Sixty-one years after Nigeria became a sovereign state, it is yet to manage, very effectively, the cultural diversity that defines it as a nation. And this explains why, in spite of its independence, Nigeria still battles with overt representation imbalance. In effect, this ugly scenario has fuelled agitations from those who feel short-changed and marginalized by being denied access to power within the leadership arrangements of their home country.
The emergence, following the independence of 1960, of the first and the only Prime Minister of Nigeria, Sir. Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and the then Governor General, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe (both of blessed memory) was not different from the zoning arrangements in the current democracy. Then, both the north and the south were well represented in the national corridors of power.
In 1979, the late President Shehu Shagari had, as his Vice, the late Dr Alex Ekwueme to balance the north and the south power zoning equation. Each region as wll as each religion was well represented at the nation’s helm of affairs.
In 1999, after a quite long season of military interregnum in the nation, the current Fourth Republic emerged under Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as the democratically elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Emphasis was placed on zoning between the north and the south. Now, as 2023 draws near, the same concern seems to have dominated public discourse, as the ruling party, APC, has zoned certain key positions between the north and the south. For instance, the party has zoned the position of president to the southern region of the nation.
As it stands, the south-eastern geo-political zone is clearly the only zone in the southern region that has yet to produce a president. In view of this, one would expect that the zone should be eyeing the position. However, it seems that the desire for the position of president in the region is more intense in the south-western than it is in the south-eastern zone. As a matter of fact, whenever the issue of Igbo presidency comes up, it becomes difficult to decide whether the south-eastern zone wants Igbo presidency, restructuring or the Republic of Biafra.
Known for their individualistic tendencies, most south-eastern political leaders are driven by self-centredness, and this has affected the people from this zone over the years. The question which tugs at one’s heartstrings is: How feasible or realistic is the emergence of a president of Igbo extraction when the Igbo people are not united and cannot speak with one voice? Worse still, how can this section of the country produce the president given their perceived notoriety for playing bad politics?.
Truth be told, Nigerians are yearning for a president that will sustain their gains and secure their future. In fact, there is obvious need for a president who will unite all Nigerians (irrespective of their tribes, regional and religious inclinations) as a sovereign entity.
The Ndigbo seem to have been groping in the dark since the return to democracy in 1999. Some believe that Dr Alex Ekwueme was betrayed at the Jos PDP convention when the former President Olusegun Obasanjo was released from prison, only to be imposed as PDP’s presidential candidate. On the other hand, others believe that the scenario was akin to what happened to Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe during the First Republic when, after he had won an election in Lagos, the table was suddenly turned against him overnight. Now, the Igbo nation has to prove, beyond the pages of the national dailies, their inimitable twin sense of hospitality and industry, as there is hardly a community in Nigeria where one or more Igbo natives are not present.
Nigeria has been home to several indigenous pre-colonial states and kingdoms since the second millennium. It witnessed the Nok civilization in the 15th century, marking the first internal unification in the country. The modern state originated with British colonization in the 19th century, taking its present territorial shape with the merging of the southern Nigeria Protectorate and the northern Nigeria Protectorate in 1914 by Sir Frederick Lord Lugard. The British set up administrative and legal structures while practising indirect rule through traditional chiefdoms in Nigeria. Nigeria became an independent nation on October 1, 1960. It witnessed, from 1967 to 1970, a civil war which was followed by eight years of military rule. From 1979 to 1983, there was a short spell of civilian rule. And from 1983 to 1999, it was a long season of military dictatorship.
The current reality is that Nigeria is a multinational state which is inhabited by more than 250 ethnic groups which speak more than 500 distinct languages. All these groups identify with a wide variety of cultures. However, the three largest ethnic groups are the Hausa in the north, the Yoruba in the west, and the Igbo in the east. The three groups cover over sixty per cent of the nation’s total population. The official language is English, strategically adopted to facilitate linguistic unity and social integration at the national level.
Nigeria’s Constitution ensures freedom of religion, as the nation is home to some of the world’s largest Muslim and Christian populations. Nigeria is divided roughly in half between Muslims who live mostly in the north and Christians who live mostly in the south. Indigenous religions, such as those which are native to the Igbo and the Yoruba ethnicities, are in the minority.
As a viable regional power in Africa, Nigeria is indisputably the middle power in international affairs. And it is an emerging global power. Nigeria’s economy is the largest in Africa, the 25th largest in the world by nominal GDP and the 25th largest by PPP. Nigeria is often referred to as the Giant of Africa owing to its large population and economy. And by the World Bank’s ranking, it is considered to be an emerging market.
Nevertheless, Nigeria ranks very low in the Human Development Index and remains one of the most corrupt nations in the world. While it is a founding member of the African Union, it also boasts of being a member of such international organizations as the United Nations (UN), the Commonwealth of Nations (CAM), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the Organistion of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Nigeria is also a member of the informal MINT group of countries and it is one of the Next Eleven economies. In spite of all these winsome features which distinguish Nigeria in the comity of nations on the global scene, it continues to have issues with sustaining its obvious unity in diversity. Marginalization is a big issue in Nigeria. It is crucial, if peace, unity and harmony would be given their pride of place, that the Igbo should be supported come 2023. This cause must be singlehandedly supported by every Nigerian, regardless of his or her ethnic background, for equity, fairness and justice to have their way.
Professor Chinua Achebe, one of the greatest African writers and Nigerian Poet-Novelist explores, in his book, There Was a Country, an engrossing story of the Igbo people in Nigeria. Achebe, in this memoir, recounts how the most adventurous, enterprising, innovative and industrious Igbo people were maligned in the past and are still being side-lined in the power allocation arrangement of the nation.
He captures, with horrendous vividness, how the civil war, one of the modern Africa’s most disastrous events, left the Igbo population pitifully decimated and impoverished. Though, given their resiliency, the Igbo people appear to have gotten over the unkind treatment which they suffered in the hands of the Nigerian government both before and during the unforgettable civil war. To me, this is the right time for all Nigerians to rise above all known ethnic sentiments and rally around the Ndigbo nation to enable it to achieve its dream of producing the next president for the Republic of Nigeria. This development would serve as welcome reparation for the Igbo people who have been denied the opportunity of producing a president in Nigeria since it (Nigeria) became a republic.
Electioneering campaigns by the contending parties during have the potency of generating unnecessary tribal tension; indicating that Nigeria is still very much divided along ethnic lines, and far from being considered a truly united nation. This trend is not novel to Nigeria’s political history. A similar development was what actually informed the chain of events that led to the first bloody coup staged by the five Igbo Majors in January 1966. The counter coup, principally championed by the aggrieved northern elements within the then military formation, could not be avoided six months later. The three-year civil war that followed was the last straw which broke the camel’s back, as it sent Nigeria tumbling into a dark tunnel from which it was to emerge badly scarred thereafter.
Now, as to the question of whether or not the Ndigbo are truly ready for the 2023 presidency, my proposition is that the entire country should try and support the longstanding dream. This 2023 presidency dream is pretty realizable if all of us are ready to give it the shot it actually requires.
Interestingly, the unrestrained push for the Igbo Presidency developed from a robust debate which arose from my productive engagements with different Nigerian youth organisations during my series of advocacy peregrinations, quite interestingly in the north. The interesting thrust of the debate points towards the crying need to allow the south-eastern geo-political zone to have their fair share of leadership at the federal level come 2023.
However, the visible worry which most Nigerians outside the Igbo population have expressed relates to the seeming lack of preparedness on the part of the Ndigbo itself. Some enemies within the zone seem to be working at cross purposes with the noble idea of enabling her to produce the president that Nigeria and Nigerians desire come 2023.
This tendency can be considered very counterproductive, as it keeps eroding the confidence that most forward-looking Nigerians have in the capability of the south-eastern. And I think this is a critical issue which must be urgently attended to. To regain the people’s confidence in this worthy cause, the Ohaneze Ndigbo, the foremost Igbo socio-cultural group, has a duty to perform. It must, alongside other critical stakeholders in the other zones of the country, especially the north, quickly steer a productive debate as a way of dousing the unnecessary tension being fuelled by the divisive and incendiary agitation for the actualization of the Republic of Biafra nation led by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and his cohorts. This effort will definitely restore confidence in most Nigerians.
It is heart-warming to note that, currently, not less than four eminently qualified political juggernauts from the south-eastern geo-political zone have expressed interest in vying for presidency on the different political platforms. These ones are the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation and former Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim; former Imo State governor, Senator Rochas Okrocha; former Abia State governor and Chief Whip of the 9th Senate, Senator Orji Uzo Kalu and the executive governor of Ebonyi State and Chairman of South East Governors Forum, Engr. Dr. David Nweze Umahi (FNSE).
As a matter of fact, there is urgent need to support the emergence of the current governor of Ebonyi State, who enjoys the power of incumbency and can readily boast of quite a vast network of socio-political contacts. Umahi, no doubt, has what it takes to woo other states’ governors within his party, APC, to secure the party’s presidential ticket without hitch.
The interestingly unique strength of his, which gives him ascendancy over the other aspirants, is his unflagging commitment to nation building, even beyond the borders of Ebonyi State which he governs. Umahi has indisputably recorded sterling achievements in terms of his enviable penchant for ensuring equitable distribution of democratic dividends, his capacity for assuring social justice its pride of place, his technical know-how on the path to solving Nigeria’s peculiar problems on all fronts and his great sense of patriotism which cannot but guarantee the new face and phase of hope/unity that would ultimately give fillip to the execution of the Nigerian Project come 2023.
I implore the Ndigbo to focus on the prospects of Umahi’s infrastructural drives in Ebonyi State rather than focus on selling the divisive tendencies as well as fuelling ethnic tensions. There is no doubt that Rochas Okrocha enjoys a large following in the north owing to commitment towards guaranteeing the access of the less-privileged to functional and subsidized education.
It is my conviction that this may not be enough for to give him the APC presidential ticket. Umahi’s current political status is obviously an added advantage to the Igbo people’s drive towards producing the next Nigeria’s president. Being the only serving APC governor and presidential hopeful from the south-eastern region, Umahi stands a better chance, than any other aspirant, of clinching the party’s ticket, as he has no score to settle with other regions, particularly the north.
Danaudi, National President of Arewa Youths Advocate for Peace and Unity Initiative, writes from Bauchi via [email protected].
