Nigeria seems to be at a serious cross road at the moment. The economy is not making progress, IMF has called for the devaluation of the Naira, a development which will affect every person who is living within the borders of Nigeria who has any amount of Naira. The election tribunals are working assiduously and it seems that elections held in the South South and South Eastern geopolitical zones are believed to have been tainted with irregularities and the election tribunals akin to the messianic anti-corruption crusade of the corruption Czar, President Muhammadu Buhari is annulling governorship elections won by the PDP with reckless abandon.
If you have been following news in the past one week, Governor Wike of Rivers State has been ousted and rerun of the polls ordered. However, he maintains that he is still the governor and is seeking redress at a higher court which is the final for election cases, the Appeal Court. Gov Umana of Akwa Ibom, the Dakada prodigy was given a soft landing and he still remains the governor while rerun has been ordered in 18 LGAs. However, I am not much interested in the fate of these two men who I know have the 'manhood' to defend their mandate.
I shall instead focus on the calls for release of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of IPOB who is being held by the DSS and Buhari's agenda for Nigeria. For the records, I believe in Nigeria more than I believe in Biafra but as an indigenous son of the South Eastern region of Nigeria, I am more given to being concerned about issues that have to do with my people as it concerns marginalization in the Nigeria state. Over the week, three prominent Nigerians have called for the release of the leader of IPOB in succession. First Femi Fani Fani-Kayode released his article titled "Nnamdi Kanu and The Cry For Biafra", secondly, Chief Chekwas Okorie granted an interview where he stated that for the president to curtail the agitations of Kanu, he has to unconditionally release Kanu, implement the resolutions of the National Conference which was organised by former President Goodluck Jonathan one of which is true federalism. FFK was more outspoken when he declared on Facebook that "I call on President Buhari to release Nnamdi Kanu. It is unlawful for anyone to be in detention for more than 3 days without being charged to court." Over the weekend, Premium Times published an interview granted by the President of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Udengs Eradiri who while arguing that the president's anti-corruption fight is targeted at Ijaws and men and women who supported ex-president Jonathan, called on Buhari to release Nnamdi Kanu without any further delay.
At the begining of this administration when President Buhari was handed over to by ex-president Goodluck Jonathan, his approach to governance was quite worrisome and many of us echoed those sentiments and were rebuffed by those who so much believe in Buhari's integrity and anti-corruption stance as the panacea for development and progress. We in the opposing camp were of the hypothesis that some of the fundamental pillars of development in an ethnically polarized country like Nigeria which is unity and inclusiveness governance which creates a sense of belonging and responsibility for all the stakeholders of the Nigeria project were being blatantly ignored. While many were of the position that the president has the right to carry out his appointments single-handedly in any manner he deemed fit, they often forget that every action of the president of Nigeria who can bring up treasonable charges against another citizen must be guided and should exist within the confines of the 1999 constitution as the number one and model citizen. It is unlawfully to take actions which concerns Nigeria without recourse to the 1999 constitution. A major phenomenon which those who crafted the constitution foresaw as a result of the experiences and lessons learned from the history of Nigeria, the principle of Federal Character was thrown to the dogs by the president and his men. They smuggled in many terms to defend their utter disregard of the constitution in the name of appointing competent people who will work at the presidency, these people constituted the bulk of the first 40 appointments made. It was not long before the president's gaffes and innuendoes began to unravel his nepotist, cronysim, sectionalism and northanizaton agenda.
It was the president who told Nigerians that he would not treat those who gave him 5% of the vote the same with those who gave 95% during his visit to the USA. It was the same president who told Nigerians that his appointments were based on his trust for those who has been with him through his trying days of APP/CPC wilderness either on BBC or Aljazerra. It was becoming clear that what Nigerians thought was competence was cronysim and nepotism at its best. As we speak, the southern part of Nigeria has been heavily marginalized by the Buhari's administration and his anti-corruption radar have focused more on those who hail from the south. On this premise, the secessionists have found solace and voice to agitate their positions. I was of the opinion that given the scepticism of many from the south during the just concluded elections, Buhari would have towed the path of building bridges and running the most inclusive government that we will ever have in the history of Nigeria till date. I was of the opinion that given that no party was contesting his presidency and no people raising any objections, the president would have done the country good by ensuring that each geopolitical zone was duly represented in the presidency and in other appointments which he has sole powers to carry out. I believe APC is existing in every state of the federation and are capable of producing brilliant individuals from every state who could have been considered for such appointments. Does it mean at 70+, Buhari is not cosmopolitan enough and cannot boost of friends from the six geopolitical zones, if he cannot, does his party APC not have representatives in each state in Nigeria?
However, the president chose to tow a part which has put a knife in the heart of the Nigeria state. We are more divided than we were on May 29th, 2015. Visit any social media platform and the discussion on virtually any political topic or issue tilts towards ethnic lines and divide. The president is not helping matters. Instead of ameliorating the situation, he is exacerbated the fragile situation. His latest faux pax is the appointment of Prof Yakubu as the Chairman of INEC after much agitations on the acting chairman who was rumoured to be related to the president. Many have analysed the situation including the vocal Gov Fayose of Ekiti State who has observed that former heads of states and presidents who are from a particular region say north often appoint an INEC chairman from the opposite region say south because of the sensitive nature of that position and the heavy responsibilities of the commission which is the umpire of our nascent democracy. What is Buhari afraid of? Could he not find any person from the south who he can trust that is competent enough to hold position of the INEC chairman at least to redeem his image as an 'ethnic bigot' and bring a sense of independence and prevent this country from implosion? I was telling a friend that such trajectory of appointments of the president puts him in very tight corner. For instance, given the issue of Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB, who amongst the Igbo leaders can he appeal to, so they as elders, they will call Kanu to order. In Igbo land, when your Umunna calls you to a meeting, you are under obligation to honour them with your presence. Is it the Ohaneze that has been crying and shouting of marginalization in the past 5 months that will now turn around and help Buhari stem the tides of secession?
Again, I keep wondering what the agenda of Buhari is because most of his actions are anti-progress. If Nigeria erupts today into ethnic squabbles and struggles, if the militants take to the creeks and the Biafrans up their tempo, that will give Boko Haram a breathing space to take more local governments as they are currently occupying two according to the governor of Borno and that implies more bombings. Now if the Niger Delta erupts, with oil prices down, and low revenues from oil, the mainstay of our economy, is that not an invitation to recession and anarchy? As much as I don't know what Buhari's agenda and polices are for moving Nigeria forward aside his trade mark anti-corruption crusade, as I speak I do know that his 'body language' a term coined by the president's hatchet men is largely anti-progress and inappropriate for Nigeria. I earnestly wish that President Buhari will succeed but how do we reconcile his actions and polices up till date which does not correlate with peace, unity and progress.
Nnamdi Kanu is still in detention and may be released early this week, the struggle for IPOB will continue and the fallout of the president's actions and inactions from this detention is giving impetus to other aggrieved groups to up their tempo. How the president will undo the marginalization of the past five months and run an inclusive government which will provide a platform for positive change which Nigerians need as much as they need oxygen is up to him. As he flies to India this week, I hope he can take some time mid-air to reflect on his five months as president of Nigeria and his achievements so far. If indeed his agenda is to move Nigeria forward, I believe there is still opportunity to make amends, if his agenda differs from the ideal, Nigeria will be heading for the waterloo under Buhari.
God bless Nigeria!
