ZONING: NIGERIA'S ANSWER?

Awolowo, Ahmadu Bello, and Azikiwe
ruled the western, northern, and eastern
regions respectively.

52 years ago, a country was born in Western Africa. This country, which had potentials in becoming a great nation, was called Nigeria. Nigeria has four main regions, which are the Hausa(north), Igbo(east), Yoruba(yoruba), and the Niger Delta(south-south) regions.  She showed some promises which later turned sour because of corruption among government and its citizens. The seat of governance is now the most sought after possession in the country. Everyone in Nigeria wants to rule, but not everyone can rule. The “rule at all cost” attitude displayed by Nigerians has led to many assassinations and also political fighting across the country. A country which produces over 60 presidential candidates every election year does not show promise. No matter what region produces a president, another region must be angry about it. This unhappiness has brought about voting based on regional differences. People are no longer elected because of what they would achieve, but rather where they come from. Since the mindset of Nigerians has already been ethnically divided, maybe the best way to solve Nigeria’s political brouhaha is rotation of the presidency -“Zoning”.

                Many have argued that Nigeria’s problem started as far back as 1914, when the southern and northern regions were amalgamated. This was like joining two totally different countries. Till today, many political analysts have declared that the only way to save Nigeria is to split the country once again, with the four main regions forming four independent countries. However, exploiting the idea of political zoning should not be ruled out in a bid to keep Nigeria together. Zoning of the presidency might go a long way in providing lasting peace and stability in Nigeria. How would zoning work? Simple…………..

Olusegun Obasanjo(west) ruled Nigeria between
1976 - 1979(military) and 1999 - 2007(civilian).

                The number of political parties should be reduced to between 2 and 6 instead of having numerous parties. These political parties should only provide presidential candidates from a particular region for a year’s election. When voted into power, that president would rule for a first term of 4 years, and then if nominated by his party again, contests for a second term, along with other candidates from his tribe only. That means each tribe will be given only 8 years to rule. After a region has ruled, a new region is then allowed to contest and rule for 8 years. As this continues, the presidential seat would have rotated around all four regions, thereby reducing political marginalization.

                This idea sounds good, but it also has its disadvantage. Many leaders would only focus on their regions when they are in power. They might relegate other regions to the background and channel development opportunities only to their region of origin. Doing this will only bring Nigeria back to its present state. Political assassinations would continue and ethnical and religious clashes would continue to occur. This idea of rotation of the presidential seat sounds like the remaining option the Nigerian government has yet to explore.  Though it may be challenged by political analysts, it is an option that can unite a divided Nigeria. The problem of Nigeria, which was pioneered by Lord Lugard in 1914, cannot be resolved overnight. Since the political system of Nigeria is already ethnically divided, introducing zoning into the constitution would give every region a chance to rule, thereby reducing political tensions. It is sad to say, but in Nigeria, "people do not rule, regions rule". 

WHAT'S IN A RELIGION?

You get into a bus or a train, and the next thing you hear is someone preaching to you and telling you that your religion or denomination is useless, and that theirs is the best ordained by God. I am not against preaching to anybody, but when you castigate other people’s beliefs, then you are ignorant. You know what I do? I just turn on my headphones and blast my music. But these reoccurring scenarios made me ask, “What’s in a religion”, “Which religion is right” and “Is religion really necessary”?

            When you ask a Christian, he or she will tell you that Christianity is the only recognized religion by God, and that those in different religions are wasting their time. Same will be said by a Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, or any other person from the numerous religions that exist. But with all these religions, there is absolutely no evidence to prove that any of them is legit. A Christian would site books from the holy bible as evidence to prove their point, but let us face the fact, the bible was written by human beings just like us. Christians obey what the bible instructs but have we ever sat down to think about the origin of its contents. Yes, we have been made to understand that the books were instructions directly from God, but let us be sincere; there is no evidence to prove that, because we were not there. Whatever is written in the bible has a realistic probability that is either true or untrue. We as Christians believe that God parted the red sea according to the book of exodus, and that Jesus Christ is the son of God and once lived among us, but we were not there when all of these supposedly happened, so we cannot be 100% sure of it. But we believe even when we did not witness it, so we have no right saying our religion is the best.

            Islam too is just like Christianity and you can agree that they are similar in some ways. But just like the latter, Muslims believe that their religion is the correct one, but there is no evidence to prove that because nobody was alive when Mohammed, who is believed to be a messenger and prophet from God, walked on earth. The Holy Quran used by Muslims, just like the Holy Bible, was compiled by humans too, and there is no visual evidence to prove its contents, but we all chose to believe them.

            Other religions are the same, absolutely no evidence to prove them, but why do we keep castigating each other’s beliefs. The Christians are always against the Muslims, and Muslims, against Christians, while everyone seem to be against the Jews. Other religions are not left out too, and Pagans are considered as outcasts. This is not right because everyone should respect the decisions made by others. We all blame terrorism on Muslims, and some have even said that Islam supports killing innocent people. But there is no place in the Quran that says anything about its support towards killing people, or anything about 7 virgins. This is clearly made up by the ignorant people and also the press who want to discredit Islam. If you look back in history, at a point, Christian leaders killed innocent people who did not believe or did not accept their religion from 345 CE. Unbelievers had to run away in order to save their lives, but The Bible does not preach or promote killing. Yet today, Christians accuse the Moslems of the same thing. Sad indeed!!!

            If we are looking for a religion that has been castigated the most, then it is certainly Judaism. This is, according to history, one of the oldest religions ever, and the oldest to survive into the present day, spanning over 3000 years. For reasons I don’t understand, they have been ridiculed. They believe that they are legit too because their religion is older than Christianity and Islam too.

            All these talk about religion made me ask, “Will the world have been any better without religion?” More than half of the world’s problem is based on religion. Terrorist groups hide under the disguise of Islam to carry out their attacks on innocent people, when Islam clearly does not support it. Joseph Kony, the head of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a Ugandan guerrilla group, who claim to be fighting for the Ten Commandments, carries out his numerous bloody attacks under the umbrella of Christianity. In Nigeria and parts of West Africa, religion separates a vast majority of people, and religion also caused the break-up of Sudan into North and South Sudan. Many other things occur because of religion. If religion had not existed, at least half of the world’s problem might have been solved.

            Don’t get me wrong, I am a devoted Roman Catholic, but I still do not understand why the Holy Father, the Pope, sits on a gold chair, while people all over the world cannot afford a meal. I am not against people worshipping God, or whoever they want to. But let us get our facts right before we take decisions. The truth is that no one knows which religion is right or wrong and no one knows the right way to worship, but if we all respected each other’s views, the world would be a better place to live in, and there would be no religious problems. Let us all do what we feel is right. Clearly, nobody is right, and nobody is wrong.