Excerpt of Meeting between Chief Awolow/team and Chief Ojukwu/team at state House, Enugu on Satureday 6th May 1967.

His Excellency: This a very important day and I would like to be a little bit formal. I think the first thing is to congratulate you, sir, for your good health. Since your release we have not really had the opportunity to meet although I have been looking forward to it for a long time. I would also like to thank Chief Mariere and Chief Onyia for this trip. And, of course, I will not forget to thank my old friend, Professor Sam Aluko. It is a pleasure to have you all with us today.

Having said that, I would like to introduce the people who are with me here (And he introduced Lt. Col. Imo, Lt. Col. Effiong, Lt. Col Kurubo, Mr. C.O Majekwu, Mr. N.U Akpan, Professor Eni Njoku, Dr. Nwakanma Okoro, Dr. P.N.C Okigbo, Mr. C.A Onyegbale, and Mr. Ndem).

When I heard you were coming on this delegation, as usual, I halted everything and then started to think. I thought of it the whole of yesterday up to this morning trying to see really how to conduct this discussion. You all realise the difficulty in which we are placed in the East. We have been virtually isolated since July so that we do not know what is happening very much on the other side. Indeed every day makes us more isolated. So, we do not really understand the platform and the reason for this type of Committee. I, therefore, finally decided that the answer would be to leave you, sirs, the visitors, to let me know perhaps in more detail the reasons or the points which you want us to discuss. It is only after that , that perhaps we would be in a position to really join in the discussions. At this stage, I would like to welcome you once again. We are very happy indeed to have you with us.

Chief Awolowo: We thank you very much indeed for the cordial way in which you have received us. Four of us here were invited to a meeting of what was later described as the National conciliation Committee and before we went to the meeting we were made clearly to understand that the purpose was to try and find ways and means of bringing an end to the present impasse in the country. At the meeting we tried to get the purpose properly defined but we did not go very far even with that because the East was not represented or may I qualify that a little bit, because there were two natives of the Eastern Region at that meeting, but we felt they could not properly represent the East because they have not been here for quite a long time...

I had a number of matters in my mind in addition to what the convener had stated but we felt that if we proceeded with the points raised at the meeting we might fail because we were not properly represented. We felt that the East must be present and so we decided not to proceed further with the meeting until we have succeeded in getting the Eastern Region representatives at the meeting.

The purpose of this visit, therefore, is not to go onto another detail as to what your grievances are because these are political issues and the solution must be political. Of course, I agree with my friend Chief Mariere, that there are also human problems and there must be human approach to them. Instead of going into the grievances we felt it would be easier to have a list of what each Region would like to see done in order to resolve the friction and fears of the past and then work together in some form of harmony. Our main concern is to ensure that Nigeria does not disintegrate, and at this stage I have to project my own person further, and I did say that I would like to see Nigeria bound together by any bond because it is better than breaking the whole place up because I think each unit will be the loser for it. The economy of the country is so integrated that I think it is too late in the day to try and sever them without risking the death of one or both of them.. So, we have come, therefore, to appeal to you to let Eastern representatives attend the meeting of the committee.
2-contd:You are in no way committed and, if my word is worth anything at all, I would like to assure you that you are in no way committed to any particular course of action. Whoever represents the Easter Region will let us know on what terms Eastern Region would like to participate in future Nigeria. Of course, each Region would have to state its own terms and then it would be the duty of the Committee to know that these are the lines we propose to pursue and to assemble those lines and then move from Region to Region.... If we consider any of these terms to be excessive the we shall come here to see if we can reduce it to a minimum and try to see how to reconcile all the demands, and in the end it is our wish that it should be possible for the Military Leaders to meet here in Nigeria and say, this is that, I can understand your feelings in the matter.

I don’t not know what reasons you have to insist that Heads of African States should be present at the future meeting of the Military Governors, but when our Military Governor of the West visited you at Onitsha and told me what transpired between you, I told him that if I were you I would hesitate to meet with the Military Council without making sure of a guarantee of my safety, but to invite African Heads of State is entirely a different matter.

I think that now that we have started this, and with your co-operation in the early stage, I feel that the Supreme Military Council can meet in Nigeria without the presence of any African Head of State.

At the moment, what we have come for is to appeal to you to attend the next meeting of the National Reconciliation Committee and to assure you that if anything is done at the Committee which tends to compromise your stand or commit your people of this Region, there are some of us who will have the courage to get out of the Committee before it is too late. So, these are there reasons for our visit.
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His Excellency: It does appear to me that there are two main issues in this matter. The first one is the matter of our Eastern representatives going to the Reconciliation Committee; then, of course the main thing is the problem of Nigeria.

If I may, I would like to deal first with the question of our representatives going to this meeting. This point really, by virtue of the term, does not arise because they are not representing us. They cannot in any way be our representatives, and one starts wondering how the names were arrived at. I say this knowing full we that this Nigerian problem started ever since we conceived Independence and was only held up in the past year, and certainly have been boiling since July till now. I find it difficult to consider any Nigerian not involved. Certainly I feel every Easterner is involved. I feel too that for any objective consideration to be given to this, one really needs completely new areas because, as you said, the Eastern stand is well known and the Western stand have been made quite clear, indeed, in a very classic manner. The Mid-West stand, I am not quite sure of since the latest developments. The Northern stand has been made crystal clear.

Now, in this situation as I was saying, there is nobody that is a Nigerian who can say he can be dispassionate. And, therefore, to discuss the future of Nigeria, it would appear to me that those who should discuss must have the mandate of the people.

The second point arises from your introduction of the membership of the committee; the way and manner the people were elected, and who they were show that again there was a design to make it impossible for Easterner to attend.

A point which we feel very strongly about here in the East is the point about the judiciary. Here we feel really that the judiciary is sacrosanct. We have made a point about this and we do not feel the Chief Justice of the East (indeed he finds it difficult) should go into this thing. As the Justice he just does not play, and I think you are aware too that the difficulties Nigeria is suffering now come through two justices getting involved in politics and trying to solve the Nigeria problem. They have tried twice and failed.

I think the other invitee to the Committee was Sir Francis, my Adviser. Now, I am the Military Governor. As you see, I am a young man and Sir Francis is my Adviser. I do what he advices me. If I steal, you can be sure that he advised me to steal, so I don't see how he can fit into this' circumstances make it impossible for him to be associated with this......
3-The first thing that occurred to me through this afternoon is, with all due respects, that we are getting ourselves again involved in platitudes. Men of goodwill, forgive and forget, those sort of terms do not mean anything in this crisis.....

You talk about free movement, children moving from one place to other. I am told that Nigerians move in and out of Western Germany without visas, so that, really, that is not the point at issue. There are arrangements in which you can still move from one place to another without a visa.

After my deadline of 31st of March, came April; I took certain actions. The American Ambassador and the British High Commissioner Cabled back (one good thing about the East is that we have ears) for further instruction from their home Governments. Britain thought that the solution to the problem lay in immediate parity between the North and the East. The U.S.A cabled back that the solution would lie, in order to protect their investments, in checks and balances so as to continue the exploitation of our oil. After this, the British High Commissioner and the Ambassador met and they kept together for a period of some four hours after which the American Ambassador started taking the initiative. What they decided was that the country was on the point of disintegration and that the only way to deal with this thing is to delay so much as possible the East from any further action that might completely disintegrate Nigeria. It was as result of that and the posture of Britain that it was decided that the initiative must be taken by Messrs Omo-Bare, Fabunmi and Yesufu who started meeting some individuals and tried getting some individuals to meet together, having cleared that with Gowon. So that when we discuss the Conciliation Committee, the child of that conspiracy, you must realise that our interests are not really being considered; the interests being considered are America and British interests.

I started off this struggle in July with 120 rifles to defend the entirety of the East. I took my stand knowing full well that by doing so, whilst carving my name in history, I was signing also my death warrant. But I took it because I believed that this stand was vital to the survival of the South. I appealed for settlement quietly because I understood that his was a naked struggle for power and that the only time we can sit down and decide the future of Nigeria on basis of equality will always be equality of arms. Quietly I build up. If you do not know it, I am proud, and my officers are proud, that here in the East we possess the biggest army in Black Africa. I am no longer speaking as an underdog; I am speaking from a position of power. We have really go to find a solution to our problem. It is not my intention to unleash the destruction which my army can unleash. It is not my intention to fight unless I am attacked. If I am attacked I will take good care of the aggressor. That is why i really believe that our future must be for the people of the South to halt a while and think, so that whilst we are catching up something which is already written to the core, that is association with the North, we do not lose more of the things that keep us in the South together....

I went to Aburi as a Nigerian (I am glad that there is complete record of our meeting). I did not ask for compensation; I asked for a solution to the Nigerian problem. What I asked for in Aburi was share of power in Nigeria. It is significant that you said that five months ago we started getting popularity May I add to that, that what is happening today in this country is precisely five months late...

I noticed today that the main difficulties precluding the participation of the East have not been touched. I said that we were being strangulated; anybody would then expect that the first thing to do is to take hands of this people's throat before anything else.
4-Chief Awolowo; You are speaking figuratively.

His Excellency: Do I have to enumerate all the things, the economic strangulations and all, that is being imposed on us by Gowon.

Chief Awolowo We cannot go there and be the advocates of the East I was selected to represent the West, and therefore, it will not be right for me to go there and advocate for the East.

I refused to be on this delegation because I was accused of speaking to you on telephone every day. Gowon himself told me that I visited the East several times and on one occasion you threw a cocktail party in my honour.

I do not want to put myself in a position where I will be treated as an advocate of the Eastern cause. Let the Eastern delegates go there, make their case and then as a member of the Committee I will get up and say I support this entirely. But for me to go there and say that this is the grievance of the East is wrong. I enumerated to you what I have in mind. I have a lot of things in mind.

May I make a correction here, please? I do not indulge in platitudes. I am sure that when it comes to demonstrating our sincerity we shall certainly not fail. This is different from what happened last year when your delegates came to Lagos; this time we are faced as it were, with reality and we have to face them or be swallowed up and time is running against us because you said you were being strangulated and I know what you mean. If we get back to that meeting and your people are represented, I know what ought to be done immediately to ease the situation on all sides and I have made my views known about certain Regions of the Country.

Many years before this crisis started in 1962, if only some of my contemporaries had united with me in attitude, I suppose all this would never have happened; but we are making history and we can count ourselves as lucky for having the opportunity of making history. Since we are meeting tomorrow I think it is good to sleep over this.

You have spoken of some irrevocable stands that you have taken. Has the East taken an irrevocable stand not to have anything at all to do with the North? Is this stand of the East (because it will be good for us to know the stand of the East), not to have anything to do with the North revocable or not? Can we have circumstances or conditions under which the East can deal with the North? I believe if you still want an association among all the units of Nigeria, that will satisfy the yearnings of the South including the East. I would like to know whether it is your view that the East will secede from the rest of Nigeria. I would like to know if these so that we will be in a position to make constructive contributions.

His Excellency: On the specific question of whether there is a possibility of contract with the North, the answer is at the battle field. On the question of secession, it will never come from me that we wish to secede from the rest of the country, that is, I am really thinking of the South.

I believe very strongly that there is a great deal we can do together and believe me, Sirs, if we have to opt out then it will be because we cannot get together in the South, that is, opting out of the remaining of the South.

The Second day session of the meeting held at State House, Enugu on Sunday 7th May. 1967. It started at about 11.50 am and adjourned at about 2.15pm.
5-His Excellency (Ojukwu): I think we may start now. We had a very good meeting yesterday and certainly the sum total gave us plenty to think about and indeed, those of us who do not take supper actually did have quite a lot of food for thought. I think if we can go on from where we left off and that is again having cleared our minds of various attitudes, to think about this question of the peace committee.

It was established yesterday that the Peace Committee as composed was not desirable, that is from the Eastern point of view. It was neither desirable nor had it any chance of success. We said that there was need to discuss but we did not establish what and who should discuss and I think that actually would be the starting point for today.

We talked very sketchily about relative positions of the various regions and we projected a possibility of an understanding between the Southern Regions of Nigeria. The last two questions on which we closed were, first, the Eastern attitude to the North which I said was one where there could only be a meeting on the battle field. The second question was the Eastern attitude towards future association. Here again, I said that; the East does not intend to secede but if pushed would not hesitate to take the challenge knowing full well that the East is in position militarily and politically within itself to take this decision and not be pushed or helped. I think on that really the meeting came to a close and we thought that today we would go on.

I talked a great deal yesterday and did lot of thinking too. I think it would only be fair if I again leave the floor open for your respected delegates to put up suggestions for this Peace Committee.

Chief Awolowo: Thank you very much; I have two or three submissions to make. First, of all, I think that there is no doubt that the Regions south of the country have always been working together and have shared common ideals by and large, and that the only thing that has bedeviled Southern Solidarity in the past was individual ambition. But individually we can bring that solidarity about by working together in the same bodies and meetings. How do we bring about the solidarity if the East and ourselves have no chance of meeting?

There is a good deal of suspicion right now, and we want to avoid it as much as possible, that some of us are in conspiracy with you and you know that is not true. I have been accused of talking to you on the telephone but I think the last time I spoke to you on the telephone was in October last year, and this is my first visit to the Region since my release in August last year. Not that one is afraid of being accused falsely, but certainly I do not want to put myself in a difficult position where I could not exert some influence to bring about a final settlement to the present stalemate. That is why I want to avoid anything that will make people suspect me of being in conspiracy. But here we have a chance of meeting. Chief Mariere and I have not had chance of meeting since my release. We met casually at Ado Ekiti when we went for the funeral of Lt. Col. Fajuyi, but since this meeting we have talked together several times and this morning we had preliminary discussions and exchanged views on what happened yesterday and it surprised me that the areas of agreement between the West and the Mid-West are very wide. What brought this about? It is the Peace Committee meeting. If I did not attend the meeting of this Committee I would have been accused of conspiracy, of being against either the North, the Mid-West or the East. But this Peace Committee gives us a chance of meeting and talking together. I have no doubt that if your delegates come to the meeting, after the meeting, it does not matter who were at the meeting, we can then say, 'what about meeting at such and such a place tomorrow morning' and then sit down and see how we can bring about Southern solidarity.

I said to Chief Mariere and Professor Aluko last night that if we can afford to go to this meeting and say this is what we want for a new Nigeria whether temporarily or permanently, and the North says 'no, we are not going to have it', I will go out and address a World Press Conference and send our case to that body and say this is what we have done and the North has turned it down. I will then take any step that is necessary to bring into effect what we want. But certainly this cannot be done if only the Mid-West and West and Lagos are represented at that meeting. It will be plain case of conspiracy.

Not that I take some of these newspaper comments seriously, but a lot of things are written in the 'Post' which is a Government sponsored paper. When I said that I have not been to the East they said; 'What about Professor Aluko, what about a school teacher who goes regularly to represent you?' These are the sort of things said but the thing is that we want to have a chance of meeting and we want you to give us that facility. We want you to allow the East to make its own case before that body.
6-You said yesterday, that nobody, is being sponsored by the Americans and the British. I do not trust that. If I have something to do in this country today. I will take Nigeria out of the Commonwealth within 40 hours, I do not want to go to reasons now. I will have nothing to do with the British. They are full of prejudices and they have not learned from history, and having nothing to teach anybody I recently refused to talk to the British High Commissioner. You have the patience to talk to them. The other day he sent a message through that he wanted to come and see me and I told him that there was no chance because we have no common interests. As for the Americans we know that wherever they sink their dollars their interests lie. They have no principle in their activities. But let them be behind convening this meeting. They did that with Alhaji Tafawa Balewa before; where is he now? They did also with Chief Akintola; where is he now?

I have no doubt that truth will prevail no matter what you do, the side of truth will be equally vigilant. Once that is the case, one shall never lose. IF YOU ARE ON THE SIDE OF TRUTH AND YOU ARE CARELESS AND UNINTELLIGENT OR LAZY, THEN YOU LOOSE BY DEFAULT. (capital emphasis mine). So that is my first appeal.

I have no doubt that you believe in Southern solidarity, but we cannot bring it about if the East cannot associate with the West. So, forget about Sir Adetokunbo Ademola and other members of the Committee; we dislike them more than you do, but the thing is that this meeting will provide a forum for regular contact between your people and our people.

The second observation I want to make is this. I notice that you feel very strongly about the presence of Sir Adetokunbo in that meeting. I think we all appreciate your position. We certainly will take that back but from what I noticed of him in that meeting I am inclined to think that if we get back and say, ' You are not wanted in this meeting', he will fade out especially if we say. 'Here are Eastern delegates, and here we are from the West and Mid-West and we think that you should fade away in this meeting. (We do not need to put it in the paper that you are here) otherwise, we will not be able to go on with this meeting', he will fade out.

If you also insist, that is the third point, that we should have this meeting in Benin, it will only depend on how soon. If Sir Francis is one of your delegates, he is welcome anywhere in this country: if it is Professor Njoku who was member of the Ad Hoc Committee (because you made that point yesterday about the delegates who were members of the Ad Hoc Committee); Professor Njoku is welcome anywhere in this country. No harm will come to your delegates. But if you insist that it should be in Benin, we will come to Benin. Yesterday Chief Onyia suggested Asaba. I think that would be asking too much from the Northern delegates. So, we want you to give us the chance of presenting the case of the South in a concerted form to the North. I would not like to treat the North as one for this purpose; there are certain elements in the North who want to dominate not only the East, the West and the Mid-West but also certain sections of the Northern Region. These are the people who constitute the enemies of Nigeria and we really would like to give them a showdown. But this does not mean military actions; we do not want any more coups, friction and so on. We want to maintain the link among all the Regions. But if we present the case of the South and they say, 'no, this does not suit us' very well it suits the South and we take appropriate action.

His Excellency (Ojukwu); If I might come in there. There is persistence on this and the impression is that if the South says this and the North says the opposite, you know, we start feeling that then the crisis really starts.

Chief Awolowo; The Crisis is already on. What has not taken place so far is that the North has not been in a position of being presented with the United front of the South. The East has been speaking so far, the Mid-West has been speaking, and the West has been speaking, but there is no concerted action among us. If the North understands that the South is united, it would make a lot of difference.
7-His Excellency (Ojukwu): This leads to the next point of observation that, therefore, the only way for the South really to present that united front is for the South to meet and hammer out that united front. It is a point which must be cleared first before proceeding to make a statement of whatever it is. That is why, to my mind at the present stage of the crisis the ideal thing for the Southern people to meet in any platform and discuss and hammer out any differences they might have. Then going further, it would then mean that to do this the South must take the initiative, because the North will not allow the South to meet; because if we wait for their permission, we wait forever. We have to think of this crisis objectively, realise our vital interests and take the bull by the horns. I see no reason indeed why the South should not come together. We have been suggesting this for so long, that the Southern leaders could meet at Asaba too. Once we do this, there is hope for the future.

There is a slight alternative; if we find it impossible because people are going to label us conspirators, and I can understand the reason for the feeling, then the alternative may be for the South in their groupings to say the same thing. After all, the whole of the South has been consulted on the platform of different units making their points and indeed, Sir, when you spoke and made your statement, first your letter, then your statement, the report abroad was that the East and the West were united. If the Mid-West considers that the stand which the East and the West have taken is the stand which they ought to take and say the same thing, then outside they will say that the South is united. If this cannot be achieved, then perhaps the only alternative if for the East to decide its own fate and perhaps to move out of the Federation for the West, finding Northern protection intolerable, to equally move out of the Federation, and for the Mid-West once again finding itself in the belly of the North, to decide to eat out of it, and for us knowing our vital interests, to meet and hammer out a form of association. Sometimes that appears rather attractive because it starts on the basis of absolute equality and we meet and freely put into the melting-pot things we think we can afford to put into it. I find that quite interesting.

Finally, the question of venue, I notice how all talks about venue point to the Mid-West. If there is a true feeling that there should be peace, after all these people claim to have a sizable following in the East, in view of our won suspicions an things making it difficult for all the people we would like to be present at such meetings to beheld, since there are just a few who can in fact be welcomed anywhere, then perhaps in their so called stronghold of the minorities. We can hold meetings in Calabar, in Port Harcourt which they say is Rivers; I am sure we hold a meeting in Ogoja which is quite near the North. So there are places in the East where these meetings could indeed be held, but talks of venue for meeting are exclusive of the East; I wonder why.

Chief Awolowo: It is also exclusive of the North. Could I put in a word here now? I do appreciate the points you have made, especially the suggestion that the South could take the bull by the horns, convene a meeting of its leaders and work out its salvation. Well, I must say that a number of factors have been overlooked in this regard. I would be quite willing to attend any meeting convened by the leaders of the South in the South, but it must be realised that WE IN THE WEST ARE IN VERY DIFFICULT POSITION AND THERE IS SUCH THING AS TACT IN THIS TYPE OF MATTER. Last year when we went to the Ad Hoc Committee we, or the West laboured under a lot of inhibitions and we had to move rather cautiously because courage does not lie in someone lying on the road and having all the traffic to run him over. At that time all the members of the body-guard of the Military Governor were Northerners; there were over 36,000 soldiers in the whole of the West, most of whom were Northerners, and all of them carried arms. It was under such circumstances that we attended the meeting in Lagos. It is natural that all these soldiers also have their fears occasionally, though they are trained to be fearless. Our Governor was also under some inhibition. At one stage during the course of the Conference I had to speak out against the North because I felt that they thought that because they were in control they could do just what they liked. But in spite of the fact that we laboured under those inhibitions, we did summon up courage, and we did not know why the meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee was postponed before the 17th. It was not because the East was not coming but because I led a delegation to Lt. Col. Gowon on the 7th and at that interview I made it clear on behalf of the West we would not attend any further meetings of the Ad Hoc Committee. Then he said between then and the 17th he would do something. Of course, he didn't and decided to postpone the meeting indefinitely. Well, even now we run a lot of risks by calling upon Northern soldiers to go. This morning I got a word from Ibadan, form the Commanding Officers of the Battalion in Ibadan. We passed our resolutions and Col. Adebayo did very well and gave us certain Yoruba Officers with whom to go and deliver the petition to Lt. Col. Gowon. I did give him an ultimatum up to the 15th of May to remove these Northern soldiers from the West. Of course, he agreed to remove them by the 31st of May, but by the time we returned to Ibadan Northern soldiers had taken up arms and wanted to kill me, to kill Adebayo and all the others. Just now Adebayo does not sleep in his house. Somebody told me that he has not been sleeping in his house. The populace, of course, turned against the Northern Soldiers. They now want to send away their wives and children before they themselves finally leave; I understand they are waiting for transport. I dont know why Adebayo should issue the release that soldiers should not be taunted. But this is the way we have been doing our own quiet fighting. YOU ARE REMOTE FROM THE WEST; YOU ADVANTAGES WHICH WE DO NOT POSSESS. WE CAN NOT RUSH WITHOUT RUSHING TO OUR DEATH AT THE SAME TIME. WE ARE NOT COWARDS IN THE WEST; YOU HAVE TO MOVE CAUTIOUSLY, BECAUSE IF WE DO NOT DO THAT YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE US ALIVE; you would only have monuments all over the place.
8-And may I say in this connection of Southern solidarity. I am sorry to go into what has happened in the past - in 1953 there was an understanding between the banned NCNC, and the banned Action Group, we entered into an agreement, which I hope would be used sometime, to the effect that if the North remained intransigent we would declare a Southern Dominion. This was signed by myself and Zik and I still stand by it. I don't think you need assurance from me that we have a lot in common; but we prefer that you should send your delegates to his meeting, so that we should, known to everyone, enter into negotiations among ourselves and present a common front to the North. Then nobody can accuse us of conspiracy or trying to divide the country into two parts. We want to work for one Nigeria on certain basis which would be agreed to by all of us. You did say that when I spoke people said that the East and West are united. That is the manner of speaking. There are certain points which you hold dear on which we do not agree but if we are able to have a dialogue, certainly there is need for dialogue between the East and the West on the one hand, and between the West and the Mid-West on the other, I think it will help us to have a common basis. It is not enough for us to say that we don’t not like the North. That is a negative approach. I think positive approach will be for us to meet. Unity will last only if it is based on common understanding among us and the basis will start with that meeting, then it would be faced with opposition and then we shall go out and tell the whole world that this is where we stand. And if it is misconstrued the we can hold our meeting initiated in the South. This is the way I see it.

I want you to look at it from our point of view, If there were no Northern soldiers in the West the position would be different. and even if by the time I return home the Northern soldiers have gone I still do not want to be accused of perfidy.

According to the Western Area Commander, Nigeria Army, they are now arranging for transport and my attitude is that if they are anywhere in the West, I will not attend any meeting anywhere even if their cap is left. So, we want you to appreciate that point. As I said before, I want you to give me a chance of meeting your people regularly and Sir Adetokunbo Ademola has provided the forum. Let us resolve our differences and get what we want and quickly too

What has Pentecostalism brought to Nigeria ?

The Missionary and Orthodox churches like Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Baptist came into Nigeria, built schools that could be afforded, built hospitals that could be assessed by the poor and the masses; they had a human face in everything they did.
Many of our present day Pentecostal Pastors were beneficiaries of the humaneness of these missionaries

Now Pentecostalism is the vogue in Nigeria,churches springing up every day with different variant of Pentecostal flavour but what have they brought?

For me, it is really disheartening that the Pentecostal churches are doing the exact opposite of what the orthodox churches did - building secondary schools that are meant only for the rich,building Universities that only the affluent and thieving politicians can afford, celebrating and 'worshiping' materialism, dining with looting government officials and giving them benediction , honoring people based on size of bank account rather than on the character, lack of humaneness

It is time the Pentecostal churches look inward and retrace these erroneous steps; this is not what the LORD Jesus taught us

Food Security- North V South by Nsikan Nkordeh

I have heard a lot of people say that if Nigeria breaks up today, the North will suffer most but that is a lie.The North would survive the split than any other region.Why?

Food security is an issue that many parts of Nigeria apart from the North , do not take seriously.Why did Biafra lose the War? It was simply because of the blockage put on movement of food from the North and west to the East.Hunger decimated the Biafran army and people.The question is 'Is it that the Igbos did not invest in agriculture before the War that they had to rely on the 'enemy' to feed them? Clearly, through the efficacy of the blockage, it can be deduced that they did not invest in Food production.Hence, though they had money and skill to prosecute the war, they did not have the food to keep them alive to be able to use their money and skills!

The same scenario is playing out itself in our time.Many people in the South( West,East and South-South) have threatened that if Nigeria breaks up, the North will suffer most- this is a very poor assessment.Apart from the recent decimation of the North by Boko Haram, the North had remained the Food basket of Nigeria.I perceive somebody saying , it is not true? I know how much sufferings that takes place here in the South when the North Farmers and Cattle rearers go on strike, and refuse to bring food to us.Prices in the market sky-rocket,scarcity everywhere and panic-buying.This shows that in the South we depend on the North for Food.

God forbid, if a war breaks out between the North and the South, people in the South may not survive 6 months of the War because there will be no supply of food from the North to the South. Note: blocking food supply from your end to the enemies is a legitimate strategy of war( I cant imagine feeding my enemies so they can fight me).If there was a war between the North and the South, we should realize here that the most important thing during war is food.In the South, you cant serve your people crude oil for food, and the West would not serve their people academic intelligence .The North that produce most of these foods we eat will  be able to fight for long, and may probably win since the people of the South would have been decimated by hunger and starvation

Food security is the most important security any people can achieve.Any Country that has not attained Food security is an irresponsible one.For now, Nigeria has not attained Food Security but the North is light-years ahead of the South in terms of Food Security

Our leaders, especially in the South should learn a lesson from the Biafra War.Ojukwu and his Military strategists and advisers lost the War, partly because they could not feed their people.The question is this , can we feed our people?

Nigeria Politicians and the 'Altar of God' by Nsikan Nkordeh

Things have become so awry that  looting and corrupt politicians in Nigeria have the audacity, effrontery, the temerity to mount the Altar at Churches , read scriptures, sing songs, and in some cases take Holy Communion, when under their Agbada, suit, Babariga, there is hidden charms, talisman and all sort of divination materials!

It is really worrisome that our Clergymen have lost it.The Altar in a Church is supposed to be 'the Holy of Holies', where only the high Priest, cleansed and purified can access.Instead, these days, we have  Politicians that have covenant with demons given unfettered access to this sacred platform-this is an anomaly.

Where is the power of the Altar I usually ask?In the days of Moses, a high Priest that accessed the Holy of Holies unworthily was struck dead by God and was dragged out by a rope tied to by garment, but in many Churches today, corrupt, diabolical political office holders mount the  Altar without any fear of being decimated by the Almighty God, many with their charms and voodoo objects tied around their waist-where is the power of the Altar I always ask?.Maybe this politicians know what many of us don't know!

The Altar of God is sacred, and Clergies should know that.Allowing men whose means to power is known by all to be diabolical is committing sacrilege...May be these politicians have found a way of getting round the Altar.Normally, I had expected many of these politicians to have collapsed on the Altar dead like Ananias and Sapphira.Sometimes, I am forced to question if the Altars they mount still carry the same power that was found in Peter when Ananias and Sapphira lied before the Holy Ghost

Many of these politicians do not respect the Altar of God  because the Clergies that should be the Priests of the Altar have compromised themselves by taking gifts, getting government waivers in the name of favour, outrightly collecting bribes ,by 'seeing visions' of 'peace' to these corrupt and diabolical politicians(which the politicians know are lies),collecting fat tithes that are from diversion of budgetary allocations without questioning

Politicians, with intention to loot and the presumption to fleece the treasury when they are about to get into office, use the  HOLY BIBLE to take Oath of Office when they know that their mission there  is to embezzle and steal wealth meant for the people, and they have no fear that the power in the WORD could strike them dead.Shamefully, many clergies embolden them by declaring 'blessing' and'peace' to them anytime they come to their churches. I am sure these renegades would not have such effrontery to loot had they sworn by lesser gods like Sango, Ogun, Ifa, Amadioa, Oya etc.These sons of belial have more fear for these inconsequential deities than for the Almighty God, and their impudence is exacerbated by the silence,collusion and indulgence of Men that should be Priests in the Altar of the Almighty.

Oh LORD GOD, how I pray that you will begin to clean the Nigerian political stable, visiting the lies of our politicians on them in the public glare?How I pray that all those that use the HOLY BIBLE to take Oath of office, and are currently looting the Nation would die untimely and suddenly.Oh how I wish that you would send just an Angel to sanitize the political arena so that the godly and the righteous can step in.

Until God begins to kill our looting politicians, people will not fear, and will continue to loot our common patrimony

Bola Ahmed Tinubu-the emerging dictator and Emperor of the South West.

Danger looms in the South West as Tinubu is planning to totally consolidate his grip on the zone by winning the Ondo Poll.

For me ACN is worse than PDP in terms of democratic credentials.The National Chairman, Bisi Akande once shamelessly stated that imposition and not internal democracy is the way ACN is run, and that those who don't like it should leave.It was the height of shame from an elderly man

In our bid to emancipate ourselves from the chains of PDP, we should not surrender ourselves to a party that is run by sharks.Apart from Fashola, who is doing a little bit of job, I don't see any progressive nature in ACN.I can boldly say that PDP Governor God'swill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom and Governor Rotimu Amaechi of Rivers are doing far much better than Governor Fashola of Lagos considering the revenue at their disposal

Bola Tinubu has risen from just being a comfortable former Accountant of Mobil to being a super-rich man, whose wealth trajectory is invisible. Bola Tinubu is a man that before 1999 had no known companies but after 8 years in Government House Alausa, we can see his interests in the following

1.Lekki Concession Company.LCC-the company that has been imposed on us that live in the Lekki-Epe area to be collecting tolls of N120-N200 per vehicle for the next 30yrs!.Is that not insane?

2.Nation Newspaper

3.TV Continental

4.First Nation Airline

5.Alpha Beta Company collecting tax on behalf of Lagos State , with a monthly payment of between N2-4B

6.Royal Garden Estate,Ajah

7. Oriental Hotel, Lekki

and many others

This same Bola Tinubu has used his influence as former Governor of Lagos State, and current Sole Administrator of the South-West to usurp the lands of so many communities.To mention a few are the thousands of hectares of land Tinubu has 'stolen' in the Lekki-Ajah-Awoyaya-Epe zone, the fraudulent 'Eko Akete'.His instigation and backing of the lunatic Olumegbun in Ajah to forcefully take people land

Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a smart Politican(the smartest in the SW for now), a shrewd administrator and 'Legitimate Land snatcher' is presently parading himself as the leader of the present day progressives-quite laughable and incredulous.I am really surprised that many do not see beyond the hypocritical farcade and political mien he exhibit. I like him for his ability to negotiate his way through murky waters, and his ability to seal political deals but this is not an alternate

Between the two evils called PDP and ACN, choose none..I wold have preferred right thinking PDP progessives like Amaechi and Akpabio to the masquerades in ACN walking on borrowed robes.

Please, welcome to the stage the emerging dictator and Emperor-Bola Ahmed Tinubu

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www.nairaculture.com

Nairacultureis the foremost online Curator in Sub-Sahara Africa that sells Art works from the best Artists and Galleries. Nairaculture provides a platform where Art Lovers & Collectors can source for and buy works from prominent and upcoming Artists in Nigeria and beyond, create a market-place for Artists and Galleries to display, advertise and market their works; Nairaculture provides a convenient and easy to use e-commerce platform for Curators, Artists, and Arts lovers& Collectors.

At Nairaculture, we display some of the best and rarest collections of Artworks from a wide collection of Artists in different fields-painting, sculpture ,textile, ceramics, carving etc . Nairaculture understands that a lot of Art lovers and Collectors may not know the right place to source for their pastime, may not have the time to go to galleries; hence , we have created this platform for them to be able to conveniently select from a collection of hundreds of Artworks, make their orders, get the orders delivered at their specified location, and make payment using either of the following methods

(i) Payment on delivery using Cash

(ii) ) Payment on delivery using PoS

(iii) Payment using debit/credit card ( putting finishing touches on this with our bankers)

Nairaculture has business agreements with many Galleries and Curators, that give us the right to help them sell their works at very good rate ;we provide them a universal platform to showcase their works, expand their exposure, enlarge their audience and increase their revenue.

For our numerous customers, we guarantee you the highest standard of Artworks, at the best prices. The customer has the rare opportunity of having many Artworks to choose from, instead of moving from one gallery to the other- we provide them a one-stop-shop to make their order vis-a-vis the comfort of making comparison among Artworks online

At Nairaculture, we help Artists grow by giving them a popular medium to showcase their works; if you are looking for a platform to advertise and sell your work, contact us, and we will be glad to help you

Nairaculture also works with Creative and Fine Art students at Universities, Polytechnics, and Colleges of Education; we provide them a platform to lunch their careers by helping market their works, recognising their brands, earning revenue for them in the process. If you are a student and believe that your works meet standards, call us. We will evaluate your work and put them on our online gallery for clients all over the world to buy

PROF. NNAJI: PRESIDENT JONATHAN COMMITS ADMINISTRATIVE HARI KARI by

The purported resignation of Prof. Nnaji came to me, and many others as a thunderbolt from Aso Rock. The reason given, conflict of interest in acquiring the Afam power station sound interesting if not laughable

The power Ministry remained the only part of this administration that looks as if functional, and I did commend the recent improvement in power, but Emperor Jonathan decided to extinguish the only flame that gave his insipid administration some flavour! Conflict of interest in political leadership is an offence  but one question many may want to ask President Jonathan is 'You, like everyone knew that Prof. Nnaji had interest, owned shares in the  Geometric Company before his appointment as Minister of Power? Even when he was your Special Adviser on power, people knew he had always had interest in power genration.I recollect many years ago in the early days of Obasanjo that Prof. Nnaji had given presentation on how to build power stations that would solve Nigeria problem

Except Prof. Nnaji had committed other offences we are not privy to, forcing him to resign at this critical time due to 'conflict of interest' is committing political Hara kiri.This is the worst time to ask a man that had worked so hard to improve power supply to resign, and is a sign that President Jonathan suffers severely from 'Bad Judgment Syndrome,BJS'. We have  a Minister like Diezanni Allison Madueke that has been caught openly stealing from national tilt, picking national meat from the 'pot of subsidy' with irrefutable evidence , still parading herself as Minister. It smacks of political immorality when a Lady as this is still presiding over the Petroleum Ministry after all the sleaze, heist that she supervised- it's just preposterous, and gives credence to the widely held belief that Jonathan may not really have a mind of his own.

For me, Jonathan could have instructed that Prof. Nnaji's company be removed from the privatization bid while he still continues in leading the power industry toward the restructuring. By this move, a two year arduous job by Prof. Nnaji has been thrown into the waste bin, with Nigeria being the greatest losers

By the resignation of Prof. Nnaji, the power restructuring will suffer a fatal stroke, and both the generator suppliers and corrupt PHCN workers and their sponsors would be rejoicing that the man that became a torn in their flesh has finally been eased, if not forced out. Now the priests of darkness and their lords know that Nigeria will be in darkness longer than envisaged

Sometimes, I wonder if President Jonathan has not been jinxed, under spell or hypnotised. The only thing that made his face glitter in the face of vehement criticism , he has wilfully removed. He has this pedigree of destroying his source of glory

Coincidentally, for the first time in almost 2months, today mark the first day I have not had light for almost 12 straight hours, this is an indicator of what Nigerians should expect in the coming days and months. It is really disheartening that Jonathan could have taken this step, a real misstep 

THE CONSEQUENCE OF HONESTY;THE NIGERIAN ALIBI by Nsikan Nkordeh

From the English dictionary, 'to be honest' means 'Not disposed to cheat or defraud; not deceptive or fraudulent, worthy of being depended on'
I have come to the realisation that majority of Nigerians are comfortable with the system of corruption we have in the county, we only complain with our mouths but our hearts and minds are both in agreement with all the vices .We hate the adverse effect of corruption but we relish in its 'comfort'.
Honesty is a very scarce quality in Nigeria, and integrity, which is an outcome of honesty is a rare commodity in our Nigeria-both among the leaders and the led, especially among the political leadership. Many of us complain bitterly about the level of official corruption among politicians while in our local niche ,we are also enmeshed in corruption. How many of us really live by our 'honest income', how many of us can return the excess change the conductor gives to you by mistake, how many of us will find a wallet filled with money and return to the owner using the contact details in the wallet?

Many Nigerians cannot imagine being honest, based on the definition above. Many people that criticize government officials for corruption do not know the meaning of honesty. They cannot imagine living their lives by the true definition of honesty-either because they will not survive or because they were born into corruption and do not understand what it means to live under a corrupt-free systems. Some people do not understand that corruption starts right from them, when they jump the queue in a banking hall, when they throw refuse out of their car windows, when they as civil servants expect to be gratified before processing people document, when the clergy uses his position to extort money from his  congregation

I must confess from my interaction with my fellow Nigerians that we are not ready for a system that works. People, when projecting  their monthly take home, also include in it ,the  corrupt money they will get through grafts, bribes and 'tips'. The civil service is particularly pathetic. You see a Director whose salary is not up to N500,000 per month owing many houses worth millions of naira, driving in car worth tens of millions, and living an affluent lifestyle with his children studying in the most expensive schools, and in many cases, abroad! Do you need to be told that the man is engaged in graft to sustain such lifestyles. Despite the complaints from such man about the corruption in the system, do you think such a  person would truly pray for a corruption-free Nigeria? We see  supervisors at the Ministry of Education using their position to extort money from teachers so they will not be posted to interior areas! We hear clergymen in Churches and Mosques using fear-inducing scriptures to extort money from member

The most worrying aspect is that the many clergymen , who should be at the vanguard of honest living are not ready for a honest and corrupt-free system, because they know and feel threatened that a corruption -free and honest system will diminish the tithes and offerings that flows into the coffers. These days in Nigeria, Mosques and Churches do not care were the sources of offerings and gifts are from, they are more interested in the money than in the means. There is so much greed, clergymen living large on the poverty of the people, entrapping them with the sermon that their poverty and lack are because of their disobedience to God. They fail to preach against the system that is run on fraud and lies. These clergies are fine with a system that churns out a deprived, demoralized, non-critical thinking mass/mob, who rush to Mosques and Churches for the anti-dote from the Immans and Pastors..these Clergies are afraid of a working, honesty and corruption-free system.

Nigerians are not really tired of corruption, they are complaining  because it is not yet 'their turn to eat'. Most Nigerians only wish they were on Jonathan seat so they could also steal. No wonder the Almighty God does not take our prayers seriously since they are prayers from hypocritical minds

Are people really ready for a system that works? Are Nigerians ready to give up their 'benefits' of corruption, are they ready to make sacrifices for a New Nigeria? It is not only the political class that is dishonesty, even the man on the street is looking for a way to defraud the system

Until Nigerians are ready for a system that is run on honesty, all our shouting ,complaints ,and prayers would be waste ,until Nigerians are ready to give up the 'comfort' of corruption, and operate a system that is run on law and honesty, we are just deceiving ourselves.

It is time to make Nigeria work, let us all start from our neighbourhood and place of work

God bless Nigeria, and Nigerians

'Remove Higher currency denominations' – Swami Ramdev

Out of the most important issues raised in the Bharat Swabhimna Andolan one is that of high currency denomination. Baba Ramdev demands that all high denominations of Indian currency i.e. Rs.500 and Rs.1000 should be immediately removed from the whole country. Moreover Rs.100 should be used as sparsely as possible.

This will help curb a lot of national problems very easily. In a country where 84 crore people or nearly 3/4 th of the whole population has a capacity to spend only Rs. 20 per day what’s the use of Rs. 500 and Rs.1000 denomination ?
Removal of higher currency denominations will immediately stop a lot of national problems which include :

1. Black Money – Lots of business transactions are done in cash to evade taxes. If only lower currency denominations like Rs.50 are available, high-value transactions in cash would become difficult, promoting the use of the banking system which will reduce the flow of unaccounted money in the economy.

2. Corruption – Corrupt Government officials, beureaucrats, etc easily take huge amounts of bribe in cash because of the availabilty of Rs.1000 notes which makes it very easy to pack up amounts like Rs.1 crore. With lower denominations it would be rather impossible for corrupt people to exchange so much bribe. Trucks will be required to transport money in form of Rs.10 , Rs.20 or Rs.50 notes to carry such huge amounts and warehouses would be required to store them.

3. Fake currency – Injection of fake currency into the Indian economy has become a huge threat. If not controlled the disasters will be much more than the economic recession. Increased money flow would not only increase prices but also help in promotion of black money, corruption, and terrorism. The only way to fight this is the use of low currency denominations and the prohibition of Rs.1000 and Rs.500 notes which will reduce the printing of fake currency inside and outside the borders of India.

4. Terrorism – Today terrorists from across the border are using fake currency to fund their activities against India. If high denominations of the currency(Rs.1000 and Rs.500 notes) are removed printing, storing, and transporting fake currency itself will cost more than the value of the money. Imaging Rs.200 crores being transported accross the border in trucks carrying Rs. 10/50 note bundles. It will be easily caught.

The above mentioned 4 issues have become cause of deep concern and can be curbed by abolishing all high denominations of Indian currency which will help in reducing various economic and social issues in India

Meandering Pains of Resource Control By Mark Nwagwu PhD

IT must have happened to you at some time. You are enjoying a meal, hand, mouth and swallowing all well co-ordinated. You roll a ball of eba or iyan, immerse it in the draw-draw, okro soup laden with chunks of goat meat, stock-fish and dry fish, scoop some vegetables onto the ball, everything firm in your grasp. You then swirl and swirl the ball a few times to 'cut' threads of okro threatening your immaculate white shirt. Somewhere along the way, between hand and mouth, something goes wrong! Just as you steady your hold to deliver the bolus into its gaping destination, the whole thing mindlessly slips off your fingers on to the floor. While all this is going on, however, the hungry mouth, believing it has wolfed down the iyan now delectably shuts its gates. But alas! there is really nothing there, no satisfaction. You feel empty. This is something akin to how the inhabitants of the Niger Delta must feel. The oil in their backyard just slips off their fingers into the greedy federal account. Do the rest of us really care how the people of the Niger Delta feel? Are we not laughing all the way to Abuja, there to share the booty from oil? After all, the rest of us are in a majority and when we cast lots, the majority carries the day (or is it the oil), is that not democracy?

I recall one evening at the Staff Club, University of Ibadan, just after Gen. Babangida had announced the creation of Delta State with the capital at Asaba. Professors David Okpako and Peter Ekeh were extremely bitter and wailed and wailed over Asaba being the capital instead of Warri. They, like other Urhobo-Itsekiri-Ijaw Deltans felt this was clearly a 'bedroom' decision influenced by the President's beguiling spouse, Miriam, who is from Anioma. The people of Anioma had urged the government for a state, instead they got the capital of Delta State. That same evening, another friend from Anioma was ecstatic though not before Peter and David. "We'll use the oil money to develop Asaba," he exulted. I felt very sorry for my friends, the real Deltans. Nothing, no argument however well constructed, no reason, no appeal would assuage their gross disaffection. They saw this as one more case of the 'majors' imposing their will and their way on the 'minors.' As Godfrey Ekikerentse wondered, in The Guardian of June 29, "what difference would the form of a federal/state structure make to the people of an oil producing area of a state, if the revenue from their oil became controlled by the state but ended up being squandered or used in developing places other than their areas within the state?"

Nigeria is blessed with great minds, more so with patient, longsuffering and self-giving mothers and with ingenious technicians and artisans  call them 'mechanics.' No one talks about controlling these priceless resources or how best to put them to use. Perhaps the only control one would hear would be how husbands should control their wives and get them to do their bidding (or is it the other way round?) And yet the most vital resource we have is our human capacity  our people  and we just let this waste away or run off to foreign lands. Peter Ekeh, one such illuminating resource now lights up the intellectual landscape of New York University at Buffalo. He is someone to listen to, absorb and digest. His recent writings in The Guardian on the absence of a national consciousness as especially illustrated by the internecine fights over resource control are a masterpiece. We have such opinions expressed frequently in diverse ways in our dailies but none has set the problem precisely within the context of personal animosities emanating from our blind devotion or loyalty to our respective ethnic nationalities. Put differently, Peter Ekeh clarifies that our belonging to different ethnic groups need not cloud our sense of fairness and national consciousness.

The issue of fairness is not easy to adjudicate on. The Federal Government in its hasty and insatiable appetite for the 'black gold' has asked the Supreme Court to rule on the ownership of the littoral areas of Nigeria. However you look at it, the issue is not so much a matter of legal systems or judicial rulings. It is much more a matter of simple fairness. 'Justice as fairness' has been discussed by the 1998 Nobel Laureate in Economics, Amartya Sen who, in a brilliant series of lectures at the World Bank, showed that the issue of a theory of justice is very much at the heart of the concerns of economic development. He also appropriately showed just how complex the issues become when we know more and more about them. Indeed the problems of fairness have been troubling philosophers for centuries. The dilemma is summed up in a beautiful story told by Amartya Sen in which he suggests that we meet three children, and between them, they have but one flute. The children ask us to arbitrate who should get the flute.

Child A says: "I have no toys at all, and these other two children, B and C, have enormous amounts of toys, and surely I should be entitled to have the flute." The facts are correct, and not contested by children B and C. If that is all of the information we have, we would probably say yes, Child A should get the flute. But let us hold off and go back to the same three children with the flute. Child B. says: "In fact, I am the only one who has any musical talent. I can play the flute, these other two children cannot. I have to express myself as a musician. They enjoy listening to me. Both of them only blow on it as a whistle. They have no capacity to use it whatsoever. I should really get the flute." Once again, this is not contested by A and C and if this was all the information we had, we would say B should get the flute. But let us go back. We come to the three children and Child C says to us: "Look, I am the one who made the flute, and it is mine, why should somebody take it from me after I have made it?" Again, the argument is very compelling, and it not disputed by the others. And again, if that is the only information we have, we would say Child C should get the flute." Now, what we have here are three perceptions of the issue of fairness that touch upon principles that we technically refer to as equity, utility, and entitlement, within certain capability domains. But whatever the case, whether or not we can come up with a definitive answer is not as important as recognising that we must engage these problems, that we cannot turn our backs on them.

Let us follow the analogy of the three children, A, B and C. In our context, Child C would be represented by the states of the Niger Delta: the oil is in their waters and, therefore, should belong to them. Ah, but wait, the rest of us query, is the oil really theirs? Does not section 44(3) of the constitution unquestionably give the right of ownership to the Federal Government? Is this not why the Federal Government has gone to court, seeking a legal pronouncement on the ownership of oil reserves offshore? The Supreme Court is already handling this case. My contention is that the foundations of Nigeria are not built on oil, or on the wealth of any given area, that if our unity were based on our natural resources then we would continuously be involved in one type of conflict or another, ethnic and otherwise, all in the quest for control of those resources. If oil is a resource for unity it will inexorably also become a source of divisiveness of incalculable proportions.

I DO not subscribe to the statement of Bala Usman quoted by Prof. Ekeh that "The Nigerian state is superior to the ethnic groups and therefore has a superior claim to the land and the resources there in". The whole notion of the 'Nigerian state' has been called to question not so much because we do not feel we belong to Nigeria but mainly because what is known as 'Nigerian state' does not involve the inhabitants of that state. Tell me, is Obetiti, Nguru, my home town 'in' this country? Do the people of Obetiti believe the Nigerian state cares about them? Does the Nigerian state come to their assistance? The people of Odi, do they feel they 'are' Nigerians? It would appear this insidious state has been foisted upon us! You might point to the Nigerian constitution as the embodiment of this state defining the tenets and very essence of the Nigerian people. It is not a document given by the people to themselves. Someone else gave it to them and decreed that they accept it as a binding force.

This is a constitution that is better described by a series of negatives, of what it is not, than by what it is. I do not know what to make of it. So many sections contradict one another, what it gives in one place, it takes in another. The Sharia and Local Governments issues are just two extant examples with which we now contend with no apparent resolution in sight. What we have is a constitution made by the military, for a brutalized civilian population. It seems a document formulated by thieves detailing how they would share any booty they happened to loot. I would like to see a state where the people actually took their lives in their own hands and gave themselves the type of life they would like to live, not one prescribed for them by an insufferable group of military brigands. It took a popular revolution to establish the doctrine that it is not nation, not country but the people that are supreme. Eugene Delacriox captured the will of the French people ñ and indeed of all peoples  to determine their lives in his breathtaking painting, Liberty guiding the people (translated), which remains for all time a penetrating symbol of the rise against oppression. The people are supreme, but this does not immediately translate to mean the ethnic groups are supreme. But here I must tread carefully because the Yoruba nation fighting for its 'life' might not agree. Can you explain why we have OPC? Or why do we have the cry for a sovereign national conference? If the Nigerian state as we know it is supreme why is a large number of groups clamouring for a reordering of our national life, giving to each what he or she most longs for?

Stanley Macebuh in a brilliant, scholarly piece reminds those amongst us who are clamouring for a sovereign national conference based on the supremacy of the people that "The most enduring bequest of American democracy to the world is not so much its national insistence on the sovereignty of the people, but rather its conviction that this sovereignty can most efficiently be expressed through elective representative government". Sure. To Macebuh, it seems disingenuous to distinguish between the supremacy of the people's representatives (read the National Assembly) to make the constitution and their supremacy to make 'ordinary' laws. As he sees it, the clamour is for the substitution of the sovereignty of the people with the sovereignty of ethnic nationalities. Macebuh's arguments are quite persuasive ñ why all the hue and cry about the sovereignty of the people when the people themselves have expressed their sovereign rights in the election of their representatives who should now be trusted to do everything else the people want them to do? Could it not be that the people now want to express their sovereignty in some other way, that there are things they do not want to entrust to the National Assembly?

Could it not be that the people see a different between their elected representatives as politicians and another category of representatives, trusted and non-partisan, who would now negotiate the kind of country they want to live in and who would fashion for them a constitution that reflects their distinct ethnic and cultural aspirations? An Igbo, for example, might not vote for Prof. Nwabueze as her representative in the National Assembly but she would readily vote that he represent her at the sovereign national conference. In fact, Prof. Nwabueze has never been voted for in a national election and one could conclude that he is not interested in partisan politics. And the same can be said of Dr. Shetima Mustapha, Chief F.R.A. Williams, Alhaji Lal Kaita, Mr. Felix Ohiwerei, Prof. N.M. Gadzama, Prof. Idris Mohammed, and others.

To me there is a big difference between these types of representatives: the first were elected on the platform of the various political parties, the latter would be elected by the ethnic nationalities - no political parties recognized. I recognize the difficulties this would raise, such as, how do we determine which nationalities would make up this conference, what would be the nature of representation, would it be based on population, etc. Charles Njoku provides some clues in his piece on Sovereign National Conference in The Guardian of August 15. Already the Ooni and other national kings are negotiating these with the apparent blessing of the Federal Government. Chief Frederick Rotimi Williams (amiably referred to as 'Timi the Law' by the late President Nnamdi Azikiwe), a man not given to public political statements, has given us words of wisdom. At the recent Soyinka Yearly Lecture, Williams firmly insisted that for "effective resolution of Nigeria's nationhood problems, a conference of ethnic nationalities is inevitable because it is through such a platform that sovereignty could rightly be devolved to the people". Prof. Nwabueze also canvasses the view that a conference of ethnic nationalities is a necessity. We should listen to them: such minds are rare.

As far as our president is concerned, the unity of Nigeria is not a matter for argument: it is a given. Others question why we should be talking of a national conference to discuss the terms of our togetherness when we have been living as a sovereign nation for over 40 odd years, and have long had strong interactive cultural and commercial links. The question is not whether or not we should be united; rather it is what type of union should this be? The origins of this question go far, far into our history. We can recognize seven phases of this history (surely there are several themes and sub-themes of these): a pre-colonial past of nations and kingdoms; colonial formulation of Nigeria; post-colonial democracy (Tafawa Balewa; Shagari); post-colonial misguided military (Ironsi, Gowon); post-colonial purposeful military (Mohammed-Obasanjo, Abubakar); post-colonial zealously and ruthlessly military (Buhari, Abacha); post-colonial insidious military (Babangida) and what we now have, which could be described as a transitional democracy in search of ideals. You will immediately recognize that I am somewhat careless of time in arriving at these periods putting, for example, Shagari alongside Tafawa Balewa and Abubakar together with Gowon and Mohammed-Obasanjo. This is to draw attention more to the characteristics of these periods as they relate to our national cohesion or lack of it. With what we now hear about General Abubakar, I am not sure that he qualifies to be placed with Mohammed-Obasanjo. I have done so only because he conducted the 1999 elections and successfully transferred power to civilians. We may now pose the question, in which of these periods was our cohesion as a people highest? What held us together? Is this cohesion increasing in tenacity? And when this cohesion was threatened what were the causes? Have these causes now disappeared or simply festering?

To attempt this question we first must ask, what is Nigeria, a nation or a mere 'geographical expression?' This has been addressed by several renowned authors, Profs. Billy Dudley, Tekema Tamuno, Peter Ekeh, Obaro Ikime, Emmanuel Ayandele (these are the ones I know from the University of Ibadan). Amongst others, including the unforgettable Awo who, in fact, first described Nigeria in those uncomplimentary terms. The balance of argument suggests that there was a 'Nigeria' before British Nigeria: that before the colonial period peoples in what became Nigeria co-existed, practised good neighbourliness, engaged in inter-ethnic trade and did cultural borrowing. Within this context, however, we learn from our history books of the inter-and intra-tribal wars of conquest as illustrated by the Oyo and Bini empires, the Islamic wars of conquest in the North, the wars of expansion of the Aro and Abonema Kingdoms. It would appear that this level of interaction did little, if any to promote multi-ethnic, participatory arrangements for a unified social structure.

We may therefore conclude that the pre-colonial period was not characterized by strong cohesive forces of nationhood. It is my contention that it was only in the colonial period, arising from a stubborn, relentless and unstoppable will to dismantle imperialism and win independence that there was some semblance of a national cohesion. The entire country was agog with the excitement of national independence. We all felt one, behaved like one, and believed in Nigeria. As Bola Ige put it in The Discovery of Nigeria, "When I came up to the University College, Ibadan in October 1949, I came into what I honestly believed to be a thoroughly Nigerian community... Until I left this place in 1955, young men and women from different parts of this great country found the University College, Ibadan a melting pot of a country we dearly loved and which we looked forward to serving so that Nigeria could be the greatest black nation in the world".