One thing about the political landscape of Nigeria that has never ceased to amaze me over the years is the absolute political naivety of the average southerner (pardon my choice of words). The southerner (their opinion leaders as well as the common folk) would time and again take a perfectly legitimate national struggle and convert into a regional or tribal one. They have this thing (maybe it’s a psychological disorder, or perhaps an addiction of sorts) of always wanting to be a victim of the other…in this case, the Northerner. They would readily play the victimization card even though this has not gained them much political leverage in the past. Take the manner in which the current political brouhaha in the country is being misconstrued by many a southerner to be a grand northern conspiracy to hold on to power at all costs [visit online blogs like saharareportes. com and nigeriavillagesquar e.com and read the comments that people make and u’ll know what I mean]. And this is why I classified their behavior as a “psychological disorder” or an “addiction”, because it is only these two that would make one to behave consistently in an irrational manner. Let’s look at the facts….

When Umaru Yaradua left the country more than three months ago, Abubakar Atiku and Muhammadu Buhari were amongst the first set of prominent Nigerians to call on the National Assembly to take appropriate action over the continued absence of the President. Their call came before that of Prof. Soyinka and that of Olusegun Obasanjo. These two Nigerians, one a former Head of State and the other the immediate past VP, are not only Northerners, but they happen to come from the same ethnic group as Umaru Yaradua. In fact, Buhari comes from the same state as the President.

What about the retired Chief Justices that went to the National assembly to present a report in which they recommended that the VP be empowered to an Acting President status? ARE THEY NOT NORTHERNERS?

What about when past Nigerian leaders led by Gen. Yakubu Gowon and Shehu Shagari went to the national assembly to make the same call? ARE THEY NOT NORTHERNERS? Even the protests organized by Wole Soyinka and Co, if u look at the names of the leaders of the protest, you’ll find quite a number of prominent northerners including women.

Now let’s look on the flip side (at those wanting to maintain the yaradua presidency at all costs)….

Let me start with Turai yaradua. A lot has been said about her over the last couple of weeks. I really can’t say how much of it is true, but I have very strong doubts that she has what it takes to mastermind and execute all that has been attributed to her. But for the sake of argument, let us assume she did all of those things. On what basis would the actions of Turai (the wife of the President) be equated to a conspiracy by the entire north? Are they saying that if Yaradua, like Gen Babangida or Atiku Abubakar, had married from the south, that their wives would not have stood staunchly behind their husbands and do what ever it would take to prevent their husbands loosing position? When Ibrahim Babangida was under pressure for annulling the June 12 presidential elections, did Maryam Babangida (from Edo State) join Anthony Enahoro’s (also form Edo state) NADECO or did she stand by her embattled husband?

The point I’m trying to make is that, just because Turai is from the North, doesn’t make her actions a northern conspiracy. If she was form anywhere else in the country I believe she would still do the same because that’s what women do….they stand by their husbands, they fight for their husbands if need be. It comes natural to them. [Just before you go thinking that I am a “Turai boy” or a member of the Team Turai, I want to state clearly that I do not support any of the things that she’s alleged to have done]. 

Turai aside, lets look at the other members of the “kitchen cabinet”, those that have fought tooth and nail to maintain a Yaradua presidency and subvert a Goodluck Acting presidency….

I’ll just list out the names that have reached us most frequently from the media; Aaondoaka, Ojo Madueke, James Ibori, Abba Ruma, Tanimu Yakubu, and Abdullahi Sarki Mukhtar. Does this in anyway look like a team to conspire for the north? There are six names here, three from the north, three from the south. It looks to me, like a group of Nigerians trying hard to hold on to their positions and privileges they enjoy from the Yaradua presidency, period. In fact, if u look at the list closely, you’ll notice that the northerners in the list, don’t even represent a wide area of northern Nigeria because they are all from the same state, Katsina. Also, there is one amongst them who clearly fought the fiercest for his boss yaradua. He did all he could legally and otherwise to stop Goodluck from becoming acting president. When he failed he left the country because he probably couldn’t stand working under Goodluck. Guess who it was? A northerner? NO! It was Aaondoaka. A man that was not only southern, but was as southern as any southerner can be. SO HOW DARE THEY CALL IT A NORTHERN CONSPIRACY?

But like I said in the beginning, the first reaction an average southerner has for anything is to jump and point accusing fingers to the people of northern Nigeria (even when the average northener is not any the better than his southern counterpart) . They seem to believe that the north is perpetually coming after them with a dagger even when all the facts suggest otherwise. And in that manner, they have succeeded in reducing many issues that have a national appeal into at best, a regional matter or even a tribal brawl. Remember the MKO Abiola presidential mandate? Here was a man who received more votes from the north than from the south. A man whom the people of Kano rejected one of their own (Bashir Tofa), and voted massively for. But when the struggle to actualize the mandate began in earnest, his kinsmen instinctively wrapped the entire issue with an Aso-oke material and thus transformed it from national to tribal. In their rhetoric they accused the north of not wanting to let go of power even though it was the military that didn’t want to let go of power. The military was headed by a northerner one would argue, but the same military truncated an earlier transition programme even though the two presidential candidates for the only two parties in existence then, were all northerners( Shehu Yaradua and Adamu Chiroma). Or are they saying that the north in that case was conspiring against itself? Isn’t it clear that it was the military that was trying to hold on to power and not the north? Wouldn’t the struggle for MKO been more effective if the north was not alienated? And when the military was finally forced to give up governance, was it the south that achieved it or a collective effort of the Nigerian people? Most of the southerners that were opposed to Abacha were not even in the country, it was the northerners that stayed back to face the wrath of Abacha. Shehu Yaradua was imprisoned until he died even though he had the opportunity choose the easier method of opposition by leaving the country. And at the same time, there were southerners like Ojo Madueke (yes, the same guy) who were shamelessly supporting Abacha’s tazarce.

I think I’ll rest my case at this point because I think I’ve spoken too much already. But before I do, I’ll like to call on all Nigerians form the south who happen to read this, that some issues are national in character and should thus not be trivialized and reduced to a regional or tribal one. All the northern leaders that called for Dr Goodluck to be made acting president, didn’t do that because they preferred power to go to the south but rather because they felt a compelling need to call for what is right and best for Nigeria. And until all Nigerians stop viewing things from the very narrow lenses of regional and tribal affiliations, and start to base their judgments strictly on the standards of right and wrong, then the Nigeria that we all dream of will never come to be.

Thank u 4 reading and have a lovely weekend.