The South Should Stop Blaming The North For Political Failures

Editor's note: Ubaka Chukwuka Maximus, Legit.ng guest author, comments on the lack of political equilibrium in President Muhammadu Buhari's administration. The president has been repeatedly accused of favouring the northern political leaders with the distinguished posts, thus depriving the other regions of their share. However, Ubaka Chukwuka is convinced there is something much more solid behind the so-called loopsided appointments than mere geographical affiliation.

The people of the South, especially the South East, have this self-acclaimed superior wisdom over the Hausa/Fulani ethnic groups in the North. But the past and present situations have exposed the wisdom in the acclaimed foolishness of the northerners and the foolishness in the presumed wisdom of the southerners. Any user of the social media will agree with the assertion that the inhabitants of the southern region, particularly the South East, have emerged as the wailing wailers of the new administration.

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The North takes over

This is very safe to say that the North understands the dynamics of the Nigerian politics better than the other regions; it is on top of the game. The region is presently heading the three arms of government: President Buhari in the executive arm, Bukola Saraki in the legislative arm and Mahmud Mohammed in the judiciary. President Buhari can hardly be blamed for the lopsided balance of power because leadership in the National Assembly is elective, and the judiciary follows the practice of seniority in office. Moreover, careful scrutiny of the National Assembly election process showed the enthronement of the northern objective rather than the supposed power tussle between the PDP and the APC. Let us presume that President Buhari has no hand in the election outcome, but having 37 appointments in the Aso Rock, all from one region, puts a question tag on the duty of the president with regards to Section 14(3) of the 1999 Constitution. Mention is not made of the appointment of the INEC chairman, the DSS director, and the most recent replacement of the EFCC chairman with another northerner.

To each according to his deserts

Clearly, one of the advantages of the power balance is that it makes the regions dependent on one another; it creates politics of concession and compromise, which encourages national unity and understanding. As it is today, the North decides who gets what, when and how. I should say in all honesty that the North deserves the position it currently occupies in Nigeria. It strategically planned this moment having failed to capture power several times through a regional party. It aligned with the willing South West and the gullible North Central to enthrone an ethnic lord as the president of the republic. The bounty of victory has been shared, and those who did not contribute to the victory are wailing now. The president did not miss words when he said the regions that gave 5% of votes would not be treated equally with the regions that gave him 97% of votes.

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It serves the southerners right!

The South is wailing because the weak Jonathan failed to read in between the lines, when Professor Attahiru Jega proposed the additional 30,000 polling units giving his region 72%, while the entire South including Lagos state got 28%. We are wailing because the southern governors decided to keep mute, when Professor Jega allowed collection of the PVC by proxy in the North, and prohibited the same in the South. The North is not to blame for the short-sightedness and individual approach to politics in the South. There was mass exodus of the northerners to their respective states a few days to the presidential election to vote Buhari in, however, down here in the South, especially in the South East, the people, who claimed they loved Jonathan, did not even get close to the polling units; instead, they opened their shops for business. Anambra had 703,409 votes cast out of the 1,963,427 registered voters; the same can be said about Enugu and Imo states. The Igbo wanted to benefit from the harvest they did not help to cultivate as if Nigeria is an advanced democracy, where the elected president becomes the president of all citizens irrespective of the voting pattern.

Who is to blame?

The South finds it very convenient to blame the North for its political exclusion, but it has easily forgotten that it had six years to put everything right. There was Jonathan, who failed to accept the Constitution Amendment Bill that would have favoured his region. We had Jonathan, who played politics with the Confab report because he wanted to patronize the South West with its implementation. What did the Igbo acрieve when Alex Ekwueme was the vice president during the Second Republic? Did the Igbo prove consistency in leadership when they were allowed to occupy the position of the Senate president? The ripples of the civil war are clearly visible in the Igbo’s approach to politics.

The Igbo should stop wailing, and go back to the drawing board; 2019 is coming. They should learn to negotiate and reach the mutually beneficial compromise. Alliance with the South South alone will not give the region any political leverage. The region should capitalize on Buhari’s shortcomings to convince the South West and the middle belt that the Igbo should be trusted with the presidency. President Buhari is showing Jonathan what it means to be the commander-in-chief. He is not ready to trade a bird in hand for an imaginary elephant in the bush. He is in charge, and he does not care how much southerners wail or protest.

Mr Chukwuka is a graduate of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

This article expresses the author’s opinion only. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Legit.ng or its editors.

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Source: Legit.ng