IT  is no more news that Nigeria as a nation state is an accidental creation, given the manner the British did it. It was not a consensus creation as the different ethnic groups  that make up the nation were not carried along and this laid the foundation for discord which has affected the nation up till date. There is nothing wrong in bringing people from diverse ethnic groups to form a nation but this can only work when the people agree to the arrangement; we have many examples where forced marriages of this kind have failed, like the old Yugoslavia and the present crisis in Ukraine to mention but a few.

Since independence  in 1960, successive governments have tried to establish  a semblance of unity but the underlining current ethnic discord has become a recurring decimal, no matter how  hard they have tried. And, when you look at the economic development of Nigeria, the country has made better progress under autonomous regional governments than under the centrist unitary governments. The Yakubu Gowon military regime made a lot of efforts at uniting, reconciling and rehabilitating all ethnic groups but that was not reflected in the distribution and allocation of resources, things just got worse under successive military governments.

Our preference for ethnic and regional bias under a centrist federal government escalated the level of corruption in the country. Corruption is the norm  in all societies but when it is instituted at the policy making level of a country or nation, it is a cause for concern; a behemoth, destroyer, cancer that  defies all cure until the unusual or impossible happens. That is the situation Nigeria as a nation has found itself. The survival of Nigeria as a nation is seriously threatened by the twin forces of ethnic/regional sentiments and corruption.

President Muhammadu Buhari has aptly stated during his electioneering campaign that if Nigerians do not kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria. It is a battle for Nigeria’s soul, of good over evil, of the survival or demise of Nigeria as a nation. It is a formidable battle and only a leader prepared by a combination of natural attributes, circumstances and grace can see it through.

In the history of Nigeria, only three presidents have been well placed to see this through; Yakubu Gowon, Olusegun Obasanjo and presently Muhammadu Buhari. Gowon enjoyed the overwhelming support of Nigerians after the civil war in 1970 and what was left was to arrange a credible and orderly transition to a democratic government with well instituted structures, he hesitated and had to be forced out in 1975. Olusegun Obasanjo came  in 1999 from prison to a warm reception from the Nigerian people.

His experience, background and training suited the required task but Obasanjo squandered the goodwill of the Nigerian people in eight years and instituted a corrupt regime under the People Democratic Party, PDP, banner that is still reverberating till date. By the time Buhari assumed power in May 2015, the people were already fed up with the PDP and the chant of change was overwhelming, now change has come.

Buhari rode to power because of his perceived position on corruption. He had previously demonstrated his capacity to tackle hard issues in his previous coming as a military dictator.  All  hope is now on him to put this case of corruption permanently to rest.

By Buhari’s experience, disposition and overwhelming support of the people, he must not fail because if he does, the state of Nigeria will face a possible collapse, it will take a long time to recover unless a miracle happens.

President Buhari must tackle corruption head on and kill it as he has promised and sort out the canker worm of ethnic sentiments in policy decisions. That way, he will save the Nigerian nation state from disintegration.

For now nothing has changed. The people are behind him now and he must not fail them; fish out the criminals and hypocrites among those around him and stay focused. Nigerians want to see true change not political abracadabra. There must be no sacred cows, most of those chanting change now were neck deep in corruption either at the states, local governments and federal levels.

During the French revolution of 1789-1799, many of the frontline crusaders for change ended up facing the guillotine, like their French royals and nobles. So shall it be for all those false ‘change chanters’.  We are beginning to see cases of the hunters being hunted; Fashola, Amaechi, Aregbeshola, Lamorde et al, the more the merrier, bring them on.

President Buhari must allow space for all to be tried in a proper manner, that way the Nigerian nation state will be rescued from imminent collapse.

Sunny Ikhioya, a commentator on national issues, wrote from Lagos.