Time To Reappraise Answers That Have Failed To Solve Problem Of Ndi Igbo In Nigeria

 

I have noticed that our historians are natural-born-hero-worshippers. When eventually they decide to ink the story of the 2015 general elections, majority of these historians would either be speaking of how sheer doggedness gave General MuhammaduBuhari a second chance at ruling Nigeria at the fourth attempt, or how President Goodluck Jonathan wrote his name in the history book as the first Nigerian president to lose an election as an incumbent, and probably the first to, willingly, concede victory and congratulate his opponent even before the final tally of the ballot.

 

I am not saying that these perspectives are incorrect. However, they are about people, not historical milestones. While this is also appropriate, I wish to early on, put these historians on notice about the most important manifestation of this election as it affects the political history of the nation since independence in 1960.

 

Let me state that this election made it the very first time that a political bridge would be built between old northern Nigeria and the old west, now known as South West Nigeria. More importantly, it was a success at first attempt and if my prophetic anointing has not left me, may become the watershed for future political relationships and alignments among the multitudinous ethnic and tribal nerves that make up Nigeria.

 

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To appreciate this better, especially for those who may not have read up on the history of independent Nigeria, I will go back through the years, especially from 1960. At independence, Nigeria was running a parliamentary system of government and have a number of major political parties, notably, Northern People’s Congress [which metamorphosed into the Nigerian People’s Congress], Action Group, National Council of Nigerian Citizens [earlier known as National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons] and Northern Elements Progressives Union.

 

There were a number of others but NPC, Action Group and NCNC were notable parties.

 

These major parties represented regional interests: NPC, representing the north, Action Group, the West; and NCNC, the eastern part of Nigeria. NCNC was the only party with a semblance of a national but following the “carpet-crossing” of elected parliamentarians of the party in the west, NCNC shrank into the eastern regional cocoon.

 

After the elections, NPC produced majority members of the national parliament but needed a partnership with which to form a broad-based government. It could not happen with Chief ObafemiAwolowo’s Action Group.

 

Enter Dr. NnamdiAzikiwe, the leader of NCNC and an accord was reached, which enabled Zik, as Dr. Azikiwe was better known, to become the Governor General and later ceremonial President after Republicanism in 1963. It was at accord level that it all ended before the military took over in 1966.

 

By 1976, political activity had recommenced, preparatory to handing over to a civilian regime in 1979. Again the parties emerged and still could not rise beyond regional frontiers. The north presented the National Party of Nigeria (NPN); the West had the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) while the East was propelling the Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP). If Zik had not had disagreements with the late AlhajiWaziri Ibrahim over who would be the party’s flag bearer, NPP would have been a national party from the word go. But this happened and Waziri left to form the Great Nigerian Peoples Party (GNPP) which eventually won elections in the old Gongola State.

 

Shortly before AlhajiShehuShagari was sworn in on October 1, 1979, it was still the east and the north that struck an accord, which was merely a working relationship to share political spoils. This relationship enabled Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke to emerge as the Speaker of the House of Representatives then. It was a marriage of convenience that everyone knew was not built to last.

 

When preparations began for the short-lived 1983 elections, other parties knew that to defeat NPN that had made inroads into the east, the other parties needed to, and eventually agreed, toclose ranks. That was when the first real merger of political parties in Nigeria nearly happened.

 

NPP, GNPP, UPN and Aminu Kano-led Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) agreed to form an alliance to enable them present a single candidate who would confront the behemoth NPN during the elections. The alliance was initially known as the Progressive Parties Alliance (PPA). Just like what God did during the Creation, the elements that constituted the emerging party saw “that it was good.”

 

The next thing was to move it to the next level – form a single party out of the lot and present a single candidate for the coming elections. So there was a need to have a new name and they agreed to the name Progressives Peoples Party (PPP). However, all the excitement about a viable alternative for NPN fizzled out quickly because Chief ObafemiAwolowo of UPN and Dr. NnamdiAzikiwe of NPP all wanted to be presidents. The selfish interests of these two leaders scuttled that dream.

 

With the benefit of hindsight, one can say that had that merger worked then, may be the military coup d’état that ushered in General MuhammaduBuhari and Brigadier TundeIdiagbon on December 31, 1983 would never have happened. Maybe our democracy would have overgrown diapers to the point where it is no longer “nascent.”

 

By 1999, the ecosystem has changed totally. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) emerged, which was a truly national party, formed by interests that cut across the country. PDP had roots everywhere but clearly appeared to be motivated by interests from the north. Problem was it was not deep enough in the South West where the elements that congregated to fight the military through the National Democratic Coalition and pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organization, Afenifere, formed the Alliance for Democracy (AD).

 

It is interesting to note that while this was happening, the South East soaked itself deep into PDP and did not see any reason to support its fledgling regional voice that was the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). ]]>