Nigeria as a country is said to be a product of an amalgamation of the former Northern and Southern British colonies. This marriage was said to be for administrative convenience and other reasons best known to serve the masters of this noble marriage. As Nigeria was married as one, no particular individual or region was said to be the bride while another groom.

Nigeria’s founding fathers agitated for quite a number of things despite the differences in the indigenous quest. The Rivers Niger and Benue divide the country hence the upper part of the country stands as the North, and just below the River Niger almost at the end of its confluence at Lokoja begins the starting point of the South. This partitioning in a sense captured the benefits of the colonial masters thus agitations of the evolving minorities were not taken to bear.

Today, above the rivers Niger and Benue is the North where the minorities are putting up a head and as a result the North has been addressed expressively not as a blog but rather North East, Northwest, and the North Central. Down the rivers Niger and Benue, is a modification just to yield to clamouring agitations by groups thus this producing the South West, South East and the South South as well. This seen modification after our independence of 1960 has been so because of the need to incorporate many into the affairs of this country.

Over the past years, our people have not changed in composition yet the country has produced more of the sectional feelings. People stand from a point to develop feelings of seclusion as the whole country is working under an umbrella to shield all interest groups; therefore, the act of governance is tempered with.

The name Nigeria was to bring all our wealth, fortunes, and blessings to a common pool for a better people and so the slogan ‘united we stand and divided we fall’ has been so useful in the past years.

Today, what we are faced with are more of those challenges some of our fore fathers created and even others they have tried to curtail in some ways.

On headlines of newspapers are stories coming from different parts of the country and speaking more of a state of social disintegration. What we are faced with is a Niger Delta Avengers and militancy in the South, Organized crimes in the South west, IPOB agitations for secession in the South East, clash between farmers/ indigenes and herdsmen in the North Central, Boko haram and terrorism in the far North etc. Furthermore is the wave of corruption in our system not minding the regions; persistency of social disintegration, nepotism, ethnicity, and religious fundamentalism. There has been much of ethnicity in place, nepotism as a driver, corruption as the conductor and religion as the vehicle that conveys us all (Binan, 2017; Viewpoint Nigeria)

Nigeria is now seen through many perspectives; we are one yet divided in thinking and our ability to look inward. What we are faced with are a people working against a country! Permit me to say that it won’t be faulty to describe our people as a set of unpatriotic people, and our country as a cell taking up a resting potential because of the imbalance in what we have in the country and what the country projects of itself.

Albeit we speak the same language when it comes to elections, politics, corruption, and sharing of national cake, this country has been polarized due to various reasons and factors which virtually every Nigerian is aware of.

What we are faced with are problems we have created so the need to solve these problems. Fmr Head of State Gen. Yakubu Gowon (rtd) is seen as a respected statesman today not because he was able to put more food on the table of the common man on the streets more than others, BUT because he has been able to fight for a one Nigeria despite the challenges the civil war brought to his face of leadership.

Even on the Plateau where I come from, there has been a precedence of this negative phenomenon designed and executed by the rulling class, catalysed by the followers, and this is likely to be so in many states across the country. If there was a Plateau we have heard of was a Plateau built and nurtured by J.D.Gomwalk (of blessed memory) and Chief Solomon Lar (of blessed memory). These leaders were said to be selfless because they brought good will, they were able to promote harmony in the same state despite the distinct mind-sets of the people.

Leadership is significant but then followers are almost the key here. The division in our expectations speak greatly of what we expect to have therefore the kind and outcome of our agitations.

If we want to speak for a NIGERIA then we have to change ourselves entirely in that the concept of the same country, same people will yield more progress to Nigeria. The group dynamics we possess especially in our thoughts should be harnessed properly such that we will truly PLEDGE ALL OUR ALLEGIANCE TO NIGERIA OUR COUNTRY!

God bless us all!

EVANS BINAN DAMI

Clinical psychologist/ writer/researcher/ social activist

[email protected]

blog: evansbinan.blogspot.com

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SAME COUNTRY, SAME PEOPLE, BUT DIFFERENT MINDSETS – Evans Binan Dami