Demonstrations about what?
Whispering Drums With Maigani
by Musa Ibrahim
Immediately he identified the two institutions Lagos and Ibadan Universities - I for one was not in the least surprised! In fact, I would have been very surprised if these two universities did NOT behave in this way! It certainly was to be expected. In fact, what was surprising was that Ife University did not join them, but maybe it was realised that the picture would be clear as to require no reading between the lines to understand the movers and supporters of the motion - the same old political cancer that has been eating Nigeria over the last 25 years!
When I asked my friend if he was surprised, he confessed to me that he was more than surprised, he was, in his own words, "shocked". He said he had thought that the students would be the first to respect the law and to be objective in their approach to such issues where human rights and national unity were involved. I concluded that my friend was either very naive or maybe he was one of those who least know or understand the between-the- lines politics of that unsettled land which for the last two and a half decades could not find true peace or true unity.
But interestingly, this friend of mine went on to tell me of what was being said in many other parts of Nigeria, especially the North where President Shagari comes from and in the Ibo lands of Imo and Anambra, the home of Dr Alex Ekwueme. He said people were saying that to all intents and purposes, Lagos and Ibadan universities are Yoruba institutions, never mind the fact that they are federally owned and financed. And for all times the student and lecturer population of these institutions have been 9.5% Yoruba. And they have been the political tools that have so often been employed and effectively used to make life difficult for any person in authority who hails from any other ethnic group in Nigeria. These two institutions plus Ife University have traditionally provided the professional student demonstration population.
My friend said people in Nigeria were quoting many examples right from the days of when Dr Azikikwe was Governor- General of Nigeria to this present day. No son from any other soil of Nigeria has ever led Nigeria and finished well or untarnished by two weapons of political manipulation and thuggery - the Oduduwa Press and the Oduduwa Educational Institutions and those by them polluted!
I told my friend to stop at this point because what he was telling me amounted to tribalistic animosity which would not help unity which we all aspire to see in our country! He looked a bit angry and said to me, damn it, enough is enough! The facts must be faced. Are the rest of us cowards and fear to say the truth! He said so long as this attitude continued where you are afraid to fight for your right for the mere fear of being blackmailed as not wanting unity, so long the danger of a catastrophic end awaits Nigeria! Can a few hold the many to ransom and ride over them for more than two decades and yet none of the many can say it out for the world to hear?
My friend said he was by no means condemning all Yorubas to the label of tribalism. He said he had many friends among them and there are good and honest ones among them. But there are those of them who have been the true headache of that country Nigeria. If Nigeria is to survive as one country the real issues that divide us must be faced and in time too. My friend gave me one further example. He said those who benefited most from the wealth of Nigeria from the day the white man handed Nigeria its independence to this day are the Yorubas.
And yet they cannot claim that Nigerians have ever benefited from any resources emanating from the Yorubaland! If cocoa were oil, Nigeria would have long disintegrated! And yet the same people call any non-Yoruba that ever led Nigeria a thief. To them, Tafawa Balewa looted the 'Treasury', Gowon looted the 'Treasury', Shagari looted the 'Treasury'. Chief Enahoro from the minorities and from the oil producing Bendel State was similarly discredited as having looted the 'Treasury', Tarka was similarly condemned! Who is left?
Every northerner who was in power, every Ibo man in power, everyone from any other tribe that was ever anything in Nigeria looted the 'Treasury'. Obasanjo was the only one who did NOT loot the 'Treasury' of course. My friend added, "May we ask whose "Treasury"?" Today the same story continues. My friend asked me whether I saw the cartoon in the Tribune about Shagari after the Justice Uwaifo verdict. I said no, I had not had the privilege of reading a copy. He told me to look for it. Tribune of course belongs to or is associated with Chief Awolowo, leader of the Yorubas. He said the cartoon has been seen by many people as a kind of signal to the students in the two universities Lagos and Ibadan.
I am beginning to think that people can organise and goad some students to go on demonstrating on every street of Lagos or Ibadan or both, but it will be very dangerous to think that those who are silent are incapable of action. One day, the other sides might also decide to react and I shudder to think of what will happen then. The price may be too high and there is no doubt the country cannot afford to pay it. This is no threat, it is no incitement either. It is the truth which is bitter but to tell it is what will in the end be best for all.
At the end of this conversation with my friend I forgot about the shopping which had taken me to Selfridges. We both agreed that we had learnt from each other and that the shopping could wait. I came home somewhat worried and agitated. Is there a future or is there not for Nigeria? Some think and talk only of economy. To them that is the only future that is worth fighting for. They will organise kidnappings, they will push drugs, they will lick boots of anybody in a position to give them a contract or import licence, they will sell their mother or father for money. They will even riot and murder in order to be rich - the big tycoons and cocaine barons of Lagos know this only too well. But to every right thinking Nigerian the issues that face that nation are much more serious than the "Treasury'. Not many may realise this now, but sooner or later it will dawn on us and then the true and stable formula may be worked out. That will be the true beginning of political debate, and make no mistake there will be debates, debates, and debates. Long live the silent majority!
