Atiku as divider- in- chief
By Kassim Afegbua
Nigeria surely needs a strong personality that is nationalistic both in content and character, not one that is sold to the ethnic dirge. The elections of 2023 cannot afford another mistake of having ethnic jingoist and nepotistic leadership bring down the pinnacle of leadership to the pedestrian drudgery that can further crack the walls of unity in our desperate attempt to build one nation, one destiny. Those who play politics every now and then in the name of trying to become President of Nigeria’s two hundred million people must not only be conscious of our disparities and ethnic configurations, they must jealously guide and guard our common destiny. They must as a matter of urgency understand the temperament of the nation at all times. Cries of marginalisation and political domination have become familiar clangs in a nation that is permanently flustered along tribal, clannish and ethnic lines, taking away our patriotic nationalism that is so much desired to strike the right goal. The statement credited to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar from his visit to Kaduna during his political consultations with fellow Northern folks smells foul of nationalism, and oozes with so much bile at a time when we truly need nationalist and not provincial warlords. Calling on his fellow Northern folks to look in the direction of his aspiration when another Northerner would be finishing eight years of political leadership is the height of insensitivity to the doctrine of equity, fairness and justice in a plural society where all factors of cohesion and oneness should ordinarily provoke a healthy conversation of unity in diversity. But the aspiration of Atiku Abubakar is bent on putting spanners in the works to alter the national conversation to suit the bulbous ego of Northern Oligarchy. The conscious effort to promote unity in diversity is becoming patently eroded and the push for balancing of political algorithms has been utterly impaired.
From day one, I have raised a serious warning that Alhaji Atiku’s aspiration is on the wrong side of history. For a country that has become heavily polarised, there has to be a deliberate effort to ensure political balance between The North and South. While that is ongoing, we must not lose sight of our disparities and our plural status. The dimension that Atiku Abubakar introduced to the political discourse in Kaduna last week is indicative of a deliberate attempt to deepen the sentiments that are likely to sever the commonality of interest amongst the divergent groups that make up the federation. Rather than unite us, the statement of Atiku has exposed a greater and very endemic plot to whip up regional and clannish interests in championing a campaign for votes. For a man who has been Vice President of The Federal Republic of Nigeria, he should ordinarily be a pan-Nigerian mind without seeing himself as the representative of a region that is largely seen as sustaining a hegemonic class and power oligarchy. It would have made sense if Atiku had stopped at seeing himself as a Northerner with a pan-nigeria mind; it was not necessary for him to dig further, to profile The Yoruba and Igbo candidates as though they do not belong to the Nigerian nation. That singular statement is enough to throw up angst amongst other tribes of the nation in a manner that brings the North versus the South as strange bedfellows playing politics within the same geopolitical space. Atiku ought to live above parochial sentiments. He ought to live above mere provincialism. He should be a nationalist with a high sense of patriotism.
Atiku’s clannishness is evident of his desperation to whip up sentiments along regional and myopic compasses; that in itself is problematic in deepening a national conversation without being detained by petty primordial considerations. Atiku has refused repeatedly, to exit his regional space. The reason for his emergence in the first place, is predicated on his Northernness, part of which has made Governor Wike interrogate the skewed political realities that stare us in the face within the PDP. If anyone is expecting Atiku to leave his parochial highway, they must be mistaken. He loves it and would continue to sustain such considerations to advance his cause no matter whose ox is gored. When he realised that he was likely going to lose the PDP ticket, the Northern sentiments were deployed to railroad other aspirants to submit to the desperate desire of Atiku. That was what got Governor Tambuwal to bend backward, against the normative order of the convention’s rules and regulations. To step down for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar? Despite and in spite of the bond of friendship that had existed between Governor Wike and Tambuwal? Both Tambuwal and Atiku submitted to tribal considerations rather than balancing, friendship and loyalty. It was clear the direction things were going, and was therefore pertinent, crucial, pivotal, critical and not necessary for Atiku to play up the Northern sentiments in his deviousness and divisiveness and then rub it on the face of other aspirants in the 2023 contest. The question to ask is this; Does Atiku represent the wishes and aspirations of another Northern leadership that hasn’t lived up to the expectation of the zone? The answer is Yes.
Does Atiku possess what it takes to rally round the country when his profile does not suggest same? No. His statement therefore confirms his narrow-mindedness, and the reason why he feels that playing up the Northern sentiments would fetch him some mileage. It is this same thinking that made him delete his tweet condemning the gruesome murder of Deborah in Sokoto state; when he saw a seeming outrage from some northern elements. There hasn’t been any explanation till date beyond the usual canard that approval wasn’t given. Despite the initial outrage, nothing came from Atiku again. It was convenient for him to lay Deborah’s issue to rest and carry on with his own ambition; which also explains the crazy drunkenness for power and his ambition. Men of power are often blinded by power and its addictive properties. They are often blinded by their intentions and their desires are often more important to them; against all else; no matter how selfish. So, when Atiku was speaking to his Northern audience, he was very pointedly clear on what he wanted to achieve-to get Northern endorsement as the candidate to patronise. Alas, the contradiction is clear. It is difficult for any candidate to become president of the federation without the buy-in of other zones. President Buhari was reputed for his traditional twelve million voters, yet he could not win three previous elections until he reached out to other zones of the federation. The idea of anyone thinking that his victory can be decided by ONLY the support a candidate gets from a zone is enough to realise his aspiration is a jaded one. The requirements are very clear.
Promoters of Atiku Abubakar are easily excited by their “nebulous” claim that Atiku is the candidate of the North and that whatever happens, the North will always support the North. This is often not the case. What the North desires very urgently is actually a leadership that can make life more rewarding for an average Northerner, nay Nigerian. Some Northern minds are of the view that despite being led by a president of Northern extraction, life has been worse off for the average northerner. There is armed banditry, kidnapping, insurgency and several other insecurity issues, and the quality of life of an average Northerner hasn’t been cheering news by any standard. Therefore, what should be the common denominator for all is how deeply every candidate has the interest of the nation at heart rather than what he stands to gain from charting the ethnic route. For sure, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has shown a manifest deficiency in uniting the people and build internal cohesion within the system. They call him unifier, but his conduct has been a far cry. To call him a divider-in-chief will be an appropriate summation of the internal workings of a man aspiring to lead the country. His party, The PDP, has been a theatre of the absurd. The divisions within the party are symptomatic of the breakdown of law and order, leaving a huge leadership vacuum that even Atiku himself is unable to bridge. He touted himself as being a bridge builder across the country, but before his northern audience, he demolished the Southern bridge, and opted for the Northern conveyor belt.
Going by Atiku’s statement, he ended up being a divider-in-chief rather than be a unifier that he has carried as a political appellation in recent times. It is the same reason why Atiku has refused to play ball with Governor Wike in sending Iyorchia Ayu out of the fray of party leadership, despite promises and assurances to Governor Wike. Atiku Abubakar, the individual, surely needs to be rescued from Atiku Abubakar, The Presidential Candidate of the PDP. The objective may be to get votes for realising his ambition, but it should not be at the detriment and expense of hurting the seeming peace and unity of the country. Campaigning on the basis of ethnic profiling is injurious to the unity of this country. This country is treading on a delicate platform, and the intricate logic of the federation is woven around mutual suspicion. We cannot continue to dwell so much on our differences instead of building alliances that would cement our unity in diversity. The desperation of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is part of what is driving his narratives in the wrong direction. Every candidate must see Nigeria as a wholesome entity, without placing one zone far and above any other. Alhaji Atiku Abubakar must not see 2023 as a do or die affair if this country must remain one with shared vision and commitment.
