Of myths, truths and something called “Northern Consensus”
But is this ‘old wisdom’ really true? I think not. It is a myth, albeit an old and powerful one. So, it is high time we deconstructed it, especially now that we are taking our first steps into a century of nationhood. In the common parlance of political discourse in Nigeria, the consensus candidature of […]
But is this ‘old wisdom’ really true? I think not. It is a myth, albeit an old and powerful one. So, it is high time we deconstructed it, especially now that we are taking our first steps into a century of nationhood.
In the common parlance of political discourse in Nigeria, the consensus candidature of the former Vice
President means the North has once again united to engage the South in a political battle to dominate the rest of the country. Yet, this same consensus has long been reached in the South without any committees. Why has there not been a single politician from the South against President Jonathan in the PDP? At least in 2007, many of them vied for the same PDP ticket before former President Obasanjo handed it to the late President Yar’adua.
That none of them has declared now is in itself a consensus! A consensus is most effective when it does not announce itself. In other words, a ‘Southern Consensus’ had existed long before the Malam Adamu Ciroma committee was even formed! Yet, no one talks about it because political discourse in Nigeria has always been framed in terms of favorite words like ‘North’, ‘Northern’, and ‘Northerners’. It is either North this or North that. But actually, frames such as these work against the interests of the common man in Nigeria.
Surely, a consensus candidate from the north within the PDP is not at once a consensus candidate for the whole region? Yet, it is believable because a whole people have been defined in a particular way and with particular sets of codes with which meaning is produced out of political events. In this case, the code is that the North has always been one united political front fighting to dominate the rest of the country, and therefore it must be defeated by all means possible. This is the primary fountain from which flows much of political communication in our country today. But it is simply not true. The north has never been as politically united as such, nor is it any more so now than the South. In fact, it is the more politically diverse region of Nigeria.
Also, millions of Nigerians who are likely to follow this argument of “Goodluck vs Consensus” with their votes may not benefit anything of material consequence whatever the outcome of 2011, except the non-material satisfaction that they ‘won’ and ‘their man’ is in charge. But let’s see why. Certainly, the late Premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello, succeeded in fostering a relatively homogeneous political culture and world view among the various peoples that make up today’s geopolitical north. And to his eternal credit, Sardauna did this with the widest possible consideration for justice for all sections of the north and with the highest possible measure of exemplary leadership. Those two key values have today almost disappeared from leadership in the north and the rest of the country.
Even then, no one can say he succeeded 100% for the simple reason that the cultural does not fully explain the political. Witness that in the First Republic, NEPU was more in opposition to the NPC than it was to other parties in the South. Indeed, it frequently allied either with the AG or the NCNC to engage the NPC both within and without the region.
It fielded candidates and won seats both to the regional house in Kaduna and the center in Lagos in all the elections throughout that period. Indeed, it is the NEPU ‘spirit’ that has made Kano a strong site of oppositional politics to the center to date. And then there was the UMBC which also stood for and won seats to Kaduna and Lagos. Again, in the Second Republic, three parties, NPN, PRP and GNPP fought tooth and nail for the states in the North, but only one party in each case swept the votes in the South East and the South West.
The Third and the present Fourth Republics are similar. More specific still, the North has never voted en block for any single candidate at the national level and twice it voted overwhelming for candidates outside the region, in 1993 and 1999! Yet again, in all presidential elections ever held in Nigeria, again with the exception of 1993 and 1999, at least two candidates emerged from the North.
It is also instructive to remember that Buhari spent 18 months in court against an election won by Yar’adua and even as we speak, both him and Ribadu are going to engage Atiku, perhaps even more seriously than Jonathan ever could. So what is this ‘Northern consensus’ people are talking about? Clearly, there is no record of such political diversity and tolerance in any other region of Nigeria.
For example, the South-West hardly vote for anybody outside the home base and once rejected a candidate just because others voted for him; just as the South East seldom vote for two different parties or candidates in the same election as the voting patterns of most of the major elections in Nigeria to date show.
Thus, if there ever was something called political consensus in Nigeria since 1960, it has not been in the north. Indeed, only the military, or more particularly the northern elements within it, can be said to have had anything near it. But even that broke up the day after General Gowon was removed from power. From then on, it has been every man for himself: one northerner taking over from another, not from any broad consensuses, but from assassination, coups and once indirectly through ‘push aside’. How can anyone sensibly explain all these to be for the ‘North’ or that there has been something called Northern hegemony?
Yet, the aim here is not a comparative analysis of Nigeria’s regional political behaviour. It is to show how simple falsehoods are dressed up beautifully as facts or truths so as to use them as weapons of power and control. The notion of a united north out to dominate the rest of the country is a political construction, a myth. But like all symbolic means of acquiring and maintaining power, political myths can in fact be more real than reality itself. This explains why even some of the most educated among us cannot see this myth for what it is.
True, there has been hegemony in our beloved country, but it is not northern or even regional; it is national. Its material essence is manifested in the fact that the State remains the only and most important means of private capital accumulation. In lay terms, it is corruption. But it survives and persists because it is firmly anchored to a divide and rule politics of religion, regionalism and ethnicity which in turn are sustained by mythical constructions such as the idea that somebody from another region and of another faith is out to dominate you so let us fight them. Nothing can be farther from the truth.
The actual ‘dominators’ are the men and women who pillage public resources into private pockets and they are drawn from all parts of the country, as evidenced in the fact that every corruption scandal in Nigeria has involved Christians, Muslims, Northerners, Southerners, men and women, young and old. It is a Nigerian thing!
Suleiman can be reached at [email protected]