This article is the text of a speech given by Senator Olusola Adeyeye at his Alma Mater, the University College, Ibadan (UCI), to alert his constituents, in particular, and fellow citizens, in general, about what he characterized as the three “gales” with immense destructive power at our very doorstep. In this day and age, it is possible to predict seasonal storms with careful scientific monitoring tools positioned on earth and in space to track changes in weather. Perhaps, it is to ensure that inhabitants of contemporary Nigeria recognize the approaching danger and hopefully do something to prevent it that must have inspired this academician/politician to share his most well-researched thoughts with the audience assembled at this premier Nigerian tertiary institution in Ibadan. But Senator Adeyeye’s admonition is destined to fall on deaf ears simply because the political elite corps are preoccupied with the many false narratives that dominate the country’s politics. One of the false narratives is the claim that Nigeria’s national unity is non-negotiable, example.
The Senator then went to a great lengths to debunk the spurious nation being bandied about the unnegotiability of the Nigerian nationhood by providing instances where nation-states have peacefully broken up into their component units as were the situations in the Indian subcontinent, Scandinavia, the former Soviet Union, former Yugoslavia and former Czechoslovakia. India and Pakistan split at the point of self-rule in order to allow for the Muslim-majority and Hindu-majority nation-states to emerge as independent countries. Except for the Indian subcontinent and Yugoslavia, the referenced breakups were accomplished in relative peace. He also mentioned the Ethiopia/Eritrea and Sudan breakups, which were preceded by decades of persistent bloodshed. He concluded that how a nation-state breaks up is not a reliable predictor of the fates of emergent entities as shown by the buoyant economies of India, Pakistan, Scandinavian countries and Balkan nations that used to comprise Yugoslavia.
The menacing killer gales were identified by Senator Adeyeye as IGNORANCE AND SUPERNATURALISM, STRUCTURAL ABNORMALITIES and OVERPOPULATION. To compound the lethal potential of the impending menace, these three gales are converging on Nigeria’s geopolitical space all at the same time. To avert the devastating effects of the approaching gales, Nigerian constituents must proactively find ways to terminate these storms or at least, find the means to get out of their paths. This is a feat that is better talked about than done successfully in real-time.
Ignorance and supernaturalism are deeply embedded in contemporary Nigerians’ proclivity to entrust things that matter in their lives in the hands of God while adherents of radical Islam would insist that Western education is “Haram” – as in Boko Haram terrorist insurgency. Those who wield the reins of power in today’s Unitary Nigeria hate the notion of Restructuring aimed at correcting current structural abnormalities. Overpopulation in our part of the world is self-evident. A combination of dogmatic adherence to the perceived tenets of foreign organized religions that dominate Nigeria and the celebration of crass ignorance in high places make the prospects of population control a very tall order.
Senator Adeyeye is a rare gem whose wisdom and informed counsel would have helped Nigerian stakeholders to better prepare for the fast-approaching storms. But he does not belong among those who hold the fate of 200 million Nigerians in their firm grasp and refuse to let go. We thank Senator Adeyeye for sharing his warning of an imminent mega-storm with the power to shred the fabrics of today’s Unitary Nigeria to smithereens. Unfortunately, the gales of ignorance, supernaturality, structural abnormalities and overpopulation have combined to launch Unitary Nigeria on a trajectory to perdition and those at the helm are also hell-bent on aiding the country’s descent into hell on earth.
By Distinguished Senator Adeyeye
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