THE MAKING OF A STOLEN MANDATE: THE CASE FOR A PROGRESSIVE POLITICAL COALITION. March 31, 2013

Why I Feud With President Buhari and His Handlers.

What you are about to read is the foundation for the birth of APC - a beautiful thesis that came to pass in 2015, thanks to the esprit de corps of Chief Asiwaju Tinubu. They accepted the FRAMEWORKS of the thesis (change and political reengineering). And ran with it successfully. But there came the unexpected at its culmination. The mandate was hijacked at birth, ethnicized, misappropriated, and rendered nonsensical by Abba Kyari and Mamman Daura - apostles who knew no Christ nor heard of the Sermon on the Mount (the Progressive Manifesto). Today, what I feared the most while developing the thesis is happening throughout the Northern Region and spreading like wildfire to the rest of Nigeria. The core values of the mandate, written in 2013, went to the wrong hands, aborted.

HERE IS MY 2013 MEMO FOR CHANGE.

The Thesis:

How do you make a change in a given society, when those who ought to be at the forefront of change [northern academics, mavericks, and intellectuals] are the direct beneficiaries of the policies [feudalism and class system] that made the call for change inevitable?

This is not an isolated or abstract academic puzzle - it is the real deal at the core of our political impasse as a nation-state. And it is the first hurdle that those of us (non-partisan real progressives from the South) who think one great Nigeria is not an illusion (a reality) must first overcome to develop a formidable framework for a genuinely progressive movement nationwide.

Here is my approach to the Thesis.

In light of the current development in Nigeria, it is incumbent on the part of the vocal northern intellectuals to rebel in principle against the age-old oligarchy system of government prevalent in the northern region to collaborate with the progressives nationwide, to create a political culture that will stand the test of time and benefit everyone equally.

Given the scale of unrest in the north, rebelling against the feudal philosophy that perpetuates the class system, becomes a moral obligation, because (1), it is the right thing to do given the level of discontent as well as the total disconnect between the nouveau riche and the talakawa. (2), the obscene wealth flowing to some individual families in the north from lucrative oil blocs appropriated during the past military regimes is more than necessary to develop the region, and (3), the unpredictable nature of the class warfare that will engulf the area and the spillover effect to the other parts of the country, should status quo remains unchanged, is more potent than imagined.

Therefore, it is imperative on your part (Mavericks and militant intellectuals of the North) to either step out of your protective closets and align with progressives southerners in order to build a sustainable human and economic development throughout the northern region and Nigeria at large, or you remain ensconced in your El Dorado and suffer the Muammar Qaddafi's foolhardiness in the long run. Time is of the essence.

CHALLENGES BEFORE NIGERIAN PROGRESSIVES

I have no doubt in my mind that a progressive administration - precisely at the national level, devoid of ethnic or religious coloration - is our best hope given the level of discontent on campuses and the apparent disconnect between the governed and successive governments since independence. Until we have a genuine leader who espouses financial discipline, transparency, and accountability in the management of our wealth, we cannot make tomorrow better than today.

Given the fact that the present administration has not exhibited any modicum of rebellion against the status quo in terms of ideas and war against corruption, the earlier progressives of all shapes and stripes unite around a bold agenda and unseat the power clique the better for the nation at large. And that, my friends, is the surest route to emancipating and reinventing the Nigerian man inside of every one of us.

Therefore, this paper is more of a progressive pitch, making a case for (1), the need for southern progressives and northern mavericks and intellectuals to unite and rebel against greed and feudal principles in order to avert imminent class warfare. (2), that given the seemingly fragile state of our sovereignty, the idea of Sovereign National Conference, though well-intended, should not be a 'take it or leave it' option, because there are too many uncertainties surrounding its successful evolution within a definite time period. (3), that progressives and mavericks - with a uniform political and socio-economic agenda nationwide - stand a better chance at uniting this country and arresting the ills that facilitate religious intolerance, greed, corruption, and political assassinations, and (4), that the ruling class - from north to south and east to west - often times capitalizes on existing ethnic mistrust to perpetuate their dominance of the political forces at the perils of the greater majority. Therefore, defeating them in a democratic setting is morally imperative.

Culled from "Bridging the Educational Gap Between Southern and Northern Regions of Nigeria: The Need for an Integrative Model and a Progressive Political Option." By Alex Aidaghese.

Indeed, a new party, the All Progressive Congress (APC), was formed, and Retired General Buhari was chosen as the Presidential candidate and Chief Asiwaju Tinubu as the political leader. The PDP Presidential candidate, President Jonathan, was defeated at the subsequent presidential election, and PDP, surprisingly, went into disarray. It could not form a cabinet. And when it was eventually formed, it bears no traces of the patchworks that gave it life. And I cried out in an essay, titled "If Not Sonala Olumhense, Who? And if Not Now, When?"  Where are we today? 

How can you run a political party successfully or build a nation on the basis of a theory or philosophy that you appropriated freely, without the input or indulgence of the architects who gave it life? Every movie has a script, producers, directors, and performers. Today, APC, at the helm, has performers, but no script, no directors, and no producers in the spirit of its original formation and mandate. And that explains the chaotic situation we are in today in Nigeria. No one is in charge. 

The celebration of death has become the new normal. Investors are deserting Nigeria and flocking to Ghana in record numbers. And the entire North is in a state of anomie. A whole Nigeria! Terrorists can now enter our country feely, pick our school children from school in return for ransom when they like, imposing taxation on our communities Sokoto, Katsina, and Kebbi State, and assassinating our finest in the uniform when they like. 

Everything I saw and feared in 2013 that prompted me to write that thesis is happening now. Even though a Progressive party was formed and won the election, President Buhari hijacked it and made nonsense of it. In spite of everything, I won't call or start articulating modalities for the total dismantling of this country, because not every Hausa/Fulani is a Daura, Kyari, or Buhari. Be that as it may, the fraudulent unitary system of government that made President Buhari an emperor and a law unto himself must be discredited and abandoned pre-2023 Presidential election, if we must remain the same.  

Mr. Alex Aidaghese is the author of "Debating the Rule of Law: Why I Stand With President Buhari." Nigeria Village Square June 2015.