Post-election hate mills are not what we need

Rampaging youth in northern Nigeria went on the streets in protest against what they perceived as robbery of their votes; haven voted en mass for General Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate fielded on the platform of Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and the main challenger of the ruling party´s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), President Goodluck […]

Rampaging youth in northern Nigeria went on the streets in protest against what they perceived as robbery of their votes; haven voted en mass for General Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate fielded on the platform of Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and the main challenger of the ruling party´s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), President Goodluck Jonathan in the 19th April, 2011 election. Security agents have since been deployed to the affected areas to restore peace and order and both President Jonathan and General Buhari have condemned the act and appealed for peace.

The anger, if not action of the youth, was shared by the majority people of northern extraction. At no point in the history of Nigeria, has the division between the two regions been so glaring than during the September 19th election. While the south was jubilating, the north was in a state of mourning and the whole world was watching. Inflammatory comments and statements were posted on many a Facebook wall, such as the BBC Hausa service Facebook wall and online reactions of news items and comments published, particularly, by the New York based Sahara Reporters. Most of the comments from the south were in praise of Goodluck Jonathan mixed with `southern’ Nigeria sentiments. The south laughs at the failure of Buhari at the polls and depicts Jonathan in boxing kit as a true southern champion, who defeated the north. The northerners on their part, feel cheated, having been outsmarted in the PDP internal arrangement of power rotation based upon which the next presidential candidate of that party was supposed to come from. On the other hand, comments emanating from the north were in condemnation of the results, insulting against the electoral commission, the ruling party PDP with invocation of The Creator’s wrath on election riggers, while some were downright irrational. Both sides may have been justified but both appear to be thinking within the prism of their narrow prejudices of religion or region. Both sides are grossly mistaken and missed the point about what it requires to build a nation.

 

These comments have become so much that they must be addressed. It is worrisome because they are coming from, particularly the younger people who, one day, will be the true leaders of this country. Considering the power of the social network, it is criminal to sit down and watch while my students, from both sides of River Niger exchange hate words.

The simple truth is, there was an election and Goodluck Jonathan has been declared winner by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). If anybody has anything against this, there are appropriate channels to go about protesting. This, however, is neither an endorsement of the election nor a negation of the fact that the election was rigged, particularly in southern Nigeria as evidenced by the incredible and `magic numbers from the south’ as reported by the media. The sad reality is however, right from time, elections have been rigged in this country; and this was reported to be the least rigged.

In addressing most of the unsavory and inciting statements coming from the south, it is important to state that whoever emerges the president of this country, whether through rigging or not, provided he/she is declared by constituted authority as such, that person automatically becomes the president of Nigerians; southerner or northerner. There is no point personalizing issues since we are living in the same country. If any section of this country wants to secede from the Nigeria project (as continuously agitated by one commentator in Sahara Reporters), there are constitutional ways of doing that. It does not matter if, after reading this piece, you dismiss it as another piece of “rubbish from a parasitic Malam who is probably a beneficiary of quota system or a lazy and uneducated and backward subject of some imaginary northern oligarchy”. This will not change the fact that we have the same needs for basic amenities, food, shelter, security, education and freedom of expression of our humanities in the form of culture, tradition and religion. My friends from the south do not understand the anger of the young people from the north. What happened was the result of accumulated years of continuous neglect and deception of the poor people of the north, not necessarily by the south but indeed by leaders from the north. Their hope for redemption was, rekindled through someone they felt, sincerely feels for them and then again they were only to be betrayed. That explains the burning of houses of prominent northern political leaders. Unfortunately, the volatile situation escalated -as it often does, taking religious and tribal dimensions. This is highly reprehensible and must be condemned by all.

The south voted heavily for President Jonathan and for whatever reason that is, it is to be believed as having been done in good faith. While rigging is unacceptable, it is the hope of poor Nigerians like yours truly, that this is the beginning of a new era in Nigeria. By the same token, the north voted massively for the opposition party (CPC), also for its own reasons, but having done so in good faith. The rest, as they say, is history now.

The big question is what happens next? Will the president carry people along? Will he keep the old tradition of corruption and indiscipline of PDP, which the north actually tried to sack? Has he heard the voices from the north and south? The world now knows what Malam really wants. The next few months will remain in history as some of the most defining moments for Nigeria.

Abdulrazak B. Ibrahim,

Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Brasilia, Brazil  [email protected]