Nigeria’s Unity Was Settled 51 Years Ago- IBB

Former Military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, has reacted to agitations for self-determination by ethnic nationalties in the country, saying that Nigeria’s unity was not negotiable.

IBB said this in an interview granted to Arise Tv ahead of the generals’ 80th birthday.

The ex-head of state, said, “We don’t have core values that everybody defends. You defend those core values. You are a Nigerian, this is what you believe in and everything short of it is not going to be acceptable. When we were in the military, we talked about settled issues about Nigeria. The unity of Nigeria is as far as we are concerned is a settled issue. Presidentialsm is a settled issue, free market and not socialism is a settled issue, the federation also is a settled issue. Nobody will come and say Nigeria is no longer a federation or something.

“We decided to be one how many years ago about 50- 51 years ago and we have been in that position for the last 51 years. Why should we keep on repeating?”

Secessionist sentiments have increased across the regions in the country with that of the South East and South Western regions more pronounced.

In the East, the Nnamdi Kanu led Indigenous People of Biafra has intensely been fighting to have a Biafra Republic while groups in the South West are pushing for Yoruba nation.

IBB said the agitations have complicated Nigeria’s security threats.

” I think again if you look back, if you take a place like Baga in the North East, the Igbo man, the Yoruba man travels up to Baga for trading. He lived very comfortably, he lived very well with the people around them. They do their normal trading and so on even politically, in the 50s we had Hausa men everywhere. If you go to Lagos, the same thing you have Yorubas, Igbos who are holding political appointments at … and live very well with the people, ” he said.

The general who headed the Nigerian government between 1985 to 1993 blamed elites and politicians for not promoting the core values of Nigeria as a nation.

“I think we the elites did not succeed in imbibing that culture for the country. So we rather lead with the culture that the Europeans handed over to us..

He said,
“So, but we didn’t mold ourselves as a nation, so,  I feel very strongly that was what happened. .. till today unfortunately, the political class is not really going into this very seriously and say, look how we do as a nation. We have to rewrite the narrative.

“We don’t have core values in the country… The politicians, the elites are all I think we have to blame for this. I think the problem is leadership. There is a disconnect between the leadership and the followership.

” There is a disconnect. If there is no disconnect, people will relate with each other at various leadership levels and talk about the community, about the states and the federation then we wouldn’t have a problem whatsoever. “