By
Sanusi Lamido Sanusi
Every
moment in life is a moment of history. Every present action immediately becomes
past and roles played today will be remembered tomorrow with pride or shame,
satisfaction or regret. Yet some moments are clearly more momentous than others,
and represent far greater opportunities and dangers. These are often moments of
crisis, a word which in its Japanese form is written with two characters, the
one representing danger, the other opportunity.
The
deaths of ‘Yar Adua, Abacha and Abiola plunged Nigeria into a crisis. That
is, a period portending great danger for the corporate body called
Nigeria as well as near limitless opportunities for progress, for a departure
from the tension, the stagnation, the corruption and the injustices associated
with the dark period known as the Abacha days. For the leaders of Southern
Nigeria and, in particular, the two dominant tribes, the Igbo and Yoruba, it
represented an opportunity once more to make a move for the presidency, and
shift power (whatever that means) away from the North which has come to be
portrayed as the source of all the problems of the nation. The desire to win
over power is the natural goal of political activists. The use of propaganda,
blackmail, lies, bribery, deception, even threats of secession has been the
hallmark of many an astute political strategy aimed at attaining set goals. Yet
the choice of which method is appropriate to a specific polity in a specific
historical context is a difficult one, requiring a high sense of perception, a
knowledge of history, a natural intelligence and political sophistication. In
choosing the path of black-mail and ethnocentric diatribe, the leaders of the
South have once more displayed to the world their political naivete, and set the
stage for another defeat that may see them remaining in opposition for the next
four years.
One
marvels at the never-ending cycle which sees Southern Politicians play into the
hands of their northern counterparts. For
a people who take pride in the depth of their Western Education and who have
often expressed contempt for the
“backwardness” and “illiteracy” of their northern brothers, southern
politicians have presented to the world the ever-present proof that “book –
knowledge” and intelligence are not necessarily correlated. One recalls Chief
Awolowo’s description of Shagari as a “glorified Grade Two Teacher”. It
was missing on Awolowo’ that the more contemptible the adjectives he used to
describe Shagari, the lower he sank in the eyes of perceptive watchers, as the
man he was describing had clearly shown that he was better by defeating him in a
race both participated in from start to finish.
Western
Liberal Democracy is a product of the nation-state. It takes as given, the
corporate existence of the state and establishes institutions and the rule of
law such as to ensure that the system, rather than an individual, is relied upon
for safeguarding individual rights and societal values. To the extent that
Nigerians have decided to pursue the path of the Western Nations (or at least
those in power have decided that this is the way to go) participants would do
well to bear this fact in mind. A democratic system is primarily about
Institutions and the rule of law. It is not about individuals. We need a system,
based on laws and a constitution agreed upon by all, that guarantees each and
every Nigerian wherever he is from the right to full political participation and
unfettered expression. A system that protects each and every one of us from the
tyranny of an individual. A system in which our dignity and liberty are not
protected only when the president comes from our own part of the country.
Abacha
was a corrupt, ruthless dictator – period. Where he was from is immaterial.
All Nigerians, Northerners and Southerners, Muslim and Christians, suffered from
the corruption and injustices of his regime with the exception of a small band
of family members, sycophants and traitors who joined him in looting the coffers of our nation. Those who stood against his
tyranny and spoke out for freedom and equity suffered: among them Obasanjo, Yar
Adua, Abiola, Rimi, Ige, Lamido, Nwakwo and Ken Sarowiwa. A cursory look at the
list of those detained, framed, murdered, lied against, pauperized and otherwise
abused in the last five years will prove to honest persons that Abacha was no
respecter of region or religion and that he represented the least form of
humanity degenerating dangerously close to
bestiality, which is why, like Pharaoh, he is remembered today for his
evil rather than his good, for no good of his can obviate the memory, etched in
the individual and collective consciousness of Nigerians, of what
it is like to live in an environment of terror, not knowing who next will
be struck with impunity.
In
pretending that these are not the issues, in teaching their followers to oppose
Abacha not for his corruption, greed and cruelty but for his ethnic origins, in
portraying the annulment of the June, 1993 election as an act against the
Yoruba, in pretending that
Abiola’s death in prison was in some way different from ‘Yar Adua’s death
in prison, in claiming that the solution to this country’s predicament lies in
changing the ethnicity of the president and producing a “Southern”
President: in all this, the political leaders of the South have displayed the
highest degree of naivete, the lowest sense of responsibility and the crudest
application of their intellectual faculties. Worse than all this, they
have played straight into the hands of their political rivals, the Northern
Politicians.
The
history of Nigeria since independence is too recent, too many real-life
participants are still alive, for it to be rewritten with impunity as a
political strategy. It was only in the 1960’s that the Nigerian Army’s
officer corps was predominated by officers of
Igbo extraction. It was only in 1966 that a group of such officers
decided to destroy the peace of this nation and wage a war against other tribal
groups. That was when the five majors decided to eliminate the Premiers of the
North and West while letting the Igbo Premier go scot-free, to assassinate the
Prime Minister who was a northerner after having advised the Igbo
president to flee and letting the Igbo Senate leader go scot-free. To
execute the Minister of Finance who was from the Mid-West; to execute the most
senior military officers from the North and the West while letting the most
senior military officer and army commander who was Igbo go scot-free. Not one
prominent Igbo leader, military or civilian was touched . All the prominent
civilian and military leaders from other regions were executed. The Igbo senate
leader, acting for the Igbo president in his absence was, by the constitution,
mandated to swear - in the most senior NPC minister as Prime minister. He did
not. Instead, having consulted his Igbo President, and the president alone, he
handed over power to the Igbo GOC in flagrant disregard for the provisions of
the constitution. The speech of Nzeogwu, the magazines and newspapers published
in the six months of the Ironsi government, his declaration of a unitary state,
the provocation of northerners by Igbo traders who laughed at them in Sabon Gari
markets, all of these are too recent, too well-documented to be rewritten.
The
Igbo people were responsible for the first military coup in this country; They
were responsible for the first attempt at ethnic cleansing; They were
responsible for the first violation of constitutionally laid down succession
procedures; they were responsible for the destruction of the federation and the
creation of the unitary system of which they are now victims (since the initial
objective was for the Igbos to dominate the other groups); they were responsible
for Nigeria’s first civil war.
It
makes no sense, in the face of these facts, repeat facts, for the Igbos to shed
tears today and claim to have always been an aggrieved party. It will convince
no one. Granted, the Igbo people as a whole must not be punished for the action
of some. Granted, there can never be full reconciliation without justice and
equity. Granted, the Igbo people, like all Nigerians, have the right to fight
against perceived injustices. The way to do this is by integration into the
country, by joining broad-based parties and establishing a system that
guarantees all individuals and groups their rights and liberty. It is not by
crying Biafra again. It not by
following the man who led them to defeat and ran away to come back later and
enjoy his wealth. The Igbos have always had alliances with other parts of the
country. The astute political strategy is to go into one now. Tribalism will
lead to defeat, once more, and even more humiliation.
As
for the Yoruba, they have not been known to call for secession or the break-up
of the country until recently in the aftermath of the June 12 crisis and
Abiola’s death. One may not agree entirely with their description of
themselves as peaceful people, but they clearly are a peace –preferring
people, consistent with their well-known nature of seeking maximum enjoyment
from life at minimal personal cost. The Yoruba instinctively know that more can
be gained in peacetime than in war. Being business people, they have an acute
sense of the risks of war and its implication in terms of destruction of
accumulated wealth and property.
Yet
in spite of this, the Yoruba have in their politics displayed two consistent
streaks that have consistently kept them in opposition and cost
them opportunities for
coming to power.
The
second streak is self-centredness. Of all the tribes in Nigeria who sometimes
fight for parochial reasons, the Yoruba are the only group who clearly believe
they are Nigeria. When they have what they want, Nigeria is good. Otherwise it
is bad. When a Yoruba candidate loses an election (like Awolowo did in 1979 and
1983) it is rigging. When he wins (like Abiola in 1993) it is a landslide
victory in a free-and-fair election. When Buhari overthrew a democratically
elected and sworn-in government headed by Shagari, he was hailed as a reformer
who came to fight corruption. When his tribunals jailed ‘progressive’ Yoruba
governors for theft he became unpopular. When Babangida dissolved the election
of Adamu Chiroma and Shehu ‘Yar Adua as flag-bearers of NRC and SDP the
decision was hailed as patriotic and courageous even though it led to an
extension of military dictatorship. When the same man annulled Abiola’s
election it was a travesty of democracy. The list is too long to go through.
As
a result of these two characteristics, the Yoruba have tended to be received by
all other groups in Nigeria with one sentiment: mistrust. The Igbo people
believe to this day that the Yoruba led them into the war pretending to be with
them and dumped them at the last moment. During the Second Republic, a grand
alliance of four opposition parties capable of winning power from the NPN
achieved nothing when it became clear that for the Yoruba the issue was not one
of supplanting a conservative government and installing a progressive one, but
of securing the presidency for a Yoruba candidate – Chief Awolowo.
NADECO,
whose members had been strident opponents of Abiola branding him Babangida’s
boy, suddenly look up June 12 and tribalised the cause. Subsequent to Abiola’s
death, the memorandum NADECO submitted to the Government of Abdulsalam Abubakar
was such a comical exercise in vain hallucination and naďve optimism that one
wonders if those that drafted it were in complete possession of their mental
faculties.
The
Yoruba have become Nigeria’s wailing tribe, detaching themselves from the rest
of the country and alienating the people they hope to rule; abusing other
Nigerians through their vociferous media and hoping for votes from the same
Nigerians on ballot day.
The
lesson in all this is that the Igbo, Yoruba and all Nigerians must learn by now
that no one can win a national election on a tribal platform. Those clamoring to
join Ojukwu’s Igbo party, and those attempting to transform Afenifere/NADECO
into a tribal party are heading for a resounding defeat at the polls.
The
presidency can, and perhaps should, move to the south. But it will be to a
southerner who contests on the platform of Nigeria, not of his tribe. A
southerner committed to the system, to the rule of law and to the principles of
peace, justice, equity and freedom, not of avenging real or imagined wrongs; a
Southerner like Chief Abiola who stands the chance of winning.
This is an opportunity to make (or unmake) history. But, sadly, it is being thrown away once more in what may be the commencement of a new cycle of defeat, frustration and wailing.
You can read more about my article from my web page at http://www.gamji.com/sanusi.htm
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