Udom Emmanuel: Propelling a New Narrative for National Unity

Martin Meredith, an historian, journalist and biographer was right in his postulate that, “the new states of Africa possessed no ethnic, class or ideological cement to bind disparate peoples.” Perhaps, what Meredith meant was that African states ( Nigeria inclusive) were constituted by the colonialists to reproduce conflict, insecurity and other forms structural violence.

A profound and defining narrative on the subject matter was propelled by Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State, in his Keynote address. It’s probable that the choice of Mr Emmanuel as the keynote speaker emanates from his nationalistic inclination, incurable belief in the unity of Nigeria and his amiable personality, which have continued to garner him admiration and goodwill across cultural, religious, political and geographical borders. He therefore considered the forum, an ample platform to articulate his thoughts on the unity of the country which has been compromised in the last few decades:

‘Since 1995, you have painstakingly kept faith with the Nigerian Project. Fired by patriotic fervor, you have interrogated issues of deep and profound importance to our national development and have, to give vent to those beliefs, invited eminent Nigerians to speak on these critical issues….I am convinced that most of the conclusions presented by the various speakers you had invited in the past, may have found space and corresponding execution by policy makers. I am therefore, honored to have been considered by you to be the Keynote Speaker at this year’s event. The theme of this year’s event, Unity in Diversity is apt, deeply reflective and speaks to the mood of the Nation.’

Governor Emmanuel posits that the altruistic leadership qualities of the immediate post independence elite in the country, such as selflessness and patriotic utterances, engendered nation building:

‘For decades, the drumbeats of our Nation have filled and seared the ears about the fragility of our unity and the elasticity of the tolerance of our diversity. Some have prophesied the imminent demise of our Nation, so many scenarios depicting the coming Armageddon have been pushed, prognosticated and predicted. But in all of these, our Nation still remains intact.  Though the contours of our unity may not be straight, though the lines of development may be zigzag, the tone and tenor of our discourse discordant and divergent, but the soul, the spirit and the identity of our Nation remain sacrosanct. And on this, all Nigerians of goodwill have come to a solid agreement…

The great and the revered Premier of the old Northern Region, the late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir. Ahmadu Bello, captured this sentiment so eloquently and succinctly when he said, “Here in Northern Nigeria, we have people of different races, tribes and religions who are knit together to common history, the things that unite us are stronger than the things that divide us….’

In his Inaugural/Independence Address on the first day of October 1960, the inimitable Statesman, orator of repute and our first Prime Minister, the late Alhaji Sir. Abubakar Tafewa Balewa, left these words on marble: “We have acquired our rightful status, and I feel sure that history will show that the building of our nation proceeded at the wisest pace: it has been thorough, and Nigeria now stands well-built upon firm foundations…

The sentiments expressed by these great Patriots and Statesmen were correct and they came from their hearts. Unfortunately, the very issues they spoke so eloquently about, our Unity in Diversity, have, instead of being our bulwark,  become wedge issues, standing in the way to our unity and the definition of our common purpose as a untied, indissoluble Nation, shaped by common aspirations and hopes. They have unfortunately been exploited by the purveyors of divisive narratives, enlarged by the merchants of tribalism, and promoted to a level that has created a chasm of alienation amongst our people.’

What he connotes at this critical juncture is that, the extractive character of elite politics in the country has caused greater disunity to the country. It was in consideration of this pattern of politicking that Professor Uzondu described the elite as “the most immoral in the society”. He seems to be aligned with the notion of peace propagated by neoliberalism scholars, which underpins partnerships and cooperation as necessary preconditions of sustainable peace, national unity and development. In consideration if this, he further enthused:

‘We must rise to this reality and fortify those foundations with the bricks of faith, patriotism and love. We need new foundations to confront the challenges of today. Nigerians are inherently united. We believe in the sanctity of our Nation, but we need a galvanizing force to deepen the cords of unity. A few illustrations will suffice:

In 1996, in faraway Atlanta, United States, we showed the world what we are capable of when we come together as a united entity. No one gave us a chance in the semi-final football match against the mighty Brazilians and tournament favorites. With less than twenty minutes to the end of the match, we trailed Brazil by three goals to one. But because a united Nigeria is an unconquerable force, we stormed back to victory even after missing a penalty…We went ahead to stun the world in the final and become the first African country to win a global football trophy at the Olympics. That feat was not achieved because of adequate preparation; it was achieved via unity of purpose, in spite of our inadequate and haphazard preparation. Hear what Sunday Oliseh, a defensive midfielder in that team, had to say about that victory, “Believe me, in my whole career as a soccer player, I think we’ve never had it so difficult to prepare for a tournament. We practically lacked in everything. We lacked in equipment, infrastructure, we lacked even in things as little as medical facilities…we lacked in food, we lacked in everything, so we were just like abandoned children.’

As espoused by Governor Emmanuel, there is greater strength in the unity of Nigeria as exemplified by our footballers in the 1996 Olympics, whom, despite their logistical and organizational challenges, “conquered” every obstacle and got to the top. Connotatively, if the same attitude is replicated in the nation’s political life, most of the physical and structural violence that have bedeviled the country in the last few decades would have been avoided. Again, this line of thinking has established a nexus between democracy and unity and challenges the notion by certain theorists and revisionists that diversity is interwoven with weakness. In this respect, he postulated thus:

‘some gloomy theorists of democracy have said diverse groups cannot thrive in a democracy. They have therefore cherry-picked their evidence, citing close-knit societies like Japan, Germany, or even the United States. When they are told that the U.S. is as diverse as they come, they argue that it works in that North American country because it has a dominant Caucasian narrative. They often forget that the greatness of the U.S. derives from the resources of immigration and its black, Hispanic and Native American heritage that have enriched everything from its electoral practice to its human rights history, to its music and even cuisine. They seem to have different world views, different histories and cultural nuances. Yet they interact and enrich themselves in historic symbiosis without parallels anywhere. The point that democracy is an ideology of consensus does not detract from the concept of diversity. Britain dominated the world with its diversity. India is a great economic power despite its diversity…

So, Nigeria is a nation that is diverse, and beautiful as a coat of many colours. What tends to divide us should bring us together. Is it tribe, is it language, or is it food, or is it dance or is it religion? Take, for instance, the consumption of kola nut. Few know that it is grown in the Southwest, used for prayers in the East, and consumed for recreation in the North. It comes to life among the Yoruba, gives life in Igboland and is lively in jaws of the Hausa man. In the same way, a lot of our onions come from the far North; it enriches Ofe Nsalla in the East, Ewedu in the Southwest and Afang soup in my house in Uyo….’

This epitomizes a paradigm shift in security pedagogy, in that, it reinforces the notion of ‘positive peace’, which is a more desirable and enduring national asset. According to Johan Galtung, positive peace is the negation of both direct and indirect violence, and in the Nigerian context, it includes more important socio- economic determinants , such as social justice, economic development, environment stability, and more importantly, to live with dignity, equality and self- respect. More importantly, it has moved security discourse from a state -centric approach to human security, thereby, underscoring the need to engage the Nigerian people and groups in interactive conversations to allay their fears and deepen the process of democratic consolidation. In is in consideration of this that Mr Emmanuel’s observed that:

‘Several reasons have been adduced for this state of affairs. Many individuals and groups have taken umbrage at the over-centralization of power at the centre, perceived marginalization of some parts of the country. These are sore points that give fillip to the agitations for balance and equity in the country. We cannot afford to run a country where some parts of our country feel marginalised or left out of the scheme of things as this is a potent threat to the unity of the country. We must  ensure that there is equity and justice and that no part of the country is made to feel less of itself as this will definitely not augur well for our union…

It only takes the people to sit at a table and cross-fertilize ideas. You win some, I win some, and all of us become winners. There will be no zero -sum game. The part will become the sum and the sum will be like the part. The equation will be complete. As former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once said, “It is better to jaw jaw than to war war.” But if one set must take everything, we will always remember our languages, our tribes, the aroma of our mother’s soup. Hate then replaces love, and handshakes will move beyond elbows.’

One of the pertinent observations in Governor Emmanuel’s narrative is that unity should not be understood only in a military perspective; it also has a social, economic, political and more of a humane dimension. Therefore, humanizing the political space by harping more on what unites than what divides, would engender a more peaceful and tranquil order. The sure way to achieving that, according to Mr Emmanuel, is by deepening communication, or what Churchill refers to as jaw jaw which obliterates implosions that lead to explosive violence:

‘..It is in unity that we can defeat our common foes. As the battle of Trafalgar Square was about to start in Britain, Lord Nelson heard that Admiral Collingwood and Captain Rotherham were not on good terms. He brought both of them together, placed their hands together, and pointed at the enemy ships on the horizon. Then he turned to look them in the eyes and said, “Look, yonder is the enemy.” Disagreement gave way to unity and they won…

Nigerians must be reminded that we do not need to see eye to eye, in order to walk hand in hand. Our enemy is on the horizon and we must hold our hands together and march on until that enemy is defeated. United no foe can defeat us. This is the Nigeria we must work to unveil. This is the narrative we should be weaving. If the elites or the founding fathers of America decided to manage and meld their diversity into what is known today the American Exceptionalism, we too, can weld and meld our diversity and create our own Nigerian Exceptionalism…’

We have fought a Civil War once because we couldn’t manage these flaming passions. That is enough. It is now time to be civil with one another and use our diversity as an instrument of good over forces of attrition and division. Let the journey begin today, and let us all offer ourselves to serve and diligently so, in this New Team Nigeria. Permit me to end this piece by reminding us once more, of the very instructive words of our former National Anthem…”

Taking into cognizance, the thoughts articulated by Governor Emmanuel on the subject of Unity in Diversity, it’s pertinent to investigate, what lessons has be learnt. Also, what new narrative has Mr Emmanuel’s thought propelled in the Unity discourse? First, an integrated security management strategy which will respond to Nigeria’s security needs is a sine qua non.

At the national level, its been proposed here that a public affairs management approach be adopted. The essential ingredients of this approach which have direct impact on internal security are, broad public participation in the affairs of the state, judicious allocation of resources, and finally, proper resource management. The totality of these underscore the fact that, a nation experiences frequent instability if the system is not structured in a way as ensure greater involvement of every section and group in the affairs of the state.

The point of departure or crux of this new narrative is that, to have a Nigerian EXCEPTIONALISM, non- participation, under- participation, or the lack of it on the part of the public, or a section of it, as pointed out by Governor Udom Emmanuel, easily leads to alienation, the erosion of patriotism, or revolt in extreme cases. Thus, to cement the country’s unity, it’s imperative that broad public participation in the affairs of the state, judicious allocation of resources and proper resource management be encouraged.

These among others constitute the evolving narratives propelled by Governor Udom Emmanuel Keynote address on Unity in Diversity, at the Arewa Media Interactive and Development Forum Lecture Series, held at Arewa House, Kaduna, on November 04, 2021.