Finding Our Nationhood
I had stated that we live in a country in search of a common character.
The absence of the common character is at the base of our problems as a nation.
When the British arrived these parts, they met, and dealt separately, with the various communities that now form the Republic of Nigeria. These communities, though aware of the existence of one another, each developed it's own civilisation independently and retained absolute autonomy in all spheres of human activity.
When ...the colonial authority decided to consolidate it's gains and later amalgamate the administration of the entire area, it did not attempt to amalgamate the communities. ...As Nigeria approached independence, deliberate efforts were made to keep the country polarised. An impossible federation was created in which cards were stacked in favour of one component part. To this was added the mistaken belief of our founding fathers that granting of independence was the goal of national struggle.
To them it seemed that once a new flag was hoisted; once the people sang a new and hurriedly learnt anthem; once the colonial army marched past to give salute to a black face in uniform that aped the imperial ceremonial splendour, and once these rituals were performed, our leaders believed that a nation was born.
Unfortunately, the granting and accession to Independence was not an end rather should have been the beginning. The beginning of the long journey to nationhood...
Written by Jane Akubue
I may simply be one of those people who understood less of this concept of nationhood in Nigeria. But reading this post on Facebook really opened my eyes to the truthfulness of this young lady's finding. The mere fact that we got different orientation before we got amalgamated as a nation still makes differences to persist amongst us. Little wonder Chinua Achebe wrote a book out of it all–There Was a Country.
I couldn't agree more with this write up. There is something that we, as differently oriented tribes, need to find: a common link, a gap bridger, something that can connect all of us from deep within the soul and make us one. But then, I still believe we are on a journey to finding that link
So, here is to us Nigerians, may we tread that correct path to finding our nationhood
cheer!
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