I congratulate the governors of all the seventeen states in the South for coming together under the Southern Nigeria Governors Forum to take a common position on the issues crucial to their people. I also find it significant that the Governors did not allow their being in different parties make them put the interest of their people below that of their political groups.
In particular, I appreciate the seven governors of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for teaming up with their nine colleagues in the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) and the one in the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in spite of the fact that they belong to the same party with President Muhammadu Buhari and the position of their party on the issues is different.
My heart swells with joy that the governors have banned open grazing of animals in all the 17 states in the South, called for the creation of state police, the correction of the lopsided Fulani and Muslim dominated federal appointments and the review of the revenue sharing formula. What I don’t support was their call for a national conference to discuss our problems.
I believe this matter was settled in 2014 by the confab organized by Dr. Goodluck Jonathan during his presidency (Thursday, May 6, 2010 – Thursday, May 28, 2015). It was an assembly of high – caliber people from all the 36 states and they covered all aspects of the country’s problems and came out with good recommendations by consensus.
But I can understand that some people are suggesting the convocation of another national conference because President Buhari was against the 2014 confab and hence he has refused to look into the recommendations the members made. Billions of naira was spent on the conference and it will be a waste of the country’s money to organize another one at this time that the Federal Government is in financial straits and overwhelmed by security and economic problems.
What the 17 southern governors should do next is meet with their 19 northern colleagues to let them know of the need to accept the implementation of the recommendations of the 2014 national confab because they are what can save the country from prolonged crisis, destruction, death and disintegration. All that can be done is to fine – tune any aspect of their suggestions.
In 2010 when campaigning for the 2011 presidential election Buhari promised to restructure the country if he won the contest. The issue was also in the manifesto of his APC party for the 2015 presidential poll which he won. But strangely enough after assuming office Buhari said he did not understand what people meant when they were calling for restructuring. But the same President in 2018 set up a committee of his APC party under the chairmanship of Governor Nasir El – Rufai of Kaduna State, which recommended restructuring and the creation of state police among other things.
But three years after submitting their report the President is yet to present a bill to the National Assembly on this and other recommendations made by the El – Rufai committee. All these contradictory positions and inconsistent behaviour on the issues do not speak well of Buhari as they do not show him to be a person of honesty, honour and reliability.
They also do not portray him as a good Muslim, but rather as someone committing sin because the Glorious Qur’an enjoins a Muslim to be truthful and keep to promises (Chapter 5:89) because Allah does not fail in the promise He makes (Chapter 30:6).
If they read the recommendations of the 2014 confab and those of the El – Rufai’s committee in 2018 it should not be difficult for the northern governors to see the need to restructure the country and create state police and reach an agreement with their southern colleagues.
Why did President Buhari become a different person on these issues or vacillating on them? I see two reasons for this. One is because he has a Fulani agenda as former President Olusegun Obasanjo claimed three or four years ago and which has been evident in his actions since he assumed office particularly in the last two years.
The country’s constitution obliges the President to reflect federal character in his or her appointments. But apart from the selection of ministers where he is compelled to have one person from each of the 36 states in the federation, Buhari’s other choices have been biased in favour of northerners, especially people from his Fulani ethnic group and the Muslims of his Islamic faith.
Of the first 30 or so personal aides he chose in 2015 before constituting his cabinet only Femi Adesina, a Yoruba from the South – West and a woman who is an Igbo from a state in the South – East or South – South are not northerners and Muslims. Of the nine or so in charge of nation’s security and other essential services only the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, an Igbo and Christian from Agbor in Delta State and the Chief of Air Staff, Vice – Marshal Isiaka Amao, a Yoruba and Muslim from Osun State, are not northerners.
•To be continued next Wednesday
Apology on missing Pabulum last week
I regret that as happened four weeks ago, on April 21, that this column was also not published last week. The first was caused by the volume of adverts carried in the edition that made my column and others to be dropped. But that of last week titled: “Baffling insecurity: Proof of Buhari’s leadership failure was caused by technical problem which made the script I sent by email not to have been received by the Editor.
The piece was on the situation we have been in the last six months which has gone pass being called worsening insecurity into baffling or perplexing insecurity, which is something difficult to fathom or comprehend as Nigeria has gone bananas. A situation that has made the country to look like one that has a Head of State who has outlived his usefulness and does not deserve to remain in office.
I thank Akwa Ibom State – born Abuja based Mr. Gabriel (080 – 7795 – 0552) who as he did four weeks ago called last Wednesday to make sure that the non – publication of my column was not caused by illness. I am also sorry for what was experienced last week by 85 – year – old Sir Amos Ofoneme (081 – 2268 – 1500).
He travelled from Anambra State to Lagos last week Wednesday and it rained all the way throughout his journey that he could not get a vendor to buy the Daily Sun from. The following day he told a vendor to get him a copy of the newspaper and for which instead of N200 he was made to pay N500. But the pity of it all was that when the newspaper was brought to him on Friday my column for which he paid for the copy was not published. To prevent such a situation I have added him to the list of other two readers I call to inform whenever my article is not published. One made the request in 2019 and the other in January this year.
Mr. Gabriel so much loves my articles that he says he has all the ones published 32 – 37 years ago in my Heart of the Matter column in the Sunday Concord (1984 – 89). The same with all the ones published in this my Pabulum column since it started 14 years ago on December 19, 2007. He has plans to bind them for keeps in his private library for his children and other descendants to read from generation to generation.
To God is the glory that I belong to Mr. Gabriel’s exclusive list of seven star columnists in the country in the last 50 years. The others whose articles he has kept are the quartet of late Dele Giwa of the Sunday Concord (1980 – 84), Chief Areoye Oyebola of the Daily Times (1971 or so to 1975), Gbolabo Ogunsanwo of the Sunday Times (1972 – 75) and Dimgba Igwe of the Daily Sun (2003 – 2014). The other person is Ray Ekpu of the Sunday Times (1980 or so to 1982) and of the Sunday Concord (1982 – 84).
•To be continued next Wednesday