By Professor Mondy Gold
There comes a time in the annals of every nation when silence becomes betrayal and complacency a curse. Nigeria stands today at a treacherous precipice, not merely of political dysfunction but of existential uncertainty. A nation so abundantly blessed has become perennially beleaguered, its foundations weakened not by fate, but by the deliberate perpetuation of structural injustice and the cynical erosion of the very ideals upon which a nation ought to stand.
To speak of restructuring is not to seek fragmentation; it is to demand the rebirth of equity. It is a clarion invocation for a federation that mirrors the mosaic of its peoples, a federation where liberty is not rationed and justice is not selective. Those who champion the cause of restructuring are not the enemies of Nigeria. They are its last true patriots. They are the custodians of a sacred dream deferred, the guardians of a vision forged in struggle and consecrated by sacrifice.
The current architecture of the Nigerian state is not only unsustainable, it is irredeemably flawed. A house divided against itself cannot stand, and a nation that stifles the aspirations of its constituent peoples is destined either to decay or to detonate. Let us be clear. Nigeria, in its present ossified form, is unworkable. No amount of cosmetic reform or rhetorical flourish can mask the deafening truth. The center cannot hold.
The time has come, therefore, not merely to revise the system, but to reimagine the soul of the Nigerian state. We must summon the moral courage to implement the 2014 National Conference Report, a document painstakingly crafted by a cross-section of this nation’s finest minds. It offers a roadmap to national cohesion, federal parity, and socio-political rejuvenation. It may not be perfect, but it is a compass in the storm.
Should those in power continue to ignore this sacred call, they will have AUTHORED NOT THE PRESERVATION OF UNITY, BUT ITS DISINTEGRATION. Let it be known that those who oppose restructuring do not love Nigeria. They love their privileges, their power monopolies, and their illusion of control. But history is unforgiving, and the seeds of injustice will always yield the harvest of resistance.
Self-determination is not a threat; it is a sacred right enshrined in international law and nourished by the blood of oppressed peoples. It is not the prelude to anarchy, but the anthem of dignity. We know, for example, that the Ijaw people, like many others, have waited patiently, often painfully, for inclusion, recognition, and equitable development. That patience is not infinite. Our call is not for violence, but for volition. It is for the sovereign agency to shape our own destiny within a just federation or, if denied, to seek alternative pathways to peace and prosperity.
To the architects of impunity and the defenders of the status quo, we say this. A NATION CANNOT BE HELD HOSTAGE BY FEAR OR FALSEHOOD FOREVER. Either Nigeria is restructured to reflect the sacred principles of justice, autonomy, and shared prosperity, or it shall be redefined by the centrifugal forces already awakening across its fractured terrain. May divine providence grant us the wisdom to choose the former and not the folly to stumble into the latter.
In the end, this is not merely about politics. It is about posterity. It is about whether our children will inherit a republic or a ruin. Let us choose courage over cowardice, reform over repression, and justice over jingoism. Only then shall Nigeria rise, not as an empire of forced unity, but as a commonwealth of free and flourishing peoples.
With unflinching hope and purposeful resolve,
Professor Mondy Gold, CFP, PhD, PhD, FCILG, FEBS
Inducted into the Nigerian Hall of Fame
Recipient, United States President’s Lifetime Achievement Award; Fellow, Chartered Institute of Leadership and Governance; Patriot of Conscience and Stakeholder of the Ijaw Mandate
