Zoning: Learning From Our Past Mistakes — FRED IGBEARE   

Finding something good to say about the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is hard. Considering that it has ruled (ruined) Nigeria for over a decade with little to show for it, the party is easy to criticise. But the PDP is not all bad. In its processes, it seeks to defuse a flammable Nigerian reality: people are still driven by ethnic and regional biases. There may thankfully be more open-minded Nigerians today, but the problem still exists. The PDP has tried to deal with it by spreading out political offices so no region feels left out. And that is a good thing! Yet, for growth as a nation, we must strive more to overcome our biases. The whole country needs to focus on merit through the electoral process as the chief qualifier for political office. Times are hard. Resources are limited. Only the best citizens need be elected to do the job. This, of course, depends on free and fair elections.

Historically, the deep suspicions that Nigerians held for one another exploded in 1966 as the first military coup unfolded. Suddenly, calamity struck! It swept away politicians and military officers (mostly from a section of the country, as seen through the eyes of some). There were victims from other parts but perception can easily become one’s reality. Lt.-General Theophilus Danjuma may be vilified today for his comments; however, his perception was shared by others. Take note that in those early days, ‘tribal politics’ held sway. Put yourself in the man’s shoes: you woke up one day to discover that the coup-induced death-toll (from your perspective) was lopsided. What would you do? Self-preservation is a compelling human condition. Not to excuse murder, but it can make people do crazy things. We need to understand the circumstances of our shameful past so we can avoid a recurrence.

To compound matters after the coup collapsed, the most senior military officer then, Major-General Aguiyi-Ironsi made some missteps. Please note that the intention here is not to cause pain to his already badly hurt family. This is simply an examination of our past mistakes so we don’t repeat them. The point I am making here is that Nigeria had laws then. Granted that they were broken more than obeyed (rigging, etc.), there was however still a constitutional process for succession if the prime minister died or resigned. The general had no business assuming the role of ruler. He was a soldier supposed to be subservient to civilian authority. His primary goal was to have helped reestablish that authority quickly.

To Ironsi’s defence though, soldiers from other regions could have made similar mistakes, and did. Moreover, not many people then had respect for constitutional authority anyway. Is that so uncommon today? Remember this was a country that had just gained ‘independence’ from the British and was operating under a ‘foreign system’, which supposedly was not the ‘African way’ to govern. Many took pride then (and now) in the concept of a strong ruler with absolute authority who could ‘get things done’ promptly. Unfortunately for us, the adage about how absolute power corrupts applies to all humans: British, American or Nigerian.

Now, about General Ironsi’s agenda: he probably had none: yes, not even an ‘Igbo’ plot to dominate Nigerian politics! He more likely just couldn’t resist the lure of power, like many other Nigerian generals after him (Gowon, Abacha, etc.), and unlike a famous general in another country at another time. After concluding the American War of Independence successfully, George Washington simply walked away. He gave up his post as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, handing power back to Congress. Shocking, eh? Offering advice decades later to another general-turned-politician, Nelson Mandela would describe this phenomenon as refusing to abuse one’s popularity. Although Olusegun Obasanjo, the target of Mandela’s comments, wasn’t popular, he certainly abused power by trying to extend his tenure. Obasanjo went on to out-do himself by rigging the Yar’Adua/Jonathan ticket into office. So, Ironsi is not alone.

While Ironsi may not have been pursuing an ‘Igbo’ agenda, he became vulnerable when he ignored a swift constitutional solution to the Nigerian crisis. He could, for instance, have helped organise credible elections right away to replace the assassinated leaders. His successors didn’t either. Ironsi misread how deeply ethnic suspicions had twisted the minds of Nigerians then (and now). And from the perception of Danjuma and his group (rightly or wrongly), suspicion was heightened when the coup plotters were just left in jail unpunished!

It was only a matter of time before the underlying tension would detonate. And it did devastatingly, in a counter-coup by ‘northern’ soldiers.  The spiral of sad events that followed saw Nigeria descend fast into mass-murders not unlike in Rwanda years later. A civil war ensued, leaving the country battered and bruised. Post-civil war, the ethnic divisions did not vanish. If anything, they seemed to grow worse, compounded by successive military coups, contrived ostensibly to protect ‘northern interests’. The mostly ‘northern’ military dictators have succeeded in protecting neither ‘northern’ nor Nigerian interests. They’ve basically looted the treasury, no better than armed robbers.

The bottom-line is that we must learn from our mistakes. Ethno-regional divisions have not helped Nigeria. Although they are hard to overcome, those divisions can be minimised in an environment where free and fair elections dominate in resolving our differences. The matter of zoning is heating up the polity largely because the electoral process, critical for resolving political conflicts peacefully, has remained corrupted. There are politicians, moreover, who are shamelessly exploiting the zoning controversy to hide their incompetence in delivering real progress for all Nigerians.

The solution is to let the people decide, with zoning as an electoral campaign issue, among others like food, water, shelter, healthcare, education, electricity, security and whatever-you-like. Those with solutions should put their best ideas forward. Over time, an impartial electoral process will sort out who is more competent to rule. Those who get elected will be judged at the ballot box on what they actually do for all Nigerians.