Not even Britain thought the 1914 amalgamation would work, but Nigerians took it as reality. The inflicted cracks of the Aguiyi-Ironsi era, the silent hand that laid the foundation for the civil war, was sealed by Obasanjo through cajoles and suppressed military confidentiality - a fit that failed him as a civilian President.
Obasanjo knew that there was no united nationhood in the Nigerian experiment and that the civil war signalled the lifting of the last colonial hoodwink. He knew even at the Oct 1st 1979 handing over parade ground that Shagari would fail. He knew the clogs that would trip the executive and trigger disaffection. He knew too that Joe Garba hated him for what he knew and would do nothing about.
Shagari rode on a nudged Nigerian horse; Buhari-Idiagbon offered a delay manger; Babangida resumed riding an injured horse and tripped it; Sonekan thought it was malnutrition; Abacha thought it was constipation; Abdusallam saw nothing wrong in the horses' prostrate mode; Obasanjo brought the horse back to kneeling position to ride; Yaradua left the wounds and applied worm-killers; Tell GEJ he's riding a dead horse.
Goodbye Nigeria. Goodbye utopia.
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