I like Muammar Gaddafi. He is my favourite Arab dictator.

Of course, I'll never forgive him his treason and betrayal of his king, Idris I of Lybia; but as Arab dictators go he is one of the tamer and more entartaining ones.

Today he has this great idea:

Nigeria should be divided into two nations to avoid further bloodshed between Muslims and Christians, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has said.

In a speech to students, he praised the example of India and Pakistan, where he said partition saved many lives.

Splitting Nigeria "would stop the bloodshed and burning of places of worship," state news agency Jana quoted him as saying.

Nigeria immediately rejected the idea.

But you know what?

He is right. It would be a good solution.

The country of Nigeria was a creation of colonialism and its borders do not represent borders between tribes or nations. So why not divide it up along tribal or religious borders?

Many countries in Africa are collections of tribes that don't want to be the same country and in many cases rule each other. I have mentioned Sudan and Somalia as prime examples before.

Sudan consists of at least three very different parts, the Muslim Arab east, the Muslim African west, and the Christian African south. Those three have been fighting each other for decades (i.e. the Arabs have murdered millions of the Africans while Muslim and African Christians have never done anything to each other).

Somalia also consists of three very different parts, the land around Mogadishu in the south, Puntland in the east, and Somaliland in the north. The (nominally) Arab government in Mogadishu has no control over Somaliland (in the north) or Puntland (in the east) or even the territories in the south (where it fights Taliban-style loonies).

Of course, Gaddafi never understood the concept of a country that actually works:

Last year, he called for Switzerland to be abolished and for its land to be divided between Italy, Germany and France.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8570350.stm