My dad fed me lots of history when I was growing up. Then as an adult, I kept reading through the event of the past for knowledge's sake, which I find vital. So today, as this prompt demands, I am going to discuss an event that happened in my country, actually not a good one (the civil war). In this post, I will divide the article into 3 categories, which are the brief cause of the war, what really led to the war, the effect in our country in different areas, and the solution.
The cause of the Nigerian civil war was actually political and ethnic conflicts. Nigeria got independence in 1969. From then, they were running a parliamentary system of government from 1960 to around 1966. At that time, there was nothing like states but regions, the northern, western, and eastern regions. There was a queue, and that queue, the military more like, had an agreement to eliminate those heads of the premieres, then it was governors as we have it today, but then they called it premier. The queue started, and they killed some prominent people in the north and south without killing anyone in the east. The Northerners weren't happy with the Eastern people over the killing for not following through with their agreement. After that they had a counter queue; they staged a queue against the Igbo leaders, and that's when Agui Ironsi was killed. His death caused violence, and they started killing Igbo people; there was chaos everywhere. That was the root cause of the war, and it was very bloody.
Let's talk about the effects...
The Nigerian economy was growing rapidly, growing region by region then. People were looking inward to see what they had in their own region; they were competing in a very healthy fashion. The east was producing palm oil and many other things; the west was exporting cocoa and a lot of things. The Midwest was doing rubber; the North was into agriculture in full force. The economy generally was growing rapidly. But that civil war killed everything. We have never recovered from the tragedy of that economy. So the economy was bastardized, and that's the biggest problem the country is facing to date.
Again, it created distrust. Up till today, the wound is like it happened just yesterday. The people that were not born during the war still feel so aggrieved that they see the other people as their permanent enemy, and you know development is very difficult to thrive if there's no peace and unity. So it has disintegrated the country for so long.There is social and psychological disparity. Once you see someone from the north, there is like a wall built around your mind already and prepared for the worst. Staying as one as a country has not been fruitful; it's not productive because there's no harmony. People are not working towards a common goal. So a northern president focuses on the North, and a southern president also focuses on the South. It's like a fresh wound that has refused to be healed and even if it does ,the scar still reminds us of the past and it's like impeded development .
People don't come together to fight a common cause, like the end SARS; the north believes that it doesn't concern them. Literally, we are divided. We just answer Nigerian on paper, but in actuality, we are a divided country, and we are not only divided into two but into many parts.
On to the solution...
Looking at the cause of the war and the effects, you will agree with me that the solution lies in managing or identifying what caused the war and then addressing it. Those grievances should be addressed; we should look at equity, fairness, justice, and resource control because there's a huge disparity in resource control. If you go to the south, the oil belongs to the government; if you come to the north, the minerals belong to the governors and individuals. The country does not benefit from any natural resources from the north; they take it by themselves, but in the south, if you come close to the oil well, you will be termed a traitor and be killed. So resource control has to be there, talking about the solution to the effects.
In terms of leadership, they have sworn that nobody from the east will ever become president of Nigeria. The Eastern people are feeling aggrieved. Up till today, they still want to succeed because they feel that they are not recognized in the country. All these have to be looked at to help alleviate the issues that the country has, and if that happens, the economy of the country may be improved. Again, if they can go back to that regional government, what we call true federalism, where each region can look inward and manage their resources, the economy will also be improved. But right now, they all depend on whatever the center can give them. A place like Plateau State has mineral resources that all over the world are looking for. This can actually sustain the state and drive development, but they don't look there; they would rather allow illegal mining to take place because somebody somewhere is feeding them every month.
Overall, we have to backtrace our steps and find out where we went wrong and correct it.
This is my response to the #HiveLearners community contest on the topic titled, A Little History
Posted Using INLEO
Actually, you are very correct. Two days ago, a customer came by my shop with this particular sand, so little but it weighed so much. He sold it for #76,000. This particular sand I suspect is of very great value.
You see..some citizens may be taking advantage of the natural resources already...I really hope the government utilize this for the good of the society
I hope so too
You have nailed this history sis. The mark left by the Nigeria 🇳🇬 civil war is one that we are still suffering from till today.
We are not in unity which has continued to affect us in many ways but those in the seat of power does not care. They are selfish and after their own interest.
Until they see the need to tell themselves the truth about how power must go around, things will never be right. But lets hope that God does his will in our nation soonest.
It's what it is...the thing is that we have some solutions to our problems but the leaders don't care as long as it's not affecting them and their families
!LUV
(1/5) sent you LUV. | tools | discord | community | HiveWiki | <>< daily@sunshine29, @nkemakonam89