Balance of governance, key to Nigeria’s survival
By Rev. Fr. Uju Okeahialam
At the inception of the present democratic dispensation, the military hierarchy thought, albeit imperfectly, about the survival of the Nigerian nation in the manner they midwifed the political process. They saw that power needed to shift to the Southern part of the country. Many felt that the permutations favoured Dr. Ifeanyi Ekwueme as the man who shepherded civilian agitations for the restoration of democratic rule.
And true to every sign on the ground he was cruising to clinch the PDP ticket at the Jos Convention when another thought about the unity of Nigeria, within the military and Northern echelon, favoured a candidate of Yoruba extraction in order to assuage the disaffection from that region arising from the annulment (June 12) of MKO Abiola’s electoral victory and his eventual death while in their supervised detention. The result of that threw up Chief Olusegun Obasanjo (OBJ) on the PDP ticket, as the suspected favourite of the military class. The coalesced ticket of APP and AD had Chief Olu Falae as the flagbearer.
The latter was then perceived as a coalition against perceived military incursion in the handover to one of their own. The rest is now history as we know that OBJ was declared winner and he had the privilege of being re-elected for a second term. For the balance of governance, the Nigerian style, OBJ held a do or die campaign to get Yar’Adua to the finish line alongside his running mate. This was a firm determination to allow the balance of governance to shift to the North, since it appeared he did not favour his Vice, Atiku Abubakar, to take over from him.
This claim is not without foundation because anyone who was attentive before OBJ’s do or die move knew that the tide was ringing “Sai Peter!, Sai Peter!!, in praise of Dr. Peter Odili, who appeared to have won the hearts of many across the nation then. It is true that many have posited that in midwifing the emergence of Yar’adua, OBJ also created Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GEJ)—a Niger-Deltan, where the agitation for Resource Control was sounding uncomfortably loud. Therefore, the articulated balance of governance packaged in that year was to assure a shift to the North and a reduction in the tension arising from the Niger Delta.
Although death threw a blow on that balance of governance intent, no one can doubt that it was well conceived, and all saw how the Yar’adua government tried to accommodate the Niger Delta restiveness as a package of the balance of governance in order to keep Nigeria united. Things began to fall apart because the head of government died two years into their tenure, and GEJ’s emergence as head of government did no longer show that envisioned balance of governance; yet it was something that cannot be helped in a constitutional democracy—if we are truly one.
The real question that followed was how to stop a young man who just finished the term of his principal that he cannot contest for that position when it came up. It would have taken an angel made in heaven (of which Nigeria has few of) not to throw in his hat. He did and was favoured. It was his bid to re-contest for it that brought out the ire of many who felt that the balance of governance has to be restored in order to quell all the acrimonies in the body politic especially from the zone that felt cheated by the fortunes that threw up GEJ.
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The alliance was strong to the extent of unforgiveable betrayals from those GEJ trusted as his foot soldiers from that zone of the country, coupled with those that were in alliance for a “Shadow-Cabinet” should the balance of governance not be restored. The saving grace Nigeria had then was that GEJ was not made of a do or die steel—and so resisted everything proposed to him to foist himself unto power, the Nigerian way.
From the foregoing one can see how love for the unity of Nigeria created what I called the balance of governance in order to calm raw nerves that can lead to the disintegration of the country if not well-midwifed. Part of that midwifing was what GEJ confessed that he would not allow his personal ambition be the cause of the flow of anyone’s blood. Therefore, despite what he could have thrown up, in desperado, GEJ handed over power. It appeared that many in the APC imagined that it was impossible for GEJ to be a politician of class—hence the inability to convoke a cabinet soon enough because as some people said, they were not preparing to rule but to be restive.
Regardless of what anyone thinks, by GEJ’s statesmanship, a balance of governance was restored. But and unfortunately that victory came with few hydra-headed thorns. On the one hand is the perennial Boko Haram terror group who felt that they needed a place at the table because they contributed to the prize of victory. The next was the Cattle herders who felt that this is their chance to get their wish, and another group we were always told, in a cavalier manner, are foreigners who felt that they needed to be compensated for their own contribution.
Fearing what was tagged the Fulanization of Nigeria, many groups arose to agitate that they cannot give away an inch of their indigenous lands and that the acclaimed foreign elements terrorizing indigenous people should be flushed out. And standing on freedom of movement and government’s role to facilitate the ease of business, so much has been uttered to the praise or denigration of the government, the Fulani, and other indigenous peoples.
The summary of it all is the expression by the Fulani that Nigeria is their patrimony; and that by the indigenous peoples, that they are not slaves in their indigenous lands. The truth and fallacy of these are there for all to see. However, one thing clear is that the terror of herdsmen everywhere against indigenous peoples did so much harm to the Fulani tribe and the Fulani brand in the sight of other ethnic nationalities. It cannot be doubted that some other criminally minded people took advantage of the situation to designate themselves as Fulani in their acts of terrorizing others, as much as every heinous act in the pattern was lumped-up as perpetrated by the Fulani.
Unfortunate as it was, the situation was compounded by the apparent negligence by highly placed Fulani elite that controlled governmental powers to moderate those outbursts. It was like rubbing it into the eyes of other people that they own this place and others got to shut up and listen up. This of course has not yielded the result of acquiescence but has proliferated to many agitations in the name of: restructuring, confederation, true federalism, regionalization, and even to secession movements—all of which may not keep the country united as we know it.
Consequently, for Nigeria to be united as we approach another electoral cycle the balance of governance has to be utmost in the minds of Nigerians, both those in partisan politics and the rest who are consumers of the political products. Giving the foregoing and the unfortunate de-marketing of the Fulani brand, by commission or omission, the balance of governance, as we approach the next presidential election has two important questions to answer: Is Nigeria the Fulani patrimony, and are other Nigerians servants of the Fulani who can be accommodated only as it suits the Fulani. These questions are posed not for any bile against the Fulani, but as an act in reflective scholarship given what had been done in the history of the present democratic dispensation in order to keep the country united through the balance of governance.
The opinion of this work therefore, is that Nigerians of all tribe and tongue should take a stand for the cooperate existence of the Nigerian nation. That stand looks like this for this political thinker: because the present administration, knowingly or not, de-marketed the Fulani brand, the balance of governance in the next presidential election should not have anyone with a Fulani blood as head of the presidential ticket.
If any Fulani insists to be there, the one will be insinuating that Nigeria is the Fulani patrimony as proclaimed through the veil of the past few years—something which some fear can lead to a faster disintegration of the country. On the other hand, and since in a democracy everyone is free to participate in the electoral process, any other indigenous person who votes a Fulani to be president has accepted his or her servitude of that group—something for which the one loses the audacity to complain.
In all, this political insight insists that the balance of governance for a united Nigeria, post President Buhari, rests in the hands of the Fulani political elite, their king makers, and all who will participate in the midwifing the electoral process. They should know, in conscience, not to present themselves, sponsor any of their blood for the coveted office, or skew the process and result to their ethnic favor. This is not because none of them can competently lead or do a better job; but because they have to demonstrate their love and desire for a united Nigeria.
The military did it, when for their sin in the annulment of June 12 elections and the death of Abiola under their watch, midwifed a transition that had major presidential contenders come from the South— and particularly Southwest. Obasanjo did it when he led a “do or die campaign” to make sure that the balance of governance moves to the North at the end of his tenure—and one that also accommodated the Niger-Delta interest.
President Buhari can cooperate in the same sentiment. By and large, the Fulani political class, their kingmakers, and technocrats can also do likewise if they love Nigeria; if they really believe that they are co-owners of Nigeria with the other indigenous Nigerian communities; and if they believe that the other indigenous Nigerians are not their slaves but their fellow Nigerians.
If they do not and allow the emerging political flames to consume Nigeria, there will be no Nigeria for anyone to be a master of or a servant of. The issue of the region in the South that should produce a winner for an enduring balance of governance for a united Nigeria, will be the concern of the next write-up.
- Uju Okeahialam, Ph.D., is a Catholic priest based in Colorado, U.S.A.
