Tribalism and Nigerian Politics
Elections in Nigeria have always been a haute cuisine sautéed with tribalism since the 1920s. Nigerian elections, since the Clifford constitution allowed for inclusion, has constantly held the trappings of tribalism and regionalism as seen today.
In the early times, the tussle between Obafemi Awolowo and Nnamdi Azikiwe became evident as a struggle for political gains. Azikiwe did feel left behind because he was not Yoruba despite his understanding of the culture and the language, hence he lost elections in Lagos.
These long-held lines of acerbic tribalism have characterized the political consciousness of the Nigerian state. This became evident in the Post-independence elections after a hung parliament and Azikiwe sought a coalition of his NCNC and NPC because he couldn’t trust the Action Group and Awolowo.
Despite the torrential seas of tribal sentiments and political horse trading, the visible charge has always been that of Maximilian Azeglio who said “We have built Italy, it is time to build Italians.” The question is, have we done this over the years? The 1964 elections brought another gale of coalition of confidence and horse trading. This time, the charge was led by Akintola’s disagreement with Awolowo and with his fluency in Hausa language, Akintola used the NNDP to scuttle the southwest because of political gains and a strong tribal sentiment by the virtue of language. These sentiments led to the “wetie” riots that led to wanton killings and destruction.
Anyway, this was short-lived as the military coup scuttled the government and Nigeria never remained the same after the Kaduna Nzeogwu-led coup. This impasse led to the a risorgimento of the military in Nigerian political landscape. The tribal lines deepened, killings and reprisals became the new normal. Wives told their husbands to defend their clan by killing fellow military officers and all of this snowballed into the civil war.
When democracy returned in 1979, the military ironically had become part of the political class and it was only time for the military to come back. They had tasted power and it had corrupted absolutely. They did this in 1983, Muhammadu Buhari said he could change Nigeria.
The only time Nigerians saw beyond the clad of nepotism was 1993. MKOo Abiola had run an inclusive campaign mixed with his chequered past and being a philanthropist. But his inhibitions were his past relationships with the military class; it proved extremely difficult for his friends to trust him not to get rid of them. When the June 12 election was annulled Nigerians revolted. We had voted irrespective of tribal sentiments. Abiola-Kingibe was a Muslim-Muslim ticket, but the military had other ideas. It would interest you to know that Atiku Abubakar ran in the 1993 SDP primaries against Abiola.
The annulment brought a new wave of an interim government led by Ernest Shonekan and the Military returned with a brutal dictator Sani Abacha. Nigeria became a pariah state with embargos and sanctions from the international community. The Super Eagles couldn’t defend their Nations Cup title in 1996 due to Abacha’s endless spat with President Mandela. It is bewildering Adams Oshiomole forgets all of that due to political gains. It is also funny he forgets his endless mistreatments in the hands of the military.
After Abacha’s death, a return to democracy happened and the military generals became the ruling class. The class of 1966 became the new political class in 1999. Olusegun Obasanjo did two terms and asked for a third, before Atiku Abubakar, his vice denied him. Musa Yar’Adua was elected as President in 2007 in an elections frothed with irregularities. Goodluck Jonathan, from the Ijaw tribe of the Niger-Delta, the first of its kind in the Nigerian leadership hierarchy, had his time until he was defeated in 2015 by Muhammadu Buhari; while all of this went on, the tribal sentiments still reigned supreme.
While all the tribal sentiments rage, a third force emerged. A new breed of Nigerian politicians, who are technocrats and working professionals, brought a lot of hope and purpose and various polls have touted they will get close to 10% of the votes in 2019. I call them “MOSOFE,” an acronym for Moghalu,Sowore and Fela Durotoye. The question is: would this new breed end the politics of tribalism in Nigeria? Are they going to yield to the words of Azeglio by building Nigerians?
I wait for answers.