The Fourth Republic will go down in History as Nigeria’s darkest part where many criminals walked into power effortlessly, bringing along sorrow, tears and blood. While we beam searchlight on bandits, militants and ritualists, some politicians continue to enjoy patronage.
Barely 12 months into the Bola Tinubu presidency, some disgruntled politicians are plotting to fly a kite in favour of power going back to the North in 2027. They are said not to be happy with the comatose economy and the atmospheric poverty drenching the people.
I am not in a position to speak for Tinubu. He has a truck load of publicists, good, bad and ugly. However, the presidency must remain in the South for eight years after which the North will have their turn in 2031. Should Tinubu decide to run or quit in 2027, it remains the turn of the South.
We have failed to learn from History. The nation has not recovered from the Goodluck Jonathan Mistake of 2011. Following the death of President Umaru Yar’adua in 2010, the Vice President assumed office, firstly as Acting President and later as substantive President.
What Jonathan should have done was to step aside after May 29, 2011, for the North to conclude their turn in 2015. He did not. For reasons best known to our dear Goodluck, Aso Rock became too sweet to leave. Four more years were granted him.
Many of us may not remember these ten names. Olawale Teidi. Anselm Nkwazema. Elliot Adowei. Sule Akonyi. Michael Okpokiri. Jehleel Adeniji. Chibuzo Ukeoma. Paul Adewunmi. Agnes Ezennaedozie. Ayotunde Gbenjo.
They were members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), posted to Bauchi. A rabid mob descended on them, the Nigeria Police Force could not save their innocent souls. All ten died because Muhammadu Buhari and Jonathan were contesting presidential Elections in 2011.
If the People’s Democratic Party ( PDP) had fielded a Northerner, perhaps, the NYSC ten would have been living today. Those who killed them wanted a Northern candidate to win. And because they knew little, Akonyi, a Northerner from Kogi, was among the dead.
Osun State was hardest hit, with three dead – Teidi, Gbenjo and Adeniji. Imo accounted for two – Nkwazema, Ukeoma. Ekiti had Adewunmi. Adowei hailed from Bayelsa, Okpokiri was an Abian. The lone female victim, Mrs. Ezennaedozie, was a nursing mother from Anambra State.
After taking the turn of the North, GEJ did not let go. He wanted to return in 2015. That was how the All Peoples Congress ( APC) was born. They brought Buhari out of retirement. The general from Daura landed, some of us are just beginning to realise that PMB damaged Nigeria beyond recognition.
Jonathan was magnanimous enough to set up the 2014 Constitutional Conference. And one of the recommendations arising therefrom tried to correct the Jonathan Mistake by insisting that in the event of death of an incumbent, the succeeding president must come from the same Geo Political Zone as the deceased.
Unfortunately, Buhari came, saw everything but never conquered anything. Tinubu, a man who preached Restructuring before climbing the podium, has not given hope in that regard. He still has three years to set the country on the path to a new, sane order.
Those who are making underground moves to oust Tinubu for a Northerner, with a South – East candidate as Vice President in 2027, must learn from the past.
The North – West and South – West, have had enough of Nigeria. They should not stretch this luck beyond limit. If there are two Geo Political Regions marginalised beyond human comprehension in the power play, they are South – East and North – East.
I will not dwell on the South – East now. I am looking at the North. If I had my way, I would prepare a good candidate from the North – East for the 2031 elections. I have my eyes on one or two of them. Prof. Babagana Zulum, governor of Borno State stands out.
The man has so much work to do at home that you hardly see him junketing like some of his colleagues who went sight seeing in the United States searching for peace, the type Gen. Emeka Ojukwu could not find in Cote d’Ivoire, 54 years ago.
Zulum is Kanuri. While we complain of Boko Haram, we must also look at the marginalisation of this strong North – East group. When Niger Delta militants made the creeks unbearable, they were pacified with Jonathan.
It is remarkable that the Kanuri who produced Nigeria’s first Sandhurst trained officer, Zakari Maimalari, 1950, and the first indigenous Northern governor, Kashim Ibrahim,1962, have never had the opportunity to produce president.
The Kanuri had two military governors, Musa Usman and Abba Kyari, under Gen. Yakubu Gowon while the Fulani had none. They produced the first Northern Inspector General of Police, Kam Salem. Like the Igbo, they are good enough for Aso Villa.
While the Igbo keep pushing, the North should turn their eyes away from 2027. With Boko Haram, bandits and herdsmen troubling their entire space, perhaps the introduction of a president of Kanuri extraction, can stem terrorism.
