Sunday, September 5, 2010
Nigerianisation Policy: Panacea for socio-cultural and political integration of Nigeria.
Any
time I review the Nigerian political history from 1914 to present day,
one personality always cuts my attention. And that person is the late
Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto and the former Premier of the
Northern Nigeria. I admire this rare gem because of his unique vision
for his people and the Nigerian people in general. He was a selfless
leader who chose to serve his people within the northern enclave rather
than taken up the Prime Ministerial post even when he had every right to
it as the founder and leader of the Northern Peoples’ Congress (NPC).
Rather, he relinquished that to Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and chose to
build his people back home. He was a forthright personality who would
not play politics with his emotions. He was rich in political sagacity,
yet chose to be poor materially even with all resources at his disposal.
What a perfect example of selfless service to his people.
During a
conversation with the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the former ceremonial
President of Nigeria in the first republic, he said: ‘let us understand
our differences, you are a Christian and a Southerner, I am a Muslim and
a Northerner, if we understand our differences, Nigeria will move
forward’. That was in response to Azikiwe’s position that we should
forget our differences so that Nigeria can move forward.
The two
founding fathers of Nigeria admitted and agreed that differences exist
between the northern and southern part of the country, but disagreed on
how to deal with those differences. It is between forgetting our
differences and understanding them. It is only an irrational being that
would forget his background and exchange it for a foreign identity; in
fact it is the essence of our socio-cultural existence as a nation.
However, in identifying with our tribe we must strike a balance by
understanding the feelings of other nationalities within the same
geographical entity in other to achieve harmonious living. The import of
this argument lay the basis that what exists amongst Nigerians is
social contract which was later reinforced by Chief Awolowo’s assertions
that Nigeria ‘‘is a mere geographical expression’’. At this point, we
must admit that we are people born of the same father, but different
mothers. But our fatherland must not be destroyed because we want to
maintain at all cost our ‘maternal’ lineage.
The failure to
‘forget our differences’ may have informed the reason behind the
‘Northernisation Policy’ of Ahmadu Bello during his tenure as the
Premier of the Northern region. Though conceived as a balancing act to
catch up with the development in other regions of the country, the
thrust of that policy was first and foremost to unite the North
irrespective of cultural, religious and political inclination. Ahmadu
Bello worked closely with non-Muslims to achieve his vision for northern
unity, which was a rare feat for a core Fulani living or dead. It was a
brilliant manifesto and remains till date an attempt to unite a people
of a region, making it to forget their differences as a major block in a
united Nigeria and focusing on socio-economic transformation in which
everybody became a major player and participant. Although the Northern
Peoples’ Congress (NPC) was not the only political party in the north
during the period, Ahmadu Bello succeeded through this policy to
mobilise the people and made them see themselves as one and indivisible
entity using socio-cultural appeal which today is manifesting in strong
political structure that threatens the southern block.
My quarrel
with late Sir Ahmadu Bello of blessed memory is that he failed to turn
this idea into a national agenda. As the leader of the defunct Northern
Peoples’ Congress (NPC), one thought he could have incorporated this
document into the manifesto of NPC which controlled the centre. Rather,
he chose to make it a regional policy for consolidating the political
ideologies of the northern Nigerian to further harness the economic and
political potentials of his people.
It is rather
sad to note that 50 years after independence, we are still looking for
common identity; common direction and agreed terms of corporate
existence. We have failed to identify grounds for the consolidation of
our paternal relationship. It is only at public fora that our people
identified themselves as Nigerians or when they are outside the country,
whereas in the comfort of their homes and in their private discussions
they thump their chest as Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, Ijaw, Tiv, Fulani, etc
the list is endless. Where is our national unity, when, a Yoruba man
from south west cannot contest and win elections or get political
appointment in South Eastern part of the country; and Igbo man from
South East cannot feel at home in the northern part?. We have failed to
see ourselves as one indivisible family.
To face the
truth, the unity of Nigeria is under threat except urgent measures are
taking towards replicating the ideals of the founding fathers of
Nigeria. Ahmadu Bello’s ‘Northernisation Policy’ document could serve as a guide for producing a prototype on ‘Nigerianisation Policy’
document. Such a policy if modified to reflect modern realities and
backed by adequate act of the parliament would usher in a new Nigeria
where all will be proud to live in and call his own. To achieve this,
one of the objectives of the policy must be geared towards making true
Nigerians, out of the present arrangement, with inalienable rights to
contest political office in any part of the country outside their
primary state or region. This will engender growth by bringing on board
fresh ideas and innovation for the rapid transformation of our nation.
