News as Acting President Osinbajo in for a Rough Ride

The report gathered revealed that Professor Yemi Osinbajo who is standing in for his principal - President Muhammadu Buhari faces an uphill task of maintaining the unity of Nigeria in the face of strong threats.

 

Yemi Osinbajo

Current report revealed that the Nigeria Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has been trying to quell the tension arising from the quit notice by some N`orthern youths over separatist agitations in the South-East, but analysts demand more than meetings from the government, writes Gbenro Adeoye of the Punch.

The events of the Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Biafran War, remain etched in the minds of all those who witnessed them. It was fought between the government of Nigeria and the secessionist state of Biafra, an area dominated by Igbo.

In the three-year period that the war lasted, there were an estimated 100,000 military casualties and about three million civilians, many of whom had died of hunger and diseases.

But since the war, the country has arguably not
been as polarised along regional and ethnic lines as it is now and the current situation makes governing the nation tougher for the Federal Government. More succinctly, the Acting President Yemi Osinbajo is in for a rough ride as he pilots the country’s affairs in the absence of his boss, President Muhammadu Buhari, who is currently on medical trip to London, the United Kingdom.

Although, some remnants of any bitterness left over from the war might have survived through the years, some experts believe that they shot to the fore after former President Goodluck Jonathan lost the 2015 presidential election that would have returned him to power.

Jonathan, who is from a minority group in South-South Nigeria, was believed to have identified a lot with the Igbo. And the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari appeared to have ignited the flame when in July 2015, two months after assuming office, the President said he would treat people who voted for him differently from those who didn’t.

The Igbo’s South-East region along with the South-South, where Jonathan hails from, had given Buhari the least number of votes. The agitations for the state of Biafra were further heightened by the Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, who had resumed the demand for the secession of Igbo and the entire South-East from Nigeria before his arrest in October 2015.

And his release on bail 18 months later failed to stop agitations for Biafra. However, the recent quit notice given by some Northern youths to Igbo to vacate the region by October 1 and return home to actualise their Biafran dream appears to have put the nation on the edge of an ethnic crisis, the like of which had once led to a war.

In the last two weeks, Osinbajo has met with the country’s 36 state governors and leaders and traditional rulers from the North and the South-East regions, warning of dire consequences for anyone who makes hate speeches capable of disrupting the peace of the country.

During his meeting with South-East traditional rulers, Osinbajo described Nigeria as “indivisible and indissoluble.”

He said, “As you are aware, there has been agitation from some of our youths in the South-East, urging secession, and the creation of Biafra.

“In apparent response, young people in the Northern states, under the aegis of Arewa Youths, have purportedly issued an ultimatum where they have set a date for the eviction of persons from the South-East region that live in the Northern states.

“Those agitations, the manner of those agitations, the method and objective are wrong, unlawful and the violation of the laws of Nigeria and the constitution of Nigeria.

“I want to repeat that both the agitations for secession and the ultimatum to leave the Northern states are wrong and a violation of our constitution.

“Our constitution says in Section 2 that Nigeria is one indivisible and indissoluble sovereign state to be known by the name the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“That is the law of our country. Let us not be in any doubt about the fact that the Federal Government is committed to ensuring that our country remains united.”

The Presidency has been praised by the public for the initiative, which they described as necessary to douse tensions. However, according to some political analysts, who also commended Osinbajo for consulting with stakeholders in the North and the South-East regions, beyond meetings, the situation requires actions.

They identified poverty, perceived marginalisation and inequality as some of the factors contributing to the frustrations among Nigerians and urged the current administration to have the courage to address such concerns.

For instance, a political analyst, Mr. Gbolahan Ogundeji, said the government must always try to accommodate the concerns of the various groups in the country with a view to addressing their concerns where it can.

“There are serious issues in the country; the various ethnic groups in the country have deep mistrusts for one another. So government should treat problems rather than the symptoms.

“The Southerners complain that federal appointments have been lopsided and have favoured the North; some people in the North believe it is their votes that largely contributed to Buhari’s victory at the poll, even though, if he had not won in the South-West, he would not have become President. There are so many issues, but we shouldn’t be too proud to sit down together and hear one another out, so that we will know how to move forward and live together peacefully,” he said.

Indeed, according to a Saturday PUNCH report of July 2, 2016; some Southern groups had described Buhari’s appointments of heads of the various security agencies in the country as “lopsided”, saying the pattern failed to reflect federal character.

Findings by the Saturday PUNCH had shown that 14 out of the nation’s 17 security agencies were being headed by Northerners, leaving three for the South.

For example, it was reported that the Minister of Interior, Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau (retd.), under whose purview are the Prisons Service, Immigration Service, Fire Service and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, hails from Kaduna State.

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai, is from Borno State. The National Security Adviser, Maj-Gen. Babagana Monguno (retd.), is also from Borno State. Also from Borno State is the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Ibrahim Magu.

The Minister of Defence, Brig.-Gen. Mansur Dan Ali (retd.), hails from Zamfara State, while the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, is from Bauchi State. The acting Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, hails from Niger State, among others.

In addition, some sections of the country are also angry with the Federal Government and the police for allegedly not doing enough to curb the activities of suspected Fulani herdsmen across the country. The alleged killings and destruction of farmlands by men suspected to be Fulani herders have left so many families in deep sorrow and anguish, and some members of other ethnic groups have asked the government to do more in checking such activities.

There have also been calls for the implementation of the recommendations of the 2014 National Conference report, which the Buhari-led administration had described as meant for the archives. Some Nigerians are also calling for restructuring, while some are asking the government to commence moves to include referendum clause in our constitution so that Nigerians can have the right to vote on contending issues.

Also during the week, a South-South group, Pan Niger Delta Youth Leadership Forum, announced that youths in the region had rejected the N35.31bn allocation for capital projects in the zone as contained in the 2017 budget.

Its national president, Famous Daunemigha, described the amount as insignificant compared to what other geo-political zones of the country got. He also described the funds allocated for capital projects in the region as meagre considering the infrastructural challenges confronting the region, while questioning the reason why the oil-producing region should get little compared to some other regions of the country.

He faulted the breakdown of funds appropriated for capital projects in the six geo-political zones in the 2017 budget showing that North-Central got N207bn; North-West, N73.7bn; South-West, N48.97bn; North-East N46.69bn; South-South, N35.31bn; and South-East, N28.22bn.

“Members of the National Assembly, especially those from our region, have failed us. They cannot stay on the floor of the National Assembly to see that they are sharing something to the Niger Delta people, the area that produces most of the nation’s resources are missing and they cannot communicate to the people they are representing.

“They are failures. They ought to have said this is not fair to our people and we are rejecting it. The aspect of funds for the capital projects is insulting and they must find a way to address it, either through the executive bill or whatever, because we can’t accept this. How is Nigeria one nation? You will get 90 percent of the funds from the oil-rich Niger Delta, yet you give them the least allocation for capital projects. This is an anomaly,” he had said.

Reacting to the various agitations and grievances, Ogundeji noted that it was for that reason that the government should find ways to engage stakeholders in all the regions to discuss all the issues.

“Government needs to tell the people why more appointments favour the North, what it is doing about alleged killings by suspected Fulani herdsmen across the country and so on. These are genuine concerns that these meetings being held by Osinbajo will not solve. People are calling for restructuring; government should let the people know why it appears to be against it. Is it because it might not favour some sections of the country,” he said.

A Lagos—based lawyer, Mr. Liborous Oshoma, described fairness and equitable distribution of wealth as integral to dousing tensions in situations where people feel they are being marginalised.

He said, “We know we are incompatible but no matter how greatly incompatible we are, we can coexist peacefully if we agree to agree on certain issues and agree to disagree on others. And the way we can agree to agree and agree to disagree is for us to come together and find out those areas that will strengthen us and those areas that will divide and see how we can make amends.

“People have always been talking about meetings, national conferences and so on, but the problem is that we have never really been sincere with them. We are on the march to getting to sit down again to talk.

“Yes, meeting with various stakeholders is a welcome development to douse tensions, and should have come earlier, but unfortunately, the President’s (earlier) statements did not encourage all that and his body language and appointment also further fuelled the agitations. But it is better late than never. But the acting president should not just end it with meetings.

“There is the need to allow consultations to trickle down to the grass roots and get recommendations from those consultations to be put into use. There should be equitable distribution of wealth. No matter how small I am, I also want to be treated equally and fairly. If we have a situation where everyone is equally and fairly treated, living together in peace becomes easy. There is no way you can do that 100 per cent, but once there is a seemingly fair treatment, it becomes easy.”

Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Aborisade, however, identified poverty and poor governance as major factors contributing to the frustrations of Nigerians and their perceived hatred for other tribes.

Aborisade noted that beyond the Presidency’s meetings with religious and traditional leaders, the administration should work to improve the living condition of Nigerians.

He said, “The underlying issue is that people are frustrated. It is the harsh economic reality that is compelling people to assume that it is the presence of other ethnic groups in their geographical areas that is the cause of their problem, but even if Nigeria breaks up into 1,000 independent countries, unless the problem of poverty and poor governance is dealt with, we will just have poverty being multiplied in the number of countries into which Nigeria may be broken.

“The government should deal with poverty and come up with programmes and policies that will bring about the redistribution of income. People are unemployed; those who have jobs are being sacked. Government must deal with these issues and provide medical care, social housing, jobs, and so on.”