The North on a scale
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- Category: Philosofaith
- Written by Mohammed Abdullah
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Not since the assassination of the late Sir Ahmadu Bello in the late 1960s has there been a greater strain on the legendary strength and cohesion of the North than the last few years, which also coincided with the restoration of constitutional rule in the country.
Those who never wished the region well ruthlessly exploited this situation with General Olusegun Obasanjo spearheading the full frontal assault on the North by exploiting the region’s delicate primordial fault-lines to his political end.The result of this carefully orchestrated symbolic disempowerment of the North is the present politically weak position of the region. Thankfully, a group of northern elders led by the venerable Malam Adamu Ciroma are working furiously to reverse and heal the political hemorrhage the region is currently suffering from. The elders want to identify and support a PDP presidential candidate of northern origin who has the capacity to appeal to a broad segment of the Nigerian population while retaining power for the region in the interest of the whole country.
As admirable and praiseworthy as this move is, it is admittedly a tough and risky one. Certainly, the outcome of the Ciroma committee’s deliberations will have far-reaching consequences for the continued unity of the North and for the region’s reckoning in the national scheme of things. It could fracture or galvanize the region. It could either alienate some parts of the region or reasonably unite all the disparate fragments that make it up. It could heal, merely dress up, or aggravate the North’s festering wounds. That’s why I don’t envy Ciroma and other northern patriots who have imposed on themselves the tough but necessary task of choosing a consensus presidential candidate for the region.
But the task has to be done. And there is no better person to pioneer it than Adamu Ciroma. The best part is that Ciroma and his committee members could use some unsolicited counsel in this ponderous task. Of course, it is presumptuous to offer to help or advise experienced and knowledgeable elders like Ciroma who have seen it all from Nigeria’s founding to now. But, then, it’s often said that the onlooker sees most of the game. Not being in the field of play sometimes gives the onlooker the kind of clarity and detachment that passionately involved people can’t have due to no fault of theirs. This intervention is informed by that consideration.
Some people have even tried to attack the very concept of the consensus candidacy, conveniently or ignorantly forgetting that the situation was forced on the North by the blatant disregard for the PDP’s constitution as exhibited by President Jonathan; if Mr. Jonathan had behaved in a more befitting manner and respected his party’s agreement, the North would not be burdened with the problem of choosing a consensus candidate. As it is the region has to find a way to counter this act of betrayal of trust by the President and his praise singers; it is really admirable that the North is looking for a politically correct solution rather than opting to take Jonathan head-on and further heating up the polity.
The North, as every careful observer knows, is Nigeria’s ultimate cultural melting pot or, if you like, salad bowl. It embodies, in more ways than any region in the country does, the immense and fascinating complexity that is Nigeria. So, in more ways than one, being a “northern patriot,” properly conceived, is closer to /being a “Nigerian patriot” than any other competing regional loyalty. Come to think of it: two of Nigeria’s three major ethnic groups (the Hausa and the Yoruba) are indigenous to the North. (Recall that the Yoruba of Kwara and Kogi states are northerners). That is why the late revered Chief Sunday Bolorunduro Awoniyi served as chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum to his death. That also explains why he and many other Yoruba northerners were and are fiercely passionate about their northern identity. No other region in the country has that intriguingly remarkable diversity.
Plus, the North is not only more than two times the size of all the regions in the South combined; it is also home to more than 60 percent of the Nigeria’s over 450 ethnic groups. Now, nobody who is genuinely passionate about this enormous diversity of people can be regarded as provincial. It actually almost takes as much efforts to be truly “northern” as it takes to be “national”. A truly northern patriot, such as the late Sir Ahmadu Bello was, will be as sensitive to the sensibilities of a Yoruba northerner as he will be to those of a Hausa-Fulani northerner. He will be as alive to the needs and fears of Christian northerners as he will be to those of Muslim northerners. And he will be as passionate about protecting the interests of the North’s vast multiplicity of ethnic minorities as he will be about the majority ethnic groups. That’s a tough call. But some people made it.
In the case of the late Sardauna, he actually on many occasions chose to err on the side of strengthening the weakest links in the fascinating ethnic and religious tapestry that is northern Nigeria. That is why, for instance, he appointed Chief Joseph Aderibigbe, a Christian Yoruba man from Kwara State, as the Provincial Secretary of the then Sokoto and Kano provinces—the equivalent of the governor of present Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Niger, Kano and Jigawa States combined!
Of course, there are countless other such examples. Unfortunately, these kinds of deliberate, incorporatist strategies are now few and far between at best and non-existent at worst. That’s why the once impregnable North has now become susceptible to cheap manipulation by competing power blocs in the country. Well, in order to reclaim the glory and indivisibility of the North, it won’t hurt to go back to the First Republic and get fresh inspiration from how the immense but sufficiently cohesive diversity of the region was gestated, nurtured, and sustained by our pioneers. Thankfully, Malam Adamu Ciroma saw it all.
The Ciroma committee owes the North a historical responsibility to cement the ties that bind our region by presenting a consensus candidate that has the capacity to simultaneously unite the North and appeal to other parts of the country; that has no political baggage; and that will inspire the trust and confidence of the entire nation. That’s no easy mandate, I must admit. But it’s not impossible either.
I know the Ciroma committee has put in a lot of efforts in this worthy, self-imposed task. It is only hoped that they haven’t zeroed in on a candidate that will make their tremendous work a damp squib. The Ciroma committee must do everything possible to avoid reaching a decision that will require complex explanation; its decision must be such that the wisdom and pragmatism of such decision are immediately obvious to both the lay and the informed onlooker.
History is watching; if we lose this chance to reinvent ourselves, it may be very hard to have another opportunity like this.
Abudullahi wrote from 53, Degel Road, Kaduna
Articles
The North on a scale
Category: Philosofaith Written by Mohammed Abdullah Hits: 601
Not since the assassination of the late Sir Ahmadu Bello in the late 1960s has there been a greater strain on the legendary strength and cohesion of the North than the last few years, which also coincided with the restoration of constitutional rule in the country.
Those who never wished the region well ruthlessly exploited this situation with General Olusegun Obasanjo spearheading the full frontal assault on the North by exploiting the region’s delicate primordial fault-lines to his political end.The result of this carefully orchestrated symbolic disempowerment of the North is the present politically weak position of the region. Thankfully, a group of northern elders led by the venerable Malam Adamu Ciroma are working furiously to reverse and heal the political hemorrhage the region is currently suffering from. The elders want to identify and support a PDP presidential candidate of northern origin who has the capacity to appeal to a broad segment of the Nigerian population while retaining power for the region in the interest of the whole country.
As admirable and praiseworthy as this move is, it is admittedly a tough and risky one. Certainly, the outcome of the Ciroma committee’s deliberations will have far-reaching consequences for the continued unity of the North and for the region’s reckoning in the national scheme of things. It could fracture or galvanize the region. It could either alienate some parts of the region or reasonably unite all the disparate fragments that make it up. It could heal, merely dress up, or aggravate the North’s festering wounds. That’s why I don’t envy Ciroma and other northern patriots who have imposed on themselves the tough but necessary task of choosing a consensus presidential candidate for the region.
But the task has to be done. And there is no better person to pioneer it than Adamu Ciroma. The best part is that Ciroma and his committee members could use some unsolicited counsel in this ponderous task. Of course, it is presumptuous to offer to help or advise experienced and knowledgeable elders like Ciroma who have seen it all from Nigeria’s founding to now. But, then, it’s often said that the onlooker sees most of the game. Not being in the field of play sometimes gives the onlooker the kind of clarity and detachment that passionately involved people can’t have due to no fault of theirs. This intervention is informed by that consideration.
Some people have even tried to attack the very concept of the consensus candidacy, conveniently or ignorantly forgetting that the situation was forced on the North by the blatant disregard for the PDP’s constitution as exhibited by President Jonathan; if Mr. Jonathan had behaved in a more befitting manner and respected his party’s agreement, the North would not be burdened with the problem of choosing a consensus candidate. As it is the region has to find a way to counter this act of betrayal of trust by the President and his praise singers; it is really admirable that the North is looking for a politically correct solution rather than opting to take Jonathan head-on and further heating up the polity.
The North, as every careful observer knows, is Nigeria’s ultimate cultural melting pot or, if you like, salad bowl. It embodies, in more ways than any region in the country does, the immense and fascinating complexity that is Nigeria. So, in more ways than one, being a “northern patriot,” properly conceived, is closer to /being a “Nigerian patriot” than any other competing regional loyalty. Come to think of it: two of Nigeria’s three major ethnic groups (the Hausa and the Yoruba) are indigenous to the North. (Recall that the Yoruba of Kwara and Kogi states are northerners). That is why the late revered Chief Sunday Bolorunduro Awoniyi served as chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum to his death. That also explains why he and many other Yoruba northerners were and are fiercely passionate about their northern identity. No other region in the country has that intriguingly remarkable diversity.
Plus, the North is not only more than two times the size of all the regions in the South combined; it is also home to more than 60 percent of the Nigeria’s over 450 ethnic groups. Now, nobody who is genuinely passionate about this enormous diversity of people can be regarded as provincial. It actually almost takes as much efforts to be truly “northern” as it takes to be “national”. A truly northern patriot, such as the late Sir Ahmadu Bello was, will be as sensitive to the sensibilities of a Yoruba northerner as he will be to those of a Hausa-Fulani northerner. He will be as alive to the needs and fears of Christian northerners as he will be to those of Muslim northerners. And he will be as passionate about protecting the interests of the North’s vast multiplicity of ethnic minorities as he will be about the majority ethnic groups. That’s a tough call. But some people made it.
In the case of the late Sardauna, he actually on many occasions chose to err on the side of strengthening the weakest links in the fascinating ethnic and religious tapestry that is northern Nigeria. That is why, for instance, he appointed Chief Joseph Aderibigbe, a Christian Yoruba man from Kwara State, as the Provincial Secretary of the then Sokoto and Kano provinces—the equivalent of the governor of present Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Niger, Kano and Jigawa States combined!
Of course, there are countless other such examples. Unfortunately, these kinds of deliberate, incorporatist strategies are now few and far between at best and non-existent at worst. That’s why the once impregnable North has now become susceptible to cheap manipulation by competing power blocs in the country. Well, in order to reclaim the glory and indivisibility of the North, it won’t hurt to go back to the First Republic and get fresh inspiration from how the immense but sufficiently cohesive diversity of the region was gestated, nurtured, and sustained by our pioneers. Thankfully, Malam Adamu Ciroma saw it all.
The Ciroma committee owes the North a historical responsibility to cement the ties that bind our region by presenting a consensus candidate that has the capacity to simultaneously unite the North and appeal to other parts of the country; that has no political baggage; and that will inspire the trust and confidence of the entire nation. That’s no easy mandate, I must admit. But it’s not impossible either.
I know the Ciroma committee has put in a lot of efforts in this worthy, self-imposed task. It is only hoped that they haven’t zeroed in on a candidate that will make their tremendous work a damp squib. The Ciroma committee must do everything possible to avoid reaching a decision that will require complex explanation; its decision must be such that the wisdom and pragmatism of such decision are immediately obvious to both the lay and the informed onlooker.
History is watching; if we lose this chance to reinvent ourselves, it may be very hard to have another opportunity like this.
Abudullahi wrote from 53, Degel Road, Kaduna