By Razaq Olokoba
By October, 1, 2023, Nigeria will be 63 years old as an independent country. And since over 62 years ago, Nigeria has not properly blended like a true nation.
We have been living as nationals of different nations forced into one country with mutual suspicion and lack of trust and understanding of one another. Whereas, the ideal thing would have been for us to blend together as a nation where everyone would have a sense of belonging and our diversity turned to unity and strength. But alas! The case has never been so in the real term of it.
We were close to achieving that with the 1993 general election but unfortunately, the election universally adjudged as the fairest and the most credible was unjustly annulled by the ruling military junta then. In fact, the election had every potential of cementing the unity of the country because Nigerians from all the geo-political zones spoke with one voice by casting their ballots for a southerner from the south-west zone. And as were about becoming jubilant that nationhood has eventually been attained, the destructive spanner was thrown into the workings and we were back to where we were aiming at departing.
After the hullabaloo that trailed the devilish miscalculation of the annular subsided through the special grace of God, the Almighty God used some wise men and women to think out a way to avoid such needles pitfall towards regaining back our country which was almost on its knees. When transisting back from the jackboot regime to democracy, a novelty was introduced code-named ‘Rotational Presidency’ otherwise known as ‘Power Shift.’ And the idea brought sanity back to the country where everybody from any section of the country can produce president in whom power resides.
To pacify the south-west that was robbed of the opportunity rule in 1993, somebody from that axis, Chief Mathew Okikiolakankaye Aremu Obasanjo was package and made an executive President for eight years. After him, a northerner, Alhaji Umoru Yar’Adua mounted the throne before his demise naturally shifted power back to the south-south and Dr. Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan also came in. Expectedly, after Jonathan from the south, the power, through the laid down novelty, took a walk back to the north and the sitting President, Muhammadu Buhari was voted in, in 2015. By May, 29, this year, his second term in office will end hence the preparation for another election that is expected to produce another of southern origin.
At this juncture, there is the need to exercise great caution so as not to take several steps back to avoidable political abyss! And to avoid that, we have to remind ourselves about the North/South alliances in the past and how they fared with a view to deciding which one to choose now and consolidate upon. In the first republic, North/East alliance ended in fiasco and only God saved the country from total collapse.
But the current North/West alliance appears to be comfortable, workable and should therefore be strengthened. Reason some well-meaning Nigerians are not happy when last year during the party primaries a couple of political parties fielded northerners as their presidential candidates when all the presidential candidates were supposed to be of southern origin! With the situation on ground now, the mutual suspicion we are trying to erase in our match to great nationhood is being threatened, the result of if not carefully handled could affect adversely the cord of unity binding the country together. It is not, however too late to retrace our steps to the right path by directing our votes, selflessly to a southerner with capability and ability to do it properly after the outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari.
The person that will take over from him should be a brilliant patriotic democrat with clearer understanding of a society and evolution of a nation. He should also understand that we are aware of where the power would swing to and should express that in a clear message. And that is why in my own estimation; the north/south arrangement is a perfect one. So, it is the synergy that we establish that will determine whether we are going to prosper between now and the next four years or not. It is the synergy that will determine the future of our children. It is the synergy that will make Nigeria to transform from a country to a nation. It is also the synergy that will engender what is called the Nigerian patriotism. When my fear is addressed, when my concern is addressed and when my understanding of what a nation should be is addressed. I will live in that country as a patriotic Nigerian. So, the state of the nation should be about a synergy. I mean a synergy between the north and the south.
Thankfully enough, we still have February 25 ahead of us to make the right decision. The presidential election of February 25, if I may advice, should be used to cement the North/South Synergy to guarantee a very bright for the country now and for the generation yet unborn.
The coming election is an exercise we should use to create a synergy between the north and the south. It is an election that we may no longer continue to push the excuse that Nigeria is a diverse that informs our challenges. We have been diverse for how many years now, and this is the time to use that our peculiarity as a strength. The more we look at our differences, the more we understand ourselves the more and the more the relationship between us become more robust. We should no longer accept excuse of failure from anybody. The excuse that the north and the south are different is no more acceptable.
Britain is over a thousand years old bearing different names at different times like Britain, United Kingdom on and on. And the differences still exist till tomorrow. But the differences are never a barrier to their development, not an obstacle to the good life they are enjoying today. And we have several countries like that in the world that have similar and peculiar nature like us in Nigeria. India is one of them and China is also one of them. We can continue to mention nations and nations like that non-stop.
The people of the world, over 200million of them are Nigerians as far as the rest of the world is concerned. So, the more you look at yourself as Hausa, Yoruba, Ibo the more you tend to get people outside Nigeria confused. As far as we are concerned, we are all Nigerians. And that is why we must design a modem that will keep promoting peace among ourselves. And this election is a golden opportunity for us to do so. We must speak that language in this election. We must let the world know that we are politically matured and that we have come of age. We should let them know that we are the true giant of Africa.
The coming election is like independence for Nigeria. That does not however mean that we are being enslaved since 1999 till date, but because it means the time we have recorded the highest political consciousness. If you look at the number of the registered eligible voters, it is over a hundred million. Whoever is responsible for that feat should be commended. Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Political Parties, Government of the day, the Civil Society, the media and Nigerians should be commended. And as a result of that, we must not waste the efforts of over a hundred million Nigerians that have taken that decision.
And that is where the question of synergy comes in again. We must understand that Nigeria is a nation of many identities. And the thinking and aspirations of these different people must be important to all of us. My affairs and aspirations as a Yoruba man must be important to the Ibo, to Hausa, to Ijaw just as concerns, aspirations and demands of other people must also be important to me and other people of Nigeria. And the beginning of that aspiration is the political power. So, political power must be spread across the nation. And that is why every Nigerian that is responsible for the power shift arrangement in the country is a genuine democrat. Every Nigerian that has seen the reason that power must shift from the north to the south or whichever the case may be, is a nation builder. Every Nigerian that took the decision and was part of the decision to recognise the political spread to West, East and South of Nigeria, should also be seen as a nation builder and someone who portends something good for the nation.
So by and large, the synergy is the synergy to allow power move to the south. And going down to the south must understand the existing modem that has brought the country back to its feet without challenging the entity called Nigeria. We know what happened in the first republic, we know what happened in the second republic. The alliance now should be a model and should be accepted as a model of the north and the western alliance.
…Olokoba is an activist, Chartered Public Administrator (CPA), and member of the Nigeria Institute of Management (MNIM), wrote in from Lagos, Nigeria.