(142): Will Nigeria break up?

 Will Nigeria break up?

By Muhsin Ibrahim

Yes, Nigeria will someday break up. It may not be in our lifetime, but that is very likely to happen. It's a matter of time before the bomb explodes. Our disunity is more deeply entrenched than many people imagine. No country can progress while its people harbour hatred of this magnitude towards one another.

The only way to avoid the above is to launch a massive yet well-crafted societal reorientation programme nationwide. Nigerians of all walks of life need reeducation on patriotism. We need to place our Nigerian identity above and beyond any other ethnic profile. We need to see and regard our neighbours as humans as we are.

As things stand, our future is doomed. Call me a pessimist, alarmist or anything you want. Unfortunately, it's our sad reality. Look around you. Every accident and incident is viewed via an ethno-religious and regional prism. It's also treated as such. Why, for God's sake?

Many of our so-called leaders and several educated citizens think, write and speak like illiterate touts. They covertly or overtly call for more disunity, water prejudice and dehumanise others from different ethno-religious and linguistic groups. What a people! What a country!

I love Nigeria and wish to come back later, in sha Allah. However, the pathetic situation on the ground is everything but encouraging. While we, of course, pray, we need to wake up and do better. Think, please.

PS: I used to think differently about this topic. I was wrong.