ABSTRACT

This Essay tries to show that the challenge facing Nigeria is not as simple as it has been addressed, especially socio-politically. It argues that unless the challenge is interpreted, understood and addressed ontologically, no far-reaching solution can be fostered or suffice. Thus this essay attempts to prove a set of mutually inclusive theses: one, that agitations in Nigeria cannot be addressed without an ontological understanding and solution to the being of Nigeria as such; two, that agitations without political participation is nothing but noisemaking expression of frustration; and three, that the best way to salvage Nigeria is to save Nigerians and if two of them cannot be saved then let Nigeria die so that Nigerians (the human beings in her territory) can live. The goal of the paper is ontological, while its methods are historical, phenomenological and hermeneutic. In conclusion, the paper submits that neither restructuring nor de-structuring can salvage or save Nigeria or Nigerians, respectively, if any of them occurs via a violent route.