By Sonnie Ekwowusi
Never in the political history of Nigeria has there been so much agreeableness or concurrence of views on the imperative that Ndigbo should produce the next President for Nigeria’s survival than now. This unanimity of views is not borne out of any misguided Igbo irredentism or narrow-mindedness: It is borne out of fair-mindedness and equity principle to give vent to inclusiveness, sense of belonging and balanced participation in our pluralist and heterogeneous society. This is probably why the PDP, APC and other political parties have not stopped musing over fielding Igbo presidential candidates in 2023. Since Nigeria’s independence no Igbo has functioned as the civilian executive President of Nigeria. Igbo has been playing second fiddle. In contrast, the North has been ruling Nigeria since independence and has not left till date. It is obvious that Nigerians are tired of this one-sided ethnic dominance of power. Nigerians want a power shift to the South. This is why any political party that fields a Northern presidential candidate risks losing the 2023 Presidential election.
So the South holds all the aces in the 2023 Presidential election. And among the 2023 Southern presidential candidates, the presidential scale of justice tilts in favour of the South-East presidential candidate. Why? Because the South-South and South-West had had their respective shots at the Presidency and the South-East has not. Truth is that justice is like the vital thread that knits human society together. Without justice it will be impossible to build a nation. Small wonder Aristotle praises justice to high heavens by stating that “neither the morning star nor the evening star is as glorious as justice”. The cardinal virtue and ethical conduct upon which Islam is built is justice. “Stand firm for justice…even if it is against yourselves, your parents or relatives…(Surat An-Nisa 4: 135) and “let not the hatred of others make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just for that is nearer to piety” (Surat Al-Maidah 5: 8)
Therefore if we want unity and peace to reign in Nigeria we must apriori allow communal justice to reign because unity and peace reside in the crannies of justice. This is why the Pan-Igbo socio- cultural organization Ohaneze Ndigbo tirelessly advocates for Igbo Presidency in 2023. Only last week the prominent Pan-Yoruba socio-political group Afenifere, pursuant to the idea of rotational presidency, power sharing in Nigeria and the Constitutional provision which stipulates that the composition of the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner and section as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and need to promote national cohesion, unity and loyalty in Nigeria, canvassed for the emergence of an Igbo President in 2023. According to Afenifere leader and statesman Pa Ayo Adebanjo, the major ethnic groups in the country have had respective their turns in the Presidency and justice and equity demands that it should be the turn of the Igbos in 2023. Pa Adebanjo speaks about a gang-up of other tribes in Nigeria against the Igbos. Says he, “If there is anything like a power-shift in Nigeria, it should go to the South-East. There is no doubt about that, any other thing is just a gang-up…there should not be any argument about that because the South-West has gotten it, the North has gotten it, South-South has gotten it. You want the Igbo to remain in Nigeria but you want to discriminate against them”
The fact remains that the deep-seated political, economic, social and cultural imbalances plaguing the Nigerian enterprise or, poignantly, the crisis of federalism plaguing Nigeria since her independence stem from the inability to manage Nigeria’s diversity well. For example, all the Constitutional Conferences that were held in Nigeria, from the 1957 Conference, 1994/1995 Constitutional Conference, 2005 National Political Reform, 214 Constitutional Conference to the Oputa Panel Report were all geared towards addressing and remedying Nigerian diversity. Historically, the 1914 amalgamation wrought by the British was to further accentuate her selfish interests in the colony. The amalgamation was a potpourri or assemblage of seemingly irreconcilable ethno-religiously and culturally diverse native kingdoms and nationalities. That was why the concocted amalgamation failed on arrival. It was a forced marriage that was, at the outset, bound to wobble. Owing to the clear absence of esprit de corps and cohesion amongst the nationalities which were forcefully amalgamated, Chief Obafemi Awolowo had referred to Nigeria as a “mere geographical expression”. With all the natural resources and minerals at the disposal of different regions at independence everything was working well for Nigeria. But it was short-lived. Under the pretext that it was a corrective and cleansing regime, the military (during the military interregnum) so much institutionalized official corruption in Nigeria that the country still bleeds from it till date. Apart from institutionalizing official corruption in Nigeria, the military destroyed the hitherto viable national institutions and systems in Nigeria, especially the educational system. The current 1999 Constitution (which is substantially similar to the 1979 Constitution) is General Abdulsalam Abubakar’s military Constitution not the much-vaunted people’s Constitution. It is not an autochthonous Constitution. No inputs from the people who are supposed to be the sovereign in presidential democracy. Simply put, the 1999 Constitution is an inconvenient inequitable constitutional contraption being used to perpetuate injustices in Nigeria. The Constitution over-concentrates enormous power (as could be gleaned from the long list of federal powers in the Exclusive List of the Constitution) in the hands of the Federal government thus leaving the Federating units at the mercy of the Federal government or as appendages to the Federal government.
There is no doubt that the discordant political tones in Nigeria are attributable to the foregoing. But discordant tones are no obstacle to nation building. For example, as complex and diversified as the United States is, it remains an exemplar of political unity, human solidarity and cooperation in tackling common problems. Unfortunately our greatest undoing in Nigeria, as I earlier said, is our inability to manage our diversity well. All the efforts in cultivating that esprit de corps and sincerity of purpose, or, whatever you may choose to call it, that is indispensable for nation building have come to naught. If Nigeria is a multi-lingual, multi-ethnic and multi-national society, one would have thought that power sharing must reflect the shared visions and aspirations of the variegated interest groups and nationalities that constitute Nigeria. For example, former Ohaneze Ndigbo President Chief John Nnia Nwodo says that “under the current Federal government Igbo representation is abysmal and falls extremely short of the constitutional provisions for the reflection of federal character in the appointment into important government positions…”. Nwodo is not alone in this lamentation. Until his death, fiery-fighter and conscientious objector the late Gani Fawehinmi SAN unceasingly bemoaned Igbo marginalization. Prof Wole Soyinka has also said that “the Igbo have been wronged desperately”. Igbos, according to him, “ have been brutalized in a way that justifies their feeling that they were not part of the nation”
Well said, but we must add that Igbo Presidency will not be delivered on a platter of gold. Neither will an Igbo President emerge from mere media sensationalism or media advertising blitz. Also an Igbo President will not emerge from appealing to popular sanctimonious sentiments. An Igbo President will not emerge from bragging in the media that Igbo are a force to be reckoned with in the scheme of things in Nigeria. Action not words. “A tiger does not proclaim his tigritude, he pounces”(Wole Soyinka). A river in turbulence is the fisherman’s gain. In other words, amid adverse circumstances, Igbos should re-strategize and re-prioritize to attain their destiny in Nigeria. Needless complaining about Igbo marginalization. “The challenge of disadvantages should be the Igbo man’s gold mine”, said Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu many years ago. The first disadvantage to overcome is to elect Igbo as President in 2023. Power is not given: it is taken. Igbo presidency will not materialize in 2023 simply because Igbo are clamouring for it: it may materialize after consultation, discussions, agreements and horse-trading or handshakes with other presidential aspirants from other geo-political zones. No free lunch anywhere. The Presidency will not be handed to the Igbos free of charge. Elder statesman Alhaji Tanko Yakassai says that the Presidency will not be handed over to the Igbos in 2023 free of charge. It will be on terms. He advises that the APC should come up with a “gentleman’s agreement that the nation’s highest office should rotate to the South-East after Buhari’s tenure” . Therefore now is the time for Igbo to regain their rightful place in Nigeria. Igbo should seize the present moment and work out their salvation in Nigeria. Igbo presidential aspirants should reach out to other political blocks and or geo-political zones in order to probably enter into mutual understanding, agreement, or accord or terms with them for ceding Presidency to the South-East.