The President we deserve

By Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed   I should start by thanking the Coalition of Northern Groups for the invitation to contribute to your deliberations in memory of our great inspiration, leader and first Convener of Northern Elders Forum, Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule, Danmasanin Kano, across the country. The last time I spoke at ABU Zaria to CNG […]

By Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed

 

I should start by thanking the Coalition of Northern Groups for the invitation to contribute to your deliberations in memory of our great inspiration, leader and first Convener of Northern Elders Forum, Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule, Danmasanin Kano, across the country.

The last time I spoke at ABU Zaria to CNG about a month ago, my comments were mutilated to serve a particular interest against the North. My reference to the tradition of responsible leadership by Northerners in whatever capacities they find themselves (with the exception of the current leadership) was crudely  and falsely re-interpreted to suggest that  Northerners have an in-bred superiority mentality. My reference to the North’s larger population and voting numbers as assets were dismissed as false and threatening. My statement that the North was not going to accept being forced to play second fiddle was twisted to falsely imply that the rest of Nigeria was to play second fiddle to the North.

A lot has happened since then. The North understood that the bitter reactions were part of the arsenal being used to deprive it of its right. The North is now solid in its resolve that it cannot be kept out of any of the democratic processes and will participate as a full member of the Nigerian community without apology or reservation.

  You cannot have equity if you abridge the fundamental law of the land to achieve your own  political goal. Fairness is a strong value, but it is best achieved in a context where it is defined specifically in terms that are  not too unfair to other parties. The North does not need to flash its scorecard on commitment to national unity and the democratic process since the creation of our country. We have paid a huge price for the unity and survival of this country, for which we have no regrets. It is one of the tragedies of the current policy of not teaching young Nigerians their history  that they do not understand the pains and struggles of keeping this country and bringing it to where it is today, a nation where all communities have grievances, yet with enough room to tolerate and process them if we are well-led. The North has never been a parasite in Nigeria and while it believes that it serves all our interests to stay as one united country, it will be difficult to continue to defend our co-existence if it can only be achieved at any group’s permanent expense.

 Those who should question their own commitments are people who threaten to leave the country or make it ungovernable if the next president does not bear all the narrow hallmarks of their preferences. They fail to understand the danger, which a leader that is an ethnic and religious product will pose to a plural country desperate for a new lease of life, after an administration, which  had ignored the vital necessity to improve inclusiveness and cohesion leaves in 2023.

The rest of Nigeria has a legitimate cause to worry when sections  of the country that have become virtual hostages of irredentists, suggest that only when they have the Presidency will the country eliminate organised violence, which has made massive inroads into the lives of Nigerian citizens living there.

 The way things stand today, it is safe to say that there is a fairly level playing field. Every Nigerian can now compete within his or her party to be a candidate and all voters will be availed an opportunity to choose from among all candidates, whatever their origins. We must warn that the North will turn its back on any party that deliberately and specifically tilts advantages towards candidates from particular regions. The next president should emerge from a credible election from any part of the country but he or she must be first and foremost a Nigerian President. Those Northerners with ambition to run for the office of the President should know that Northern Elders Forum, Coalition of Northern Groups and many others are not merely supporting the emergence of a Northerner to succeed President Buhari.

If a Northerner is to become the next president with our votes in the North, then he has to be the best among all others. He has to convince us in the North that he understands our problems, and has the capacity to solve them. He must have the disposition, energy, health and intelligence to heal the breached pluralism of the North, and to build bridges across the entire nation. He has to be able to lead a country that is failing in a number of significant areas. A personal ambition to be president will not be enough, and we will scrutinise and advise those who will listen, to avoid the temptation to put in place persons who just want power, but not responsibility. A president from the North must have the exposure and network to reintegrate all parts of Nigeria into one country, with one vision.

 The journey from now to 2023 is fraught with a lot of challenges. The competition for elective offices will severely compound the already stressed atmosphere and cast doubts over the stability of the country and the quality of the next administration. The poor quality of political leaders, weak political  institutions, massive disputes over rotation, which feed and increase the quantum of security challenges and widespread  apathy, will combine to make the next elections quite possibly the most challenging since 1999.The Anambra Governorship elections scheduled to hold in the next few days will serve as a contest  between the stranglehold of organised crimes over the civic space in many parts of the country and the capacity of the federal and state governments to defeat them. Igbo political leaders and latter-day Yoruba converts to irredentism will rue the space being taken up by violence and threats as they struggle to convince Nigerians that they can lead a nation where every group feels safe, secure and fairly treated.

For the North, the specter of large populations that could be disenfranchised by the influence of non-State armed groups is real, unless the efforts of our military and security forces bear real and decisive results in the next few months. In this regard, all Northerners with influence must get actively involved in mobilization of Northerners to register and vote in the 2023 elections as well as contribute to the resolution of the many security challenges from which the region is bleeding.  It is extremely important that Nigeria wins the war it is fighting against insurgents, bandits, irredentists and sundry criminals, so that it does not burden the next administration with problems that will complicate an important re-engineering task which it must undertake in a secure and stable environment. Whether the president assents to the proposals for electronic transmission of results and indirect primaries for all parties, among others, will have a major impact on the quality of the elections. The nation must avoid a messy election dispute at all cost.

In conclusion, the point must be made again that every Nigerian, irrespective of his political party or identity must be free to contest within his or her party to be fielded as a presidential candidate and we should reject any party that specifically and deliberately excludes any Nigerian from exercising the same right other Nigerians have. Secondly, all Nigerians must be allowed to exercise choices over the next president in a free and credible elections.All citizens must enjoy the same rights to elect a de-tribalised, competent and honest national leader.

Being an abridged text of a paper presented at Yusuf Maitama Sule Leadership Lecture organised by the Borno State Student Chapter of Coalition of Northern Groups(CNG)