Niran Adedokun: Nigeria too divided to be called a country

Niran Adedokun, a public relations practitioner and lawyer, says Nigeria is too divided to be referred to as a country. 

Adedokun spoke on “Book Hour”, a virtual programme organised by Book Sellers, on Saturday.

Speaking on some of the issues raised in “The Danfo Driver in All of Us”, his latest book, the author said Nigerians would be deceiving themselves by claiming they have a country.

He argued that the failure to come to terms with such reality over the years led to the widespread disunity among the various regions that make up Nigeria.

Adedokun cited the opposition of northern governors to the disbandment of the special anti-robbery squad (SARS) in October when youths mostly from the south advocated proscription of the police unit as one of the signs of disunity in the country.

“I truly do not believe we have a country. To be honest, Nigeria is not a country. We are only deceiving ourselves and I think the bulk of our problem is because we don’t accept this reality,” he said.

“You cannot claim that Nigeria is a country in a situation when a region of the country is saying one thing and the other is saying something different. That cannot be a country. A country is defined by people that are united in purpose, know where they are going and what they what they want to achieve.

“Nigeria is not there yet. We don’t have unity, some people want restructuring, others don’t. So, currently, we have confused dreams and aspirations.”

The author said it is unfortunate that past and successive administrations in the country “are not even doing anything to change the trajectory.”

Adedokun added that until concrete measures are taken to address the situation, Nigeria will continue to remain a “mere dream”.

“There is no patriotism or loyalty to the nation. So, we would be lying to ourselves if we claim we have a country. That’s is why I said Nigeria has not attained the status of a country, it is still a dream of some people which does not exist yet,” he added.

The Danfo Driver in All of Us is a compilation of the author’s personal reflections and interventions on a variety of topical national issues between 2013 and 2018.