Razaq Bamidele
A pro-democracy and and human right activist, Comrade Razaq Olokoba has tackled former Kano State Governor, Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso over his anti-zoning comment, describing the comment as “a primitive political postulation that is not in line with the global modern trend.”
Dr. Kwankwaso in an interview recently was quoted as saying that those clamouring for rotational Presidency and zoning system are lazy politicians who are not capable of working hard to sell themselves to the electorate across board.
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According to him, he is already engaging in consultations across the country with a view to declaring intention to contest 2023 presidential election to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
However, in a swift reaction to Kwankwaso’s position on zoning, Olokoba,who is the National President of the Campaign for Dignity in Governance (CDG), reminded the former governor that, globally, using numerical strength to oppress or bully other ethnic components in any nation is no more in vogue, saying, numerical strength is now utilised to foster unity, togetherness and sense of belonging.
In a chat with our correspondent weekend, the renowned activist called Kwankwaso’ attention to the multi-ethnic situation of Nigeria where everything should be done to give other ethnic groups in a country of glaring diversity like Nigeria their dues, asserting that, there is no ethnic group that is not contributing one way or the other to the nation’s covers.
The youth leader, who believed that only zoning system and power shift arrangement can ensure and guarantee Nigeria’s unity, warned that, anything contrary to that could be interpreted to mean an attempted coup against democracy, asserting that, “the wisdom behind the power shift agreement is to strengthen the unity of the country and anybody holding an opposing view to that could be accused of being a democracy murderer.”
The vocal public analyst and political observer insisted that any conducts that are inimical to the tenet of democracy could also be described as a coup against democracy, pointing out that, zoning is imperative because it would help to continue to promote the unity of the people of Nigeria.
“We know that Nigeria is a nation of different identities. And to that extent, there is the need to recognise those differences. And the best way to recognise those differences is to run a system that will give everybody a sense of belonging in terms of how our resources are distributed and in terms of how powers are shared.
“And presiding over Nigeria is another fundamental ways of giving the people a sense of belonging and that is why people who designed rotation as a good political system did so. That was what is behind it, and it is important to know that in every relationship, people have what they contribute towards the success of the relationship. That is the case even between the husband and his wife,” Olokoba submitted.
While agreeing that, democracy is a game of number, the activist however is of the conviction that, “our brothers in the north, who have the highest number of people today, should use that strength to promote unity and use that strength to distribute power for the unity and survival of the country as a united nation.”
He, therefore, advised Kwankwaso and others who share his thought to know that, “we can count several nations in the world today that used their numerical strength to perpetuate themselves in power in the past whereas nobody does that again today,” adding that, “it is just that every region should create that impression that, I am part of his country.”
Full interview later…
