By Ndidi Uwechue
Independence from colonial masters was meant to be freedom for Africa, however some sixty years later, freedom has continued to elude many African countries. That is because Independence in itself is not freedom, except when it is accompanied by SELF-DETERMINATION for indigenous ethnic nationalities on their ancestral land.
Looking back at events in the 1950s, it becomes clear that corruption, injustice and mischief were going to guide “the new nation called Nigeria”. Let us first consider a key index that was manipulated, that is, population figures, which determined representation in Parliament, distribution of resources, and distribution of federal civil servants, etc. Harold Smith, a British former colonial civil servant working for the Department of Labour, before he died, confirmed that the figures of the census in 1952 had been inflated to favour the North, to make it seem that Region had more than half of the total population. Armed with this swindle, Bello, the Premier of the Northern Regionmust have felt very confident when just twelve days after Independence in 1960, he boasted his vision and Caliphate Agenda for Nigeria: to be an estate of his ethnic nation, the Fulani, immigrant settlers in Nigeria, and declared that the South would be conquered territory with its peoples never able to control their future. Thus it was, with this Caliphate Agenda as guide, that when preliminary results of the post-Independence1962 census showed that the South had a higher population than the North, final results were never released, and so a new census was held in 1963 with mind-boggling figures that now made the North the most populous region in all of Africa, and thereforewith a higher population than the South.
Apart from untrustworthy population figures attributed to the North, the Union called Nigeria was also shaky under its three Regions because the three main ethnic nations were dominating the others. The Middle Belt had been lumped with the ArewaBloc, into what was referred to as the Northern Region. Joseph Tarka, a Christian and leader in the Middle Belt had preferred there be a separate Middle Belt Region because of the possibility of Arewa taking up Sharia. At the Willinks Commission of 1958 in London, it was only with reluctance that the Middle Belt agreed to be part of the Northern Region having secured an agreement that Nigeria would always be a secular state. To datetoo, the ethnic nationalities of the Middle Belt have felt dominated by the Hausa-Fulani and from at least 2017, began to say that they are not North Central, but Middle Belt.
In the Eastern Region, the other smaller ethnic nationalities felt they were being dominated by the more populous Igbo.
Similarly, in the Western Region, the other smaller ethnic nationalities felt they were being dominated by the more populous Yoruba. Their concerns were somewhat alleviated with the creation of the Mid-Western Region.
What is important to note and retain is that:1) At Independence there were already cracks in the Union because one party, referred to as the Caliphate, wanted Nigeria to be an estate of the Fulani, and had an agenda that the indigenous peoples would not be able to control their lives. That means that the indigenous peoples would be denied their inalienable right to SELF-DETERMINATION.
2) Even though there were three, then later four Regions with Self-Determination, the more populous ethnic nationswithin them, ie, the Yoruba, the Hausa-Fulani, and the Igbo were dominating in their Regions. They basically took over the Sovereignties of the other ethnic nations. That means there was INCOMPLETE DECOLONIZATION of Nigeria.
This is where and why the Liberation Process of the NINAS Movement is important, and includes processes for complete and FULL DECOLONIZATION for every indigenous ethnic nationality in the NINAS Territory. What is now well known thanks to the enlightenment work of the NINAS Movement is that the illegitimate 1999 Constitution foisted on Nigerians hijacks the Self-Determination of ethnic nations. Arewa Bloc from year 2000 unilaterally took up Sharia as a function of their own expression of Self-Determination, and that has been interpreted by the NINAS Movement as Arewa having seceded from the Union, since Nigeria is meant to be secular country. Now, the rest of the territory are regaining their own right to Self-Determination by the NINAS Movement’s Proclamation of Constitutional Force Majeure on 16th December 2020 that started the process to Decommission that illegitimate 1999 Constitution.
The NINAS Movement uses a non-violent ORDERLY PROCESS that follows a similar path to what South Africa used to terminate their own Apartheid constitutional order. It involvessuspending general elections of 2023 to go into a time-bound Transitional Government (all governance structures would remain in place), with Regional Referendums for Self-Determination conducted by ethnic nationalities. With the NINAS Movement’s Strategy, there will be negotiations where no indigenous ethnic nation will be left out: each will be able to choose whether they want to be in the Union of Nigeria or not, plus whether they prefer to form a different Union with culturally compatible ethnic nations, and if so, how. Every ethnic nation must now be at the discussion table, making decisions, and being part of decisions.
To repeat for clarity, as it is important to retain and act upon this information, when the British left, decolonization was incomplete. The Caliphate took over their position as overall colonizer. In addition, within the Regions, the smaller ethnic nations were dominated by the more populous ones, and their Self-Determination was being engulfed by them. The NINAS Movement is bringing about COMPLETE DECOLONIZATION. Each indigenous ethnic nation in the NINAS Territory no matter its size, is equal to any other. There is no “minority” as classified by Bello. Each ethnic nation will be involved in discussions about their future, each ethnic nation will decide for itself, and each ethnic nation will have full Self-Determination to go in the formations of their choice. This is the Liberation Process of the NINAS Movement for Self-Determination. Please share this information widely.
