First thing first, we need to come to the understanding that we have some history as a people and as a nation. A people who forgets their history risks repeating it; especially when the history is as ugly as ours as it concerns the civil war.

Nigeria, at the moment is facing a critical issue; a fusion of religious and ethnic anomaly. We’re not the first country to experience these bilateral social inequalities, and won’t be the last. Therein lies an opportunity for us. You may be wondering, what kind of opportunity is this fellow talking about!? Friends, I refer to the opportunity to learn.

It is a shame that; more than fifty years after the civil war whose carnage left indelible scars on those who witnessed it, and anger on those who were told the horrible stories, we currently lie on the brink of another. It is my belief that no one who witnessed the civil war would clamour for a repeat of it, neither soldier nor civilian.

We have heard of the racial injustice in the United State of America fought valiantly during the days of Martin Luther King Jr and the Civil Rights Movement. We’ve also heard about the apartheid in South Africa in the days of Nelson Mandela and the ANC. If any lesson must be learnt from these instances, it is that the greatest victories over injustice weren’t achieved through war, but through nonviolent resistance which eventually breed a platform for peaceful dialogue.

As a country, we have had to deal with the reality of separation along ethno-religious lines. The memories of that fatal night in Lekki during the #EndSARS protest still lingers; The continuous atrocities of various Islamic terror groups all over our dear country still gives us sleepless nights and a most heavy burden of insecurity; The body language of the President, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.) and his government leaves a lot to be desired; The federal government’s favouritism towards the mostly Muslim North is becoming unbearable by the day. Things look bleak for the rest of us.

However, I want us to ask ourselves a most important question, “If the carnage currently going on in Nigeria continues to expand, who stands to gain from it?” We have seen what recently happened in Afghanistan and how the Taliban, after twenty years, eventually seized control of the country after defeating a conglomerate of the United States, NATO, and Afghan soldiers. What has the long twenty years of war benefited the people of the Afghanistan? Is Afghanistan better today than it was twenty years ago? I think not.

Violence knows neither tribe nor religion. I beseech us Nigerians to use this moment to reflect on these; the events of our past, the events of the United States of America, and South Africa. Then we may have the belief that unless we come together to fight a common enemy, we would all be consumed. Now, we do indeed have a common enemy and this enemy is not our Northern brethren as we thought. It’s not even the Muslims. Our common enemy is the system that has created this inequality and fostered oppression, terrorism, corruption and all the vices which has, over time, left befuddled even those who could have helped.

To those group of people who enjoy seeing innocent masses suffer and having them slaughtered: the monsters you’ve created today will someday turn on you. This is what has happened in Afghanistan and in some other Islamic countries. Refuse to continue on the low road. Refuse to be a part of this evil system which is continuously using you to unleash mayhem on the downtrodden. Religion is meant to emancipate humanity. It’s not a tool for destruction of lives and valuables. All religions practiced in Nigeria fervently declares peace as one of their core values. Islam is tagged ‘the religion of peace’, the Bible commands Christians to follow peace with all men. The African traditionalists practiced and still practices peace.

The time is now to practice that peace in its fullness. It’s not a peace which will favour a certain group of people and disadvantage the rest. It’s neither a peace that will promote killing people because they don’t look like or behave like others, nor welcoming elements of violence to destroy what we and our forefathers have tirelessly built over the ages. This peace won’t require the continuous bloodshed of Innocent men, women and children. It won’t involve pulling down goodness and upholding evil.

Before everyone of us is a struggle between good and evil. We must resist evil with moral means, that the end might be true freedom and justice. Just as there can be no peace without justice, there can be no freedom without resistance to evil. Irrespective of our tribe and religion, we ought to be awakened to fight for justice. Nonviolent resistance is the way as bloodshed will be too costly while proving inadequate.

Let’s now arise together and stand for what we believe will be beneficial to our dear country. There’s no partition as; the Muslim north or Christian south, an Igbo Christian or Hausa/Fulani Muslim. If there be any partition at all – it’s between the rich and the poor. For a rich northerner has southern friends of equal economic power. When we kill a man because he speaks a different language or worships differently shows a decay in our moral foundations. Remember, before there ever was religion, there was love. Whilst the former is man-made, the latter is Divine. Love is the foundation of humanity. Let your humanity be revealed.

Finally, the high road awaits us. Our turnaround is not found in foreign aids; it’s within us. Many revel in keeping us divided and fighting that they may plunder us while acting like they care. Sheath your swords – we are capable of much more. Our diversity is not a weakness. It is the strength of our beauty. We are Africans. We are Nigerians. We are good people, great nation.