Daily Trust, a national newspaper of 8th November 2020, reported Chief (Mrs) Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele, the Chieftain of Afenifere, the Pan-Yoruba Socio-cultural group.
The paper quoted Bucknor-Akerele 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 elites who parasitically live in Nigeria through dubious means have started a campaign of calumny instead of raising developmental issues to advance their cause.
What is the matter, if the next president is an Anyima man/woman from Cross River state or Buru from Yobe State or Fulani from Sokoto? Will any of these men/women overhaul the Nigerian system to create massive employment for our restive youths, provide reliable electricity and potable water, needed security and infrastructure and galvanize industrial revolution?
Are Nigerian political elites thinking of how Nigeria will fare in the face of a population explosion with over 400 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 the 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 an abyss of poverty, hopelessness and destitution?
To emphasize 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 Yaradua of blessed memory and the current President, Muhammadu 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 emphatical 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 flashing points that are ‘no-go-area’ 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 Institution of learning. Recently, a group of university First Class graduates of diverse disciplines from the state university, Umaru Musa Yar’adua University wrote, an emotion-laden letter to the university’s visitor who is the Governor of Katsina State, Alh. Bello Masari to intervene in their issue.
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 has about 36 members stated in their letter “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 job proved futile over the years despite the convincing fact that we graduated with good grades.
We candidly solicit for 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 badly for society.
Poverty, a twin brother of unemployment makes 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 in Nigeria with Katsina record of 56%. Regrettably, this unpalatable picture of poverty in Katsina state was and still 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, with the exception of 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 power and means of aggrandizement of our commonwealth.
‘Presidency rotation’ helps to produce mediocre as political officeholders. Thus, the Political office holding to the few political elites has become a tool for self-service rather than an opportunity to serve the nation credibly.
Nigerians must wake up to resist the high-level of political manipulation from the unpatriotic political elites. 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 differences, that is 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 councillor 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 should have all his sons and daughters in public primary, secondary schools and university. Our next president should not fly out of the country for health challenges. The same situation should apply to the 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 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 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.
Prof Othman wries from NAERLS, ABU Zaria and can be reached via email: mkothman@gmail.com.
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