Northern Governors Want Power To Discipline Judges | Sahara Reporters

Northern Governors Want Power To Discipline Judges | Sahara Reporters

Whether or not you guys want to agree with me, what you are witnessing is a tacit rejection of the demand for a Sovereign National Conference by the Northern Governors Forum. Swallow your pride and accept the fact that they are two steps ahead of the south on the much overhyped “national question.”  Forget the un-education of the greater majority of the talakawas and the rejection of the almajiris by the ruling class of the north, truth is, if they had wanted a SNC, they would have gotten it long ago. What is evolving is a high-stake political re-engineering to position them in a superior bargaining power. You don't have to like or accept their demand, but they are making it plain to you that that is what they want. It is left for you to develop a counter or a superior argument. 

Why most of Nigerians, especially in the print media, keep writing and demanding for SNC, the Northern Governors already developing and articulating one blueprint after another; strategizing on their evolution and implementation. You may not agree with their modus operandi on remaking Nigeria as argued on Sahara Reporters today in a well written opinion titled "Governors Forum: Amaechi  And His Excellencies Of Irresponsibility?" By Ifeanyi Izeze.  Call them unprintable names, if you like; the future of Nigeria is at stake and they don’t want any southerner or southern interest to ambush them by surprise. Simply put, they are remaking Nigeria in their own image and for their best interest.  And that is a fact. It is left for you to come up with a position paper and argue your case before the public before a final decision is taking by the appropriate governmental body.

The real question right now is where is the southern forum group, if there is any on the issue raised or being canvassed by the northern governors? Where is the Association for the evolution of a Sovereign National Conference, if there is any?  In fairness, these guys as educated and intelligent as they are, they should be the ones developing blue print for a future Nigeria. They should blaze the trail as we are doing on this blog. Disappointingly, they are not even aware that northerners as represented  by their governors are at work, remaking a future Nigeria in their best interest. Like it or not, southerners always sleep on their rights, in spite of high percentage of academics from the region. This political naiveté borders on our inability to interpret history, analyze developing events, and react accordingly. This is exactly what they did when they allowed Dr. Jubrin Aminu (now Professor/Senator) to define the future of Nigerian Education.

Southern interest groups have been demanding for a talk (SNC), yet they cannot articulate or define a blue print for the actualization of the intended action. The Northern Governors are doing exactly as I suggested in my blog in January of this year.  But then, my message was actually directed to SNC enthusiasts, and not Northern Governors. In one of my January posts titled " The Search for a True Federalism: Balancing Feudal Interests with Southern Greed and Opportunism in Nigeria." I wrote the following: "The Sovereign National Conference (SNC), in spite of the noble intent of the proponents, is unrealistic for obvious reason - it is perceived by many as another way to legislate the disintegration of Nigeria. No government (elected government for that matter) would willingly sign on to a conference where no one is sure of the outcome. That is the opinion of those in government and majority of the power elite groups about SNC. Therefore, my suggestion to the apostles of SNC, is to set up a 'Progressive Think Thank' and use that as a platform to organize and hold conferences on the issues that we all care about - population, oil and gas permitting process, the state of origin concept, injustice, security, religious bigotry,  corruption, accountability, trust deficit, and poverty of ideas in the leadership. You don't have to wait for the government to approve of your goal to organize and strategize the way forward." From all indications, they didn't.

The Northern Governors did. They start by creating a war-room made up savvy political operatives, highly skilled in the act of governance, power brokerage and political re-engineering  - strategizing on the future of Nigeria and true federalism. They didn’t hide it; they told us they are going to set up such a body to counsel them on the future of Nigeria.  It is survival of the fittest.

Finally, the man you all love to hate, – President Goodluck Jonathan - did not approve of a Sovereign National Conference, but he gave you a Constitution Review Committee. My question to all southern opinion leaders, columnists, and bloggers, especially those overseas: how many of you send a paper to the Committee? What about those calling for dialogue on the nature of our future co-existence (SNC agitators)? Did any of you as a group or as individual submit any paper or memorandum to the Committee?  These are the same group of people that would shout the loudest, if the outcome of the Constitutional Amendment is  not written to their taste. The Committees’ mandate is still ongoing and it is not too late for those who have not submitted any paper to do so. We submitted ours long ago.  See "Memo to the Constitutional Review Committee."

It’s all about pragmatism – using whatever you have to accomplish what you want. Southerners, in spite of our enlightenment, we are not smart at interpreting developing political events. When push comes to shove, northerners always know when to go for the best in their midst to do the job.  In the south, it is always politics, godfatherism, and nepotism. And that is the number one problem militating against our collective growth, politically and economically. Until we learn to identify and use the best in our midst, especially on the evolving issues of true federalism and resource control, the northern power clique will always have the best of us, in spite the overwhelming numbers of PhDs and Professors of southern extraction.