Book on Nigeria’s amalgamation presented in Abuja

A book on the colonization of Nigeria by Britain, down to the struggles that heralded the country’s independence as well as sundry issues in the polity was presented yesterday by Major General John Gbor (retd).

The Chief Executive Officer of Risafu Publishers, the publishers of the book, Dr Tanu Ejenavwo, in a statement said former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan wrote the foreword to the book.

He said the author attempted to save Nigeria from the advocates of disintegration and viewed the campaign by organisations such as Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance (NINAS), for the balkanization of Nigeria into small nations of the Lower Niger Republic, the Oodua Republic, the Middle belt Republic, and the Arewa Republic, as a disservice to nation-building and so should be disregarded by all.

He said the 233-page book entitled: ‘Nigeria: A Nation yearning for Moral Regeneration and Unity’, is divided into 10 chapters and authored by an astute retired military officer and second runner-up in the 2019 presidential election on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Maj Gen John W.T. Gbor (retd).

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He said, “The book transcends the historical settings of Nigeria and explained the role of colonial Britain in the contraption of Nigeria. It goes further to assess the colonial policies and British national interests and how they created divisive politics in the polity.

“The author further crystallizes the struggle by Nigerian nationalists and early scholars that brought about the attainment of independence. He postulates that it was actually the efforts of this group of Nigerians that actually demanded for the independence of Nigeria, from the colonial British government. This set of Nigerians considered the country as a whole body, not a fragmented nation divided along ethnic lines. 

“The work also put into record the destabilizing roles played by indigenous ethnic and sectional groups which further widens the cleavages of divisive tendencies among the Nigerian people. The author negates the views of those that argue that Nigeria’s problems solely lay with the 1999 Constitution.”