Muhtari Shagari and his anti-zoning gamble

Though it is an informal arrangement, it has worked wonderfully for promoting unity and stability. In fact, the Senate President, the Speaker of the House, the Vice President and other key political office holders are occupying those positions on the basis of zoning. When he became a Vice President under the late President Umaru Yar’adua, […]

Though it is an informal arrangement, it has worked wonderfully for promoting unity and stability. In fact, the Senate President, the Speaker of the House, the Vice President and other key political office holders are occupying those positions on the basis of zoning. When he became a Vice President under the late President Umaru Yar’adua, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan did so on the basis of zoning. After Chief Vincent Ogbulafor was blackmailed out of office as PDP national chairman, because he wasn’t ready to change the rules in the middle of the game, it was the Igbos that produced a successor to him in the name of Chief Ekweselieze Nwodo. Why didn’t Dr. Bello Haliru Mohammed, the national vice chairman from the northwest succeed him? He couldn’t have because the position is zoned to the southeast.
Even at state levels, a governor and his deputy don’t come from the same senatorial zone out of recognition for the imperative of power sharing. For eight years, former President Obasanjo held office on the basis of zoning and not so much because of any extraordinary political popularity or super-human competence. Both the ANPP and PDP presented southerners as presidential candidates in 1999, namely Olusegun Obasanjo and Chief Olu Falae. The sacrifices for unity through zoning were never too much for the north to make and, since 1999, it has produced positive results. Why should Obasanjo and others now pretend that zoning is not good or it doesn’t exist in the PDP constitution? Why must Goodluck Jonathan insist that he must run, despite the fact that breaching such informal agreement for power sharing can set the country back in its efforts to achieve stability and unity through the principle of power rotation? Once honestly and honourably implemented, zoning is the only guarantee that can give the minorities access to the nation’s highest public office. And there is no valid proof that there is any section of Nigeria which cannot produce a president on merit. The argument that zoning sacrifices merit is pure balderdash!
Should we therefore, abandon zoning for short-term personal gains, despite the potential risks of taking Nigeria back to the bitter regional, ethnic and religious rivalries between north and south? The dangerous dimension the zoning debate has assumed is already painting the picture of dicey elections in 2011. What does Goodluck Jonathan gain by sacrificing his commitment to zoning and, by extension, the unity of Nigeria for the sake of contesting in 2011? What pleasure would he derive by leading a bitterly divided country in 2011?
Did he forget the efforts of northern leaders such Alhaji Shehu Shagari and others who joined other southern elders to urge the National Assembly to empower him as Acting President when it was obvious that the health of the late Yar’adua was seriously weakened by debilitating infection? The doctrine of necessity, which made him the then Acting President was unconstitutional but Nigerians supported it as the sacrifice for unity. Former President Shagari is a gentleman and always indentifies himself with issues that involve honour, peace, unity and stability. Shehu Shagari believes honour and good name are more important than personal material and political rewards. Above all, he believes the unity of Nigeria should not be jeopardized on the altar of opportunism.
Ironically, former Water Resources Minster and currently the Sokoto State Deputy Governor, Alhaji Muhtari Shagari, doesn’t believe in his adoptive father’s principles of honour and good name. Despite dropping the former President’s name to get lucrative public appointments, the Deputy Governor now believes that the unity of Nigeria can go to hell as long as he realizes his selfish ambitions. He is alleged to be quietly and sadistically enjoying the behind-the-scenes scheming to replace Vice President Namadi Sambo because he is not doing enough to persuade the northwest to abandon zoning. The Sokoto State Deputy Governor treats former President Obasanjo like a God and he is ready to irrationally throw himself behind the Ota farmer, even if it is dishonourable.
As Professor Tam David-West argued, Obasanjo should resign as chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees after lying that zoning doesn’t exist in the party’s constitution. He recalled that the confirmation and sustaining of zoning by the party’s expanded caucus, the BOT and the national executive committee meeting had exposed Obasanjo and party chairman, chief Nwodo, as shameless liars.
Lying has become Obasanjo’s second nature and in any decent society such a man loses the moral qualification to become a role model to anyone. He once lied that he never solicited for third term ambition, despite all the unmistakable signs of his involvement in the infamously unpopular political project. With a record of lying, only a desperate politician like Muhthari Shagari can turn to a do-or-die devilishly-inspired so-called elder such as former President Obasanjo to realize his naked ambition.
As a lawyer, Muhtari Shagari knows very well that the merits of zoning are by far greater than its perceived weaknesses. The Nigerian Bar Association has adopted zoning or rotation in the election of its president and other officers of the NBA. Joseph Dauda from Kogi State has just been elected the new president to take over from Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu. Without zoning, the Yorubas would have dominated the leadership of NBA for as long as you can imagine. Yet out of the genuine desire to give every Nigerian a sense of belonging, the Yorubas are patriotically eager to let minorities share in the leadership of the vocal professional body.
The Sokoto State Deputy Governor was among the self-styled one hundred northern elders that visited Goodluck Jonathan to urge him to run. None of these guys went there out of pure personal conviction. They did so either for financial or political payback. For Muhtari Shagari, his opportunistic visit to Aso Rock is the biggest political gamble he could ever make. Swimming against the tide of popular opinion over zoning in Sokoto State, the Deputy Governor has exposed the chinks in his armour. What can Obasanjo give him that God cannot give him? One of the allegations against Vice President Namadi Sambo is that he doesn’t have enough political clout in the north to sell President Goodluck Jonathan. Does Muhtari Shagari have such influence either to tip the scale of popular opinion in favour of killing zoning? It is a distant possibility and realities will open his eyes.
Acida writes from B29, Michael Okpara Way, Gwarimpa, Abuja.e-mail: [email protected]