2019: Is the North about to lose it again?
In the politics of 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar share many similarities. Apart from being Hausa-Fulani, Northerners, and Muslims; the two are not the anointed candidates of the Northern political establishment. Forget the pretention and/ or politically correct statements by any notable northern figure. The truth is that the North as a political bloc has been schemed out, and effectively too, to the extent that only the Yoruba and the Igbo elites dictate the tunes in who becomes what in Nigeria’s political firmament.
In 2015, the sophisticated Yoruba leaders in a strong bond supported President Buhari who picked the APC ticket. Today, by the grace of Allah he is the President of Nigeria. In the end, the Yoruba nation is much better for it, given the huge return on investments that is accruing to them by way of deployments of capital projects and juicy appointments.
The greatest losers in all due respect however, are the docile, corrupt, selfcentered and hypocritical northern leaders who lack foresight and empathy for the well-being of their subjects other than personal aggrandizement. The North that hitherto was strategically the power house of Nigerian politics has become a shadow of its former formidable self. What a pity!!
Fast forward to the upcoming 2019 election, the same urbane Yoruba elites and their followers are solidly behind Buhari, while Northern leaders as usual are left in needless and unworthy opposition to Buhari’s presidency and this clearly is injurious and detrimental to the region’s overall interest.
Unfortunately, this same scenario is unfolding in the PDP today. Igbos have lined up behind Atiku, for whatever it will take to ensure his electoral success in the 2019 election. It is worth to recall that the Igbo elders have just endorsed his candidacy. But as usual, there seems to be lack of support for Atiku in the northern camp to garner votes of the people and propel him to Aso Rock Villa. Northern political oligarchy is neither here nor there in concrete terms. I’m sure if Atiku ends up as president, his government will be run mostly by Igbo people, and the losers will be Northerners. In other words, his government will be more or less an Igbocentric government, just like Buhari’s Yoruba-centric administration.
It’s a shame that Northern leaders are no longer sophisticated enough like they used to be, when it comes to political calculations, permutations and scheming. It is not too late however if they wish to halt the cascade into political oblivion.
Kabiru Tsakuwa, Kano.