By Ilobi Austin
Former President Obasanjo was the first Nigerian president under the
current democratic dispensation to test the resolve of Nigerians to stick to
the rotational presidency ideology of his party, the PDP when he,
hand-in-glove, flew the third term kite—a scam that was used to rake in
billions of naira from supportive friends and governors— and upon it
programmed failure, the Odili presidency—another scam targeted at northern
governors angling for vice presidency slot.
At the end of it all, he saluted the passion and determination of
the citizenry to henceforth give all and sundry, equal opportunity to contribute
to national development, at the highest level of service to the fatherland, the
president, irrespective of primordial challenges like ethnicity, population, religious
inclination and beliefs or even the opinion of the supreme document—as handed down
by the military— the constitution and dutifully handed over the reins of power,
to the North. Yar'Adua, the man to whom he preferred to hand over to, as against
the Vice President then, Atiku, died in active service, paving the way for the
VP, Dr. Jonathan to complete their term of office.
With his assumption of office came the amplification of the raging
issue of the moment: the questioning of the
idea of rotating the office of the president, on a eight years basis between
the two divides—North, South— of the country by those angling for him to stay
beyond 2011. A natural derivative of the zoning question has been the debate,
for and against the idea.
One of basis of the anti-zoning group—at the level of the office of
the president— argument is that it is not constitutional. And I am inclined to agree with them. But they
must also with me that it is neither illegal nor unreasonable as a means of
ensuring peaceful co-existence amongst Nigerians. And any idea that is capable
of promoting brotherliness in a country as diverse and divisive as Nigeria,
must be constitutional; if only inferred or deduced, from it, as in the Christendom
where some have reasoned that for the three persons in one God to maintain a
united front against the violence that the kingdom suffers from usurpers—satan—that
God, the father and God, the son had to recognise the right of God, the holy
spirit to differ on certain issue and
have his way, even though a minority.
And this is that those, whose sins offend him, even if they have
received pardon from the others, must still pay his price before admission into
the kingdom. Some folks quickly deduce from it—this is my personal opinion—
that for him to implement his philosophy, he must maintain a furnace called
purgatory somewhere around the heavens, for the purpose. Those who disagree
with the idea of a purgatory have not told us what would happen where a
candidate for heaven have received clearance from the father and son and not
the Holy Spirit. However, for the benefit of those who insist that for it to be
constitutional, it must be boldly written in it, we can take advantage of the
current review exercise of the document to insert it. The constitution is not
the bible that we can do nothing about but just abide with it provisions.
Another plank of the argument is that zoning breeds mediocrity. How
this is so, I am yet to understand. I am open for further education on this but
I strongly believe that there is no street, not zone, in the country that
cannot produce, at least, ten competent fellows who can lead the nation
effectively to the land of Eldorado. The office of the president does not
require or demand the brain of a research-fellow or an inventor. It only
requires someone with proven sanity, good judgement and the people skill to
drive a team—the egg-heads, technocrats, etc— towards the achievement of a pre-determined
goal. And these kinds of persons are found everywhere, even in so-called
educationally disadvantaged states and the minorities of the minority. They
only need access, just as was the case with the current president, to prove themselves.
And in a number affair like democracy and in a country like Nigeria
As for the puerile excuse that it stifles competition, I make this
submission: competition everywhere is regulated; in business or personal
matters like religion otherwise, it becomes disruptive, destructive, anti-trust
or unfair. Besides, with our over fifty parties and still counting, the
argument cannot hold. Instead of stifling, it will promote it, in the areas of
each zones candidate striving to out-do the previous occupant in terms of
quality in-put into developmental strides of the nation.
Debaters with un-NAFDAC-ed premise! How many of them, anti-zoning
elements of today, would accept it if, from1999 to-date, the local government
chairman speaker, deputy governor and the governor of their state ad al come a
particular street, ward or senatorial zone , on account of merit? How many of
them from the Obasanjo regime to-date got their positions simply due to merit?
Zoning produced them, and then their competence—according to their
principal—kept them. Was Obasanjo an ostrich from the forest, more prepared
than Ekwueme and Faae when he was made the president?
Zoning is Nigeria
Finally, it is the ideology of the PDP and any member that finds it
disagreeable should simply jump ship.
Ilobi Austin, an event analyst sent this piece via thinkingaustin@gmail.com