The
Yoruba elite and area-boy politics; Igbo marginalisation and the responsible
limits of retribution; and The Yoruba Factor and “Area-boy” Politics.
My
views on the Yoruba political leadership have been thoroughly articulated in
some of my writings, prime among which was ” Afenifere: Syllabus of Errors”
published by This Day (The Sunday Newspaper) on Sept 27, 1998. There was also
an earlier publication in the weekly Trust entitled ” The Igbo, the Yoruba and
History” (Aug. 21, 1998).
The
Yoruba elite were the first, in 1962, to attempt a violent overthrow of an
elected government in this country. In 1966, it was the violence in the West
which provided an avenue for the putsch of 15th January. After Chief Awolowo
lost to Shagari in 1983 elections, it was the discontent and bad publicity in
the South-West which led to the Buhari intervention.
When
Buhari jailed UPN governors like Ige and Onabanjo, the South-Western press
castigated that good government and provided the right mood for IBB to take
over power. As soon as IBB cleared UPN governors of charges against them in a
politically motivated retrial, he became the darling of the South-West. When
IBB annulled the primaries in which Adamu Ciroma and Shehu Yar Adua emerged as
presidential candidates in the NRC and SDP, he was hailed by the South-West.
When the same man annulled the June 12, 1993 elections in which Abiola was the
front-runner, the South-West now became defenders of democracy.
When
it seemed Sani Abacha was sympathetic to Abiola, the South-West supported his
take-over. He was in fact invited by a prominent NADECO member to take over in
a published letter shortly before the event. Even though Abiola had won the
elections in the North, the North was blamed for its annulment. When Abdulsalam
Abubakar started his transition, the Yoruba political leadership through NADECO
presented a memorandum on a Government of National Unity that showed complete
disrespect for the intelligence and liberties of other Nigerians.
Subsequently,
they formed a tribal party which failed to meet minimum requirements for
registration, but was registered all the same to avoid the violence that was
bound to follow non-registration, given the area-boy mentality of South-West
politicians. Having rejected an Obasanjo candidacy and challenged the election
as a fraud in court, we now find a leading member of the AD in the government,
a daughter of an Afenifere leader as Minister of State, and Awolowo´s daughter
as Ambassador, all appointed by a man who won the election through fraud.
Meanwhile,
nothing has been negotiated for the children of Abiola, the focus of Yoruba
political activity. In return for these favours, the AD solidly voted for Evan
Enwerem as Senate President. This is a man who participated in the two-million-
man March for Abacha´s self-succession. He also is reputed to have hosted a
meeting of governors during IBB´s transition, demanding that June 12 elections
should never be de-annulled and threatening that the East would go to war if
this was done. When Ibrahim Salisu Buhari was accused of swearing to a false
affidavit, the Yoruba political elite correctly took up the gauntlet for his
resignation.
When
an AD governor, Bola Tinubu, swears to a false affidavit that he attended an
Ivy League University which he did not attend, we hear excuses.
For
so many years, the Yoruba have inundated this country with stories of being
marginalised and of a civil service dominated by northerners through quota
system. The Federal Character Commission has recently released a report which
shows that the South-West accounts for 27.8% of civil servants in the range
GL08 to GL14 and a full 29.5% of GL 15 and above. One zone out of six zones
controls a full 30% of the civil service leaving the other five zones to share
the remaining 70%. We find the same story in the economy, in academia, in
parastatals.
Yet
in spite of being so dominant, the Yoruba complained and complained of
marginalization. Of recent, in recognition of the trauma which hit the
South-West after June 12, the rest of the country forced everyone out of the
race to ensure that a South-Westerner emerged, often against the best advice of
political activists.
Instead
of leading a path of reconciliation and strong appreciation, the Yoruba have
embarked on short-sighted triumphalism, threatening other “nationalities” that
they ( who after all lost the election) will protect Obasanjo ( who was forced
on them). No less a person than Bola Ige has made such utterances.
To
further show that they were in charge, they led a cult into the Hausa area of
Sagamu, murdered a Hausa woman and nothing happened. In the violence that
followed, they killed several Hausa residents, with Yoruba leaders like Segun
Osoba, reminding Nigerians of the need to respect the culture of their host
communities. This would have continued were it not for the people of Kano who
showed that they could also create their own Oro who would only be appeased
through the shedding of innocent Yoruba blood. I say all this, to support
Balarabe Musa´s statement, that the greatest problem to nation-building in
Nigeria are the Yoruba Bourgeoisie. I say this also to underscore my point that
until they change this attitude, no conference can solve the problems of
Nigeria. We cannot move forward if the leadership of one of the largest ethnic
groups continues to operate, not like statesmen, but like common area boys.
iii.The
Igbo Factor and the Reasonable Limits of Retribution.
The
Igbo people of Nigeria have made a mark in the history of this nation. They led
the first successful military coup which eliminated the Military and Political
leaders of other regions while letting off Igbo leaders. Nwafor Orizu, then
Senate President, in consultation with President Azikiwe, subverted the
constitution and handed over power to Aguiyi-Ironsi. Subsequent developments,
including attempts at humiliating other peoples, led to the counter-coup and
later the civil war. The Igbos themselves must acknowledge that they have a
large part of the blame for shattering the unity of this country.
Having
said that, this nation must realise that Igbos have more than paid for their
foolishness. They have been defeated in war, rendered paupers by monetary
policy fiat, their properties declared abandoned and confiscated, kept out of
strategic public sector appointments and deprived of public services. The rest
of the country forced them to remain in Nigeria and has continued to deny them
equity.
The
Northern Bourgeoisie and the Yoruba Bourgeoisie have conspired to keep the Igbo
out of the scheme of things. In the recent transition when the Igbo solidly
supported the PDP in the hope of an Ekwueme presidency, the North and
South-West treated this as a Biafra agenda. Every rule set for the primaries,
every gentleman´s agreement was set aside to ensure that Obasanjo, not Ekwueme
emerged as the candidate. Things went as far as getting the Federal Government
to hurriedly gazette a pardon. Now, with this government, the marginalistion of
the Igbo is more complete than ever before. The Igbos have taken all these
quietly because, they reason, they brought it upon themselves. But the nation
is sitting on a time-bomb.
After
the First World War, the victors treated Germany with the same contempt Nigeria
is treating Igbos. Two decades later, there was a Second World War, far
costlier than the first. Germany was again defeated, but this time, they won a
more honourable peace. Our present political leaders have no sense of History.
There is a new Igbo man, who was not born in 1966 and neither knows nor cares
about Nzeogwu and Ojukwu. There are Igbo men on the street who were never
Biafrans. They were born Nigerians, are Nigerians, but suffer because of
actions of earlier generations. They will soon decide that it is better to
fight their own war, and may be find an honourable peace, than to remain in
this contemptible state in perpetuity.
The
Northern Bourgeoisie and the Yoruba Bourgeoisie have exacted their pound of
flesh from the Igbos. For one Sardauna, one Tafawa Balewa, one Akintola and one
Okotie-Eboh, hundreds of thousands have died and suffered.
If
this issue is not addressed immediately, no conference will solve Nigeria´s
problems. By Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. Being Excerpts from A Paper Presented At The
“National Conference On The 1999 Constitution” Jointly Organised By The Network
For Justice And The Vision Trust Foundation, At The Arewa House, Kaduna From
11th –12th September, 1999.
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