Harvard historian, Arthur Schlesinger Jr., in his monumental account of the John F. Kennedy’s years in the White House, it was, who recounted JFK’s anecdote by which he derided automatic critics of government. According to Schlesinger, Kennedy, renowned for charm and wit, told the story of how one of the perpetual critics of government undertook a journey by sea, lost his bearing and got stranded on an island in the Caribbean, where he had never before visited. Said Kennedy, as narrated by Schlesinger, the critic still trying to find direction in his locale blurted, “Which is the government here? I am opposed to it.” The morale is to play up the folly and irrationality of opposition to any and every government, even before finding out enough about it.
There is nothing wrong, it should be said, with holding the feet of governments and political actors to the fire of criticism. What is amazingly unfair, if not downright unscrupulous, is for one to prepare critical remarks ahead of evaluation and never to give commendation when it is due. Needless to say that this columnist has never believed or practised that kind of naysaying, which does no good both to the critic and the criticised. It is against this backdrop and in the context of last week’s rebuke on this very page of the Peoples Democratic Party’s choice of a Northerner, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, as standard-bearer that I give kudos to the 13 governors of the All Progressives Congress who engineered and fought for an ennobling game changer. I argued last week that it goes against the grain of power-sharing and federal character to anoint a presidential candidate from the Northern part of the country after what will be eight years of presidential rule by a Northerner, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.). Lest this columnist is misunderstood, and more so as a political scientist, it is reductionist to attribute success or failure in governance to ethnic or religious identity.
Of course, there are other several intervening variables including what Chief Obafemi Awolowo was fond of calling mental magnitude. There also is preparation for office, which is not dependent on how often one runs for any office, passion and desire to make a mark rather than merely satisfy the craving for office.
That said, it is difficult to dispute that in a fragile multi-ethnic and multi-religious polity as ours the power and symbolism of nativity cannot be discounted. That is why our Constitution, in spite of its flaws, introduced bridge-building strategies such as federal character and equity in appointments which have been applauded as noble features–even if not fully observed–of our federalism.
This brings us to the almost heroic efforts of the 13 APC governors at the recently concluded convention and presidential primaries to stand against shenanigans which, presumably, would have returned the presidency to the North for another eight years. As well known, there were spirited efforts below the table to anoint a presidential standard-bearer from the North by circulating information purportedly emanating from Buhari. Following the publication, however, of a leaked memo traced to the 13 governors, the governors held a press conference boldly announcing their resolution based on the principle of fairness. Apprehensive that this was not enough to turn the tide, the governors sought audience with Buhari in order to emphasise their convictions. Speaking on behalf of the group, the Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El Rufai, told journalists that they would like to go on record as standing for what they believe is right and just. According to him, 16 years of Northern presidency, the possible outcome of current scheming, will dangerously alienate a section of the country and portray the North as carnivorous power mongers.
It is a tribute to the statesmanship of this group that they stood their ground and carried the day in a manner that refreshed many of us and flashed that there is still hope for Nigeria. Really, when you think of it, it is common sense. But in a season of anomie, where common sense has become extremely scarce, strange twists and turns can occur. Objectively, it is possible, employing the power of money, influence and pedigree, for the North to monopolise power for 16 years. What is not factored in, however, is how to resolve the legitimacy problem (if not crisis) this would have created in the other part of the country.
Political scientist, Professor Larry Diamond, in an influential book on Nigeria’s First Republic said that one of the reasons for the early collapse of that republic is because the operators and players ignored a fundamental rule of driving in a narrow and treacherous terrain. In such context, Diamond remarked you don’t just obey the rules or adopt a legalistic approach but it was necessary to have bent over backwards in order to ensure the safety of all of those people driving. This is the logic, I believe, which in my view, the PDP either ignored or deliberately flouted by throwing up another Northern candidate, a former Vice President, probably because of his presumed electability.
But is his electability, the same thing as legitimacy or even capacity to govern? I don’t think so because while politicians who repeatedly lose elections will soon be out of business, the result of perceiving electioneering as all that counts has landed us in a quick-fix mode in which the figures tally but the woes continue to multiply. If winning elections is all that counts, then the German dictator, Adolf Hitler, because he came to power by what was regarded as a free and fair election, with terrific and murderous consequences not only for the Germans but for the entire world, would be deemed legitimate.
Part of the problem, a structural one at that, is that the politicians have only a short term preoccupation dominated by winning at any or all costs, not caring whether winning in some instances can promote unfavourable or even tragic consequences. The merit of the APC governors’ struggle is that it took account of realpolitik and moral imperatives of fairness and justice required to grant a new lease to a tottering federation.
Their position emanates from values, which we once had in the past whereby politicians and technocrats sometimes recuse themselves in order not to upset a delicate balance, I recall Chief Simeon Adebo discussing in his memoirs how he recused himself from a particular United Nations office in order not to gain an unfair advantage. Unfortunately, partly because of the legacy of military rule with emphasis on fiat, the increasing ruthlessness of our capitalism, the desperation due to the age factor of some of our senior politicians and the enthronement of a jungle political culture—in which anything goes—we have lost these dear and life-sustaining values. Having made a choice, the PDP can no longer reverse it but must live with the consequences of that choice.
We now have a presidential race ahead of us, possibly neck-to-neck, between APC National Leader, Senator Bola Tinubu, and Atiku, the choice of the PDP; not discounting lesser parties with hopefuls such as Mr Peter Obi and Senator Rabiu Kwankanso. Whatever the eventual outcome, the country will require the broad-mindedness and statesmanship displayed earlier this week by the 13 APC governors.
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