The demand for the creation of new states will continue as long as the desire for self-determination of ethnic nationalities exists.
Self-determination is a freedom and a right for all ethnicities.
The dynamics of nation-building impels that nations are built from the bottom up and not from top to bottom.
The contrived constitutional order/arrangement/structure/system forced on the constituent ethnic nationalities occupying the Nigerian geographical space makes the Nigerian political contraption – a pseudo country really unsustainable.
The Nigerian geographical space is actually supposed to have circa > 370 ethnic nationalities that should self determine their political existence as independent states or unionised federations or confederations.
This is getting interesting.
A Yoruba saying goes thus, “A kii fa ori olori lẹhin olori.”
TTSBOAA.
One’s head hair should not be shaved in one’s absence.
The constituent ethnic nationalities must have the freedom to determine their buy-in on any arrangement through plebiscites or referendums.
The process may culminate in an Orange 🍊 Union of confederal or federal states like Switzerland or EU.
Philosophers, Leaders of Thought and Elders, should give this the serious thought it deserves to resolve the Nigerian Conundrum The Nationality Question.
Without a resolution based on freedom, equity, equality, and justice, Nigeria is going nowhere progressively, developmentally and sustainably.
Switzerland and the EU are examples of the orange union in practice.
Only contraptions bequeathed by the colonialists are in similar situations like Nigeria.
Yet, there are not many other geographical spaces where over 370 ethnicities are cobbled together in the same unitary political entity without consideration for their cultural sensibilities and freedom.
It is only in Africa and Asia where such cobbling of fractious and unmanageable number of disparate ethnicities occurs.
Indeed, the European countries are incomparable to Nigeria.
That is why genuine leaders in the entity must interrogate the situation sincerely to resolve the Conundrum.
The colonialists bequeathed to Nigeria, an unworkable and unsustainable entity that will perpetually be in disequilibrium and disharmony like different species of ants (red, black, brown, white etc) in a jar.
Unfortunately, the colonialists made Africans agree never to alter the contrived arrangements and the artificial borders.
The jar will definitely shake for these pseudo countries/contraptions sometimes in the future that one can not predict within circa 70 years of their flag independence with consequences that will be impactful (positive or negative) on their relationship.
Remember Yugoslavia?
Not only former Yugoslavia but also former USSR and Chechoslovakia.
And further down in history, also the Ausria – Hungary Hapsburg Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and The Roman Empire, amongst others.
The point is that self-determination is an important factor for ethnic nationalities.
The process of the establishment of ethnic nations in Europe had accelerated since the First World War of 1918 – 1919.
This was fuelled by the desire of self-determination by the European ethnic nationalities.
The positive effect was the reduction in ethno-linguistic fractionalisation and wars.
For general information :
All the 7 ethnic nations derived from Yugoslavia : Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Bosnia – Herzegovinia, and Kosovo are members of the EU.
The two ethnic nations derived from Chechoslovakia : Czech Republic and Slovakia are members of the EU.
3 of the 15 derived ethnic republics of the former USSR : Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are members of the EU.
6 of them Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Belarus have a cooperation arrangement with the EU’s Eastern Partnership Programme with intention for ultimate accretion to the EU.
Turkey, the rump of the Ottoman Empire, is still seeking accretion to the EU.
On the other hand, Greece is a member of the EU.
The Turkey’s military support for the aggression of the settler Turkish Cypriots against Greek Cypriots in the highly ethno-linguistically fractionalised Cyprus is a remote factor for its non admission into the EU.
The resolution of the Cyprus issue of ethno-linguistic animosity bordering on religious and cultural differences should be an urgent imperative.
To comprehend this, we should take notice of the mention of the causative factor of high ethno-linguistic fractionalisation bordering on religious and cultural differences, which lead to mutual animus.
We should understand that it is this animosity and fractionalisation resulting in a lack of consensus and sustainable peace that the concept of an orange union seeks to solve.
We take good cognisant of the two examples given of political entities ( a continental grouping and a country) where the concept of the orange union is used to resolve inter tribal animosity.
The examples :
- The EU : a continental grouping of circa 27 European countries.
- Switzerland: a confederation of 13 cantons.
We should, however, also mention the exception : two countries that have refused to purge themselves of their demons of ethno-linguistic fractionalisation.
The Kurds in Turkey, the Turks, the Greeks in Cyprus, the Basque in Spain, the Catalan in Italy, and the Irish in Uk are still seeking self determination.
Don’t you think those are exceptions in Europe as most countries in Europe are majority over (75%) ethnic nations with the exception of UK, Switzerland, Turkey, Cyprus, etc.
Nation – Ethnicity
France – French.
Germany – German.
Netherlands – Dutch.
Finland – Fin/Finnish.
Poland – Pole/Polish.
Denmark – Dane.
Norway – Nordic.
Etc.
Even the UK, with 60% English majority, has the Scottish, Irish, and Welsh asserting their right to self-determination.
This is just a suggestion of the practicality of the concept of the orange union.
Pseudo countries?
Most African countries are labelled as pseudo countries artificially contrived and imposed by the colonialists without organic dynamic to their evolvement.
Geographical contraptions of the colonialists.
Colonial outposts of French and British metropoles.
It is expected that anybody that wishes the people that populate the Nigerian geographical space, will give serious thought to this suggestion to resolve the Nigerian ethno-linguistic challenge of cobbling circa 370 ethnicities in the same geographical space under a quasi unitary system/constitutional order deceptively and fraudulently masked as federal.
Bęgbę wọ, Ganusi.
It was this absurdity of artificial boundaries that brought the introduction of the solution of the Bakassi debacle, which is tangential to the issue of the challenges of ethno-linguistic and cultural diversity
Many people may not be aware that British Cameroon was originally German Cameroon, which became a Mandate Territory administered by Britain under the UN mandate after World War II.
The challenges of Bakassi were part of the symptoms/effects of colonialism, including the creation of artificial boundaries.
The contrived resolution of the Bakassi issue was not satisfactory to the Efik ethnic nationality that straddles the border of the two colonial contraptions pseudo countries of Nigeria and Cameroon though the colonial stooges and proxies heading them were satisfied.
The case of ethno-linguistic fractionalisation of African pseudo countries is made worse by the lack of absolute majority of > 50% by any of the constituent ethnic nationalities, unlike the European and Asian countries
For example,
- China is 93% Han Chinese.
India is 81% Hindu. - Japan is 99% Japanese.
- Singapore is 65% Chinese.
On the other hand, no ethnic nationality has more than 35% of the national population.
The point being made is that the constituent units that desire to still remain in Nigeria must to the critical thinking of a system that is suitable to the ethno-linguistic diversity of the culturally disparate ethincity and which finds mutual acceptance of the ethnic nationalities no matter how small.
French Quebec in Canada is a signatory to the Federal Constitutional order, despite its relatively smaller size compared to the remaining anglophone provinces.
Size and equality.
It should be noted that there is a tiny landlocked independent country located right inside Italy called San Marino…
Forcing a small entity into a multi-ethnic state against their will is not sustainable for their well-being or the well-being of the contraption into which they are forced.
