2011: Issues, not ethnicity and bigotry

Before now, the people of all ethnic and religious backgrounds had seemingly hidden their mutual hatreds in the crevices of their minds. But after the death of Umaru Musa Yar’adua and the eventual swearing-in of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and Architect Namadi Sambo as President and Vice President respectively, the deep-seated and long bottled-up hatred became […]

Before now, the people of all ethnic and religious backgrounds had seemingly hidden their mutual hatreds in the crevices of their minds. But after the death of Umaru Musa Yar’adua and the eventual swearing-in of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and Architect Namadi Sambo as President and Vice President respectively, the deep-seated and long bottled-up hatred became exposed. Some religious leaders, as if waiting for a scapegoat, capitalized on the pulse of the moment to further exacerbate the already heightened tension reminding their followers not to either vote for Christian or Muslim depending on which side one belongs.

I have always drawn the attention of Nigerians to look at leadership as the ability to inspire confidence and provide the necessary well¬being to the people. Yes, religion is good and sacrosanct in the life of man. It seeks to provide meaning and control to the existence of man leading him towards blissful eternity. It should not be seen as instrument of threat and intimidation among the people. Nations never and will never move forward on the rusty wheels of ethnocentrism and religious hatred.

In the Dafur region of Sudan, daily news give graphic details of horror, courtesy ethnic and religious disharmonies. Our nation now is being dragged towards that road of anarchy, God forbid, by some overzealous religious leaders or political elites in order to satisfy their shallow and satanic interests.

Nigeria is blessed with abundant human and material resources that could place us among prosperous nations, but we are all about to throw that away. That should not be, as we have been lucky and fortunate that Goodluck/Sambo have factored in all the needs, areas of grievances and are charting the way forward. When a nation has leaders like the duo of Goodluck/Sambo, with their visions, drive and ideas, they can provide leadership by entrenching justice, fair play and equity. When leaders provide all those, people would not mind who rules them: Christian, Muslim or Pagan, the bottom line is all about service delivery.

Since their inauguration, Goodluck and Sambo are continuing with the legacy of the late President Yar’adua making some amendments where necessary. Examples of such legacies are the roadmap on power sector which they have unveiled the power sector roadmap. The effort to revolutionize the sector would fulfill the needs and meet the demands of energy for the ailing industrial sector and the generality of Nigerians.

We should be worried about the future of our nation. We should not waste our time and energy on flaring of sentiments that are capable of dragging us 50 years backward. Religious or ethnic inclinations can neither offer quality livelihoods nor peace of mind which translates into creative ideas. Our pastors, imams, even babalawos and the Sat Gurus should be concerned about and start addressing the issue of how many children cannot go to school, our bad roads, etc.

We should also be concerned about the general plight of the states based on the prevailing needs of socio-economic infrastructure and not any other way. It is germane to remind the people that we are in the 21st century where the world is constantly driven by ideas and result oriented initiatives. When we view the efforts and achievements of accomplished world leaders through good leadership to make the world a better place, vibrant ideas were put in place to serve as a road map towards success; from MDG (Millennium Development Goals) to the D-8 summit on sustainable partnership on economic benefits, there was no place where ethnocentrisms and provincialism or religious bias were considered in their agenda. Leadership does not recognize colour, religion, creed or ethnic antecedence.

In France, for example, President Nicholas Sarkozy was a son of Hungarian immigrant but rose to become the president of France. In the United States of America, the world stood still for Barak Obama, a son to a Kenyan immigrant from the Kikuyu clan. For goodness sake, we should not allow our senses and good judgments to be coloured by undue sentiments and primitive bearings. It was Sultan Mohammed Bello the scholarly genius of the Danfodio era who said “leadership can prosper with unbelief if there is justice, but it cannot prosper with injustice even when there is belief’.

Remarkably, the conferring of leadership and positions in life are prerogative of God. He has mentioned verses and chapters in our Holy books of the Quran and the Bible in that regard. He gives power to whomever He pleases, He elevates whomever He pleases and disgraces whomever He pleases without question.

Ethnic consideration does not only create deep mutual suspicion and primitive hatred across ethnic and religious divide, but stifle growth, development and colour our imaginations. We should build our nation through reconciliation, mutual respect of other peoples’ beliefs and by constructive criticisms.

Khalifa wrote from Ahmadulle Educational Foundation, Youth Development & Political Research