It’s nice to observe our
academicians critically engaging the core of Nigeria’s political problems and
arrive at a common destination. Ademoyo of the Africana Studies and Research Center, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY,
reviewed Buhari’s appointments so far, his justification of his actions and
that of his kitchen cabinet and concluded that his (Buhari’s) understanding of
moral rectitude is pivoted on the three fulcrums of ethnicity, regionalism and
religion. The result of this is “backwardness”.
In complete agreement,
but independently, Turaki, a Professor of Social Ethics at ECWA Theological
Seminary, Jos, who has devoted his time to the study of the Nigerian political
legacy from the colonial era to the military era and to date, also arrived at
the same destination as Ademoyo. He also says that the result of this is lack
of integration or growth or development or social justice.
Hear the two researchers:
“But a president crosses the public line when he
determines appointment of public staff via his own personal morality – which
may be defined in religious, regional and ethnic terms. The possible ethnic,
regional and religious ramification of this Buhari morality, is one danger
in Buhari’s irredentism and cronyism...” Adeolu Ademoyo, “Buhari’s
Croynism and Irredentism: Why Nigeria Remains Backward”, Premium Times, September 13, 2015.
(Underlining mine)
“The
British founded Nigerian politics upon three major pillars which have
become Nigeria’s political Goliaths. These three Goliaths are: Ethnicity/Tribalism,
Regionalism/Sectionalism and Religious Bigotry. Our current political
culture is rooted in these three basic foundations. The combined effects
of these political Goliaths have created a major political obstacle to our
national integration, growth and development, on the one hand and politics of
social justice, historical freedom and human equality, on the other. As a result, Nigeria suffers from the
political problem of Leadership-Followership cum Ethnic-Regional-Religious
Syndrome.” Prof. Yusuf Turaki, Ph.D, MNIM, mnc, “2015 ELECTIONS AND THE
MIDDLEBELT/NORTHERN MINORITIES”, March 2015. (Underlining mine)
Ademoyo
has his antecedents in the southern half of the country while Turaki is of one
of the hundreds of small tribes in the middle of the country who prefer to be
called Middle Belters. It’s at this juncture that I will try to make a
connection. President Buhari comes from one of the 12 Sharia States, which are
commonly referred as the ‘core north’ and accused of hegemonic tendencies. The
Nigerian three political “goliaths” of ethnicity, geography and religion were
first created by our colonial masters and handed over to us and these were
further concretised and legalised by various military regimes but all with a
bias and advantage to the core north. No wonder, the core north would like the
world to believe that there is nothing like a Middle Belt and that the whole of
the defunct Northern Region is one monolithic political entity.
The
truth is that the Middle Belt is completely different from the core north in
language, religion and political thought. The use of the Hausa language as
lingua franca (in view of communication problems) across the whole north is the
one things they have in common. But the core northerner has continued to physically,
politically and religiously infiltrate the Middle Belt region in attempt to subjugate
and annexe it. The Middle Belter, on the other hand, has been resilient and has
successfully resisted this push. He had carved out a distinct identity and
political ideology for himself. He has been defending his God-given geographical
demarcation at a high cost to him. Boko Haram and the so-called Fulani herdsmen,
who are really well-equipped and trained militia in conjunctions with hired
mercenaries from neighbouring countries, are today being used to militarily
achieve the dream of the core north.
These
truths may not have been appreciated earlier by southerners like Ademoyo. That
is why I started this short write up by saying that it is nice to see these two
gentlemen identify a common traducer. My conclusion should be obvious to all people
of sense; the two peoples of the Middle Belt and the southern half of Nigeria
should shake hands across the Niger and work together to rid the country of the
three obnoxious pillars that they have both independently identified.
