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From Fred Itua, Abuja
Executive director of Sustainable Initiative for Nurturing Growth (SING) Nigeria and a rights activist, Idris-Etanami Abiodun Usman, has called on political leaders across the divide, to support the South South in producing President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor in 2023.
Usman who was the North West information officer for the Neighbour to Neighbour (N2N) campaign and director of strategy of Believe Nigeria Initiative (BNI), said since 1960, the region that has sustained the country has only be allowed to rule for four years.
Making a case for former President Goodluck Jonathan, Usman said with only four years in office, power can be ceded to the North in 2027, to create the existing imbalance since 1999.
He argued: “Let’s look at the whole north and south power sharing from 1999 till date. The South West did eight years. Power went back to North West which was the North. Yar’Adua came in and did three years after then he died. Jonathan came in from the South South after finishing Yar’Adua’s tenure, he contested. Jonathan used four years. What we are hoping is that the South South has never ruled this country before.
“Buhari also came in after Jonathan and Buhari is going to eight years. By calculation, the north has used about 11 years all together. Out of that 14 years, the South West has used eight years Presidency and eight years as vice president. South West is holding the office of the vice president and the speaker. So, the South West has been compensated well.
“Then the South East is also being marginalised, but then, there is a region that has never ruled this country. That is where most of our resources come from. That region by chance produced a president. What is fair and what is right is for them to complete their tenure so that the zone will be circled. Then we can now come back to the north. After four years because North is also being short-changed.
“We know that any northerner that comes into power now would not want to use use four years. It will be another eight years. So, it will be fair to let it go to that region to complete its own circle which is with eight years and then come back to the north. We should now start afresh again of eight and then go back to the south. I think that would be fair because we can’t stop zoning.
“This is a country that there is still no trust among ethnic groups. There is still no trust among the regional blocs. The only way to balance this is through power rotation and the South West should not think of producing the next president. The South West has been one of the major stumbling blocks in turning a united south.”
Explaining the South West connived to deny the South its chance in 2015, he said: “In 2015, the South West could not stand by their own southern bloc which is the South South to support Jonathan and now again the South West has decided to neglect that same bloc again who has four years more. The only way we can move forward as a country is when we start to see ourselves as equal.
“For instance now, an Edo born child today, what is his hope of ruling this country? The only hope he has to be president is by zoning. So, I think the South West should do what is right for a united south. The South West should allow the South South to complete its four years.
“To be honest, Jonathan did well as a president. We won’t sit down here and talk about the issue that came up after his Presidency, but lets look at the theme and his achievements in his Presidency. We need to thank President Buhari. Buhari has shown that government is nobody’s personal business. Government is a business of government that no matter who finishes and who comes in, there is a project of government you need to complete it.
“Most of the projects Buhari is completing are from Jonathan’s government. Most of the policies he is using to tackle corruption, transparency were also initiated by Jonathan administration.
“In 2023, the party has to decide that the party can have a way to get somebody from that zone that will sign to do one term and also create a system that can checkmate it. The best bet is Jonathan. At the same time, if it has to be lack of trust of who will follow that rule then the truth is that the both parties should come out and ask Jonathan to complete his own tenure from the South South. But I don’t know if the party will decide. They are politicians. This is a matter of trust.”
