In response to CAO, I do not believe that there is anything like a coherent northern Nigeria. The effort to create one northern Nigeria even where it exists has something dubious about it. The masses are just used and later neglected. They are treated as expendable. Some of the so-called northern elites based on the comments of a friend and classmate who is the secretary of one of the groups, cannot even meet in one room because they fundamentally disagree among themselves. Maybe at particular moments and crucial junctures it may appear that they are united, but simply because the elites are united does not mean the masses are included. Many of the peasants have what is almost like medieval mindset even though we live in the 21st century.
On another note, for anyone who says that northern Nigeria is not backward today, such a person probably has not traveled across the country and talk to different people and also see for himself or herself the depth and seriousness of poverty and social exclusion, which also exists in other regions of the country but it is far more terrible in the north. I must say though that the fact that the north is backward even today does not mean it is the fault of the rest of the country and it is no excuse for a president to govern as though he is just representing a particular region. I thank God that while I was in Nigeria for thirteen months, I took the risk to travel by road and talked to many people. Actually after doing that, it made me feel humbled about what I say about the country and also made me feel in my hotel room that many on Channels Television in Nigeria just talk but do not know the complexity of Nigeria from the bottom up. One person from Awka who attended a church meeting in Katsina came back giving testimony in the church as if he visited another country. I wish we have excellent road infrastructure and political system that allows Nigerians to easily move around and interact with people without any fear. It will help educate all of us about ourselves.
There was a time when members of NEPU were imprisoned by NPC. And there was a time when PRP in spite of whatever its problems, did not see eye to eye with NPN. And the tension between the Kanuri and the Hausas has been there in history for anyone who cares to take note of. It continues to this day. I learned more about that while I was in Yobe State in 2017 for ten weeks. I believe when Nigerian elites believe they can all get what they want, they are united by and large in ruining the country, and the poor masses are the ones that are left behind.
There is something called "Group Worth" and often that sentiment in used to mobilize people. I am from Bauchi state for instance but other than the sentimental feeling of group worth which can be used to presumably make me feel good, in what way does it benefit me if someone from Bauchi State is occupying a high ranking office in Nigeria's Federal Government? Or what difference does it make to the peasant or ordinary citizen in Bauchi State who will never have access to the any services provided by the Bauchi State government on ground of being a citizen? I met a former commissioner of education in Gusau Zamfara state last year and he told me that the ordinary citizen there is just on his or her own. They get nothing from the government. Should I not fight for a government that runs effectively such that I can get what I want or qualify for irrespective of whether the person in power is from Badagry, Rivers or Akwa Ibom?
In the way Nigeria works, if I have some personal connection with someone from Rivers at the Federal level, I can get what I want quickly while the ordinary person in Rivers who does not have connection with the person from his or her state will not even be acknowledged. This is personal rule and patrimonial governance. I am have no reason to believe for instance that if Atiku wins, because Peter Obi is his Vice President, that will mean all Igbos in the Southeast will benefit. There are many things one dislikes under the current government in Nigeria, but on the other hand, even under Atiku, the system is presumed to remain the same based on personal rule and patrimonial approach to governance. The campaign is driven by strong persons who presumably are more important than the ordinary citizen. Elite groups in all the regions claim they represent the masses and endorse a candidate on behalf of their people but when you observe closely there is a huge gap between those elites and the masses that they are presumably claiming to speak on their behalf.
To me the analysis made by Anthony is a very excellent one and point of caution. The issue reminds me of the difference between appearance on the one hand and essence or substance on the other. One can rush to compare Sardauna and Buhari on the surface because of similar appearances, but the substance or essences are different. Last year when I was in Awka, Anambra Statr. Mr. Nninia Nwodo , the president of Igbo community worldwide made a presentation calling for restructuring and new federalism. There was no question and answer time, but in my opinion, while in principle I am not against restructuring because every system needs to continue to adapt to certain realities, but my immediate response was that using the regional governmental system of the past to argue that because it worked then, it will work today is a mistake in one important respect. There is for instance one major difference between Nigerians of that time and the Nigerians of today and that is the amount of Greed and lack of acquisitive restraint among the people in all regions of Nigerian, among all ethnic groups and among all religious groups. I am very amazed at the way GREED has increased in Nigeria even in my community. Indeed, some time ago, I was so concerned about this to the point where I went and looked for a documentary film on the history of Greed in the evolution of human civilization given that in the Christian tradition it is considered one of the seven deadly sins. For all human societies to thrive and flourish in an inclusive way, one of the things they have to fundamentally address is how to regulate the insatiable desires of human beings. If you cannot restrain that, at some point, human beings will destroy themselves and their society because of a dog eat dog approach to life. The different institutions in society, starting with the family, then religion, education, etc. play an important role in inculcating certain virtues.
There are many things that may appear similar on the surface but differ in substance. I regret to see what is happening in Nigeria under Buhari. But given what I observed happening in the country at different levels of governance, the mere election of a single person cannot transform the country if we ignore the role of other institutions where the elites are just concerned about their selfish interests. For instance, one of the major obstacles to Nigeria's progress is the way the national assembly elites behave. I will prefer a broad-based progressive movement that will shake the system across the country and create a platform for a progressive person to function but there are many Nigerian elites that will for as long as they live use religion, ethnicity and class or even gender to divide the people.
If Nigerians do not change their ways, which is challenging, even if they vote one of the founders of the two dominant religions in Nigeria, some days from now, it will not transform Nigeria. Even if the founders start with charisma, unless they can magically solve all the problems miraculously, after sometime, the charisma wanes and that is why Weber thought originally that it needs to be routinized. But even that does not solve the problem once and for all. We should remember that up to the time the two founders of the religions died, there was unbelief in both Palatine / Israel and Saudi Arabia then. If human societies can be transformed by miracles, those places should have been the first place where all the people in the society and the system should have been transformed by miracle. But this is not the case, indicating the issue is far more complicated.
If the Nigerian people are just waiting for a political messiah to appear in the next few weeks, they will be disappointed. Ultimately the future and history of Nigeria if it will function for the masses is in the hands of the people in my view. Yes, leaders can play an important role but when we create favorable context for them. Corruption is so deep and entrenched that the little imperfect effort to address it has reduced the circulation of money in the country. Many have been living a false life in the sense that they spend more than they truly earn and so some part of the anger in Nigeria today is just the denial of the opportunity for some to live as they used to.
Samuel
On Mon, Feb 4, 2019 at 6:41 PM Anthony Akinola <anthony.a.akinola@gmail.com> wrote:
Nnamdi Azikiwe was elected to govern the defunct Eastern Region, yet he was an advocate of a united Nigerian nation. Anyone wanting to write about ethnocentrism of Ahmadu Bello must delve into history and acknowledge the philosophy of the Sokoto Caliphate-a philosophy he was born and bred to uphold.. In comparing Bello with Muhammadu Buhari, it may be helpful to take a look at the systems of governance under which they both operated.Bello was leader of a political party that advocated a policy of One North, One People, One Destiny in a parliamentary system of government. Not least because the system hinged more on alliances, the NPC did not seek direct political support from the South. We now operate a presidential system of government, a system which dictates that the entire nation is the constituency of the President.. Were Ahmadu Bello to have operated under this system, it is a matter of conjecture if his sectional rigidity could have been moderated somehow. Except for someone who must seek to hang another at every conceivable opportunity, it cannot be the easiest of tasks to make a conclusive comparison between political leaders of different era , background and generation.Anthony Akinola.--On Mon, Feb 4, 2019 at 6:25 PM Chidi Anthony Opara, FIIM <chidi.opara@gmail.com> wrote:Bello's "Arewacentrism" was anchored on the need for the North to catch up with the other regions in terms of Western educated manpower, more so, Bello was elected to lead the Northern region. So, his "Arewacentrism" to me, was a necessity.
That cannot be said of Buhari, who was elected to govern the whole country, whose region is no longer lagging behind other regions in any thing.
Buhari's "Arewacentrism" is anchored on the primordial concept of conquest. Buhari is exhibiting "my great grandfather conquered this land" syndrome.
CAO.
--
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