Hanging national electoral contest on the platform of ethnic affiliation

FEMI MAKINDE examines how voting along ethnic lines
across the country in this year’s general elections has further
created sharp divisions among Nigerians after over 100 years of
nationhood

Nigeria has been everything but a united nation since the
British colonial masters amalgamated the Northern and Southern
Protectorates which gave birth to the most populous black nation on
earth in 1914.

After over 100 years of a pseudo-nation created by Sir Fredrick
Lugard, most Nigerians still see themselves first as members of
their ethnic groups before regarding themselves as citizens of
Nigeria. This explains why those, who live outside of their states
of origin, are referred to as non-indigenes.

It is safe to say that this division along ethnic lines was at
the root of the 1967 civil war.

Despite the carnage and the massive destruction of property
recorded during the war, some Nigerians, especially political
leaders, by their actions and utterances, are said to be pushing
the nation further to the cliff to satisfy their self-centred
interest.

In order to address the problem of injustice or marginalisation,
members of the various ethnic groups often feel that the interest
of their groups will be best protected if their kinsman occupies
the office of the President.  To allay the fear of domination,
various political parties have put in place zoning arrangements for
elective offices including the presidency. This explains why
presidential candidates are almost always voted for along ethnic
lines.

In the 2015 presidential election, the division along ethnic
lines played out prominently in the voting pattern as Buhari won in
his home state, Katsina, with 1,345,441 votes while the then
incumbent President, Goodluck Jonathan, polled 98,937 votes in the
state. Buhari also won in most northern states of Kano, Jigawa,
Zamfara, Kaduna, Yobe, Kebbi, Gombe, Bauchi and others.

Jonathan also exhibited dominance in the South, scoring 361,209
votes in Bayelsa State, where he hails from. Buhari scored 5,194
votes in the state of his arch rival. Jonathan went ahead to win in
Rivers, Delta, Enugu, Cross River, Imo, Abia, Anambra and
others.

In the 2019 presidential election, while Buhari of the APC
expectedly swept the poll in the northern states, his main rival,
Atiku Abubakar of the PDP, who is also from the North, won all the
five states and six states in the South-East and South-South
regions, respectively, ostensibly because of Atiku’s running mate,
Peter Obi, who is from Anambra State. There was also a reported
promise that Atiku would hand over to Obi in 2023.

The gulf between the tribes appears to be getting wider and
already assuming a disturbing dimension as shown in the voting
pattern in this year’s presidential and National Assembly elections
in the six geo-political zones.

The Secretary-General of the Yoruba Council of Elders, Dr Kunle
Olajide, submitted that the pattern of voting in the 2019 election
was informed by ethnic considerations rather than sound
judgement.

He stated, “I have always believed that we don’t have a Nigerian
nation yet. Most Nigerians make recourse to their ethnic origin
first before considering the Nigerian nation. So, ethnicity must
have played a prominent role in the voting pattern in the just
concluded presidential election.”

Olajide also spoke on the dangers of the divisions, which he
said were obvious.

He said, “In the YCE’s letter of congratulation to Mr President,
we appealed to him to promptly embark on the process of building a
Nigerian nation.

Since he garnered votes from all over Nigeria, he should strive
ceaselessly to weld the country together, irrespective of religious
affiliation or ethnic background.

“Why the division along ethnic lines is becoming so prominent in
the last few years is perhaps because of what we perceived from the
current administration’s appointments. When you take a critical
look at the appointments made by the Muhammadu Buhari
administration, the tendency is to believe that a particular
religion is given more attention that the others.

“In the beginning of this administration, I recall an occasion
when Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Chief Bisi Akande visited Mr President
and he said he was appointing those he trusted at that time. He
said he could only appoint those he trusted. But now that he has
been voted from all over the country, I have no doubt that having
spent almost four years in office, he will have those he trusts to
be appointed into offices from all religions and all regions of the
country.”

The YCE secretary added, “I think patriotic Nigerians must urge
him to pay particular attention to ensuring that our diversity is
reflected in all appointments in consonance with the federal
character clause in the Nigerian constitution. That will be the
beginning of building up the nation again.

“Developmental projects should also be spread across all the
zones of the country and no zone should be left unattended to and
no impression must be given that a particular zone or some zones
are more important than the others.”

Olajide also said, “The responsibility of building a nation
rests squarely on the leadership that is headed by the President.
This is so because of the constitution that we have. That is why it
is his responsibility to make every part of the nation to see
themselves as belonging to the nation.

“I agree that restructuring is part of what Mr President should
look into but I want to steer clear of using the word restructuring
because so many meanings have been read into it. The President must
revisit Governor Nasir el-Rufai Committee’s recommendation on
devolution of powers.”

In an interview with SUNDAY PUNCH, the
spokesperson for the Igbo apex socio-cultural organisation,
Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Uche Achi-Okpaga, blamed the current
administration of Buhari for allegedly creating divisions among
various ethnic groups in the country by his actions and
inactions.

He said the alleged marginalisation of Igbo and other ethnic
groups by the current administration was evident, stressing that no
other leader in the history of Nigeria had created sharp divisions
among the citizens like the present government.

The Ohanaeze’s spokesperson said, “It is not correct to say
ethnicity and religions were factors that determined how Nigerians
voted in the last two presidential elections. In 2015 and 2019
presidential elections, Nigerians voted according to their
conscience. In this year’s elections, the two leading presidential
candidates are Fulani men and nobody can say Nigerians voted
according to ethnic sentiments. It is not correct.

“In the case of President Muhammadu Buhari and Alhaji Atiku
Abubakar, Nigerians voted massively for Atiku because he went
around the country to campaign on restructuring the country and
Nigerians are clamouring for restructuring. That was the reason he
was voted for massively across all ethnic groups and geo-political
zones. If you go to the Middle Belt, South-East, South-West and
even in the North, the people want restructuring. That was why
Nigerians voted overwhelmingly for him. It was not based on any
ethnic inclination. “

When reminded that Buhari was declared the winner of the poll
with a difference of almost four million votes, Okpaga said the
results declared in the North was not a true reflection of how the
people voted.

He said, “The present government of Buhari is the one fueling
ethnicity. It is the duty of the government to bring the entire
country together to work in unity and if you are the President of
Nigeria, you are not elected to be President of the All
Progressives Congress or Fulani; you are the President of the
entire country.

“Look at the appointments he made; despite the outcry of
Nigerians against them, Buhari has no regrets about these. Buhari
makes utterances that should not be associated with the President
and he does not care. He is the one helping to divide Nigerians
along these lines. We have had northern leaders, who ruled this
country. For instance, (Alhaji Shehu) Shagari ruled and he did not
divide the country. The late Gen Sani Abacha, Gen. Abdusalami
Abubakar and Umaru Yar’Adua were all northern leaders and they
never divided Nigeria. It is not Nigerians that are dividing
themselves; it is the government.”

A historian, who is a former Vice Chancellor of Caleb
University, Prof. Ayodeji Olukoju, said the older generations
should be blamed for the sharp divisions among Nigerians among
various ethnic groups.

Olukoju stated, “The division is not a natural phenomenon;
people were not born with it. It is a product of socialisation.
When older people transfer their stereotypes to the younger
generation, that is what you get. The older generations got into it
through their past experiences. Nigeria is not the only
multi-ethnic nation in the world and there is danger when people
want to compete unfairly and it can turn violent. It is the arch
enemy of progress in this country.

“Management of information is very important. What I read on
social media now is alarming and I think we need to stop this kind
of divisive messages. But I think the way out is good governance.
Even if anyone is from a particular ethnic group, their interests
should be protected. For example, if the President wants to load
his cabinet (with people) from a particular group, Nigerians will
worry. If you are performing and you are seen to be fair to all,
people won’t worry.

“Restructuring is also a solution; it will reduce the tension in
the land.”

A former Chairman, Academic Staff Union of Universities, Obafemi
Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Prof. Ife Adewumi, blamed the
political class for creating divisions among the people in order to
achieve their selfish interests.

He said, “The 1914 amalgamation is the fundamental problem.
Nigeria, as brought together By Lord Lugard under the amalgamation,
is not a nation. We were supposed to be a democratic nation
practising federalism but the military brought unitary system of
government. If you look at the trend of the recent elections, you
will even see it. Retired military officers have been the ones
ruling us mainly. In this recently concluded presidential poll,
retired generals came together, met the President and told him that
they were solidly behind him.

“The division is a product of divide-and-rule strategy to keep
Nigerians divided forever so that they can continue to rule us as
they like. You see that during presidential election, most northern
youths voted massively for their own. The pattern is that the North
is solidly behind its person, whereas in the South, where the
enlightenment is better, this is not always the case.”

A former Chairman of Northern Elders Forum, Paul Unongo, traced
the division among ethnic groups in the country to pre-colonial and
post-independence eras.

He said when Dr Nnamdi Azikwe, an Igbo man, contested an
election in Lagos, he won and became the majority leader in the
western parliament. But the major ethnic group in the West, the
Yoruba, led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo, “rejected the concept of an
Igbo man coming to rule them.”

Unongo said the problem could be addressed through
restructuring.

Culed from Punch