The British Experiment called Nigeria

As a Nigerian in my own opinion, what's has been going on is: indeed after Independence, Nigeria did very well with the first set of nationalists who struggled for her Independence like Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Dr. Nmamdi Azikiwe, Sir Ahmadu Bello, Chief Obafemi Awolowo et all. And other great Nigerians like Funmilayo Ransome Kuti mother of Fela Kuti. We started out with regional governments which was quite good and this brought about healthy competition among the various regions making up the country then. As well as a parliamentary system of government. However with the first coup orchestrated by Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu leading to the toppling of the civilian government and a perceived extermination of leaders from the Northern region like Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and other top military brass from the Northern part of the country and other parts as well but fewer in numbers. Ethnicity reared its ugly head. It should be noted from then on, Nigeria now lacked universality in actions for the general good of her people. This cannot be entirely blamed on the country because the British experiment called Nigeria was a muddled up one. Am not an advocate for the division of Nigeria like the late Ghaddaffi of blessed memory but it should be noted that Nigeria has over 500 ethnic groups who have been interacting with each other through trades, marriage etc before the British came along. Each group had its own basis of leadership and values. From the Islamic oriented North to Christian and African traditional religion in the East and South of the country. As well as animist tribes on the plateaus of the North. There was more of rules of engagement. But now in the 21st century I would say no need to roll back the clock but rather we must modify our own system of governance to suit our unique circumstance and not accept hook, line and sinker what the British bequeathed. Though, Nigeria is now practicing the presidential system of governance modelled after that of the USA with much concentration of power at the center. Which is worse than when we practiced the parliamentary system. In short, the traditional stool of authority should be elevated back to its glorious position in the Nigeria society just the way it was before the arrival of the British and the traditional ruler of each tribe should be like it's leader at the centre because most ethnic groups in Nigeria are loyal to their traditional leader and a center whittled of its power to enable us develop with our own system. So what's wrong with Nigeria since Independence? the British experiment.