Drums of secession We have gone this way before, and we are in the process of going through it again. By January 2014, the amalgamation of Nigeria, which was consummated by Sir (later Lord) Fredrick Lugard, would have been 100 years old. Justice and harmonious co-existence was not part of Lugard’s design. As a contrivance of colonialism, we all were and are still witnesses to the outcome of the amalgamation few years after the British left – political convulsions, the consequences of hegemonic proclivity; reconfiguration of the polity to create a monstrous and leprous federation, and of course, manipulated electoral processes to foist internal colonialism on the country. The whirlwind we have reaped included military usurpation of political power; pogroms and fratricidal 30 month civil war that wiped out millions of promising youths and children in the land. The nation is yet to recover from that trauma no matter how hard we may pretend. And worst still we have learnt nothing from the war. 2015 is just by the corner and we have been assailed by apocalyptic prophecy of a nation waiting to disintegrate. Some of us, out of mere wishful thinking, have dismissed such prophecy as the handiwork of alarmists and political adventurers. But one thing is certain: the authors of this much touted apocalypse are not given to armed chair theory on any issue. The signs of what to expect in 2015 are here with us. The North has been so over pampered that they believe the presidency is theirs for the mere asking. A respected politician and elder statesman from that region once pontificated that the North was gifted with political engineering, the West with diplomacy and industry and the East with commerce. And truly this is the thinking of an average northerner; he believes governing Nigeria is their birthright. This thinking is at the root of the nation’s past and present political and socioeconomic crises. Politics is a lucrative business in Nigeria; it is the magic key that opens the doors to instant wealth. Many hitherto paupers have been transformed into instant millionaires and billionaires. Once in government what belongs to all belongs to you alone. Thus the crises in the various political parties, including the PDP are all about 2015. The North have said it loud and clear that power must return to them, adding for effect that they have exhausted their patience, haunted by the political winter they have been all these years. Do you know that this so-called North in their self aggrandizement do not include the Middle Belters and even northern Christians? It was for this reason Generals Yakubu Gowon and Theophilus Danjuma (both Middle Belters) recently advocated for a Middle Belt Christian as the North’s presidential flag bearer in the 2015 election. Even the Ijaw nation has threatened secession if their son, President Goodluck Jonathan, is denied his second term in 2015. They are maintaining that Jonathan would return to Niger Delta to lead his people if he is rejected by Nigerians. This is the highlight of a communiqué of a meeting held under the aegis of ‘’Izon Ikemi’’, a grassroots organization of the ijaw ethnic nationality. The meeting was convened specifically to review the state of the nation against the backdrop of the crisis in the ruling PDP. They insisted that Jonathan is qualified to seek re-election and that his minority status should not be deployed as a weapon against him. They also frowned at the manner the President is being ‘belittled, ridiculed and reduced to a punching bag’’ by his political enemies. If we are interested in the health of this nation we should not gloss over these serious issues. Justice is at the foundation of creation, it is like a gentle breeze that calms frayed nerves. In decent and serious nations power and politics are approached on the basis of programmes and policies of political parties. Office seekers fight their battle on the basis of what they have to offer to the electorate, advancing superior and quality arguments on why they should be preferred to their opponents. Our own process and style of politicking defy any rationality; it is neither based on logic nor on the need to ensure social justice. It is for this reason there have been persistent cry for a national confab, a forum that will afford the different sub nationalities the opportunity to make their cases freely on the way forward for the nation. I consider this more a priority than the scramble for political offices in 2015. It is worrisome and in fact a big absurdity that Nigerian politicians are not embarrassed by their behavior and level of desperation for power. In all these struggle, all programmes and projects that deserve attention suffer, just as the suffering of the poor masses continue. A pitiful pitiable state of political permutation! Outright confusion!
Posted on: Sat, 14 Sep 2013 23:00:54 +0000
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