In times like this…

NIGERIA is speedily moving from the precipice to the tipping point. According to Malcolm Gladwell, author of the book, Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, the tipping point is “the moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point.” The tipping point is the critical point in an evolving situation that leads to a new and irreversible development. It is originally used in epidemiology to describe a situation in which an infectious disease reaches a point beyond any local ability to control it from spreading more widely. Therefore, a tipping point is a turning point; a point of no return. From talking about going their different ways, ethnic nationalities that constitute Nigeria have been taking steps to take this beyond the level of imagination to that of reality. The Igbo nation is set to self-determine. Northern youths are determined to help them see this come true and are set to push the Biafrans out of their region even before they realize their dream. The Niger Deltans are also warming up to announce their independence once the Biafrans are allowed to go. Although this has not been publicly verbalized, there have been rumours about an Oduduwa Republic. It seems the end of Nigeria is nearer than ever. Things can probably never get worse than they are currently in the country.

In times like this, leaders must maintain their calm and refrain from resorting to any panicky measures. When there is confusion in the land, the people look up to the leaders for direction. Any betrayal of bewilderment or perplexity in the leaders will send a wrong signal to the people and this may exacerbate the already appalling situation. When things turn awry the leader must show that he is on top of the situation. This will give those on the opposing side something to worry about and will boost the confidence of those looking up to the leader for inspiration. When Britain was being plummeted on every side during the Second World War and it looked as if the only way to go was down, Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister, kept on lifting the spirit of the people with his inspiring words. In times such as this, the leader’s responsibility is to inspire the people, not to de-motivate them.

When the unity of a country hits the nadir, threats by the leaders should be minimal. The fact is that those pushing for secession and those issuing quit orders are already pushed to the wall. They have very little to lose if push comes to shove. As a matter of fact their expectation is that the state would provoke them into realizing their objective, which is grand scale chaos in the land that will escalate the already bad situation into an unmanageable level so that all hell will be let loose. Many of these agitators are well educated youths who have no jobs and no hope. Agitation has become a straw to hold on to. The only hope they see is the escalation of crisis to get some relevance in the scheme of things.

In times like this, the leaders should assuage the feelings of the aggrieved without surrendering sovereignty. The indisputable fact is that all those singing war songs have strong reasons to feel disenchanted about a country they once held dear. How did we go from “Build Nigeria” to “Break Nigeria”? How did we travel back in time to exhuming and enlivening the ghost of Biafra which was interred in 1970? Those who feel aggrieved enough to romance the past must be assuaged so that we can leave the past behind and travel to the future. We cannot record the progress we desire as a people if we keep going back to our past. To divorce ourselves from the past requires giving the past a decent burial. So, the leaders must engage those who are aggrieved so that the past can be properly interred. I particularly appreciate the position of the Progressive Governors Forum that the Federal Government must negotiate with Nnamdi Kanu. The government does not lose anything by discussing with him. Yar’Adua held discussions with Niger Delta militants to stabilize his government. That did not reduce him in any form. Rather, that act remains one the most enduring legacies of his government.

In times like this the question to ask is why is there so much agitation in the country. Why are Nigerians seemingly tired of their country? Why would Northern youths be tired of the Easterners who reside in their midst? Why are young Ibo people agitating for the exhumation of a country that was interred before many of them were born? Why would those in the Middle Belt suddenly remember that they are not Northerners? The answer is that there is no equity. If there is no equity, there cannot be unity. So, to have a united country those in leadership must do all they can to ensure justice; every Nigerian must get his or her due, irrespective of where he or she hails from within the country. Allied to that is that united countries are built around national visions or dreams. What is the Nigerian Dream? Why should anyone want to continue with a country that has no vision? Why would anyone not be disenchanted with a country that seems to be rudderless? Why would the youth not want out of a country that appears to have no plan for them? The time to fashion out a Nigerian Dream is now. The leaders should rally the people around a vision. That is how to ‘kill’ all these agitations that threaten the unity of the nation.