Igbo Presidency And The Demand For Fairness And Equity

The Insight by Lateef Adewole

I usually wished I don’t have to do this. As in writing specifically about regional interest of a people, particularly the Igbo race. This is because of my sentimental attachment to the region. In the past two decades since I formed more robust bond with people of that region, while I lived and worked there, I have seen the place as my second home. I could remember in those days, whenever I travelled out of the region, any moment my flight touched down in Owerri on my return, I always felt at home.

Although, I was not “lucky” enough to marry from among the bevy of beautiful girls from the region because I was already engaged to my sweet and lovely wife in Lagos before my transfer to the region. Otherwise, nothing could have stopped me from doing so happily. I had great friendship that transcended work. Two of my kids were born while living in that region and I made it a duty to give them Igbo names. I named them after my Igbo friends. They still bear them till date as part of their identities, despite that I have left the region. Those who were born outside there have decided to adopt some other Igbo names by themselves, just to share such identity with their other siblings.

Being the region where I fully started my adult and career life after being born, bred, educated and worked for few years in Yorubaland before my relocation to the region, I developed many long-lasting relationships. Many of my best friends are Igbos. And we met while in the region. A younger brother of mine actually married from there. He lived there for about 17 years, up until last year when he left with his family for Lagos, when the “madness” that engulfed the region reached its peak. Unfortunately for him, he was based in Orlu area, the zone considered as the headquarter of the notoriety and barbarism. He had to flee for his dear life and that of his family members when it became obvious they can no longer be guaranteed safety.

With this background, and more, which I can’t stop talking about if I have the chance, I often restrained myself from discussing Igbos, their political interest and all. This is because, I am often brutally frank. Sadly, bitter truth is never palatable to people. But, what must be said must be said.

Since last year when the political activities fully kicked off, the issue of which region the next president of Nigeria should come from has been the hottest. This was followed by who that person should be. Warts and all, the preminaries toward that choice have been done, with party primaries that screened out and elected or affirmed a person to carry each party’s presidential flag. There are currently 18 parties and candidates in the contest.

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This time is the most keenly contested presidential election with four-horse race as it were. Right now, with all due respect to many brilliant candidates vying on the platforms of other 14 parties, there are only four noticeable candidates pulling the crowds and having any chance at all, at showing up on the election day. They are Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the ruling party APC, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition party PDP, Mr. Peter Obi of Labour Party (3rd force) and Alhaji Rabiu Musa Kwakwanso of NNPP (4th force). I expect to be castigated for my categorisation.

As the Yorubas will say: “gbogbo oya lo n pe ra re l’odu”. Every candidate is the best in his own eyes. Every party believes their candidate is leading and will win, even when many realities on ground do not support it. As a “Kano man” that I was, I expect backlash from my “Kwakwansiya” friends for calling them 4th force, when in the first place, they believe they are number one, not to talk of putting them behind Labour Party. I still watched Kwakwanso on Channels tv on Thursday where he castigated Atiku and PDP for insinuating that he will step down for them, when Atiku is the one who is supposed to step down for him. Imagine that mindset.

We are counting down to the presidential election day with 21 days to go. All parties are throwing everything into the fight in their bid to woo and win voters. Every candidate and their party are making justifications why they should be voted for. This could be based on personal or regional interest. Like the south, as a whole, believes it is their turn, justifiably so, after an eight years, two-term of President Muhammadu Buhari, a northerner. So, Atiku Abubakar, Kwakwanso and other notherners in the race are unexpected, morally.

Now down to the south, we have many candidates with the leading being Tinubu and Obi. For the APC, they did the honourable thing with their insistence on zoning the presidency to the south, which led to the emergence of Tinubu as their flag bearer after a keenly-contested primary, characterised with a lot of drama. In APC, the Tinibu caucus believes they contributed enormously to the ascendancy of Buhari in 2015, against all odd. Same was repeated in 2019. Therefore, it is their turn. And the arrowhead of that group is Tinubu. This gave birth to the now viral “emilokan” slogan.

As a candidate from Southwest, my opinion is that they deserve most, the presidential ticket of APC, based on that contribution claim. However, it is left for Nigerians to decide if they want him or not. In that famous Abeokuta outing, Tinubu did not lay claim to the “Yoruba l’okan” at national level but at the primary of APC, given the shenanigans that were orchestrated to scheme him out. After the primary, he has been selling his candidature to Nigerians all over the country.

Just like Tinubu, Peter Obi is a southerner of Igbo extraction. Despite many other Igbos who are candidates of some other parties, Obi is the most prominent of all. He is of Labour Party today. In my opinion, I had thought he would have stayed back, sluged it out in the PDP and won the ticket. But that was not to be. When the heat was too much in the party, he left and decamped to Labour Party. He might have realised early how slim his chances were, given the stiff competition among the contenders. However, whether that decision is good or not, we shall soon see.

On face value, it couldn’t have been better. Since becoming their candidate, which he didn’t have to struggle or compete to get, Obi’s political profile has soared. For him being seen as a serious contender and even projected to win by some commissioned polls, gives as much good feeling of being a winner already. The political height he has attained in the last six months has been unimaginable. He now commands a cult-like followership in what’s christened “Obidient Movement”. They are powered by youths and young Nigerians, especially from the south.

There are certain factors that drive such meteoric rise. Whether these factors are valid in their claims or not is another thing. One, it is true that Labour Party is a departure from the two behemoths; APC and PDP. Even when it has existed for over a decade, and had managed to produce a governor in Ondo state and some lawmakers at state level, that was how far it has ever gone. Although, those who populate it came from either APC or PDP, so what much of a difference? As I write, it has no elected member in 2019 general elections. May be some elected persons who lost out their reelection bids at the primaries of their parties might have joined them as sanctuary. However, since joining, Obi has made the party more popular and attractive, than the reverse.

Another basis is the perception by youths in particular, that Peter Obi is a “fresh breath” from our traditional political hegemony, whoever conjured that. This is what is sold to many “children” and youths who possibly are too young to have comprehended Nigerian politics in the last 24 years. Many Obidients today are less than 30. When you remove 24 from 30, what could a 6 year old possibly comprehend in 1999? Many of them were not even born then. Many of them only began to understand and appreciate governance and leadership of the country during Buhari’s administration.

How could such people understand discussion of 20 years ago or many decades before they were born, except those with open mind, willing and ready to learn, not many we see today. In my opinion, Obi is part and parcel of the political caricature of the country. He was governor for 8 years under APGA. He decamped to this same PDP that Obidients now rubbish. He was an adviser to former President Jonathan who was vilified for poor performance. He has been in PDP since 2014 and was vice presidential candidate to Atiku, who is now being disparaged by Obidients, in 2019 presidential election. They lost to the incumbent. Otherwise, they will be in government today. What would Obidients have been saying by now?

Again, many youths forget or don’t know the definition of youth or young person. They see Obi as representing them. Peter Obi will be 62 this year. It’s only in Nigeria that persons of that age represents the youths. Other factors include him being seen as “not corrupt”. I don’t want to comment on that. He is seen as competent and a performer. These are debatable when comparison is made with other contenders. The legacies of each candidate when they had previous chance can speak for them.

One “seemingly” plausible basis is the much mouthed “fairness and equity” among all major ethnic groups in Nigeria. It is said that among the three major tribes of Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba and Igbo, only the Igbos have been politically marginalised in the Nigerian project, as far as her leadership is concerned. To be smart by half, such is limited to 1999 to date. Either within this period or beyond, such claim is arguable. And this is where I do clash in my opinions with my beloved Igbo friends. That was why I said I do avoid discussing it as much as possible. I disagree largely with that claim.

Far and beyond, I do see Nigeria, not from 1999 but from her independence in 1960. So, when I look at political marginalisation as claimed by some people as something with which other tribes are being blackmailed to concede to the Igbos and support Peter Obi, I disagree. Igbos have never been politically marginalised “deliberately”. In fact, Igbos enjoyed many ‘firsts” in Nigeria’s political history. The first president of Nigeria was Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe, an Igbo man. The first vice president of Nigeria was Dr. Alex Ekwueme, an Igbo man. The first military head of state of Nigeria was General Aguyi Ironsi, an Igbo man. Subsequently, whatever happened is a different discussion. How could this be called political marginalisation?

After these firsts, what then happened that Igbos felt marginalised? Was it done to them by other tribes or self-inflicted? This is where the brutal and bitter truth lies. How has political alignment of the Igbos been? What have they done to build bridges and connect with other tribes? How much have they negotiated and compromised to reach consensus with other regions? What has been driving their political choices? Is it sense of entitlement or by cooperation with others to achieve their desire? These and many more, are questions that need sincere and frank answers.

For about 55 years, the progressive Yorubas were in opposition. No candidate of Yoruba choice became the president of Nigeria. Those who attained that were “imposed” on the region. They were never their representatives. This is political marginalisation. These progressive came to the centre of political power in Nigeria only since 2015. This is the only time that a politician from that block will have another chance to gun for the number one seat, in person of Tinubu.

All along these years, the Igbos have always aligned with the north to enjoy the perks of being the ruling party at the centre. From 1960 to 1966 and 1979 to 1983. The Eastern region or South East, as the case may be, joined hands with the northerners to rule the country. In 1993, despite the overwhelming popularity of the late Chief MKO Abiola of SDP then, the majority of the Igbos aligned with Alhaji Bashir Tofa of NRC. SDP lost in three states out of four within the region. It won in one state. Anambra State.

Let us now examine 1999 till date. At the turn of the century when Nigeria was about going into the fourth republic that we are now, there was consensus of majority to support a Yoruba person to become the next president. This was to assuage their pains from the loss of one of their most illustrious sons; Chief MKO Abiola, who paid the ultimate price for the democracy we all enjoy today. Yet, contrary to the preference of Chief Olu Falae by the Yoruba progressives who stood and fought for June 12 with their lives, the powers-that-be preferred and “imposed” Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, who went ahead to become the president.

He never supported Abiola, or June 12. He possibly worked against it. That was a case of reaping where one did not sow. Still, the same South Easterners contested in that election against the South Westerers presented. At the end, Obasanjo became president against the wish of the Yorubas. The Igbos were quick to align with the central government led by PDP. This continued till date. In 2007, the Igbos were in PDP and aligned with the central government of Yar’adua. After his unfortunate death, Jonathan became the president for five years. Igbos were in PDP and aligned with the Federal government.

All along, the core Yoruba progressives were in opposition. This continued until 2015 when Jonathan went for reelection for another term, Igbos were with him. That was the first time the progressives from Southwest would align with the north to capture power at the centre. The arrowhead of that alignment was Tinubu. He must have done his calculations projecting his future political interest. Buhari won and the rest, as they say, is history.

The Igbos were forced to taste opposition politics but they have since been feeling like fishes out of water. All the benefits that usually accrue to them from the centre were no more. Then, the cry of political marginalisation rented the air. Who is deceiving who? Many Igbo leaders began to demand that presidency be zoned to South East. Nothing is wrong in making demands but walking the talk is the main issue? Did the igbos walk their talk?

When it was time for another round of contest to choose candidates of the party, what did the igbos do? In APC, one strong personality that indicated interest chickened out. Instead of Senator Orji Uzor Kalu to back one of his fellow Igbo aspirants when he decided to drop out of the race, he declared his loyalty and support to Senator Ahmed Lawan, a northerner. So, Orji preferred that northerners rule in perpetuity. At the presidential primary that had many Igbo aspirants, only Ebonyi state delivered their delegates (38 out of 39) to their governor, Dave Umahi, who also contested.

All other Igbos scored either zero or one vote each. The total votes that went to the four Igbo aspirants was 40. This is a region that had 285 delegates to that primary. Where were the other delegates? Who did they vote for? They must have voted for northern candidates. Senator Ahmed Lawan scored 152 to come fourth. That was the same story in the PDP which had its primary before APC. The delegates from the South East must have voted for Atiku, leaving their own South Easterners and other southerners. Did that show any seriousness to lead Nigeria under a democracy?

This has become the tradition in the region. How could anyone then come out and make demands on other regions to support Igbos to produce Nigerian president? How? “Omo to ba sipa, n’iya re ngbe” (heaven helps those who help themselves). So, who is marginalising who, politically? The Igbos are marginalising themselves and should take responsibility for their choices. When individual, personal and selfish interest supersedes collective regional interest, that is what you get. Power is never served a la carte. I look forward to the day that aspiration will come to fruition. Some are hopeful it is Obi who will make that happen this month. Good luck with that.

As we count down to February 25, let everyone continue to canvass for their preferred candidates. Nigerians should come out enmass to vote peacefully. The INEC should provide level playing field for free, fair and credible elections. May the best man win. I wish my Igbo brothers and sisters all the best.

May God continue to protect us and guide us aright.

God Bless Nigeria.

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February 4, 2023.