“To keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done” and so on are either false, extremely misleading, or manifestation of jarring ignorance about Nigerian history

Now, it is clear to those who value justice, equity, and truth that the way Nigeria is structured and governed at the moment is very unsatisfactory and cannot work because there are serious congenital abnormalities in her DNA which would require radical genetic engineering to correct.

The failure of Dr. Azikiwe and Chief Awolowo to unite against Sir Robertson’s northernisation agenda is regrettable because it not only allowed Britain to get away with odious political shenanigans that unjustly favoured the north, it also laid the foundation for the subsequent entrenchment of mediocre Fulani caliphate colonisation which over the decades has crippled Nigeria.

Another crucial point against the amalgamation is the extremely selfish, myopic and immoral reasons British imperialists carried out the exercise. Clearly, the intention or purpose for creating something largely determines the use(s) to which it would be put and the moral weight or importance to be attached to it. With respect to nation-building, this requirement […]

By Douglas Anele To fully answer the question that forms the title of our discussion today, it is important to pose a subsidiary question: a mistake for whom or from whose perspective? Now, going by the saying that “One man’s meat is another man’s poison,” it is evident that different answers would be given to […]

By Douglas Anele Even our revered erudite Emeritus Professor Chinua Achebe failed to appreciate the bold divide between Awolowo’s, call it local patriotism if you like, and Zik’s manifest egomania and selfishness. Because of the Igbos’ blind, crass and uncritical evaluation of our Igbo leaders, I am writing a book with title, ZIK IRONSI OJUKWU […]

By Douglas Anele For the first time in the twenty-two years I have been writing for Sunday Vanguard, I will do what I have never done before, namely, publish verbatim a reply from one of the teeming readers of “Perspectives,” Mazi Chike Chidolue. Because a large percentage of Ndigbo have an unfavourable view about late […]

By Douglas Anele Nigeria is a classic example of a country characterised mostly by false starts, missed opportunities, dashed hopes, and failed leadership. Thus, it is absurd to claim that Nigeria’s unity is not negotiable, which means that the British colonial contraption must be maintained in situ even if a broad section of Nigerians, for good […]

By Douglas Anele Ill-advised and retrogressive northernisation of the Nigerian military led to lowering of the educational standard for officer admission, thereby allowing the north to dominate the combatant cadres of the army and provide 50% of the officers whereas eastern and western regions had 25% each. Moreover, the four most senior posts in the […]

As I stated last week, those claiming that the January 15, 1966 largely unsuccessful military takeover of government was an Igbo coup are either ignorant of the counterevidence that refutes their claim or are incendiary Ndigbo haters who endorse the bloody northern revanchist coup six months later as justified revenge for the regrettable death of […]