By Ochereome Nnanna What is it that makes you a Nigerian? We have so many ethnic groups, religious affiliations, cultural diversities, g...
By Ochereome Nnanna
What is it that makes you a Nigerian? We have so many ethnic
groups, religious affiliations, cultural diversities, geographical variations
and tendencies which respectively make us unique and different from one
another. Yet, there are certain things that bind us together and make us one
people, underscoring the “unity in diversity” mantra. These include the
constitution, the national flag, national anthem and pledge, the English
language (our official language), national currency (Naira and Kobo), Army,
Police, Customs and so on.
A story is often told of a dialogue between the first
President of Nigeria, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and the late Premier of the defunct
Northern Region, Sardauna Ahmadu Bello, before independence. Zik wanted us to
forget our differences but Bello preferred that we understand them. The central
thing here is the need to handle our differences with care; accommodate one
another to promote unity which is essential for nation-building. But have we
done so? Definitely not!
We have seen a situation where one section of the Nigerian
commonwealth has insidiously and impudently imposed its values and interests on
the rest, thus ignoring or disrespecting our differences.
Our national symbols and institutions which are supposed to
bind us as one people have been systematically hijacked by the Islamic North in
the past 60 years of our independence. Let us start with the 1999 Constitution.
It did not come from the Nigerian people. It came from the Nigerian Army which
is dominated by the North.
The military concentrated power in the centre and made it
almost impossible to amend certain provisions that can lead to fundamental
structural change. Before the General Abdulsalami Abubakar-led Army regime
departed from Aso Villa in 1999, they ensured that the North would continue to
rule with impunity, but when a Southerner is president he would be vulnerable
to the intimidating and overwhelming presence of the North. Even the Army
itself; the motto is in Arabic! Arabic is not our lingua franca.
It is a language associated with a section of the country
which subscribes to the Islamic religion and culture. The Arabic in the Army
motto is not even subtitled in English to assuage the impunity. If you are
Nigerian soldier and you do not speak the Hausa language you will find yourself
an outsider. The same goes for other uniformed national agencies, especially
the Customs and Immigration. The National Currency is another major binding
force for all Nigerians, just like our national passport. The British colonial
masters gave us currency notes and coins that contained symbols associated with
the North and South.
The obverse side of the defunct Nigerian Penny had the Star
of David inscribed on it while the Pound bank notes had Arabic inscriptions
(Ajami) on them. But when Nigeria dropped the colonial heritage currency for
the Naira and Kobo, the Ajami inscriptions remained on the Naira banknotes
while the Star of David was removed from our Kobo coins.
The Star of David has symbolic connections to Nigeria’s
Christians and Southerners, though it is more widely associated with the Jewish
State of Israel. I have always wondered about the meaning of these Ajami
inscriptions, Arabic not being our lingua franca. My side of this country has
absolutely nothing to do with the Arab world or its culture or religion. But
the North has had centuries of links with them. In fact, they have long
abandoned their indigenous cultures in preference for the Islamic system. Are
they also now trying to impose these Arab-Islamic cultural symbols on the rest
of us – the so-called Islamisation drive?
REWhy should Ajami be on our national currency when it is
not a shared symbol? The answer can only be the usual impunity. We’ve been told
that the Arabic motto of the Nigerian Army means: “Victory is from Allah
alone”. Somebody please tell us what the Ajami on our currency is saying.
I need someone to interpret my national symbols to me! This
issue has been a subject of intense murmuring in the South and among the
Christian community for long because it is one of the signs that Nigeria has
been hijacked by a section of the country which seeks to impose their religion
on the rest. At last, a Lagos-based lawyer, Chief Malcolm Emirhobo, has filed a
suit at the Lagos High Court demanding the removal of the Ajami from our
national currency. But, the CBN is opposing this suit on the ground that it
would cost the earth to remove them. The CBN also argues that the Ajami is not
an Islamic message.
It was merely put there to help Northerners who don’t
understand English to use it to trade! The same “illiterate” Northerners
comfortably trade with the US Dollar though there is no Ajami on it. Who is
fooling who? And when are they going to put the Eastern Nsibidi, or Western Ifa
inscriptions on the Naira and Kobo? Or don’t we have “illiterate” people in
those places too? They don’t even bother to proffer intelligent justifications
for these ridiculous and annoying violations of our national commonwealth.
The same CBN which has been unable to trace and unveil the
people funding Islamist terror groups in the North has jumped in to freeze the
accounts of patriotic #EndSARS protest leaders who are already comically being
associated in official quarters with “terrorism”. The Muhammadu Buhari regime
pampers the “repented” terrorists and dubs unarmed protesters (IPOB, Shiites,
and #EndSARS) “terrorists”.
We must retake our country from sectional hijackers. They
have taken for themselves everything we are supposed to “share” together. No
one can ride any unwilling horse. Emirhobo is one of the few men still standing
in the South who has decided to challenge a brazen affront on the people of the
South and Christian community. Let us hear what the courts will say. Let more
men speak up!
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