Yorubas Are The Problem Of Nigeria – Sanusi Lamido Sanusi

Yorubas Are The Problem Of Nigeria – Sanusi Lamido Sanusi

Posted by Sylvester on Friday, March 7, 2014 0

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My views on the Yoruba political leadership have been thoroughly articulated in some of my writings, prime among which was ” Afenifere: Syllabus of Errors” published by This Day (The Sunday Newspaper) on Sept 27, 1998. There was also an earlier publication in the weekly Trust entitled ” The Igbo, the Yoruba and History” (Aug. 21, 1998). 

In sum, the Yoruba political leadership, as mentioned by Balarabe Musa, has shown itself over the years to be incapable of rising above narrow tribal interests and reciprocating goodwill from other sections of the country by treating other groups with respect. Practically every crisis in Nigeria since independence has its roots in this attitude.

The Yoruba elite were the first, in 1962, to attempt a violent overthrow of an elected government in this country. In 1966, it was the violence in the West which provided an avenue for the putsch of 15th January.

After Chief Awolowo lost to Shagari in 1983 elections, it was the discontent and bad publicity in the South-West which led to the Buhari intervention.

When Buhari jailed UPN governors like Ige and Onabanjo, the South-Western press castigated that good government and provided the right mood for IBB to take over power.

As soon as IBB cleared UPN governors of charges against them in a politically motivated retrial, he became the darling of the South-West. When IBB annulled the primaries in which Adamu Ciroma and Shehu Yar Adua emerged as presidential candidates in the NRC and SDP, he was hailed by the South-West. When the same man annulled the June 12, 1993 elections in which Abiola was the front-runner, the South-West now became defenders of democracy.

When it seemed Sani Abacha was sympathetic to Abiola, the South-West supported his take-over. He was in fact invited by a prominent NADECO member to take over in a published letter shortly before the event.

Even though Abiola had won the elections in the North, the North was blamed for its annulment. When Abdulsalam Abubakar started his transition, the Yoruba political leadership through NADECO presented a memorandum on a Government of National Unity that showed complete disrespect for the intelligence and liberties of other Nigerians.

Subsequently, they formed a tribal party which failed to meet minimum requirements for registration, but was registered all the same to avoid the violence that was bound to follow non-registration, given the area-boy mentality of South-West politicians. Having rejected an Obasanjo candidacy and challenged the election as a fraud in court, we

now find a leading member of the AD in the government, a daughter of an

Afenifere leader as Minister of State, and Awolowo´s daughter as

Ambassador, all appointed by a man who won the election through fraud.

Meanwhile, nothing has been negotiated for the children of Abiola, the

focus of Yoruba political activity. In return for these favours, the AD

solidly voted for Evan Enwerem as Senate President. This is a man who

participated in the two-million- man March for Abacha´s self-succession.

He also is reputed to have hosted a meeting of governors during IBB´s

transition, demanding that June 12 elections should never be de-annulled

and threatening that the East would go to war if this was done. When

Ibrahim Salisu Buhari was accused of swearing to a false affidavit, the

Yoruba political elite correctly took up the gauntlet for his

resignation.

When an AD governor, Bola Tinubu, swears to a false affidavit that he

attended an Ivy League University which he did not attend, we hear

excuses.

For so many years, the Yoruba have inundated this country with stories

of being marginalised and of a civil service dominated by northerners

through quota system. The Federal Character Commission has recently

released a report which shows that the South-West accounts for 27.8% of

civil servants in the range GL08 to GL14 and a full 29.5% of GL 15 and

above. One zone out of six zones controls a full 30% of the civil

service leaving the other five zones to share the remaining 70%. We find

the same story in the economy, in academia, in parastatals.

Yet in spite of being so dominant, the Yoruba complained and complained

of marginalization. Of recent, in recognition of the trauma which hit

the South-West after June 12, the rest of the country forced everyone

out of the race to ensure that a South-Westerner emerged, often against

the best advice of political activists.

Instead of leading a path of reconciliation and strong appreciation, the

Yoruba have embarked on short-sighted triumphalism, threatening other

“nationalities” that they ( who after all lost the election) will

protect Obasanjo ( who was forced on them). No less a person than Bola

Ige has made such utterances.

To further show that they were in charge, they led a cult into the Hausa

area of Sagamu, murdered a Hausa woman and nothing happened. In the

violence that followed, they killed several Hausa residents, with Yoruba

leaders like Segun Osoba, reminding Nigerians of the need to respect the

culture of their host communities. This would have continued were it not

for the people of Kano who showed that they could also create their own

Oro who would only be appeased through the shedding of innocent Yoruba

blood.

I say all this, to support Balarabe Musa´s statement, that the greatest

problem to nation-building in Nigeria are the Yoruba Bourgeoisie. I say

this also to underscore my point that until they change this attitude,

no conference can solve the problems of Nigeria. We cannot move forward

if the leadership of one of the largest ethnic groups continues to

operate, not like statesmen, but like common area boys.

iii.The Igbo Factor and the Reasonable Limits of Retribution.

The Igbo people of Nigeria have made a mark in the history of this

nation. They led the first successful military coup which eliminated the

Military and Political leaders of other regions while letting off Igbo

leaders. Nwafor Orizu, then Senate President, in consultation with

President Azikiwe, subverted the constitution and handed over power to

Aguiyi-Ironsi. Subsequent developments, including attempts at

humiliating other peoples, led to the counter-coup and later the civil

war. The Igbos themselves must acknowledge that they have a large part

of the blame for shattering the unity of this country.

Having said that, this nation must realise that Igbos have more than

paid for their foolishness. They have been defeated in war, rendered

paupers by monetary policy fiat, their properties declared abandoned and

confiscated, kept out of strategic public sector appointments and

deprived of public services. The rest of the country forced them to

remain in Nigeria and has continued to deny them equity.

The Northern Bourgeoisie and the Yoruba Bourgeoisie have conspired to

keep the Igbo out of the scheme of things. In the recent transition when

the Igbo solidly supported the PDP in the hope of an Ekwueme presidency,

the North and South-West treated this as a Biafra agenda. Every rule set

for the primaries, every gentleman´s agreement was set aside to ensure

that Obasanjo, not Ekwueme emerged as the candidate. Things went as far

as getting the Federal Government to hurriedly gazette a pardon. Now,

with this government, the marginalistion of the Igbo is more complete

than ever before. The Igbos have taken all these quietly because, they

reason, they brought it upon themselves. But the nation is sitting on a

time-bomb.

After the First World War, the victors treated Germany with the same

contempt Nigeria is treating Igbos. Two decades later, there was a

Second World War, far costlier than the first. Germany was again

defeated, but this time, they won a more honourable peace. Our present

political leaders have no sense of History. There is a new Igbo man, who

was not born in 1966 and neither knows nor cares about Nzeogwu and

Ojukwu. There are Igbo men on the street who were never Biafrans. They

were born Nigerians, are Nigerians, but suffer because of actions of

earlier generations. They will soon decide that it is better to fight

their own war, and may be find an honourable peace, than to remain in

this contemptible state in perpetuity.

The Northern Bourgeoisie and the Yoruba Bourgeoisie have exacted their

pound of flesh from the Igbos. For one Sardauna, one Tafawa Balewa, one

Akintola and one Okotie-Eboh, hundreds of thousands have died and

suffered.

If this issue is not addressed immediately, no conference will solve

Nigeria´s problems.

- Being Excerpts from A Paper Presented At The “National Conference On

The 1999 Constitution” Jointly Organised By The Network For Justice And

The Vision Trust Foundation, At The Arewa House, Kaduna From 11th –12th

September, 1999