Many people are warming up for the breakup of Nigeria. Yes, let’s break up the country and go our separate ways; it’s that easy.

That’s what preoccupies their mind now. At the end, we can have Arewa Republic, Biafra, Oduduwa Republic.

And then we stop all these horse trading; there won’t be allegations of manipulation, monopolization and all the distrusts and mutual suspects that beset the present arrangement.

Okechuckwu will leave Aminu’s land and Adebayo will divorce Chizoba and everyone will bid one another farewell, whether they like it or not.

But before we slice the bread and plunge ourselves- infants, women, the weak and the elderly into an unending suffering in the name of secession, can we all pause for a moment. The elderly who witnessed the Nigerian civil war and its aftermath I’m sure are not among those increasing the drumbeat of war in the name of secession. They of course, know better than the younger generation who are possessed by youthful exuberance and fantasies of a country other than Nigeria.

Granted that Nigeria’s unity is a forced marriage, we should still ask if we are really ready for what we are gunning for.

Since the beginning of what has now gained global attention as agitation for Biafra, over 150 people have been reportedly killed between 2015 and 2016. Relatives of those who have so far died since the resurgence of campaign by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOP) for secession can explain better. A friend recently showed a picture of her classmate that was killed in one of the recent clashes with security operatives. Life has continued but he is no more to be part of the struggle; his family grieves as ever. To what end?

Perhaps, as the hoopla for the divorce of these entities continues, let the key actors and their sympathizers reflect over the scenario playing out in South Sudan. Then the next question should be: are we really ready for this? Breaking up Nigeria is not as difficult as the attendant fallouts. In the same token, remembering the vestiges of war in Monrovia, Liberia and Sierra Leone would serve as caution.

Today there are 22.5 million refugees worldwide. Syria remains the world’s largest producer of refugees with 5.5 million. South Sudan, the world’s newest country, now ranks third, after Syria and Afghanistan. That’s according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), also known as the UN Refugee Agency.

South Sudan became an independent state on 9 July 2011, following a referendum that was passed with 98.83% of the vote. It never enjoyed the gains of that independence; it has been in self-inflicted war-civil war since 2013, just two years after independence.

Over 300,000 people are estimated to have been killed in the war, including notable atrocities such as the 2014 Bentiu massacre. About 3 million people have been displaced in a country of 12 million, with about 2 million internally displaced and about 1 million having fled to neighboring countries, especially Kenya, Sudan, and Uganda. As of 2017, it had the highest score on the Fragile States Index (formerly, the Failed States Index), surpassing Somalia. Do you still consider secession an option?

South Sudan is acknowledged to have some of the worst health indicators in the world. The under-five mortality is 92.6 per 1,000, whilst maternal mortality is the highest in Africa at 789 per 100,000 live births (2015 est. CIA World Factbook).

According to Wikipedia, South Sudan was at war with at least seven armed groups in 9 of its 10 states, with tens of thousands displaced. The fighters accuse the government of plotting to stay in power indefinitely, not fairly representing and supporting all tribal groups while neglecting development in rural areas.

If we eventually have Oduduwa Republic, Biafra, Arewa Republic as being proposed by their agitators, these countries and their citizens, I’m not sure are also prepared for  attendant similar disputes and war. Examples abound near and far. The end may not justify the means

As it would later happen here in Nigeria if we ever breakup as being demanded by the IPOB who really want to exit Nigeria and Northern Youths who have issued quit notice to southeasterners resident in the North, there have continued to be disputes between Sudan and South Sudan over sharing formula for their assets.  So are we prepared for the attendant disputes? Are there institutions in place to cater for all the fallouts from any secession, can we actually live without one another?

Nigeria’s common wealth would be major source of disputes as currently is between South Sudan and Sudan- the division of oil revenues has been a major issue. Can we even point at one national issue that has not pitched Nigerians against one another since independence in 1960-petroluem, elections, population, sharing formula, federal character and so on and so on.

Suspicion and mutual distrust have led us to our present situation. Nigerians have not surmounted these problems and yet demanding new countries.

It might interest many Nigerians to know that 75% of all the former Sudan’s oil reserves are in South Sudan. The region of Abyei still remains disputed and a separate referendum will be held in Abyei on whether they want to join Sudan or South Sudan. The South Kordofan conflict broke out in June 2011 between the Army of Sudan and the SPLA over the Nuba Mountains.

Inter-ethnic warfare that in some cases predates the war of independence is still widespread. In December 2011, tribal clashes in Jonglei intensified between the Nuer White Army of the Lou Nuer and the Murle. The White Army warned it would wipe out the Murle and would also fight South Sudanese and UN forces sent to the area around Pibor. Don’t we have inter-ethnic clashes here? Have we addressed them? Ife and Modakeke people are Yoruba and it is fresh in mind how they killed one another in ethnic clash some years ago.

In March 2012, South Sudanese forces seized the Heglig oil fields in lands claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan in the province of South Kordofan after conflict with Sudanese forces in the South Sudanese state of Unity. South Sudan withdrew on 20 March, and the Sudanese Army entered Heglig two days later.

In December 2013, a political power struggle broke out between President Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar, as the president accused Machar and ten others of attempting a coup d’état.

Fighting broke out, igniting the South Sudanese Civil War. Ugandan troops were deployed to fight alongside South Sudanese government forces against the rebels. The United Nations has peacekeepers in the country as part of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

Numerous ceasefires were mediated by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) between the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and SPLM – in opposition and were subsequently broken. A peace agreement was signed in Ethiopia under threat of United Nations sanctions for both sides in August 2015. All to no avail; South Sudan is still in turmoil. Someone says Nigeria case is different from South Sudan, and I ask, how?

The order to quit the north issued by a coalition of Northern youths to the Igbos has caused more uproar and outcries than was before though it doesn’t seem that the Igbos resident in the north really want to be part of the IPOB agenda.

The Igbos have persistently cried foul and wanting to exit the entity called Nigeria. But besides the IPOB led by Nnamdi Kanu, whose immediate family is tucked in United Kingdom, majority of southeast people have professed quitting Nigeria than actually acting it. They know the consequences without being reminded of the aftermath of the 1966 Biafra war. Most of them don’t trust Nnamdi Kanu and apparently don’t share his vision.

If this is not true, visit Lagos and go to Kano where the ‘Nnas’ formed the nucleus of economic activities.  Ask if they were prepared to relocate to the southeast. Many were born and brought up there and the only place they know as homes are these cities. They have married there, established businesses and courted friendships from different backgrounds over the years.

Rather than inciting more trouble, elder statesman, Ango Abdullahi should toe the line of Emir of Alhaji Abdulmumini Kabir, who said while reacting to the quit notice that Nigeria will continue to remain one in spite of its multi-ethnic diversity and recent calls for breakup.

The quit notice expires October 1, 2017 and Igbo traders, civil servants and of course politicians in the seat of power, Abuja are still going on their normal businesses. Are they not interested in the new Biafra Republic? You already know that who want secession are not living in the country, though some misguided youths have allowed themselves to be used to give voice to their sinister moves. So before we break up Nigeria, let’s think, think and think, then collectively address all our fundamental problems.

By Godwin Onyeacholem

When the whistleblower policy was unveiled last December by the Muhammadu Buhari administration, it was roundly hailed by the populace as a long-awaited and much desired weapon in the fight against corruption, the single most visible and widely acknowledged reason Nigeria has remained stuck in the groove of under-development. And to the delight of many, especially victims of corruption, the last six months has seen the policy largely living up to its billing, what with the confounding recoveries of tons upon tons of looted funds in various denominations stashed away in the most unimaginable hideaways.

But as it seems, it may be too early for high-fiving or any display of other gestures of celebration. Neither the Federal Government nor Kemi Adeosun, Minister of Finance, who announced the policy on behalf of government and whose Ministry is the manager and implementer of the policy, should rejoice just yet in view of the obvious threat to whistleblowing as result of recurring persecution and victimization of whistleblowers by their employers.

Since the policy kicked off, no fewer than three government employees are known to have been wrongfully fired from their jobs for reporting cases of fraud in their workplaces. This development must be of serious concern to both government and the people who genuinely expect whistleblowing to significantly curb corruption and eventually entrench accountability in both the public sector and the corporate world.

As the Department for Business Innovation and Skills in London pointed out, two main barriers whistleblowers face are (1) fear of reprisal as a result of making a disclosure and (2) that no action will be taken if they do make the decision to “blow the whistle.” Without any iota of doubt, the first barrier is gradually taking its place as the dominant feature of whistleblowing among public sector workers in Nigeria. No notable incident has been recorded in the private sector, to the best of one’s knowledge. Nonetheless, the danger posed to the realization of accountability in the public sector and by extension the anti-corruption campaign due to the persecution of whistleblowers, cannot be over-emphasised.

A recap of three incidents of victimization of whistleblowers will not only expose the extent to which reprisals appear to be gnawing away at the soul of the policy, but also address our minds to how relentless official impunity continues to renew itself in a more virulent manner even in a professed atmosphere of “change.”
Not in the order in which they occurred though, it begins with the story of Ntia Thompson, Assistant Director (Servicom Unit) of the Directorate of Technical Cooperation in Africa (DTCA), an agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On April 25, 2016, he reported to the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) a case of fraud to the tune of $229,000 perpetrated by Mohammed Kachallah, Director-General of DTCA and some officers. The stolen money was meant for the Monitoring and Evaluation of projects executed across Africa and funded from the Nigeria Technical Cooperation Fund (NTCF), as well as for organizing events marking the first ten years of the Trust Fund.

But instead of directing the money towards that end, Kachallah and his co-conspirators diverted it into their pockets. When Thompson reported the fraudulent diversion to the EFCC, he was hounded, threatened, suspended, and eventually compulsorily retired from the services of the DTCA with effect from February 7, 2017. Since then, he has been running around in search of justice.

Although the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, a couple of months ago ordered that the EFCC investigate Thompson’s petition, nothing has been heard from Ibrahim Magu and his men up till now. Also, regrettably, not a single word from the administrator of the policy, Ministry of Finance, which is supposed to be in the forefront of ensuring the safety and protection of whistleblowers.

However, in fairness to the Office of Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, they intervened with two separate letters to Sola Enikanolaye, permanent secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, directing the reinstatement of Thompson and stating categorically that the offences allegedly committed by the officer were not punishable by retirement from service. The last letter was sent to Enikaolaye on April 5, 2017. Up till this moment, he has brazenly refused to comply with the order from the Head of Service. And instead of Geoffrey Onyeama, Minister of Foreign Affairs, to weigh in by directing the permanent secretary to immediately comply with the order to return Thompson to office, he too has been disturbingly silent, leaving Thompson to languish in utter hopelessness.
The second case involves Aaron Kaase, Principal Administrative Officer at the Police Service Commission (PSC). On May 22, 2015, he submitted an evidence-based petition to the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) against the Chairman, Mike Okiro, alleging acts of corruption totaling N275, 525, 000. Following Kaase’s petition against Okiro, the PSC issued a letter backdated to May 21, 2015, suspending him from work indefinitely without pay.

They claimed he was suspended on account of a prima facie case of serious misconduct based on spurious arrest and detention by the police, and arraignment on a fictitious criminal charge. Kaase received no previous query nor was any claim of “serious misconduct” a subject of any investigation which established guilt against him. For more than two years he has remained on suspension without pay while his fundamental rights are continuously violated.

And then there is the case of Murtala Ibrahim, Unit Head/ICT Process Audit and Special Investigation Unit at the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria. He was recently dismissed for exposing contract scams and for refusing to endorse the bank’s manufactured 2016 Half-Year Income Validation Report. The Finance and Accounts Group reported a surplus of income over expenditure of the sum of N423, 653, 187 which the Internal Audit Group found out was actually a loss, and not profit. Ibrahim brought to the attention of Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Power, Works and Housing, the fraudulent manner in which the bank was being managed and also his own persecution by the bank’s management, all to no avail.

Clearly, these are heartbreaking tales that cast a big shadow of doubt on the survival of whistleblowing as a potent tool for the war against corruption in Nigeria. When potential whistleblowers hear or read these unpalatable stories about the plight of those who had made disclosures before them under the policy, the way they are exposed to danger with no protection of any kind from relevant stakeholders in the society, the first reaction would be to obey the law of nature: self-preservation. They will naturally refrain from reporting wrongdoings no matter how grave they are.

Government need not be reminded that whistleblowing is a patriotic act for which those who engage in it deserve to be rewarded and fully protected in all ramifications, even while the whistleblower protection bill is still being processed. To abandon them to their fate is to strengthen the corrupt and their friends, while sounding the death knell at this very stage early days to a productive and persuasive mechanism for fighting corruption.

Onyeacholem is a journalist. He can be reached on gonyeacholem@gmail.com