How Britain, Obasanjo let Nigeria down

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Nigeria’s unfinished Igbo business
Obasanjo

By Ochereome Nnanna

If you ask me, retired General Olusegun Obasanjo is arguably the most prominent Nigerian ever born. The late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe should have occupied that position, but compared to Obasanjo’s footprints on Nigeria’s history, those of Zik pale. There is very little of Azikiwe’s legacies still visible, but Obasanjo’s remain the ruling force.

Zik led Nigeria to independence but was relegated to a ceremonial president. In other countries, the torchbearers assumed power at independence. But that of Nigeria was different because the nation was aborted on its Amalgamation Day, January  1, 1914. Two absolutely unrelated sections – the Southern and Northern Protectorates – were forcibly merged in a manner of mixing water and oil. You know they don’t mix. One was a heavy burden, the other the beast of burden. It remains like that till date.

Like Zik, Obasanjo was a prominent figure in another kind of fight for Nigeria – the Civil War. But…



Source: Vanguard Newspaper