Abuja To Lagos: ‘ A Case Of Sound And Fury Signifying Nothing’
SOMETIMES, a keenparticipant in the Nigerian discourse cannot but step back to review the Parkinson’s Law of Triviality because the time spent by the political leadership on cheap and unimportant talk could be likened to one abandoning the main material in preference for the tinsel of a Christmas gift.
Information distortions seem to be the past time of the ordinary political actor in Nigeria. The pedestrian politicians, and there are many of them in Nigeria, dissipatetime and energy on unnecessary and wasteful discussions that would, at the end of the day, not add any value to the national growth and development. It is instructive to note that Leadership bike shedding is already gaining momentum and assuming institutional status in our national life. Lies, fabrication, mischief or may be ruthless maneuvering and intellectual inadequacies are the problems of the class in question.
The politicians are at it again this time around, overheating the system, making so much fuss and noise over nothing and behaving as if idiocy runs in the leadershipof our country and those who follow them sheepishly. How, if one may ask, can a routine administrative issue such as transferring one department each from two ministries in Abuja amount to the relocation of the seat of government from Abuja to Lagos? How can such an issue be promoted to the front burner of politicsto the extent that itis allowed to fester and grow into threats and blackmail to national peace and tranquility? Why are some northern youths and senators assuming the garb of self- appointed defenders of the Federal Capital as if the city is built only for a region of the country? Kudos to many intellectuals in the north such as the former CBN Governor Lamido Sanusi who have openly spoken against those promoting the none- sense.
Responsible leadership should talk only when there is sensible words to utter and not jump into the arena with smear campaign just because they have advantage to do so. How can some Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria exhibitsuch high level of crass ignorance to the extent that they don’t know that movement or changing the capital of a country is a serious constitutional issue that is beyond mere utterances from a unit or section of the country or even the President of the country. Is it that some of our senators are unaware of their statutory responsibilities?
Does it not amount to sheer incompetence for a legislator to go to the public with the utterances, the type that we have witnessed in the past week knowing the lengthy procedure that is required to move the capital of the country from one location toanotherrests on his table in the National Assembly?
Sincerely, we can ask legions of questions but what seems to be obvious is that some politicians do not draw the line between commonsensical and nonsensical national issues and that it is not at all times that political trivialities and sheer rascality should be allowed to overshadow national discussion.
What would be the fuss when the Central Bank of Nigeria that has 29 departments decides to move just one department to a region where it is relevant, cost effective and appropriate? Does it not tantamount to illogicality to campaign that this routine administrative exercise means the movement of the capital of Nigeria from Abuja to Lagos? If the Ministry of Aviation is still in Abuja, how can the movement of a department from it be regarded as movement of the entire ministry to Lagos?
In fact, the current campaign on the relocation of those two departments from the the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Ministry of Aviation in Abuja to Lagos can best be regarded as unnecessary time wasting and injection of unintellectual input into national discussion. Those who are harbingers of this campaign should realize that Abuja is the capital of Nigeria and not the capital of any section of the country. Therefore, we all have stake in it and the responsibility to protect it rests on all Nigerians.
To the Yoruba, Abuja means ‘ short cut’, but for historical purposes, it is important to note that the name of the Federal Capital Territory was coined from the short form of thename of one Malam Abubakar Ja. That is ‘ Abu. Ja’. In Hausa language, ‘ Ja’ means ‘ Red’. Therefore,‘ ABUBAKAR Ja’the short form of which is ‘ ABU JA’ means ‘ fair complexion Abubakar’. This is similar to calling a man ‘ Alabi Yellow’ in the Southern part of Nigeria.
Some of us were present in 1976 when the Murtala- Obasanjo government decided that there was need to relocate the capital city of Nigeria to Abuja. Reasons given for the relocation included that Lagos has become overcrowded as a result of its dual role as capital of Lagos State and that of Nigeria. Also, the attack on Lagos during the war shows that Lagos was porous and prone to easy attack in case of a war.
The eminent jurist Timothy Akinsola Aguda, a Yoruba man from Akute in Ondo State was commissioned to head a committee that recommended a befitting capital for Nigeria. According to Justice Aguda, the main reason for choosing Abuja was its central location in Nigeria and its proximity to all sections of the country. If, one may recall vividly, the occupants or indigenes of Abuja were at that time compensated and moved elsewhere to pave the way for a capital that will belong to every section of Nigeria and serve all and sundry equally.
The Military Government of that time, then, appointed a Lagos Indigene, Mr. Mobolaji Ajose- Adeosun as the first Minister for Capital Territory. It was this Lagos man that laid the foundation of the place we call Abuja today. The core indigenous people of Lagos did not complain at that time because Lagos in reality was becoming unlivableto the extent that when a man goes to his office in Lagos Island, he might not be able to return to his abode in the Lagos Mainland till the next day. In fact, some slept in the office. If one looks at Lagos of today in terms of geography and socioeconomic advantages, no serious indigene will advocate for a return to status quo ante. Therefore, Lagosians are not at all missing the presence or hosting of the capital of the country.
However, there is need to revisit the name Abuja to give it a name that will reflect its Nigerianess. The man, “Abubakar Ja” from which the name of the city was derived is neither a principal actor of the Nigerian nationhood nor one of those who laid down their lives for our country. It is not a name iconically chosen to reflect the character of Nigeria, therefore, a good name that will reflect the dream and properly support the historical processes of the Nigerian evolvement should be coined. This may be the principal takeaway of the noise of the past week.
It was not a herculean task for us to find a good name for our national currency when in 1968, the Finance Minister, Chief Jeremiah Obafemi Awolowo suggested the change from British Pound to Naira. Therefore, it should not be difficult to find a name for the Federal Capital Territory. The name NAIJA may even sound very sweet in mouth of the world for a capital city that is longing for more relevance in terms of nomenclature.