NIGERIA: IN SEARCH OF NATIONHOOD

Published on January 21, 2026

We are all gathered here to reflect on the life and legacies of our revered patriarch and torch bearer Pa Ayo Adebanjo who has transited this cosmos to the great beyond. In the words of Desmond Tutu "we learn from history that we don't learn from history". The above aphorism is predicted on the transience of our memory as events of the past which could be sign posts to guide the future are often sadly forgotten in a never ending cycle of retrogression. I will therefore situate my treatise within the historical antecedents of the era that shaped and defined the work ethic of our departed leader Pa Ayo Adebanjo of blessed memory.

The Nigerian state has grappled with threats to nationhood since independence as several irredentist movements have truncated the maturation of the country into a nation state. Similarly, gross failure of leadership aided by corruption of political actors has stifled the transformation of the country beyond the colonial amalgamation of 1914. A critical look into the evolution of the Nigerian state from the colonial era through the present democratic dispensation reveals that the only legacy bequeathed to the country by Western imperialism that has assumed independence is conceivably religion and/or ethnicity. It is an irrefutable fact that religion and ethnicity have, more than any phenomenon, significantly militated against the evolution of the country into a nation state. This underscores continuous agitation for sub-regional autonomy and secessionist attempts by the Eastern Region of the country as witnessed in the Biafra civil war of 1966. The secularity of the Nigerian constitution has been interminably jettisoned in the pursuit of scarce social goods by political actors as amply demonstrated in the imposition of Sharia law in some northern states of the country. These agitations have heightened religious and ethnic consciousness of citizens thereby constituting significant drag on the country‟s march to nationhood.

Nigeria is a country laden with a wounded past that has sadly often eluded national discourse. This is perhaps due to the controversial nature of the past and how it has overtime played a very divisive role in the social structure and organization of the Nigerian state. Interrogating the historical antecedents of this country requires a shifting of perspectives and narrative that absolves the story teller from bias.

We shall, in confronting our task in this thesis, plough erudite tombs to give us a compass with which to navigate our way out of the nightmare of economic, political, spiritual and socio-cultural stagnation. We shall employ historical facts rather than fictitious narratives in establishing the basis of our discourse with a view to setting a national agenda that will redefine the political architecture of the Nigerian state devoid of improvised ideological or philosophical standpoints that fall short of objectivity.

In achieving this onerous task, we shall employ a holistic narrative of our evolution and beam our searchlight on developments that inspired the scramble for Africa by European imperialism which ultimately laid the foundation for a psychological and mental conquest of the black race and its consequent implication on advancement till date. The trajectory that these developments imprinted on our continent are noted as gravely devastating and retrogressive.

As Frantz Fanon posits: "every generation must out of relative obscurity discover its mission, fulfil it or betray it ". This treatise is a response to the above charge with a view to erect a nation where a new song can be sung in a home we call our own.