15 JANUARY: A MIXED BLESSING FOR NIGERIA.
Today is Sunday, 15 January. The Good Nigerian takes a look at 15 January as it affects Nigeria.
The importance of holidays cannot be overemphasised. Even God has a holy day.
The most important day of a nation is the day that marks the most important impact on the motto of the nation. In the Nigeria case, January 1 and October 1 are worthy of mention.
On January 1, 1914, the Northern and Southern Nigeria were amalgamated. On October 1, 1954, Nigeria was federated; same day in 1960, Nigeria gained its independence; also same day in 1963, Nigeria became a Republic. Hence, the name: Federal Republic of Nigeria.
A one time name of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is Oil River Protectorate. The name explains the impression that the Europeans had about Nigeria: a land of immeasurable fecundity.
But the land does not only support crop growth, it also contains mineral oil underneath.
And so, in 1908, the Nigerian Bitumen Corporation, a German company, began the search for mineral oil in Araromi and Okitipupa in the present day Ondo state.
However, the first world war (1914 - 1918) terminated the search.
In 1937, Shell D'Arcy Petroleum Development Company secured an oil exploration license (OEL). The license covered a whopping 357,000 square miles.
Again, the second world war (1939 - 1945) halted the company's activities. Thereafter, there was a reign of scepticism: "A notable geographer, Dudley Stamp expressed his pessimism by declaring in 1953 that Africa had no oil".
Then came that Sunday, January 15, 1956. Oil was discovered in commercial quantities in Oloibiri in the present day Bayelsa state.
One can therefore, equate '15 January and Nigeria' to 'Petroleum and Nigeria'.
The Federal Republic of Nigeria was a child of constitutionalism.
Of course, the foundation of all great nations is the rule of law. Constitutionalism is the rule of the constitution; and constitution is a body of laws.
Constitutionalism implies the sovereignty of the nation, and consequently the sovereignty of the people.
It is also correct to say that constitutionalism or the rule of law is putting the interests of the nation (and its people) first.
One youth who exemplified Nigerian nationalism at Nigeria's independence was Gani Fawehinmi, who flourished between 22 April, 1938 and 5 September, 2009. The youthful Gani was rightly nicknamed the 'Nation'.
Behold, the Nation was called to bar on 15 January, 1965. Thus, 15 January also marks the birth of Fawehinmism (rule of law, people first). Before his transition, Gani was the Senior Advocate of the Masses (SAM), the People's Lawyer, and the Conscience of the Nation.
In a tragic twist of fate, the first anniversary of Fawehinmism was marked with thorns, instead of roses.
On 15 January, 1966, the Federal Republic of Nigeria was reverted to the Protectorate of Nigeria. The constitution was suspended; the rule of law was overruled; Nigeria was defederated; Nigeria was reconqured; and our past heroes laboured in vain.
War was a logical consequence of the absence of rule of law. The welfare and safety of the people, the very essence of government, were alienated from the people. Without peace, Nigeria became a tragedy.
Then again, came 15 January, 1970. The two and a half years Nigeria-Biafra senseless civil war came to an end on that day. The exiled Peace returned; and the 3Rs (Reconcilation, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction) began.
