Nigeria as a country has been plagued with men and women with high doses of selfishness that prance around like patriots. During pre-Independence politics, only a few wanted freedom from British colonialists. Events that trailed flag independence showed that even the few did not understand the challenges of an emerging nation state.
Consequently, there were no plans or programmes to weld together the various diverse communities, with their divergent interests, in pursuit of a potent and vibrant society, the fulcrum of a nation. The outcome was a free country in chains, with both internal and external slave masters operating as political rulers, certainty not leaders. This class replaced the foreign lords and foisted a worse configuration of nepotism, religious bigotry, corruption, extortion and political rascality. All these and more ensured that no credible electoral process was instituted to furnish the best candidates with the mental capacity to take care of governance.
The problem is still evident in Nigerian politics of today, irrespective of political party. This appears to be the explanation for someone like Prof. Yemi Osinbajo to pose as a patriot or a nationalist when his behaviour proves otherwise.
The position he occupies as the Vice President entails that his constituency is the whole country, but his recent divisive rhetoric shows that he is only after Yoruba interests. He was profusely campaigning for the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari in this year’s presidential election. It is fine to do that, considering that it was the integrity of Buhari that served as the conveyor belt that took him to the pinnacle of power. But to resort to primitive tribalism is unbecoming of an enlightened and cerebral academic. This is a sad commentary for a country in dire need of unity. His position on the 2019 presidency is full of malarkey or unprocessed views.
I was an avid supporter of Buhari from the first time he contested presidential election to that of 2015, which he won. I saw him as a model leader that could lead Nigeria to be a nation. I whole-heartedly voted for him because I did not predicate my decision on tribe, religion or any other existential relationship. The major factor was merit and cognitive capacity to deliver, which I believed Buhari had significantly. I was jolted severely when it took him about six months to form his cabinet, which lacked sparkle and glow. The most astounding feature of the appointment was the slant towards one tribe and religion. My friends and relations that vehemently opposed me then jeered at me gleefully. From that moment, I became uncomfortable with Buhari, my principal.
All high officers of the federal government and indeed most APC chieftains never saw anything wrong with tribal domination of key positions. Buhari’s media aides deployed their mastery of sophistry to explain brazen tribalism as harmless to national interest. They even employed Christian scripture to convey political message aimed at assuaging the frustration of assaulted, offended, neglected and ignored tribes.
It is vital to tell the APC “choristers” that no sane Igboman shall celebrate Buhari for upgrading tribalism to an art to the extent that in a National Security Council meeting, no Igboman or woman shall be there or trusted. This is similar to the first 10 to 15 years after the Nigeria Civil War when Igbo were outsiders or aliens despite Yakubu Gowon’s deceptive reconciliation, reconstruction and rehabilitation mantra of post-war politics.
The Vice President, in a recent 2019 presidential election campaign forage, admonished his kinsmen and women to vote for Buhari because of Yoruba presidency in 2023. Before that, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha, indicated in July that the South East could be favoured to achieve 2023 presidency if they voted for Burhari’s presidency in the 2019 presidential election. Earlier, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, stated that a Yoruba man shall succeed Buhari.
The unfortunate thing about this turn-by-turn presidential democracy is that Nigeria has deliberately put on a foolish garb to attend a parade of decent dress code. All over the world, citizens of civilised countries want to be led by the best brains available. In Nigeria, we want the best to come from our tribe, religion or both. Where it is difficult to achieve, we dump merit and dust up mediocrity to define us. That is why Nigerian is not even a nation state and may never be a nation. Any football team that wants to win matches must present its best 11. Tribe, ethnicity and religion are not on the table for consideration and will never be.
Osinbajo, by all standards, is a quintessential product of Nigerian academia. He is erudite, humble, productive and introspective. For him to descend into the dungeon of primitive politics of Nigeria is a setback for the youths of the country. The implication is that the future may be bleak. It is difficult to understand what tainted Osinbajo to the extent of being more banal and shambolic than politicians of the first and second republic. The only discernible factor is party politics, which can cause members to enter a gutter to pick up any foul stuff to smear an opponent to submission. This time it was All Progressives Congress (APC) that dimmed the fire of Christian Gospel truth in Pastor Osinbajo and indeed all Christians serving in the government of Buhari.
When Osinbajo mounted the saddle as the Vice President, many right-thinking Nigerians felt that the spectre and apparition of mediocrity, tribalism and medieval propensity were on their way out. When he came out with that verbiage, which is a fine study in contumely, some of us who have respect for the status of a professor suffered irregular heartbeat that nearly led to heart attack or what medical science calls tarchycardia. It is a troubling phenomenon that the political milieu in Nigeria is not wired to produce patriots or statesmen. Those that enter with integrity and decency get smeared and transformed into an abnormal variant. The ones that were scavengers acquire devastating virulence that causes political disease that resists civilised cure or management, like the reported Aso Rock Disease, according to Dr. Reuben Abati.
Religion and ethnicity are two of the most debilitating factors inhibiting the growth of Nigeria. They have done inestimable harm to the country and are still at work. They are indices of primitivity and primordial proclivity. In fact, they have destroyed Nigeria more than corruption, Boko Haram and insurgency. While it is true that corruption is of real pervasive dimension in Nigeria, the preference of the government for tribal or religious considerations in the allocation of public office to the disadvantage of merit is the major reason for Nigeria’s stunted growth and failure-to-thrive syndrome. It is a travesty for the exalted Presidency to be propagating this nauseating and unwholesome narrative. The APC-controlled Federal Government has failed woefully to heal the wounds inflicted by tribalism. Rather, in action and words, it has divided the country along tribal and religious lines as exemplified by the Presidency.
Osinbajo’s unprofessorial Yoruba-must-succeed-Buhari hypothesis can’t upturn the unwritten or undocumented “theory” of the late Col. Adekunle Fajuyi that paid the supreme sacrifice for national unity and exquisite loyalty to his military principal, Major General Aguiyi Ironsi. The feudal northern coupist were on a tribal revenge mission against Igbo to achieve retaliation for the Hausa/Fulani axis. The 1966 coup was perceived as “Igbo coup” while the revenge mission was a Hausa/Fulani coup. For me, the action of the coup-plotters and reactions to it should teach all of us to be very careful. Virtually all Nigerians are intrinsically tribalistic. The agony of the situation is that we are busy nurturing it fervently. While members of the armed forces are doing their best in the battlefield against insurgents in the North East, politicians are busy with tribal or ethnic politics.
The Presidency should not cause more irritation through idle talk like the one from Osinbajo. I expect a more civilised and decent deal from him. It is possible for Nigeria to be a nation, if our rulers show quality examples. For now, we are just a community of diverse people.
• Dr. Ureme is a public affairs analyst