Why Breaking Up Will Not Solve Anything For Nigeria
Manuel Akindele Gabby, an outspoken 400-level Statistics student of the Federal University of Technology Akure, Ondo State, advocates for Nigeria's unity and insists we Nigerians should start changing ourselves in order to gradually change the whole nation.
"Will Nigeria remain undivided after the year 2015? Questions, doubts and opinions on the matter of unity are being raised due to various issues tearing this country apart, ranging from corruption, forceful struggle for power to the Boko Haram insurgency.
"Recently, Naij has quoted the former United States ambassador to Nigeria John Campbell [author of a book titled 'Nigeria: Dancing on the brink' and argued that our country will disintegrate come 2015] who said that Nigeria is exhibiting symptoms of a failing and fragile state.
"After going through the comments under the post, I discovered that most of Nigerians think "breaking up" is the only sensible solution. But, is it really?
"I've done a lot of research and critical thinking and concluded that even after the division, each state would experience problems similar to the ones our nation is presently facing.
"You see, it is you and I who are the driving forces between all the conflicts: it's our corrupted minds, blind desire for power, negative problem orientation, negative mindset. So will disintegration help? I don't think so.
"What we need is to tackle our defects. Sometimes, we would ask ourselves if our individual changes matter. The fact is, that changes start from you, then affect your family, then your family affects the community, and the spread continues.
"If a number of blind persons decided to walk together, they would need their actions to concerted, they need unity. Eventually, they would realize that, although united, they still need a sighted person to guide them in order to avoid pits and holes, and they need to follow their guide willingly.
"Applying this metaphor to our nation, I say we are those blind persons. We are blinded by corruption, conflicts, hatred. But disintegration would only weaken us further. What we need to do is to start inviting light individually: as a family, as a worker, as a leader and as a follower, by each of us being a loving, corruption-free and positively-oriented Nigerian, by understanding that we should stop being selfish.
"The change Nigeria needs is not a break-up, but us beginning to love our country and our fellow Nigerians as our own family. We need to understand the sense behind the wise saying United we stand and divided we fall. We need to pray for and not curse our beloved country."
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Source: Legit.ng
