During his throughly uninspiring six minute broadcast this morning instead of appealing to Nigerians for patience and understanding and instead of apologising to them for the ineptitude and sheer incompetence that his government has displayed over the last 2 years, President Muhammadu Buhari has returned home after 105 days on his sick bed in the United Kingdom and not only insulted Nigerians but also threatened them.
He made no attempt to reach out to the people, to build bridges and to calm the troubled waters in what is clearly a traumatised and divided nation and instead he sought to intimidate and talk down on our people and his perceived enemies.
The President appears to have failed to appreciate the fact that times have changed and that he cannot impose his will on others.
He claims that his views represents the thinking of the majority of Nigerians yet he refuses to accept the idea or acknowledge the legitimacy of a national referendum.
He is meant to be a servant leader and a democratically-elected President and not a military dictator, a Caliph or a King.
If he wants to enhance national unity, which is of course a noble and righteous venture, and if he really wants Nigeria to remain one then he must desist from his dangerous and provocative rhetoric, he must treat all Nigerians like human beings and as equals, he must exhibit a much higher degree of sobriety and accomodation of contrary and dissenting views and he must display far more sensitivity, understanding and restraint in his interactions and discourse with the opposition and those that do not agree with him.
Failing that and without a quick recourse to the devolution of power from the centre and the neat and timely restructuring of what is essentially a fake pseudo-federation and a functional unitary state, the agitation for emancipation will become more pronounced, the various ethnic nationalities in this country will eventually exercise their right of self-determination and our nation will eventually break.
The fault lines are there and they are visible for all to see. We must recognise our differences, acknowledge our fears, concerns and anxieties, sooth frayed nerves, bridge the gap, make the necessary concessions and heal the wounds or we must prepare for the very worse in the not too distant future. That is the way forward and that is the only way to ensure and guarantee lasting peace and unity.
Since the President mentioned the late and reverred Chief Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the
