A Curious Presidential Optimism

“In the area of disruption and disruptive innovation, the principle that we are stronger together than in little part is a sound principle and it is my respectful view that those who advocate the breaking up of the country are terribly wrong.

“Our size is crucial for geopolitical and economic relevance. Our people will be better served by a large populous and diverse country. As with all big and diverse countries, our business is to make this union work; it is to give everybody a sense of belonging.

“All of those waiting on the sidelines, hoping that this big country called Nigeria will break up into bits so that they can pick up the pieces, will be very sorely disappointed and I am very sure that those of you who are seated here today will prevent that from happening”, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo spoke in Abuja at the maiden edition of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Progressives Youth Conference.

Here, as quoted above, the vice president tried to lift hope and allay despair. But he spoke abstractly without substance. He failed to address those elemental factors responsible for the forlorn hope, increasing despair and the knack for secession. Who addresses effects without treating the cause? That’s exactly what the vice president tried to do here.

What is strong about a nation that does not enjoy internal peace? What’s the beauty in the diversity of a nation, where justice has long taken flight? What’s worth celebrating in the size of a nation, where security is luxury and for a few? Who admonishes a sense of belonging, in a place, where love costs a fortune? Really, who will be sorely disappointed in a union, where George Orwell’s animal farm’s rule of importance in accordance to class (tribe in this case) applies? Perhaps, those statements remain what they are: sheer empty optimism.