RESOLVING NATIONAL QUESTIONS IN
NIGERIA BEFORE APRIL GENERAL ELECTIONS
BY AYODELE ADEGBUYI,
NIGERIA.
As
Nigeria once is once again attempting to transit from
one civilian regime to another, various occurrences in the
country have shown that all is not well. Like a record
repeating groove,
Nigeria may yet re-enact the mistakes of the past
that led to the truncation of her democracy. This generation
is too familiar with some repetitive occurrences in the
nation. The civilian administration between 1959 and 1966
was truncated by the barrel of the guns of the military.
That of 1979 to 1983 was also aborted by the military
regime. However most of the factors that led to the death of
the two republics, such as political violent,
ethno-religious crises, corruption and lack of accurate head
counts have not left the country. Like a game of musical
chairs these events could repeat itself as the nation is
gearing toward another election.
Today the political
atmosphere is clouded with uncertainty ranging from poor
preparation as well as lost of confidence of the people and
that of the Political Parties in the Electoral umpire, the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). There are
intra party squabbles over the recently concluded primaries
threatening to tear the major parties apart. Even when the
elections were approaching, the gales of impeachment of
State Governors remain unabated.
There are other
seemingly intractable issues that have continued to reoccur
in the chequered political history of
Nigeria. One of it is the Sharia Islamic-law, which
threatened to tore the country apart at the inception of the
President Olusegun Obasanjo administration in 1999. The
nation was almost driven to a war due to the introduction of
sharia legal system in some States in the Northern
Nigeria. However the practice of sharia in 1999 was
just a repetition of past attempt of 1978 when it was almost
smuggled into the nation’s constitution. In between the
period in question, there were controversies about the
admission of
Nigeria into the Organization of Islamic Country (OIC).
So it will not surprise many if the vexed issue of sharia
rears its ugly head again.
Also, since Nigeria’s
independence, there have been three head counts. The
hallmarks of these headcounts were not its accuracy but the
controversies that they triggered. For instance the last
census, held in 2006 has become contentious. Kano State is
considered to be more populous than
Lagos despite the creation of Jigawa State from the
old Kano. Needless to say that the nation’s resources are
shared on the basis of these disputed figures.
Fundamentally also,
the nation has been parading itself in terms of three
geo-political zones, that is, the Hausa-Fulani North, the
Igbo South-East and the Yoruba South-West. These have
reflected in her formation of political parties and
elections into the office of the President. Even the
lopsided arrangement has been institutionalized as a form of
quota system as well as Federal Character. It is almost a
taboo for the President to come from other minority areas
except these three regions. Also because of this
arrangement, merit has been slaughtered and replaced with
mediocrity. This account for why nothing works in the
country. The realizations of these issues highlighted above
have caused unprecedented agitations. Today, ethnic militias
are threatening to bring down the country. The south-south
oil rich states are insisting that they want to control
their resources. These agitations has led to hostage taking
of expatriates and has also led to loss of billions of
Dollars due to disruptions and vandalisation of oil
pipelines. The southeast militia, styles: Movement for the
sovereign state of Biafra, is not only violent in nature, it
has its own currency, flag as well as its own national
anthem. The southwest has the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC)
and the North has Arewa consultative forum. This is also why
some of these issues must be resolved as the country march
towards another elections. If one were to be asked why the
nation refuse to move forward, the answer will not certainly
be found in the lack of mineral and human resources but it
would be traced to some of the issues raised above. The
nation development will remain cyclical or stagnant unless
there is bold and courageous step to correct these ills
plaguing the country.
For instance, issues
such as Islamic law ought to be resolved once and for all.
The issue of headcounts which have remain politicize should
also be trashed out. We should ask ourselves whether in view
of the disputes engendered by the head counts; resources
should be shared on the basis of derivations or still on the
basis of population. Added to this is the fact that the
actors in the political arena have always been there since
the country’s independence in 1960. Where some of them are
either dead or old, they supplant themselves with their
children who are always appointed not on the basis of merit
but on the basis of class loyalty. Issues such as who will
rule
Nigeria in 2007 and beyond are also begging for
answer.
Nigeria has unfortunately had poverty of leadership
since her independence. There has been no sense of
nationalism but sectionalism. The country has been run like
a polygamous home where everybody plunders the fathers
heritage. An example of lack of national pride but sectional
interest was a statement credited to the late Prime Minister
in the first Republic, Alhaji Tafawa Balewa was quoted as
having said that: “we have not always in the past received
the same privilege and benefits as those enjoyed by other
regions. Today, however, we emerge as equals with them, and
having the greatest number of people in the federation, I
can say that we emerge as first among equals. Let no one
think that we shall withdraw or underrate this position. We
shall ensure that within the federation of
Nigeria, the interest and welfare of our northern
people will be served to the full and proper degree”. He
said it shortly after the attainment of self-governance in
the north in 1959. The north as predicted by the late Balewa
has held unto power since then except for the brief tenure
Obasanjo spent in 1976 to 1979 due to the death of the then
Head of State General Murtala Mohammed. And the
miscalculation that also brought Obasanjo into Government in
1999. Therefore to avoid the orgy of violent and political
revolts such as operation wetie in the southwest in 1965 and
1983 that characterized the political arena, the national
questions highlighted need to be addressed. It is imperative
to sound this warning at this point because the future is
already pregnant with these repetitive events which has
continue to hunt the nation. The mode of resolving them lies
in the hands of the elites and the political class. A stitch
in time saves nine.
