. If Abacha were to be an Igbo or Yoruba man, his memories would have been wiped out completely in the country. But the subsisting “mistake of 1914” would continue to safeguard them.

The controversial issue of the quota system in Nigeria has its roots in “the mistake of 1914.” By the quota system, some Nigerians are more Nigerian than others. Through it, mediocrity has been imposed in almost every facet of the nation’s life. “The mistake of 1914” would shun competence and permit the emergence of an Inspector General of Police (IGP) on the basis of ethnic cum primordial attachment, who could not read even a prepared address without stumbling, while brilliant and more competent officers would be taking orders from him. It is “the mistake of 1914” that makes it possible for more people to be living in the desert than the age-long urban centres. It makes it difficult to have credible census figures in Nigeria over the years and by extension, making reliable national planning impossible.

“The mistake of 1914” allows the assault on the sensibilities of Nigerians by a lawmaker who would bring his retinue of wives and children to the floor of the House of Representatives to showcase his power on the floor of the House and also in his bedroom. There is no doubt that “the mistake of 1914” will continue to foist incompetent managers on the affairs of the nation, thereby impeding genuine development and progress in the country until the issue is addressed and solved frontally.

Therefore for now, the governors of South-West states must endeavour to lift up the ideals of Operation Amotekun above the low levels of “the mistake of 1914” unto the high altitude of modern security architecture and progress as Chief Obafemi Awolowo did in the old Western Region.

• Reverend Adesua is a former managing director of Nigerian Tribune.