THIS SO CALLED MISTAKE BY THE NAME OF NIGERIA (AND HOW TO ACCEPT IT)

“A nation that has been defeated and comes under the rule of another nation will quickly perish.” — Ibn Khaldun, Al-Muqaddimah.

If in being conquered by the Colonials, all the former tribes & kingdoms that made up Nigeria perished (which they didn’t), then in its aftermath, the British created something else; a hybrid monster of sorts. Our “nationalist” forefathers (some of whom were quite more regional than you think) were quite fond of calling Nigeria a geographical mistake due to the way it was formed. Lest we forget, what is present day Nigeria was once basically a business venture called the Royal Niger Company (which before then was a group of kingdoms; some independent, some enslaved by the other independent ones), which out of necessity for the British was turned into a country (to avoid the French swooping in. Even colonials fought each other, but arguably with more respect). It’s much harder to take over a country than it is a company. So yes, one can see how our forefathers who wished to be independent of each other called Nigeria a mistake. But for those of us who grew up in a post-independence Nigeria, this statement is somewhat annoying, for we just know Nigeria as a country, not as regions… that is untill the occasion, where we experience a racially ethnic conflict of some sort, whether personally or otherwise, which reminds us maybe we don’t know Nigeria as well as we think we do (which I’m sure every Nigerian has gone through at least once in their life). It doesn’t help that some of these divisional rhetorics are made by so called leaders with followings, FFK much, for example *coughs*?!

But sometimes great things come from mistakes. D.J Kool Herc accidentally created scratching and well, now we have hip hop (had to chip in my other love there). In destroying the sovereignty of so many of these kingdoms that existed and replacing it with what is now Nigeria, the Colonials inadvertently created the world’s populous Black nation, home of Fela Kuti and so many others. The only thing standing in our way really, is us.

This isn’t a pep talk, although I wish it was. But the point is if we can’t accept that we’re all in this mistake together, how are we suppose to solve it? First thing we should consider doing is getting rid of at least 35% of our current leaders (I’m not telling you how to do it, I’m just saying, but I won’t necessarily disagree with any method you pick as long as you don’t call my name. Joke!!!) and replacing them with the right people. Preferably people who want to make the most out of this mistake and not continue condemning it, because the people wai do the mistake from the beginning, they no dey here again o! Except if we want to talk about Shell and their other business ventures, but I’d rather wake up tomorrow. #2019.