Debunking The Nigeria Union Myth – By Ndidi Uwechue

The power of lies is in the violence, threats and bribes that are used to enforce it. That is why Unitary Nigeria, a criminal enterprise, has lasted up to now.

“To keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done” is why despite knowing that the Nigeria Union had ended with the military coup of July 1966, Gowon still went ahead to launch the Biafra genocide of 1967 – 1970 after he had unilaterally abandoned the Aburi Accord that would have reestablished the Union in peace, but with Sovereignty and Self-Determination which would have stopped the Fulani Conquest Agenda of making Nigeria their “estate” as declared by Fulani leader Ahmadu Bello, Premier of the Northern Region just days after Independence in 1960, and reported in the Parrot Newspaper. 

From 29 July 1966 Arewa coup to date, Nigeria has been what is correctly described by Rev Fr Prof Anthony Alaba Akinwale, as a Union at gunpoint, maintained by Military Decrees, then today upheld by the Forgery and also a Military Decree (Number 24) the Unitary Constitution of 1999. Thanks to the work of NINAS, the voice of the indigenous Ethnic Nations of the South and Middle Belt, people are increasingly realising why Nigeria’s dysfunctional constitutional arrangement has not brought good for ordinary Nigerians, and never will – as Senator Shola Adeyeye stated for the whole world to hear in 2019 saying that the Unitary Constitution will never bring about peace, progress, or unity – which is exactly what has happened from 1999 when that instrument of governance was foisted upon Nigerians. 

Rather late than never, finally, eminent political and thought leaders at a Colloquium hosted by the Patriots in March 2024, acknowledged in their Communiqué that Nigeria’s 1999 Unitary Constitution 1) Has a flawed origin, 2) Lacks legitimacy, and 3) Cannot acquire legitimacy by any number of amendments. Then, more recently on 21 May they announced that they would be setting up an Advocacy Team that would engage with Nigerians countrywide. Their stated aim being to get the National Assembly to stop its unfounded constitutional amendment exercise and go for “a more profound process of giving Nigeria a new democratic people’s Constitution through an elected Constituent Assembly”. Thus yet again, the Patriots are toeing the line of “To keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done!”. For surely, these leaders of thought must KNOW that given the three truths they admitted to in their Communiqué, and mentioned above, it means that being ILLEGITIMATE the Unitary 1999 Constitution is NOT any Union Agreement. Therefore, if there is NO Union Agreement, there is also NO Nigeria Union!

It is not only the Patriots and eminent leaders of thought who having conceded that the 1999 Unitary Constitution lacks legitimacy, then turn to the National Assembly CREATED by that very 1999 Document that LACKS LEGITIMACY as the place to fix Nigeria’s constitutional crisis – a Constitutional Logjam. This just beggars belief! How will the global Black World judge the legacy of those in a position of power, or influence, or authority who do not use it to free Africans (from neocolonisation), but instead do the opposite, that keeps their people LOCKED DOWN. For, this is all about Sovereignty – Unitary Nigeria is about who gets to exercise Sovereignty. The myth of the Nigeria Union is about overriding and denying the Sovereignty of indigenous Ethnic Nations. The main upholder of the myth of the Nigeria Union is the Politically Exposed Person (PEP). “The PEP is someone who, through their position or influence, is more susceptible to being involved in bribery, money laundering or corruption. This is usually someone who has been entrusted with a prominent public function in a government or international organization. Close business associates and family members are also considered PEPs” (quoted from IDnow online).

Despite the lies, frauds, and deceptions that are out there, this MYTH of the Nigeria Union is nevertheless getting debunked by the power of truth and logic. Reader, when Nigeria has no legitimate Union Agreement (Constitution) is there any Union? Is it not plain? If you have a fake diamond (cubic zirconium) do you have a diamond? If you hold a counterfeit £20 note are you holding any money? If you have an imitation Picasso painting, do you have a valuable article? 

Therefore, the first thing to do to stabilise this collapsing West African space is to create a Union, and this time a legitimate one. That means following the correct, globally acceptable process which means any fresh Union MUST be under the control and choices ONLY of the indigenous Ethnic Nations since they are the ones with the INALIENABLE right of Sovereignty – not the political class. Sovereignty matters. Sovereignty is everything. 

Unitary Nigeria is that arrangement that not only favours the immigrant settler Fulani to the detriment of the indigenous owners of the land, but it is also the dysfunctional arrangement that enables and empowers the many-sided Fulani Conquest Agenda that includes Fulani militia slaughtering Nigerians for land grabbing and to change the culture and demographics, plus also Fulani “herdsmen” trespassing onto working farms to destroy them and cause deliberate food insecurity. This is not about singling out the Fulani, because the FACTS are out there. Moreover, getting one or other Fulani Caliphate spokesman like El-Rufai to propose bogus “Restructuring” methodologies where indigenous Ethnic Nations would not exercise their Sovereignty, is likely to backfire (in a big way). Nigerians have had coming up to four years since the Constitutional Force Majeure was declared on 16 December 2020 to make a U-turn and get back onto the good road that was abandoned since 1967 Aburi. It is now late in the day, but not yet too late to do the right thing. The botched 2023 presidential election with its untenable outcome has foisted the Tinubu Interregnum upon Nigerians. So, the ORDERLY way out is to Transform the Tinubu regime into a time-bound Transitioning for Constitutional Reconstruction that ends in the kind of Union that “we the peoples” want. During Transitioning, governance structures would remain in place so there would be NO power vacuum, and the NINAS Transitioning Template is on the Table to get a fresh Union done. 

Evil has triumphed in Unitary Nigeria for far too long because good men have done nothing. Hundreds of thousands have fled that hope-destroying and frightening Nigeria. Now the message is spreading that since there is no legitimate Union Agreement, the Nigeria Union is nothing but a myth propagated by those with no love for the Black Race, and who want to continue to keep the Sovereignty and Self-Determination of indigenous Ethnic Nations hijacked. Since most of the needed work has been done on behalf of Nigerians by NINAS over the past twenty-five years, the journey to ending neocolonisation and state capture is nearing the end: at combined Stage 14 and 15 out of 16. What remains to be done since “we the peoples” have Sovereignty (not politicians) is to say that all Political Parties are to CLOSE SHOP now for Nigerians cannot proceed to any further national elections under the 1999 Unitary Constitution, and that there must now be Transitioning for Union Reconstruction. However, if Nigerians are not willing to do even that, then the mythical Nigeria Union is at an end, and those who would have had good arguments to “keep Nigeria one”, will be silenced forever. 

Ndidi Uwechue is a British citizen with Igbo heritage from the Lower Niger Bloc. She is a retired Metropolitan (London) Police Officer, she is a signatory to the Constitutional Force Majeure, and she writes from Abuja.