We need to talk to ourselves to ensure that there is palpable equity among the various groupings in the North so that we can go out together with a common agenda,” Senator Daniel Saror, former Senate Minority Leader on disunity in the North before the 2015 general elections
Firstly, may I make it abundantly clear from the outset that I have no slightest of intentions to impugn, malign or denigrate any person, organization or interest in the North. And no such mind set on any Nigerian of any hue either. The engagement of my fraternal Northern brothers again, today is premised on my worry, as an elder statesman about some evolving trends in my place of birth, I find not only despicable or destructive, but also unpalatable to remain silent.
We are all aware of the great legacies and treasures bequeathed to us by our father and uncle, the First Premier of Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto. He was a man transparently committed to the idea and principles of a homogenous North, strengthened by an inviolable oneness and impenetrable unity. He had no religion, no tribe or interest outside the project of a strong, united and indivisible North.
Unfortunately today, we have continued to aimlessly echo that successive generations of Northerners have gleefully fretted away the Sardauna’s legacies. We stand in his tomb and exert the strings of division, mindless of whether the cracking sound would shake his bones in the grave.
I am, again, compelled to write my brothers in the North based on the conscious perforation of our wholeness as a people. The latest character of our division manifested from the least expected angle of religion. I read about activities of a new Christian political pressure group from the North, which goes by the identity of Northern Nigeria Christian Politicians Forum (NNCPF) and it saddens me for many reasons.
We have multifarious problems in the North, no doubt. Even in the Northern congregation of the Body of Christ- the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) there are cracks. In politics, the North is assailed and in religion, it is a similar tale. The geo-political North of Nigeria has several minuses when computing indices of national development.
It is the least educated; the poorest state in Nigeria is from the North; it is the region with the least revenue base and it is a region badly afflicted with the dearth of industries and companies. A region this troubled, needs to be a bit circumspect in the conduct of its affairs.
We also have the subsisting lamentations of marginalisation, segregation and injustice among Northern Christians; who often accuse their Muslim Northern brothers of side- lining them. To my mind, elders from a region with this legion of troubles need to be a bit circumspect in the steps they take in the conduct of its affairs.
Consequently, the emergence of NNCPF is one proliferation too many and merely advertise the internal cracks which have entangled us. I insist on this point because the North parades a stream of socio-political cum religious organisations enough to serve us all and the interests we seek to advance anytime in Nigeria.
There is the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Northern Elders Forum (NEF) Northern Political Leaders Forum (NPLF), Middle Belt Forum (MBF), the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Northern Chapter or its recent sibling, the Northern Nigeria Christians Association (NNCA), the Ja’maatul Nasir Islam and many others.
The popular maxim says “politics is religion and religion is politics.” So, these pressure groups primarily exist to galvanize and protect the disparate northern interests in the political reckoning of Nigeria. The organisations ought to be the voice of reason and action for all northerners.
But the recent further split among groupings in the North and the least of all, from the Northern Christian fold, is extremely unfortunate. The emergence of NNCPF has pungently resurrected the feeling of an increasing schism in the North. Besides, the initial footprints of this body on national politics bear imprints of a group eager to stand alone, with its own agenda, its own interests and pathways.
A dissection of the newest body comprising seasoned politicians and ordained ministers of the gospel would leave one with no option than to frown at this avoidable duplicity. For a start, freedom of association or affiliation of any Nigerian to any group is constitutionally guaranteed and cannot be curtailed. But if the argument is all about a formidable one strong, indivisible North, it is incontestable that those who make up membership of NNCPF already have existing platforms earlier enumerated to fuse into and articulate their interests or agenda.
Those who do not fit into NEF, would find space in ACF or Middle Belt Forum/Congress or certainly in CAN or its replacement, the Northern Nigeria Christians Association (NNCA).
What I know is that every politician from the North essentially parades Northern ancestry and he is either a Christian or Muslim. He is either an elder statesman in the mould of the likes of Alhaji Maitama Sule’s led NEF or a youth. All these categories of identification of the Northerner find expression and are subsumed in the existing structures. I am convinced that as a region, the coalition of these interest groups working in harmony, in the pursuit of common aspirations and goals for the development of the Northern region would be much more beneficial to us homogenously, than the creation of isolated units, as expressed in NNCPF.
If a coalition of Northern pressure groups/bodies, comprising the entire aforementioned entities rise from a meeting with a communiqué or delegation to the President or any other public institution about their concerns on national issues as it affects the region, it will be more matured, orderly and attract seriousness. I am quite pleased with the issues raised by NNCPF, when it organised a national prayer, award and reception in honour of President Muhammadu Buhari, the Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir David Lawal in Abuja.
Former Senator, Dr. Jonathan Zwingina did not only appreciate appointments President Muhammadu Buhari has extended to members of the Christian North, but like Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist, pleaded for more of such appointments to the Christian North. He implored the President (PMB) to prevail on Governors of other Northern states to emulate him.
The Anglican Archbishop of Jos, Most Rev. Benjamin Kwashi, equally touched on the sore nerve of the Buhari Presidency by going a step further in advocacy and backing of the anti-corruption campaign. He opined that those convicted for looting public funds in areas like education, health, water and agricultural sectors should serve life jail terms. The issues espoused and raised at the forum by the NNCPF were no doubt grand and lofty. They were issues of both regional and national dimensions. If positive action is taken on the issues, it can breed confidence, inclusiveness, and strengthen the cord of unity among Northerners
One can only imagine the tension it would have generated, assuming such issues were raised by a Northern coalitional body after due deliberations and transmitted to the President. No leader would ignore it. I am not suggesting that the President would necessarily ignore them or didn’t even listen to them. But the point remains that the isolated manner of the presentation carries less weight, than the attention it would have cornered by emanating from a coalition of Northern groups.
Like elder statesman, Senator Daniel Saror has pleaded, as a people, we are bound to have differences, but it doesn’t stop us in engaging ourselves in continued dialogue. This is our only strength. There is strength in unity and not divisions. For me, NNCPF is unnecessary and it could fuse into CAN or NNCA, (whichever is operational in the North), if they prefer an identification coloured with religion. How would it sound if today, a Southern Christian Politicians Forum or something like Northern Muslims Politicians Forum emerges? It would imply that we are further polarizing ourselves in this auspicious time of Nigeria’s political history, instead of blending to assist one of our own, President Muhammadu Buhari to lead the country to greatness and to the pride of us all and Nigerians.
If PMB’s Presidency crumbles, it is the entire North that has failed and the region would bear the shame before the whole country. And emergent groups that appear to further divide and shatter the dream of one indivisible North should not only be discouraged, but avoided like a plaque.
—Ode is a former Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
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