Daily Trust of November 8, 2020, reported Chief (Mrs) Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele, the Chieftain of Afenifere, the pan-Yoruba Socio-cultural group, saying, “The presidency of this country has always been rotated between North and South.
If one group thinks they can dominate the rest of us forever, they are only asking for this country to break up because people are going to resist it”.
Afenifere’s threat that ‘Presidency must return to South’ is a clear indication that the electioneering campaign for 2023 presidential election in Nigeria has earnestly commenced. We must shine our eyes as the political elite, who parasitically live on Nigeria through dubious means, are regrouping to start a campaign of calumny. We will, however, prefer that they raise developmental issues to advance their cause.
What is the matter if the next president is an Anyima man/woman from Cross River state or Bole from Yobe state or Fulani from Sokoto? None, as long as he would overhaul the Nigerian system to create massive employment for our restive youths, And provide reliable electricity, potable water, needed security, infrastructure and galvanize industrial revolution.
Are Nigerian political elite thinking of how Nigeria will fare in the face of a population explosion with over 400 million people to feed by the year 2050? Which of the two major political parties has a transparent blueprint and strategy that can address myriad challenges militating against nation-building? Why are we not building our campaign around developmental issues instead of useless ‘rotation of the presidency’? Yes, what is the use of the rotation when the Nigerian project is gradually and steadily sinking into the abyss of poverty, hopelessness and deprivation? To emphasise the uselessness of ‘presidency rotation’ between the north and the south, I must provide a vivid example of my personal knowledge and experience.
I am among the so-called ‘Hausa-Fulani’ extractions from Katsina state, the state of Mr. President, Muhammadu Buhari. In the current political dispensation, Katsina state is privileged to have produced two presidents; Umaru Musa Yar’Adua of blessed memory and the current President, Buhari.
Additionally, the state produced a Speaker of the National Assembly, at one time who is currently the governor of the state, Alhaji Bello Masari.
Today, what are the special privileges being enjoyed by Katsina people? Are the infrastructural developments in Katsina state, and the whole north better than those in the southern states? The answer is emphatically NO.
Apart from having from one of her sons being the nation’s president, Katsina state is hardly enjoying special privileges.
In reality, the state is losing its fundamental right of security to rampant and deadly activities of armed bandits. There are many hotspots in the state where people hardly sleep with their eyes closed for fear of being kidnapped, maimed or robbed.
In fact, there are flash points that are ‘no-go-areas’ to ordinary citizens except one is courting to be kidnapped. It is like the state is being “punished” for producing two presidents and a speaker.
Another critical issue of concern to us in Katsina state is the massive unemployment of youths, especially graduates of higher Institutions of learning.
Just recently, a group of first-class graduates in diverse disciplines from the state university, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua University, wrote an emotion-laden letter to the university’s visitor, the Governor of the state, Alhaji Bello Masari, to intervene for their employment.
Katsina Post, an online newspaper reported the incident http://katsinapost.com.ng/2020/10/20/help-us-group-of-umyuk-unemployed-1st-class-graduates-writes-to-gov-masari/
The group, with 36 members, stated: “As First Class graduates of Umaru Musa Yar’Adua University, we have the desire to selflessly contribute our quota to the development of education in Katsina, but unfortunately, all our efforts to secure lecturing (sic) job proved futile over the years despite the convincing fact that we graduated with good grades.
We candidly solicit your help as the chief visitor of Umaru Musa Yar’Adua University. By working in the state, we would be able to give back in return as much as we can”. Well, the governor graciously directed for the employment of 2019 first-class graduates, according to the news. However, it is worthy of note that this type of frustration of our best among the youth is highly regrettable and portends poorly for our society.
Poverty, a twin brother of unemployment, make significant impacts in the northern states more than the southern states.
Statista (https://www.statista.com/statistics/1121438/poverty-headcount-rate-in-nigeria-by-state/) presented 2019 Poverty headcount rate of Nigeria with Katsina record indicating 56%. Sadly, this unpalatable picture of poverty in Katsina state is similar to most states in the North. Sokoto, Taraba and Jigawa all had 87% poverty rates, Adamawa – 75%, Zamfara – 74%, Gombe – 62%, Bauchi – 61%, etc. However, except for Ebonyi and Enugu states with poverty rates of 79% and 58%, respectively, all the southern states had less than 40% poverty rate.
The lowest poverty rate was that of Lagos state with 4.5%, which is the state of Mrs Bucknor-Akerele, where she once served as deputy governor.
The next state with low poverty rate was Delta state – 6%, followed by Osun state – 8.5%, Ogun state -9.3%, Oyo state -9.8%, Edo state -12% and Ondo state – 12.5%.
So, ‘presidency rotation’ does not help the majority of Nigerians except the few political elites who use it to grasp the position of power and means of aggrandizement of our commonwealth. ‘Presidency rotation’ helps to produce mediocre as political officeholders.
Thus, political office holding to the few political elites has become a tool for self-service rather than the opportunity to serve the nation credibly.
Nigerians must wake up to resist the high-level of political manipulation from the unpatriotic political elite.
They use sectional, tribal and religious differences to divide us and give advantage for the emergence of incompetent leadership at a different level of governance.
Members of this elite group are united among themselves irrespective of their political difference that is why their children are busy marrying each other.
The only thing in their mind is how to grasp political power by hook or crook.
From now onward, we must challenge political contestants from the position of the presidency to local government councilor to clearly show us how they intend to govern us.
What are their political manifestoes? How can they provide adequate, reliable and sustainable electricity, portable water, roads, security, food sufficiency, employment generation, health care services, etc? Our next president’s children should attend public primary, secondary schools and university here in Nigeria.
He and his family should not fly out of the country for health challenges, and the same situation should apply to governors, ministers and members of the National Assembly.
This way, we will be forced to equip our schools and hospitals to international standard.
Our next president should invest 20% of his government’s annual budget to education, 10% to agriculture, 10% to health and 20% to infrastructural development.
The first law of the next Assembly is to ban public office holders from sending their children and wards abroad for education and health services.
We must support our local initiatives to meet our needs as this country is endowed with unlimited resources.
The campaign of presidency rotation is simply a grand deception to Nigerians, and we must unite to resist it. We must shine our eyes.
Professor Othman writes from NAERLS, ABU, Zaria via [email protected]
