Two respected minds responded to my broadcast CURSE + CURE — 5Cs Model. Prof Adekunle Oloyede a former Vice Chancellor, Professor of Medical Engineering from Australia said Nigeria is collection of nations not tribes forced together, like EU/UK, TRIBE is colonial abuse, intermarriage is MICRO cannot solve MACRO self-determination, referendum needed. Dr (Mrs) Bisi Abiola a PhD holder from Oxford University; (Bashorun Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola), aligned, adding race is more powerful than tribe — New Yorker + Georgian won’t move needle in US, but black + white will — and dual citizenship is convenience for better life, not patriotism — we should stop glorifying it and fight for Nigeria’s soul.
Both are right on history, and both sharpen my thesis. Let me enrich it.
First, Prof is right — 1914 amalgamation was British contraption for power and economic interests. I never said Lugard was God. My phrase “From God Amalgamated To Man Divided” is theological — God placed these peoples on same soil with rivers Niger and Benue joining, man divided them with tribalism to loot. Using word TRIBE deliberately to name the colonial framework we must dismantle — which is exactly Prof’s point — we must dismantle unhelpful framework slave masters gave us.
But Prof’s EU/UK comparison fails on lived reality. EU nations have separate passports, armies, UN seats, central banks — they can Brexit. Our nations share one passport, one army, one UN seat, one crude oil account that those In Power loot together. In EU, oppressor is sometimes Brussels bureaucracy. In Nigeria, oppressor is not Hausa vs Igbo vs Yoruba — it is Vagabonds In Power vs Citizens. That is why THE PEOPLE’S CURSE clip says we wear party colours like jerseys celebrating thieves because they come from our tribe — ballot has become new chain.
Second, Dr Abiola is right — race is more powerful than tribe in US/UK discourse. But Ma, in Nigeria, TRIBE IS RACE.
When Prof says intermarriage cannot solve self-determination, and Dr Abiola says New Yorker + Georgian won’t move needle but black + white will — they are both correct in America. But they miss that Ijebu + Igbo in Nigeria IS black + white in America.
In 1966 coup and counter-coup, being Ijebu in Enugu was racial marker — my parents survived by grace. In 1967-70 civil war, being Igbo was race — hunted like blacks in Jim Crow South. In 1993 annulment, Yoruba vs Hausa-Fulani became race. Today, Fulani vs Idoma in Benue is race — lives lost. So what textbook calls ethnicity, lived Nigerian experience calls race. When I say TRIBALISM IS EVIL, I mean it as RACISM IS EVIL in American context.
Therefore my 5 Families are Nigerian equivalent of Loving v. Virginia 1967 that legalized inter-racial marriage in US:
Fulani/Kanuri + Yoruba = Dr Aisha Muhammed-Oyebode — Four UK degrees, Bar 1989, CEO AMG 1991, CEO Murtala Muhammed Foundation 2001, boards Lekoil, CSCS, NEEM, Harvard Kennedy School. Husband Gbenga Oyebode Yoruba. She cannot be tribalist.
Ijebu + Idoma + Igbo = Me — Ijebu father Southwest, born Enugu Southeast, Idoma mother Middle Belt North Central of Nigeria. Which coop do I enter? All.
Ijebu + Igbo = My three offsprings — First two British/Nigeria, youngest Bethel Elizabeth Olayinka Chissom Odusanya American/Nigeria turns 22 today Sunday 11/10. Olayinka Yoruba — Wealth surrounds me. Chissom Igbo — God is with me. Bethel House of God. Ijebu + Yoruba + Igbo + Idoma + British + American + Nigerian in one 22-year-old. Which coop does she enter? All coops.
These are not simplistic convenient marriages — they were eyebrow raising in their time, just like black-white marriages in US.
Third, on dual citizenship — Dr Abiola (MKO), hit nail on head — many deliberately pay arm and leg to acquire it to escape failures, woman going to Canada to have baby to guarantee future, Trump’s anti-immigration, UK tightening screws prove foreign sojourners not treated equally. We must stop glorifying dual citizenship and fight for Nigeria’s soul — otherwise nationalism vs glorification conflicts.
I agree Ma — and I clarify: I do NOT glorify dual citizenship as escape. I document it as symptom of our failure, which is exactly your point. My first two British/Nigeria were born while I was worker accidentally abroad as student/worker, not deliberate japa for papers. Bethel American/Nigeria was born while working in US. Not Canada papers trip. We did not go to have baby for papers — we were there working.
But my point with Bethel (Elizabeth) at 22 is not — look my daughter is American we have made it. My point is — look, even American/Nigeria at 22 with Olayinka + Chissom in her name cannot enter one tribal coop. Her American passport did not erase Nigeria — it forced more Nigeria. She could drop middle names and be Bethel Elizabeth Odusanya only — easier in US. She keeps Olayinka + Chissom — that is keeping Nigeria’s soul alive in diaspora. That is patriotism. That is fighting for Nigeria’s soul from Houston, London, Lagos simultaneously.
The woman who went to Canada to guarantee future — I do not judge her — she is doing what Nigeria refused to do — guarantee future. Our fight is to make Nigeria guarantee future so Canada is option, not necessity. That is what majority of my write-ups are about — as Dr Abiola correctly noted.
Dual citizenship is TOOL, not escape. If Trump’s America and tightening UK remind us we are not treated equally, then we must build Nigeria where Bethel can return at 32, 42, 52 and lead with 5Cs — Conscience, Competence, Character, Courage, Capacity — judged by content not origin, not passport.
Prof asked: Are we going to continue living acrimoniously? No — with 5Cs. Can referendum help? Yes — my book NIGERIA NEEDS NEW NATIONAL MODEL calls for referendum on form of union — confederation like EU or federation like USA or dissolution — but referendum by tribal citizens will produce tribal result — we must first kill tribalism — produce citizens who act like owners not spectators — Read, Think, Question, Work.
Dr Abiola (MKO), said we need to stop glorifying dual and fight for soul. I say fighting for soul INCLUDES diaspora who keep Olayinka Chissom alive at 22 in America — that IS fighting for soul.
So elephant has two heads: Head one — forced amalgamation by British. Head two — weaponization of it by those In Power since 1960 using tribe as race weapon. You fight head one with referendum. You fight head two with 5Cs and Miniature Map — MICRO proving MACRO possible.
Human beings would still be who we are, Prof said — exactly — we are already blended — we just need new national model that reflects who we already are.
TRIBALISM IS EVIL — From God Amalgamated To Man Divided — WITNESS 2036.
Happy 22nd Birthday Bethel Elizabeth Olayinka Chissom Odusanya — American/Nigeria — Miniature Map Princess — Dad loves you.
Yours faithfully,
Richard Olanrewaju Odusanya
Ijebu Man Born Enugu Idoma Northern Mother — Married Igbo Mother — Father of 3: 2 British/Nigeria + Bethel Elizabeth Olayinka Chissom American/Nigeria @ 22 today
Author: NIGERIA NEEDS NEW NATIONAL MODEL
Convener: WITNESS 2026/2036
5Cs: Conscience • Competence • Character • Courage • Capacity
