Let us use today to reflect on the fact that balkanising Nigeria is tantamount to pressing the self destruct button 

Ayo Akinfe 

[1] Today, Nigeria is 61 but alas, a 61 year old with a lot of problems that include ethnic strife, religious extremism, being a mono-economy, inadequate productivity, poor social infrastructure, a lack of security, limited social amenities, corruption, a lack of patriotism, nepotism, etc 

[2] They say the darker the night, the brighter the dawn, so for one have no doubt that we will come out of all of this smelling like roses. Like Dr Martin Luther King, I have been to the mountain top and seen the Promised Land 

[3] In our typical short-sighted manner, many Nigerians lose sight of the fact that things could actually be worse. Anyone calling for Nigeria to be cantonised into 774 mini fiefdoms, emirates, statelets and kingdoms is just an enemy of progress 

[4] Nigeria’s biggest asset is her size. Every other African just wishes they were Nigerian. We can get away with things they dare not even try to thing of doing. Those of you wanting to live in a mini state that can be bullied by the outside world, neo-colonialists and imperialists are of the same misguided mindset as those Egyptians who wandered off into the wilderness to build a golden calf 

[5] See the way China has taken over Kenya’s assets for defaulting on a loan. I dare them to try that with the giant of Africa. All those of you chanting Biafra, Oduduwa, Arewa, etc, just be mindful of what you wish for 

[6] No country in the world is as envious of Nigeria as France. Up until tomorrow the French are still kicking themselves for allowing the British to carve out this African giant right under their noses. It is why the French has always supported moves to dismember the once country that curtails its neo-colonial influence in West Africa 

[7] When I look at the way France still dictates the economic policies of Francophone West African countries, I can envisage the hell we will be living under without the protection of mother Nigeria. Anglophone West African nations like Ghana, Sierra Leone and Gambia know they are protected because they live under the canopy of the Nigerian umbrella 

[8] Most African nations have their army officers trained at the Nigerian Defence Academy and their police officers trained at Nigerian police colleges. Do you also know they when they import cars from abroad, they first of all bring them to Nigeria to change thr steering from right to left? 

[9] When I see how Nigeria tells countries like Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Sierra Leone what to do and they comply, it makes me appreciate the value of numbers. No one can dictate to a nation of 200m people like that 

[10] Nigeria’s next big push has got to be to reduce the number of nation states across Africa. When a country like Djibouti got hammered 8-0 in a recent football match, I asked myself how I would feel if that was Nigeria. In these small nations, defeat like that is common and they accept it part of life. In large countries like Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, DR Congo, etc, heads would roll if we lost a football match 8-0. Our national ego would be too badly bruised