By Ochereome Nnanna
AS you read this piece, Nigeria will officially be marking her 100 years of amalgamation by her British colonial forebears.

If you are a true Nigerian, don’t be shy or ashamed of calling the United Kingdom your Mother Country. She is. Almost everything that makes you a Nigerian was conceived and established by her. Even the language we use to communicate with one another both officially and otherwise – the English language – comes from her.

In spite of the glaring fact that Britain created a convoluted geopolitical structure and sewed inequality and strife into her tapestry, Nigerians are often heard saying inane things like: “Nigerian unity is non-negotiable” or, “Nigerian unity is a settled issue” or, “no Nigerian wants the country to break” or, “Nigerians have agreed to live together”.

Nigeria unity is non-negotiable: says who? Nigerian unity is a settled matter: in which chapter and verse of the Bible or Quran is that written? It is only things written in our adopted holy books that are settled and therefore not subject to negotiation. Constitutions can be amended (renegotiated), but the scriptures can’t. Nigeria is not written into any scripture yet people are proclaiming its unity is not subject to discussion!

When you say Nigerians have agreed to live together, the question would be: what, where, when and how? As none of the numerous conferences that resulted in the various constitutions that were used to rule Nigeria was conducted under a free atmosphere devoid of colonial or military authoritarian rule, it is simply untrue that Nigerians have agreed.

That is why you often hear that the Preamble to Chapter 1 of the Constitution is a lie. It says: “We, the People of Nigeria: HAVING firmly and solemnly resolved: TO LIVE in unity and harmony as one indivisible and indissoluble Sovereign Nation under God…”

Further, it is also often held that “no Nigerian” wants the country to break. Oh yeah? When did you pose the question? Where? And who was there to give the answer? The truth is that no such occasion ever arose when Nigerians were asked whether they wanted to live together and they gave a unanimous (or even simple majority) “yes” answer.

What we know is that each government always precludes this question from being posed because they are afraid of what Nigerians might say. The ruling establishment wields the “sanctity” and “inviolability” of Nigeria’s unity as a threat against those seeking a correct answer to the question.

For how long are we going to keep on lying to ourselves about the country we all belong to? I have no doubt that if you pose the question at the forth coming National Conference, it will pass by an impressive majority of votes, even if the “Yes” will not be unanimous. I don’t believe that Igbos will vote to secede. They led the fight for the independence of Nigeria and have paid the heaviest price to build the nation. They have no other place than Nigeria to go.

The Yoruba will vote to stay in Nigeria. Even though they have the geopolitical advantages that will ensure a viable nation, they have benefited from Nigeria more than any other group, and will continue to do so as the epicenter of the nation’s economy.

The people of the Niger Delta and the Middle Belt played crucial roles in the war to keep Nigeria one and will become prey to bigger neighbouring powers if Nigeria splits, and they know it. They need the protection that Nigeria provides.

The people of Arewa probably need Nigeria more than everyone else. Their elite have fed fat off the bounties of the land. If Nigeria breaks, they will become another Chad, Niger Republic or Burkina Faso. Even the insurgents called Boko Haram are daydreaming, not of secession but turning Nigeria into their delusive model of a caliphate or Islamic theocratic republic.

So, if it is so obvious that Nigerians will vote to stay together if the question is popped, why are we saying don’t pop the question”? The answer is simple. Before you pop the question, Nigerians will like to know the terms under which that future Nigeria is being put together.

The general objective is usually not the problem. It is the method of achieving it that you must spell out in clear terms to the satisfaction of all parties concerned. Otherwise, people will gladly kill one another even though they agree on a common objective.

The truth is that this Nigeria we all live in is not a happy place for any of us. We all have one thing or the other to complain about it. In fact, we have often done more than just complain. We have shed blood in our bid to register our discontentment.

Why don’t we sit down at the coming conference and iron out the casus belli? Aren’t we being cowardly in refusing to face our demons? Yet, unless we do so, we are only feeding carbide to the cannon. By the time it will go off, most us may not be ready for the catatonic consequences that will follow.

Nigerians will say a unanimous “yes” to Nigeria once a charter of equity is agreed. Nigerians will then be confident enough to climb out of their protective ethnic cocoons and become true Nigerians.

They will shower this country with their true love and become ready to die for a Fatherland that makes itself a place of pride for all its citizens, irrespective of their ethnic, regional or religious background.

Meanwhile, here is wishing all Nigerians HAPPY CENTENARY. NIGERIA, WE HAIL THEE, OUR OWN DEAR NATIVE LAND!!