It was heartwarming and very reassuring to hear a foremost Nigerian political stakeholder speak the truth brazenly on TV yesterday (March 2 2022). At least there are still men of conscience left in the country, where selfish interests often supersede national interest. The issue of zoning came up during the discourse on Channels TV’s Politics Today program and Hakeem Baba Ahmed, the spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) tried to play smart with words, refusing to commit to a previously agreed zoning formula that will favor the South (read South-East). Immediately he began playing the ‘merit’ card, Pa Adebanjo, 94 by April, quickly reminded him that in 2015, he was the loudest voice calling for the presidency to be zoned to the North.
He also reminded him of the existence of the Federal Character Commission (FCC) which exists principally to protect the northern part of the country from being excluded from national affairs. He said it was hypocritical for people who support the FCC, a form of zoning, to reject zoning of the presidency. I agree with him.
Pa Ayo was brazen with the truth. When asked, he made it clear that the presidency should be zoned to the South, and not just the South, but the South East. Mr Ahmed had tried to box him into a corner so he could publicly deny his credence to the presidential aspiration of his kinsmen, Misters Tinubu and Osinbanjo. But he wouldn’t fall for it. At 94, he knew he had nothing to lose in speaking the truth. He said if we are to entrench EQUITY and FAIRNESS (capital letters for emphasis) in this country, then the presidency should be zoned to the South-East. QED.
I agree that the South-East cannot muscle or blackmail its way into Aso rock but in a country like Nigeria, we must agree that the presidency should be zoned. Nigeria is peculiar, a fact we must accept. It is not everywhere you look that you find a country with over 250 ethnic groups co-existing together. It is a bit silly to compare Nigeria with the United states of America (US) or the United Kingdom (UK) when it comes to the issue of zoning the presidency. They argue that presidents must emerge meritoriously from any part of the country as is done in the US and UK. But they forget to mention that the FCC or anything of that sort does not exist in the US and the UK.
In their foresight, the early builders of the nation divided the country into geopolitical zones for practical and practicable reasons. Our co-existence as a nation has been shaky and at the root of this shakiness is a lack of inclusiveness by some or all groups depending on what issue is at stake. You cannot expect to have peace in a country where certain parts of the country feel left out. And without peace there can be no progress. This year (2022), 4% of the national budget was allocated to the health sector, while a whooping 25% was allocated to defense and policing. That is, we are spending a quarter of our annual budget defending ourselves from ourselves. How do you expect to make progress?
If there was no FCC, the country would have been torn to shreds by now. Without FCC, some states in Nigeria might be unable to boast of up to a classroom of university graduates. I recall when I got admitted into secondary school, we (my colleagues and I) were informed that all the students in the school were carefully selected across the country based on merit. When classes began, I realized merit meant different things in different parts of the country. I had classmates who couldn’t say a word in English! Merit my foot!
If the zoning of student admissions and staff recruitment can be constitutionalized, why not zoning of the presidency? In an earlier article, I discussed how the South-East geopolitical zone was the most politically disadvantaged region in the country owing to their low population compared to the north. All things being equal (that is if we continue to vote along ethnic lines), the South-East cannot produce a president in an open election in this country. If the country can recognize educationally disadvantaged states, why not politically disadvantaged zones?
The dormant and docile South-East federal legislators are largely to blame for the political misfortunes of the region. Never has any of them ever stood up on the floor of the house or senate to move a motion for enshrining zoning in the constitution. After all, FCC was only introduced into the constitution in 1996. As contentious as it was at the time, it was borne out of necessity to maintain peace in the country. Why then does zoning of the presidency sound so alien and abhorrent?
Like I always say, peace is cheap, strife is costly. What is good for the goose, is also good for the gander.