THE TRAIL OF LORD LUGARD

CredoWriters:Wakdok,Samuel Stephen

The trial of Lord Lugard is a substantive suit brought before the sovereign people’s court of Nigeria by the sovereign people of Nigeria against the colonial agent. Sir Fredrick was a captain in the British Royal Army who would not have been qualified enough to lead a battalion of soldiers. He could at best lead only a company of soldiers, consisting of about 33 men only. Here was a man who at the peak of his royal colonial duty; became the first Governor General of Nigeria after the amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates in 1914 to form the present day Nigeria. The name Nigeria funnily was suggested by his girlfriend who eventually became his wife; Lady Shaw.

Prior to the amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates, Lagos was a separate colony, the southern protectorate had its capital in Calabar until 1906 when the colony of Lagos and the southern protectorate were merged and Lagos became the capital. The Northern protectorate had its first capital in Lokoja, present day Kogi and later relocated to Zungeru modern day Niger State before it was moved to Kaduna in 1913. This was without prejudice to the different empires, kingdoms, emirates, and loosed federations which predated the arrival of the colonialists.

Sir Fredrick who later became Lord Lugard knew very well from his sojourns across the different lands in the Niger area that the people were each a distinct nationality, with their separate cultures, values and beliefs. Yet, for the sake of personal drive to impress the crown of England, the greed of the colonialists and ease of administration, Lord Lugard went ahead to amalgamate the Northern and the Southern Protectorates to bring forth Nigeria. One of the main reasons for the amalgamation was the success of indirect rule in the north. The Othman Dan Fodio Jihad of 1804 had earlier established a theocracy in some parts of the North with a caliphate in Sokoto which was the western capital of the Caliphate. The eastern capital had its headquarters in Gwandu, present day Kebbi state. Emirates were set up in Kano, Zaria, Adamawa, and Wase up to Ilorin. The Kanem-Bornu Empire with its headquarters in Maiduguri had long existed. Except for the independent states of the once strong Kwararafa kingdom, the north was ruled by the emirs, and this made it easier for the Lord Lugard to implement his indirect rule which he had earlier experimented in Eastern Africa. It gave the emirs the impression that they were still relevant even after the fall of the Sokoto caliphate to the British forces in 1903. This was the first real attempt of the divide and rule tactics of the British.

Impressed by the success of the indirect rule in the Northern part and determine to push this divide and rule tactics further, Lord Lugard amalgamated the North and the South in 1914. He attempted to rule the west through their chiefs and since the East was more of a republic, he had to create warrant chiefs to provide a structure for his indirect rule; however that didn’t succeed because the easterners revolted against these warrant chiefs. The amalgamation was never intended to unite the people but just the geography for economic and political purposes. This explains why at a time the South was pushing for Independence of the country, the north was not comfortable with the date.

More evident is the fact that after the Richard’s constitution of 1946 regionalized the country and the McPherson Constitution of 1954 gave Autonomy to these regions; the South opted for self rule in 1956 but not until 1959 before the North did on the eve of independence.

Ninety five years after Lord Lugard united a country without uniting her people, it is still ever glaring that the nation is confronted with a Herculean task of uniting her people.

When the Igbos were called to the witness box, they testified against Lord Lugard for the casualties and pains he caused them during the Biafran war .

The Tiv grieving in the witness box testified against a Lord Lugard who made it feasible for an Obasanjo to massacre their kinsmen in Zaki Biam.

The endangered Ogoni resentfully testified against Sir Fredrick who made it inevitable for General Abacha to hang their sons.

In a united voice, the Niger Delta people have testified against Lord Lugard for initiating the mismanagement of their resources and environment by the other parts of the country.

The West also stood in the witness stand to give evidence that Lord Lugard is the brain behind the annulment of June 12 election won by MKO Abiola.

The North are not left behind in bearing witness against Lord Lugard for exposing them to westernization from the coastal states of the south which is fast eroding their conservative values.

The Presiding Judge of the Sovereign people’s court having listened to the various arguments of the opposing counsels (examination and cross examination of witnesses) and the evidence before the court have found Lord Lugard guilty.

Interesting, the Trial Judges, the prosecuting and defense counsels all agree that Lord Lugard is long dead. The real Lord Lugard on this trial is the tiny clique which is holding the larger Nigeria to ransom. The cabal who has refused to allow this country to develop, the cult hindering our progress and the Mafia which is destroying us daily.

The Lord Lugard before this court is the cult that rigs election and robs Nigerians of their votes and hence voices. The gang who pockets contract sums dotting the place with abandoned contracts. The Lord Lugard who was found guilty is the mechanism which favours rent seeking,nepotism,tribalism,ethnicity,corruption,violence,crime,godfatherism, election gerrymandering all at the expense of merit, peace, transparency, development, good governance, respect for the rule of law and patriotism.

The Lord Lugard on trial is the system which turns our people’s hope into fallacy, the rot which twirls our Police into Thief. It is the law which transfigures our Prophets into Parasites and the structure which makes the world to jeer rather than cheer at us. The people reject the practice that gives corruption and failure parking spaces in our national life; and the DNA which inhibits our nation’s growth.

The Sovereign People ‘s court of Nigeria hereby pronounce this Lord Lugard and the agents of neo colonialism guilty on all counts; and sentenced to be banished entirely from our national sphere without option of fine or parole.

Any objection has already been overruled.

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