Less than two years to yet another round of national elections, the conspiracy over which of the regions should produce the 2023 presidency is creating ripples across the country. The kite of controversy over power shift recently assumed a smouldering discourse when the spokesman of the Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF), Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, said: “If the majority of Nigerian voters vote for a candidate from the North and he becomes the President and somebody doesn’t want to live under the Nigeria President, the person can leave.”
Speaking to the students’ wing of Northern Coalition Groups in Zaria, Kaduna State, during the maiden lecture series on the late Amb. Maitama Sule, the NEF’s spokesman said only a Northerner can rebuild the economy of the region and, therefore, the North was set to commence rebuilding its battered region after the exit of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.
In subtle reaction to Southern governors’ declaration that power must shift to their region, in a manner depicting haughtiness and smugness, the man who worked for the All Progressives Congress (APC) but was quickly sidelined after electoral victory, added, “Why does anybody need to threaten us and intimidate us? We will get that power, but be humble because power comes from God. We inherited leadership and being honest is not being stupid.”
From the conversational analysis of the fire-spitting former federal permanent secretary, the fear of the North is obvious. To cover up your fear, one must sometimes act fearless. Few days after Baba-Ahmed’s speech that had set tongues wagging across the country, the Northern Governors’ Forum (NGF), with traditional rulers in attendance, met and declared that power rotation was unconstitutional. Headed by Governor Simon Bako Lalong of Plateau whose state remains the epicentre of mindless destruction of lives and property, the NGF also stated its opposition to the collection of Value Added Tax (VAT) by states.
Not a few are angry over Baba-Ahmed’s speech which many citizens described as gross insensitivity displayed by Northern governors that are playing ostrich to the many challenges militating against the region. In a manner that demonstrates insensitivity amidst leadership deficits, the governors’ platform came under criticism for its loud silence over the slaughter of 51 persons in Madamai and Abum villages in Kaura Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
Equally heart-rending was the NGF’s silence over the activities of criminal groups in Niger, Zamfara, Plateau, Benue and Nasarawa, among others. Considering the suffering experienced by Nigerians in the last seven plus years of President Buhari-led government, there is no worse time than now to insist that the North should be allowed to retain power in 2023.
The truth is that most of these Northern governors are not interested in the development of their states; they are only interested in perpetuating themselves in the corridor of power. There could be few of them having genuine interests for their states, but most of them are entirely concerned with advancing their selfish political and economic interests. The truth is that most of them are now little dictators whose sole purpose is to impoverish their states in perpetuity.
Under their watch, their states have been transformed into flourishing killing fields. Unlike some of their colleagues in Benue, Katsina, Kebbi and Zamfara, among others, some of these governors are simply in power to help themselves and survive the intrigues of politics.
Some of them had in the past turned their eyes from the tragedies that have befallen their citizens in the hope of being politically correct. While one of them was said to have been so generous to give out a whopping sum of N10 million to buy beer at a nightclub to celebrate his birthday, some of them are now the problem of their states, rather than insurgents, bandits and kidnappers.
Some of these governors have not only kidnapped the future of their states, they are now worse than bandits and criminal groups they claim are our problem. Despite the promise of dividends of democracy to electorates, these power-seeking politicians have found an unimaginable access to wealth and are now determined to pilfer every kobo for their future survival in the murky waters of politics.
Over seven years of President Buhari in power has left the North with an image of unspeakable horror and despair made worse by the activities of criminals that have continued to unleash dreadfulness on vulnerable communities. Some of these governors neither believe in the unity of the region nor in the greatness of our nation. Their singular motive has always been to fleece state coffers and transfer public wealth to islands of financial safety. Little wonder that $400 million of properties in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are owned by some members of the corrupt Nigerian political class.
The North is more cursed with corrupt governors than blessed with the few working quietly for the overall good of the people. In spite of their manifold failings, they have no justifiable cause to ignore the fire incinerating their states in defence of power retention in 2023. Since May 2015, what has the North gained in being in power other than bloodbath and crippling poverty?
With the North becoming incapacitated in building consensus for national agenda, the mutual disunity tearing down the house Sardauna built is palpable. More worrisome, the resolution of the South to unite in pursuing power rotation in 2023 makes it glaring that the North is ‘No longer at ease’.
With the various components of the North in disarray, the politicisation of religion, as shown in political appointments, has become a death knell for a region that once spoke in one voice. There has been no opposition to the North’s continued retention of power other than the position of the Middle Belt Forum (MBF), an umbrella organisation of ethnic nationalities in the region. It recently declared that it was totally opposed to the retention of power by the North in 2023. If power must not shift from the North, the MBF is insistent that a Middle Belter should emerge. In the event that such is not possible, the Forum has vowed to rally all its members to support the South for the 2023 presidency.
Ahead of national polls, the proliferation of groups championing rights of minorities is a sure sign that ethnic nationalities in the North that have suffered the burden of local imperialism by the Arewa hegemonists are now willing to throw away their chains.
The growing despair and bloodshed that have ripped across Sardauna’s House bear the marks of religious favouritism. This nepotism has been confirmed by the appointment of only two Christians out of the 22 ministers from the 19 states of the region by President Buhari.
The clamour by those who have always enjoyed the meal of One North for power may turn out an exercise in futility in 2023. The NGF should not think it is the authentic and true voice of the people. What some of these governors are presently doing is supervising the incineration of a regional platform that was and is still being used for the oppression of their people and impoverishment of citizens.
If the North must survive; it must resolve its inherent contradictions and be willing to recreate itself for justice and equity for all Nigerians. In these modern times, education makes it difficult for people to be enslaved. The politics of religion hinged on personal aggrandisement must stop. The resort to hiding the truth, using the theory of herder/farmer clashes that have led to mass deaths of vulnerable citizens, must end. The continued subjugation of traditional systems of ethnic nationalities and enthronement of a favoured ethnic group over others must give way.
Where is that old North that was a key player in revenue generation but has suddenly turned into a parasitic virus? Where is that old North that once sought for development and peace, but is now a hair-rising cynosure of bloodbath? What happened to that old North that was once proud of what it produced and not what they depended on from the South? What happened to that old North that was committed to education and industrialisation, but is now replaced with greedy political leaders that are willing to deny the truth to serve their bellies?
Power has intoxicated leaders of that old North that once produced groundnut pyramids and cotton. The inheritors of the Sardauna are now seeking domination, rather than seeking alliances with other regions for development. The old North has refused to embrace realities, but is now promoting rented democracy where electorates have been emasculated to sell their democratic rights to a selfish ruling elite.
The old North that Baba-Ahmed speaks of no longer exists; it has long expired with the wind of change foisted and promoted by the progenies of the Sardauna legacy. Some of these governors are now enmeshed in building financial empires for themselves and their cronies. They are prepared to fly to their safe havens at the sound of any uncertain alarm.
May regional politics be buried completely in 2023 and may a new Nigeria emerge where all citizens shall experience a new dawn of freedom across religious and ethnic divides.
Simon Reef Musa
