By Simon Njoku
Frankly speaking, l am not a huge fan of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his All Progressives Congress, APC chorus singers.
However, l have observed that most Northern critics of his government are quick at drawing attention to the pains and hardship Nigerians are passing through as a result of harsh policies being implemented by the government. Northern critics also condemn Tinubu’s lopsided appointments into key positions in defiance of National Character provisions.
Yet, we all know that Tinubu has not acted in any way different from his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, during whose infamous administration Nigerians were subjected to monumental economic distress due to his inhuman policies and atrocities which exacerbated tensions and ethnic cleavages. While all that went on, the Northern elites kept silent, meaning consent.
Tinubu has now taken over the reins of power and is doing the same thing, now you Northern elites are complaining.
My worry is not that you are criticizing Tinubu and his policies. I am worried because the Northern critics of Tinubu are simply interested in getting him out of power by all means so that they can take over. They have started forging political alliances in this regard.
In all this plot to remove Tinubu, full of sound and fury, they have not offered any viable alternative to Tinubu’s policies.
Besides, they have never bothered to ponder over any of the fundamental issues at the root of Nigeria’s backwardness as a nation. They do not seem to care about the challenges faced by the nation in the areas of fiscal federalism and political re-engineering. They have not been able to effectively articulate measures
that could lead the nation out of the woods.
The South is, for instance, pushing for a new constitution that Nigerians can embrace as their constitution rather than one imposed on them by the military. The South is interested in discussion on the manner of relationship among the component units of the country, Nigeria, which will form the basis for the continued existence of Nigeria. The South also argues that the agreement that led to the amalgamation of Southern and Northern Nigeria Protectorates in 1914 has expired since 2014, hence the need for a re- negotiation of terms for the union.
Again, for most Southerners and the Middle Belt, the usual claim that the unity of Nigeria is not negotiable, no longer holds water as it has been discovered that the claim is made by the ethnic group the status quo favours most, the Fulani.
Furthermore, while some Southern political thinkers have suggested regionalism as a way forward for the continued unity of Nigeria, others insist on dissolution of the union or self- determination for willing ethnic nationalities.
Unfortunately, the Northern elites have not offered any constructive or well articulated response to the propositions of their Southern counterparts. They are just preoccupied with getting power back to the Fulani North. They are engrossed with schemes on how political power would return to the Fulani North in 2027 or thereafter but with Tinubu out of the way in 2027.
Currently, they are shopping for a viable candidate they could use to unseat Tinubu in 2027 and as a stop gap for the Northern project in 2031. Caution: The pliant Southerner that agrees to be used in 2027 may risk assassination by desperate Fulani political mafia that is very impatient for the 2031 Northern project.
Nigerians observe the high sense of urgency and ferocity with which they are going about their lust for power. Without any concrete plan on what they will do with power when they get it, entrusting power with this group of politicians is certainly risky. It will, as in the past, take Nigeria back to the dark ages.
Therefore, Northern politicians should really refrain from just attacking Tinubu’s government or blaming it solely for the nation’s economic woes. They should begin to proffer policy options and respond to the propositions of the Southern political elites.
They should be concerned on how to reverse the nation’s downward economic trend. They should express their thoughts on workable political structure for the nation and the requisite constitutional framework to drive the nation’s affairs in the years ahead. These are some of the fundamental issues requiring urgent national dialogue ahead of the 2027 elections. The nation needs to discuss and reach agreements on these crucial issues.
Moreover, if power is to rotate to the North in 2027, fairness demands that other ethnic nationalities up North rather than the Fulani should be given a chance to produce the president. The Fulani is not the only ethnic group in the north. Their kinsman, Muhammadu Buhari, was the immediate past president of the nation from the North. Come to think of it, the Fulani presidents we have had in the past contributed little or thing to national development. They bequeathed crisis, poverty and terrorism to the nation. Indeed, these are not charitable legacies. Buhari is a case in point. General Yakubu Gowon ( Ngas ethnic nationality) and General Ibrahim Babangida (Gwari ethnic nationality), for instance, can today be remembered for their positive contributions to national development. Babangida ‘s achievements, for instance, are too numerous to be itemized here.
In other words, the Fulani cannot just brow beat their way to power at the expense of the other ethnic nationalities in the North. These other ethnic groups, like the Ngas and Gwaris, have something to offer and should be given a chance.
The belief that the North is synonymous with Fulani or that Fulani is synonymous with Northern Nigeria; the impression that the North begins and ends with Fulani ethnic nationality, has no place in contemporary Nigerian history and politics and should be exterminated from anybody’s mind. It is a fallacy from the pit of hell.
The North, over the past few years, refused to pay heed to the admonitions of one of their own, Sanusii Lamido Sanusi, current Emir of Kano, on the need for true leadership, leadership rooted in people-oriented policies, policies that uplift people from poverty and destitution. They have no reason therefore to blame Tinubu for high level of poverty in the North.
They should begin to engage meaningfully in political discourse rather than rigidly clinging to worn out political dogma.
With the Fulani, there is also this penchant to impose their views on other ethnic nationalities. Why do they always shy away from dialogue even when the rest of the North and the nation as a whole express willingness to jaw jaw?
The political and socio-economic terrains globally are changing and very fast too. Nigeria as a nation should also brace up for the needed change. Northern Nigeria should show readiness to engage the South and the Middle Belt at a political summit for Nigeria to survive. It is very risky to handover power to the North without the issues germaine to the continued existence of Nigeria thrashed out at a round table conference. The time to dialogue is now.
- Simon Njoku, February, 2025
