Former governor of Lagos state and national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has warned against the dangers of the quest for secession in Nigeria.
Bola Tinubu gave this warning over the weekend in Lagos at the 2017 Annual Dinner of the King’s College Old Boys’ Association (KCOBA) at King’s College, Lagos that a speedy implementation of restructuring-based reforms is what we should be agitating for rather division.
Tinubu who is the Principal Guest of Honour and Keynote Speaker at the event emphasized the urgency with which the political and economic issues in the country needed to be addressed.
In his speech titled ‘a new Nigeria or a better one: the fitting tools of a great repair’ the former governor said Our current national economic model is but an old, crumbling house. Repairing this edifice is the greatest challenge confronting us but caution should be exercised as not all change was good for the country.
According to him, the challenges facing the country politically and economically should not warrant moves for disintegration, noting that a single, expansive union had greater prospects for success in today’s world shaped by globalization.
Addressing the guests Tinubu said “Being more pragmatic, separating the nation into small pieces resolves nothing and creates additional problems. The world marches toward integration. Europe, America, Asia seek trade and commercial pacts that will make them more integrated markets. Notwithstanding Brexit, the EU grows more integrated in the functions of governance by the day. Thus, while nations more powerful and developed than us seek to pool their wealth and might, some of us seek to whittle this nation into smaller pieces; such a thing would make us more vulnerable to outside influences. We would forfeit our rightful place on the world stage and as a leader of this continent.
Moreover, not every split solves a problem. The political mentality, either good or bad, that defined a group before the split will remain after the divide. If one is imbued with factionalism, that perspective will remain even when the immediate problem is surmounted. Division will manifest differently, but manifest it will”.
As contained in the speech, the former governor said “A new factional bigotry will arise to replace the old. The cycle of tension and unrest will take its inexorable toll. Just ask the people of South Sudan if their woes ended when they left Sudan. When your heart is geared toward division, you will seek it within a single tribe, even a single family. The gossamer of ethnic unity will be ripped apart by sub-ethnic squabble. An angry man outside his home remains angry inside it as well and a thief steals from both stranger and friend.
Driven by such a mentality, even someone you once called your brother becomes a nuisance, then a burden, and ultimately your enemy in short order. Thus, I oppose talk of break-up and all other exotic political arrangements tantamount to it. That I am a foe of disunity does not mean I have blinded myself to the truth that our nation is in need of great repair.
We all see the nation for what it is. Some look further to see the nation for what it is not and they rush to condemn it. I choose to see the nation for what it can be and thus seek to nurture and cultivate it so that this Nigeria may bring forth the fullest blossoming of its riches, resources and ingenuity of its diverse people”.
Tinubu who at the event accused some personalities of being the brain behind the secessionist agitations in the country of selfish political ambitions said “Let us be frank. Many who cry separation do so because their personal ambitions will be better served by such a thing. They believe they will have greater chance at political power under a different arrangement. In one way or another, we all have felt the sting of man’s capacity to wrong his fellow man. But we are also endowed with the God-given spirit to overcome adversity and to make of old enemies, new allies and even brothers.
However, we can be certain that a masterful building is never the result of flawed design. In this vein, I dabble not so much in the search for a new Nigeria. I am equally not enthused about the flaws of old Nigeria. What I seek is a better Nigeria. I care not whether something is old or new but whether it shall make us better. Not all change is good. Not every new thing shall be kind to us. Many things we need are shelved in the warehouse of the old. Just as we must learn new things on one hand, we must remember vital old wisdom on the other. This should be used not to stifle change but to guide it toward its best purpose”.
