The Search For A True Federalism – Part Three

Northern Power Madness, Feudalism, and Playing The Religious Card. 

(1) The classification of the progressives in the north, as well as those in the south as fakirs (infidel), is the oldest trick in the book. They use the New Nigerian Newspaper and Radio Nigeria Kaduna - a federal government own radio station to propagate fear of southern dominance in the mind of average northerners. They successfully and consistently monopolize federal structures and federal institutions through strategic placements facilitated by the application of federal character and Quota System to strengthen their dominance as well as the resistance of outside influence and the much-derided western culture and Awo populist programs.

(2) In the past decades, while it was morally and constitutionally sacrosanct to apply federal character and quota system from the position of the vice president to the lowest level in government in every administration - even under military regime when the constitution was supposedly suspended - the position of the president was appropriated with unbridled impunity by the Hausas and the Fulanis for many years, without regards to the rotational constitutional arrangement.

(3) Intriguing as the inordinate power ambition has been, it was never appropriated for the benefit of the poor and the generality talakawas. It was simply designed to protect the business empire and political interests of the very privileged few who have been in government over the years.

(4) I do not think that the talakawas in the streets of Kano, Kaduna, and Sokoto would have supported the continuation of British occupation of the entire country because of the imaginary fear of second colonization of the north by the south at the exit of the British as expressed by the leadership of the Northern People’s Congress in 1953.  NPC was not ready for emancipation and the rest of the country had to wait until October 1960 for them to be ready to take power at the center.

(5) Similarly, Midwestern Region was never created because the Northern People’s Congress (party in power at the center) care for Midwesterners more than Action Group (the party in power in the region); the creation was calculated to dilute Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Action Group’s national spread and influence. The Northern region, as at the creation of the Midwest Region was almost twice the size of the western region, yet the northern region was left intact.

(6) Adding to that, the demand for the creation of a Middle Belt Region by Chief Joseph A. Tarka and members of the United Middle Belt Congress was as fierce as the demand for the creation of the Midwest Region by the Osadebes, the Benins, and the Deltas. Middle Belt Region was never created. It was all about magnitude and dominance.  Shrewd political leaders as the Sadauna of Sokoto and Sir Abubakar Balewa were, they understood that very well and did everything possible to diminish the importance and influence of their fiercest competitor - Awo.

(7) As stated above, Balewa left northern region intact, because doing so was of a great strategic and political importance. The bigger northern is, the larger the power and strength it commands in the union - a development that Awo considered anemic to the true concept of federalism. However, when the time came to allocate oil money, the present generation of the same northern power block did not hesitate to splinter the same untouchable northern region into pieces - even more than structural reasonable - because doing so brings more money to the region from the federation account. The same northern region that Balewa and Sadauna did not want to touch, now has more states and more local governments in Nigeria than the entire southern region that was already three regions before the civil war.

(8) Today, free education at all levels, though practicable, is an aberration at the national level, because Dr. Jubrin Aminu now Professor (Senator) Jubrin Aminu was of the opinion that a nationally implemented free education at all levels has the potential to widen the already educational gap between the North and the South.  I do not think northern students, their parents, and teachers would have opposed the introduction of free education at all levels in line with the retrogressive argument of Dr. Jubrin Aminu to the effect that free education at all levels would only benefit the south.

In his own words: “In the Universities themselves, the Federal Government is now contemplating introducing free education. Whatever may be the merits of this considered step, its likely effect on the University population must be mentioned. It is going to result in an even greater imbalance in enrollment, for the simple reason that at the moment, there are a fair number of highly eligible candidates for University education, mainly from the educationally advanced states,[west, east, and Midwest] who unfortunately cannot enter University simply on financial grounds.” “Educational Imbalance: Its Extent, History, Dangers and Correction in Nigeria”. By Dr. Jubrin Aminu, National University Commission.

Simply put, affordability by the Federal Government was never his argument.  His divisive logic was that if the Fed provides free education at all levels, poor families in the south who would not have taken their children through the university system, because of financial problems would then be able to do so. On the other hand, poor families in the north will not take advantage of the policy, because of their resentment towards western culture and values. That was Dr. Aminu’s argument in the memo, not mine. Such a development, he argued, would ultimately add to the existing education gap between the north and the south. And to prevent this from happening, the idea of free education at all levels should be considered not of national interest. And they did. Obasanjo was the Military Head of State. And that remains the policy till today.

(9) The same Dr. Aminu later served as a Vice-Chancellor of a national University, Ambassador, Minister of Petroleum, Minister of Education, and now a Senator for life. Only in Nigeria! It will never happen in another country – for a guy who so shamelessly and openly agitates sectional interests to be able to serve in multiple strategic national positions over and over again throughout his lifetime.

(10) As a Minister of Education, he introduced nomadic education, designed exclusively to educate children of herds’ men (cattle ranchers). As usual, they gave him a blank check to do his wishes. But at the same time, he waged a personal war against Dr. Festus Iyayi of UNIBEN and the entire ASUU members; he starved our Universities of needed funding and wasted millions of dollars on the program without a single pupil graduating from it. He later abandoned the program for reasons left for Dr. Aminu to explain.

(11) The educational gap between the north and south that Dr. Aminu wanted to bridge by all means possible, did not happen overnight in the south. It was made possible by the embrace of Christian Missionaries in the East - integration of religious studies with scholarly pursuit - by the Ibos. And in the Western region, by the free education program of Action Group as well as the acceptance and embrace of western culture and values side by side with the Yoruba creeds by the people of the Western Region. Dr. Aminu acknowledged these facts in his 53-page memo, rather than strive to adopt the same programs nation-wide, he demanded that the rest of the country wait for the north to catch up, whether or not the North was willing to embrace the same values and programs that made educational advancement possible in the south.

(12) There is no denying the fact that Boko Haram is chicken coming home to roost. The educational policy selfishly designed to frustrate poor southern families is today, a boomerang in Dr. Aminu's face. It succeeded in creating generations of uneducated, easily manipulated religious extremists in his backyard – a cesspool for Boko Haram adherents and a recruitment reservoir for those who want to impose a state religion on the rest of us. What is called for is coherent national education policy, with the full support of the federal government, similar to what Action Groups did in the Old Western Region and what the Late Abubakar Rimi did in Kano State in the second republic – a grass-root educational campaign that won his administration a UNICEF Award.  Details in the spring of 2012.

(13) Also, I do not think that the electorates in the geographical north would have voted for the nullification of the June 12, 1993, presidential election won by a southerner, if there was a referendum to that effect. IBB did not serve the interest of the Talakawas when he annulled a successful presidential election – a rare accomplishment by the international standard - that would have made him a great leader today. Smart as he is, IBB allowed that invisible oligarchic clique in and out of the military to hijack his sense of judgment and succumbed to the antediluvian popular convention to the effect that the north is ordained to retain the presidency of this country as long as it wishes.

(14) When IBB and the remnants of the Northern People’s Congress decided to pacify western region for the annulment of the June 12, 1993, election won by a Yoruba man, they went for one of their own, Obasanjo – the Clarence Thomas of Egbe omo oduduwa - a captive of feudal Machiavellianism when he served as a military head of state in the 70s.

(15) Not long ago, some of our Northern Governors introduced Sharia Laws, without apparent reason, other than the emergence of a southern Christian as the President of this country, in the person of President Obasanjo. There is no moral or socioeconomic explanation for the introduction of Sharia Law in those states. The introduction of Sharia Law is today, a catalyst for the audacity of Boko Haram and the escalation of their crusade. The legislative stamp on Sharia Law via the legislative actions of the northern governors goes to the root of the mystery surrounding the evolution of Boko Haram and their operational network.

Here, we set out to prove two things: One, that the presidential zest of the northern leadership elite knows no limits, and two, to prove that the presidential power that they have so brazenly pursued, and with so much impunity and ruthlessness, hardly translate to purposeful governance or improvement in the overall well-being of the generality of the people - the middle class, the Talakawas, and the Almajiris. Therefore, in light of these facts, it would be uncharacteristic of me to support the call to throw the bathwater out with the baby. Rather, effort should be made to wrest power from those that wield it on behalf of the privileged few.

December 2011