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| 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…………..
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| 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".
