Boko Haram have taken over the town of Gwoza, killed the Emir and declared the place an islamic state. They have seceded from Nigeria and they are beheading Christians and southerners and all moderate northern muslims that do not share their views. I wonder what would have happened if it had been a town in the south-east that had been taken over in this way by a group of Igbo nationalists and Christian fundamentalists. I wonder what would have happened if they killed the local traditional ruler and then started to kill every northerner, every muslim and every moderate Christian in that town that did not share their views.

I wonder what Nigeria would have done to them if it was an Igbo town that declared secession in this way and not a northern one. I wonder how our northern brothers would have reacted to this and how they would have felt if any southern terrorist group had as it’s main objective the wiping out of islam and all muslims in Nigeria and the establishment of a Christian fundamentalist state in the whole of the south that is governed by Christian canon law. I wonder if our northern brothers would be as calm, as forgiving and as patient as we in the south have been about Boko Haram. The last time that a part of this country attempted to secede, we slaughtered and starved to death over two million Igbos in order to keep Nigeria one. Yet, today, Gwoza has been taken over by murderous secessionist forces and we act as if it is no big deal. The truth is that this is a nation of double standards where southerners are subject to a different set of conventions, laws, rules and regulations when compared to northerners. Northerners can get away with secession and establishing an islamic caliphate whilst southerners dare not try to do the same sort of thing. This begs the question: is Nigeria really one country and are we really one people. And even if we say it is one country and we are one people, how much longer can this remain so given what is going on in the north today with Boko Haram? Some northerners have said that if power does not return to the north next year they will smash up Nigeria and make the south pay dearly. They believe that they own Nigeria and that they were born to rule.

How are we as southerners supposed to react to this? Are we supposed to accept it sheepishly and just bow down and surrender? Does a southerner from the Niger Delta not have a right to serve two terms in office as President of Nigeria? Are southerners and Middle Belters not human beings. Are they nothing but slaves to the core muslim north? Are the issues that Ojukwu raised in 1967 not still relevant today? Surely, it is time for us to answer these difficult questions even though we keep brushing these matters under the carpet. It is time to either answer the Nationality Question once and for all or begin to prepare for the break up of this great country into two or more pieces.