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Checking The Wisdom Of The Unwise By Okorie Matthew
Carthage, a city in the history of the ancient world was a city of splendor. The city was so progressive in wealth, a reflection of the commercial prowess of the Carthaginians, that it drew, not only the attention but also jealousy and ire of the Roman Empire. The Emperor, historians tell us had at one time pointed at Carthage with a tinge of rage and jealousy and blurted “Carthage must be destroyed”. This resulted into the invasion of Carthage by the Roman Empire with a formidable resistance from Hannibal, the Commander of the Carthaginian Calvary and what followed was the Punic Wars. By the end of the third Punic War, Carthage eventually, was overran by the Roman Empire. Today, Carthage is an illusion, therefore to seek political relevance in Carthage today is, to say the least, most illusive. Carthage, to be ruled, must first exist!
Political and economic relevance are unarguably parts of the activities that dot a state or nation. It thus, behoves the people of such state to love, first, the state and then power in the state, whether political or economic. Since to possess power in such a state when it is non-existent is to dwell in a fool’s paradise. But in Nigeria, the Arewa people, from their recent position to return power to the North seem to love power more than Nigeria. The Arewa, propelled by ‘powermania,’ want to cling to power at the expense of Nigeria in their love for Nigeria. Thus they have relapsed into a cesspit of unprecedented unpatrotism cocooned in certain self-delusion that power is the prerogative of the North. But power becomes illusive in a Nigeria of an illusion, which the North tends to surreptitiously propose.
As it is, if well-meaning Nigerians do not rise in one beat to check this psychosomatic indulgence and corrosive wisdom of our unwise brothers, we all might, somehow, be decoyed into selfsame delusion. The South West have had and are having their share of political power. The South-East and South-South, not to mention the minorities, cannot be less Nigerian in a Nigeria where they are called Nigerians. The content of the boiling pot of national relevance, from the indices of erratic unrest and chaos in the country, is on the verge of eruption. Man, anywhere, anytime, may endure injustice, prejudice and double-balance, but not forever. Arewa have pressed this divisive and clannish proposition to their hearts, and intend to have, or so believe, that all the constituent units in the entity called Nigeria should swallow the poison.
However, the North, I admit has a point and in the same vein, the right, to pursue the Aso Rock sit in 2007. But I submit that that could only smack of fairness or logic or more so, national interest, if they had limited their reason to the fact that Nigeria needs a president that is acceptable to all Nigerians, a president whom we all could cast our votes for in confidence and trust of his credibility and ability like Nigerians did for the late MKO Abiola. But no! The North rather hinged their resolution to return power to the North on, in the words of Idris Kuta, the Chairman of Northern Senators’ Forum, “… fulfillment of a sacred gentleman’s agreement that was entered into by this country’s elder statesmen and women in 1998/1999.”
Kuta, no doubt, must have been referring to the communiqué of the NSF that reads, “ that we stand by the principle of rotation of presidency between the North and the South”. The phrase “gentleman’s agreement” very likely is in consonance with the North’s claim that the South had collectively signed a document at Agura Hotel in Abuja on February 1999 in demonstration of their acquiescence to relinquish power to the North after the tenure of the incumbent president, Olusegun Obasanjo. That was during a meeting of the Arewa Consultative Forum, led by Alhaji Lawal Kaita in which Northern leaders like Jubril Aminu, Adamu Ciroma and others were in attendance. Some of the Southern leaders in the meeting were the former Vice-President Ekwueme, Don Etiebet, chairman of the All Peoples’ Party, APP, Graham Douglas and others.
My position is whether or not there was any agreement of that kind between the Northern Elders and the South, is it wisdom for the North to propose such condition and arrangement because of the privilege they have had in Nigeria in the face of civil hostilities and agitations from the South-East and South-South if placed in the balance of truth, equity and fairness. Like the late Islamic Jihadist and Scholar, Usman Dan Fodio rightly said, “conscience is an open wound, only truth can heal it”. It is in this light that I call all Nigerians to put on the gab of co-operation for national integration and relevance like did the late Wada Nas who, against the opinion of other Northern leaders, had opted to think Nigeria first, and the North second by proposing that power should shift to South East. In the sense of power rotation my opinion is that power should rotate to South East and South South, in any order first, before returning to the North. It will only pay Nigeria if all Nigerians will think and see every Nigerian as Nigerian in Nigeria. I must say that what we need is a Nigerian President to make Nigeria the pride and dream of Nigerians. We do not need a Hausa, Yoruba or Igbo president at this point of our co-existence. I say this because I do not see Nigeria, like Eze Igbo Gburu gburu, Dim Ojukwu once said, as a nation the way we are going. It is only a Nigerian president that will heighten the prospect of our nationhood. But if ethnicity or power rotation should remain our emphasis, then the North would be wrong to initiate such masturbatory proposal instead of seeing the agitation from the other zones in the south as a Southern political abracadabra trumped up to rub them of their trophy from Allah.
Indeed, the problem of the North is existential anxiety. They seem to have been so hit by the malady of existential anxiety as a unit without the rudder of Nigeria’s political barge for this short time, that they have become oblivious of the truth that some other constituent units have been hit by the common malady of Nigeria federalism for so long a time, that they have not only died of it and are entombed, but are now awaiting resurrection from the tomb of existential anxiety to the virtual reality of national relevance in the capacity of rudder man. Is it wisdom for the North that has ruled Nigeria for as long as thirty two years to itch for the baton when the South West’s eleven years expires in May 2007, despite the fact that the South- East have put in only six months and the South-South, as the zones now stand, is yet to rule? Is it love or hate for Nigeria that fan such ember of inconsideration that, with the passage of time, that is, if the North continue to have it so, could precipitate another round of problem in Nigeria for Nigerians?
I must say that Nigeria is where and what it is today: the portrait of fragmented values, festered morals, untapped potentials, disillusionment of accomplishment and aberration of true sense of splendor and nationhood all because Nigerians have refused to come together to one position where the richness of our co-operativeness will open up the expected boundless possibilities for our nationhood. We will either reap the benefits of synergy in harnessing common political and economic power that come inform of shared privileges in the dynamics of our national development or the otherwise from this rabid sense of ethnic political indulgence and cleavage. Solomon one of the writers of the holy bible said in the book of proverbs, “buy the truth and sell it not” A writer once said that “truth like light will always shine though bitter and ugly it may look should anyone analyze it.” Nigeria will only become the Nigeria of our fathers’ dream if, the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba, Edo, Tiv and other groups know the truth and live by it in relation to our co-existence. A Yoruba man should be more Nigerian and less Yoruba, An Igbo man should be more Nigerian and less Igbo if ethnicity, clannishness, favoritism and corruption must be stamped out of our national life. This is why I would rather prefer that we have a Nigerian president than an ethnic president. Countries like Malaysia, South Korea, South Africa and others are either flying or about to fly while Nigeria is still busy gathering and drying her wet feathers.
Nigeria can only fly when the wind of true sense of nationhood blows her up after the sun of sincerity; justice and fairness have dried her wings. It is only then that true love for Nigeria can emerge, and it is only true love for Nigeria that can make our leaders fight corruption from the crown of Nigeria to her toe, not just political witch hunting and mudslinging as is evident in our polity today, otherwise Nigeria may adopt the same principle of reforms that Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia and some other countries took like the present Government is attempting to do but our practice will kill the process. Because principle is the kernel of success but practice is the bark that shields it from injury until it germinates and grows, bearing useful fruits. Nigeria can fly; only if we are committed to checking unwise wisdom in our body polity as a people.
Okorie Matthew Student, Mass Communication Lagos State Polytechnic, Isolo Campus. |