Yoruba Muslim must rise to join in the condemnation of a Muslim/Muslim ticket to guarantee their relevance in the future
By Nchee Nwabunnia
Muslim/Muslim ticket, occasioned by the choice by the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Bola Tinubu of the former governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima, as running mate in 2023 election, is currently the topic by political commentators across the country. Both candidates are Muslims, thus, sparking the debate in a system where there had been an unwritten understanding on regional and religious balancing, all the while.
From the Christian minority of the North to the Christian majority of the South, the condemnation has been total and unrelenting. It does not end with the Christians, as many Muslims of good conscience have joined in the condemnation.
As the debate continues, many have narrowed it on an obvious negligence of the Christians of the North. An act which they see as an outright case of; ‘they don’t matter, their votes, are negligible, we can do without them and or they are not considered as part of the North and can never share from the power equation accruing from the North’.
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Whichever may be the case, it implies that a whole population of Northern Christians from Benue to Plateau, Nassarawa to Kogi, Adamawa to Taraba, Niger to Kaduna, Kastsina to Kano, Kebbi to Sokoto, Borno to Gombe, Kwara to Jigaawa, etc, men and women of substance, who have distinguished themselves in various fields of endeavour, be it politics, military, civil service, academics, business, etc. are not qualified for a Vice President position.
While the above narrative subsists, it is important to equally see it from a perspective many seem not to be paying attention to. While Tinubu a Southern Muslim is flying the APC presidential flag, the mostly bigoted Northern Muslims do not truly see him as a true Muslim and a representative of the Muslim faithful. This impression was partly what informed their insistence of a Muslim/Muslim ticket as it appears. While the Northern Christians are crying foul, the Southern Muslims in my opinion are also expected to be crying foul too.
This is because while the Northern Christians agitation may be considered in subsequent selections, especially if they put their votes where their mouth is by ensuring the failure of Tinubu at the polls, the Southern Muslim in keeping mute may have boxed themselves to a corner in subsequent elections especially if Tinubu’s failure becomes attributed to this unbalanced selection.
While many refer to Abiola’s Muslim/Muslim ticket and its result, even though botched by the same military that made it happen, it is important to note that the obvious long years of military rule blunted our senses at the time, except for the need to wrestle power from them and return to democratic rule. As a result, every social and religious divide was sacrificed to let the Muslim/Muslim ticket fly. At the time, the primary objective of the country was a return to democracy.
Time has passed and objectives changed. While we must all agree that we have wrestled power from the military since 1999, the country is faced with fresh new challenges. As political objectives had shifted from wresting power from the military to other national issues such as; power shift, balance of power, rotation of power, and national unity, the voting pattern will definitely not be same as the Abiola era.
It is pertinent to note that only one factor remains constant in all of these and that factor was/is the perception of Yoruba Muslim as second class, negligence of the Northern Christian and insistence of a Muslim/Muslim ticket by the obviously self-styled powerful Muslim North. It is either their way or no other way. While this persists, it is now time for the Christian North to fight for their right.
If the Christian North fights in unison, the multiplier effect will be a failure of this unbalanced APC ticket at the poll, a nullification of future thought of such, an open door for future consideration of Northern Christians and suppression of the Southern Muslim.
The fact and fear of the last in the list of all highlighted probable is the very reason why the Yoruba Muslim must rise up now to join in the condemnation of a Muslim/Muslim ticket. If they keep mute today for obvious perceived gain in the hope of another Abiola winning trend, they may forever remain sidelined in the future, if the result turns out differently. It will simply mean that future permutations will not consider a Southern Muslim for the top job. The double jeopardy being that it is morally wrong, religiously imbalanced, politically unacceptable and above all unsaleable.
The destinies of the Southern Muslims and Northern Christians are tied together for any to clinch the topmost job. As a result, any effort at suppressing any must be resisted by the other. Any form of connivance by any in the oppression of the other may be counterproductive and a case of self-harm.
Nchee Nwabunnia, wrote from Lagos
