The unity of Nigeria has been the subject of discuss and public scrutiny for years, and will likely remain that way until the inevitable finally happens, or the country finds a way to outrightly deal with its many problems.
In a recent interview published by Daily Sun, former Finance Minister, Dr. Kalu Idika Kalu said the unity of the country has been in tatters as can be easily verified from the fact that it has become a major talking point on a daily basis.
He said for many years, the country has been held together by a false sense of unity, and that the current realities facing the country is a true reflection of how far and wide the country has divided. He then added, that the country has sunk to a point where it is uncertain if the country could fix its disunity.
Kalu in response to question on whether he is worried that the mutual suspicion among various ethnic groups and the problem of insecurity in the country are capable of breaking up the country, if care is not taken, said, "We have already disintegrated; it is just that it is not so easy. We have this false sense of something holding us together.
"We have already disintegrated, by the time you are afraid to move around a city, you are afraid because there is lawlessness out there, you are also afraid because if something happens to you, you are on your own. It is not zero, but it’s not very far from zero.
"What I’m emphasising is that the enforcement of the law; if you are robbed, injured, if you are dispossessed and you know that there is somebody there whose duty is to bring remedy in some form, you will take the risk.
"What happens when you begin to suspect that if something happens to you, you don’t have a cover? At that point what is the difference between talking of disintegration; you are already disintegrated.
"It takes a lot to destroy a country; you can never tell how long it took God to form all these things.
"Of course, He has the supreme power, he formed them in no time at all, but look at the earth, look at the trees, the rivers, the mountains, the structures, etc, it is not so easy to tear them apart, but because it is not so easy to tear them to pieces, you also get a false sense that maybe something is still holding us together.
"We are already in piece and pieces; we are already cut into different communities to a large extent. The point is, because of the gravity of the situation, no country should allow itself to get down, quite down well as we have gotten," he said.
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