Governor Kure's credibility punch

KWENU! Our culture, our future

Governor Kure's credibility punch

Chinedu Maduabum

Onitsha, Nigeria

Sunday, June 4, 2006

INTRODUCTION

The anxiety over the third term agenda is come and gone and there is a big relieve in the country. The attention is now focused on president Obasanjo’s successor. And with less than one year to the end of this administration and INEC releasing the date of the next elections (7^th – 29^th April 2007), the battle line have been drawn between the north and south (South West excluded) and there is no doubt that the heat that it will generate in the days ahead will surpass that of the failed tenure elongation.

Only recently, Governor Kure of Niger state threw what should be the first punch when he branded the south-south geo-political zone of lacking credible candidates to rule the country (south east not even in the picture). And in a quick response, the south-south leaders lashed at the governor thereby charging the atmosphere for more verbal punches to come. Hence, as the cloud of dust that marred the failed tenure extension seems to be settling; another battle of Obasanjo’s successor has just been ignited. And there is no doubt that by December, all presidential aspirants would have emerged for the real battle ahead. Should the pendulum swing north or remain south of south-south or south east?

Power Balance

Nigeria will be 46 in few months time and by the time this present administration will be over, the country will be months away from celebrating her 47^th anniversary. And just as in a football competition, past winners are usually mentioned before a new tournament kicks off, so also the number of years that the various regions have won the crown (the number one sit) is clearly seen on bill boards all over the southern states. And just as there is no limit to how many times a team is expected to win a trophy, so also there is no constitutional limit regarding the number of years a zone is expected to hold power before the other in the name of power balance. But the truth remains that this issue has been at the centre of political debate the very day President Obasanjo assumed power in 1999.

The southerners (south west, South East and south-south) are claiming that the ‘crown’ otherwise the number one sit in the country has stayed in the north much more than it has in the south. Hence, they insist power should remain in the region even before the ball is played. Being a southerner (from the south east), I am expected to support the position of my region and of course it is my desire that power remains in the region. However, one should understand that we are all Nigerians and therefore whatever the outcome, we remain Nigerians. Thus, the issue concerning the number one sit at this critical time should be examined and analyse with a very high level of fairness so that the dream of equity should reign.

The dream of Equity

There is no doubt that there is no constitutional limit regarding the years a region should hold power. The ruling PDP in its party manifesto allows for power shifting and by it, it is expected that power should go back north at the end of this administration. However, and ever since Nigeria got her independence in 1960, the country has been struggling to live as one nation. And one of the reasons is political and economic imbalance. It is the wish of many Nigerians that the country remains this way if political equity is the very basis on which we build up other equalities. At the same time, political equality may cease to have meaning if there is gross economic inequality. Thus, it is on these major bases that the southerners want power to remain in the region in the interest of political equity at least as a step towards achieving economic equity. A condition the north has refused to apprehend after only eight years in ‘power isolation’.

It is not surprising therefore to see the bold advert by the roadside of all the states in the south of the country with the true position of power balance. In it, the distribution of power to each of the zones was differentiated by years. It is no surprise therefore that the northern part of the country has held power for more years than their southern counterpart. The north has held power for 35 years out of the 46. The advert has done a great deal in sensitizing the people of the south to push for power to remain in the south come 2007 (south-south in particular that is yet to torch the crown) as a grand step towards balancing the equation. However and with the dismal position of majority of the lawmakers from the region in the just concluded third term agenda, is there any more integrity left for the region to really push for the crown or should it play any role at all?

The first real challenge

Governor Kure of Niger state may have committed a blunder when he was reported as saying that the south-south lacks credible candidate to vie for the presidency, which he later apologised. But it was his statement that actually made me to have a second thought to the claim of southerners for the number one sit. Inasmuch as I will ultimately want power to remain in the south, I also reserve my right as a Nigerian to be fair in judgement. Governor Kure is completely wrong to say that there are no credible candidates from the region because there are very sound leaders in the region that can take the country to greater heights and even more than those he represents.

However, his statement is the first real challenge to the integrity of the region. How can the region claimed to have credible candidates when they had sold their integrity in the National Assembly. It would be recalled that majority of those clamouring for an ‘Obasanjo-for-life presidency are from the region. How can you claim to have credible candidates when in the first place you had insisted in retaining Obasanjo as if there were no other candidates in the region? If the lawmakers and governors of the region represented themselves then one expected the leaders of the region to come out and take a stand against them just as they did against Governor Kure like a wounded lion. I must not fail to praise the courage of the few who stood their grounds (needless mentioning names). However, and as far as this article is concerned, Governor Kure has merely hit the hay. It will be very interesting therefore; to see how leaders in the region will save their face more so when those that have been tipped to replace the incumbent were at the forefront for tenure extension. As it stands, things have fallen apart.

A Destiny out of Hand

Like in the world cup qualifier that Nigeria’s destiny was no longer in their own hands and they lost out, so also the destiny of the south is no longer in their hands irrespective of the fact that power is still in the region and the rumour that PDP is looking South-south for Obasanjo’s successor. What is left to see is whether the zone (South-south) will lost one of their best chances yet to claim the number one sit. The point is very simple; if president Obasanjo is ready to leave power, it will be an uphill task for the zone to produce his successor unless it is not through the primaries that the ‘selection’ will be done. It would be recalled that before the ill-fated tenure extension, the region had their destiny in their own hands more especially those of the south-south. And many governors and top politicians in the north were jostling for the number two sit (VP). But it is slipping away.

Since after the failed third term agenda, the north seem to have organised themselves faster and stronger and they are making the strongest claim presently. On the other hand, the southern leaders have turned to Obasanjo to give them the day. And if like in a football tournament that the better prepared team wins with some elements of luck, I see no reason why the north should be denied of the number one sit. The destiny of the south is no longer in their hands because the zone has never made any genuine and serious claim to the presidency. Even president Obasanjo is believed to be the choice of the northerners when he assumed power in 1999. The scenario this time is not different. All I see is a bunch of politicians, waiting to be handpicked by the president.

I will be the last person therefore to come out and support a president from a region or zone that has never shown seriousness to it in the first place. I must say however that Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu (a presidential aspirant) and Ahmed Tinubu both from the south should be commended for their stand alongside other senators (Udo Udoma, Chukwumerije, Ben Obi, etc.) and house of representative members in the region as the third term debate waged on.

This does not however, mean that ones position during the third term debate should be use as a yard stick to judge his credibility because there is hardly a politician in this country without a skeleton in the cupboard. However, their position could well be interpreted to mean that the south has even better and credible candidates than just the incumbent president. And if others in the region had taken the same position, I believe by now the issue of who succeeds Obasanjo from the region would have taken a near end. But as it stands, things may just go the way of the north during the PDP primaries this August.

CONCLUSION

It will therefore be interesting to see how the south redeems their already battered image ahead of the general elections. However, this can only come if the region unites as their northern counterpart. Many people may be seeing many northern candidates (Atiku, Babangida, Buhari, Marwa, Yerima, etc.) but I bet you that when the chips are down you will see but one candidate, representing the interest of the north. As it stands, the south is yet to know those who have formerly declared for the number one sit with exception to Dr. Kalu who is in the black book of the president. There is no doubt that people like Victor Attah, Peter Odili, and Donald Duke are being mentioned but Nigerians are yet to see any commitment from these people like their northern counterparts who have already launched their presidential campaigns. Until the south learns to gamble like the north, the region will only grab the crown at the mercy and sympathy of the north as the case has always been.

Thus, the nation will be watching with great interest, to see how the region will come up with a credible candidate to debunk as well as counter Governor Kure’s punch of credibility.

‘There is no gambling like politics’

See you on the other side.