How Nigerians Complaining of Marginalisation Can End It

THE ALTERNATIVE

By Reno Omokri

This election cycle has helped me better understand Nigeria and why some of us are where we are in the hierarchy of power in our nation. It has little to do with deliberate marginalisation, and more to do with how we allow emotions to play a role in our politics. Our persuasive ability is low. But our ability to antagonise and outrage is high. Very high!

These Nigerians are very indifferent to the sensibilities of others, but wanting others to be over mindful of our own sensibilities, and misconstruing hosts who are tolerant to us as weak, and seeing humility as a vice rather than a virtue. Willingness to forget historical good that has been done to us by others, and reacting to those others as if they had no beneficial history with us. More so, inability to adapt to others, while insisting that those others must adapt to us, even where they are our hosts.

And most importantly, being impervious to counsel and feedback and seeing diplomacy as sycophancy, while seeing other people’s restraint as cowardice, and our own forwardness as courage.

Of course there are exceptions, but as the Lord sees my heart, this is my honest appraisal of the situation in Nigeria over the years.

Being a Southerner who is naturally more dependent on the Southern media over the years will blindside many of us. We must also seek to understand others. Because if others understand us better than we understand ourselves, we will always be beneath them in the pyramid of power.

Western academic education is good for business and professionalism, but self-awareness and awareness of others is better for politics.

For example, I have hated Abacha for years. I saw him as a bloodthirsty usurper who cheated Southern Nigeria and supplanted Abiola. I characterised him as dull and brutish.

And then I ran into a throwback video of him on Facebook, where he was talking about the reasoning behind some of his policies.

He explained why he divided Nigeria into six geopolitical zones. I had seen that video about twenty four years ago, but I was blinded by my hatred for him.

But watching him again in November 2022, without emotion, I just found myself shaking my head in agreement to EVERYTHING he said. It made sense.

He talked about how politicians will say and do anything that destroys the fabric of our unity, as long as it favours their cause. And that if patriotism could not come naturally to our politicians, then the next-best thing is to force it upon them by dividing the country into these present six geopolitical zones and having constitutional safeguards to make sure that no geopolitical zone is cheated in government.

He used the term ‘rotation of power’ and I was stunned at how futuristic and prophetic he sounded.

You see, my emotions had blinded me to the good parts of Abacha. But, if I am to be honest, some of the policies that Nigeria now depends on for her unity, such as increase in the derivation to host communities, to balancing of power amongst the six geopolitical zones, were his brainchild.

Yes, I still posit that he was bloodthirsty. However, with the turmoil in Nigeria at that time, perhaps we needed a strongman. I may be wrong. Perhaps I allowed my Southern roots to poison the way I viewed him.

He stole money (or kept it for Nigeria to evade sanctions depending on who you talk to), yet he was one of the few governments (only him and Obasanjo) to have reduced our national debt and stabilise the Naira.

Now, I am being objective. I fought him during his time in power and was almost killed. However, if I had had my present mindset between 1993 and 1998, I would have been branded a sycophant, a bootlicker. I would have become anathema within the influential circles of Southern Nigeria. And by that mentality, I would have been closer to power, while being vilified in the media.

Now, fast forward to 2022. Peter Obi is running for President. And certain Southerners expect all other Southerners to support him because it is the turn of the South. And more specifically, the Southeast (an idea Abacha created and which was resisted at the time).

And amongst these Southerners, if you are not for Peter Obi, you have collected money, you are unpatriotic, you are a disappointment, you have betrayed your region and religion. And all of these are emotional arguments. It does not occur to those who are blinded by their emotions to make these claims that they are preaching to the choir, and stiffing dissent, not by persuasion, but by mob action, cyber bullying, and by making you a pariah within their immediate community.

But how have these tactics helped us in the past?

As I said earlier, politics of emotions will always lose out to politics of strategy.

Look at this example. The Northern Nigerian military industrial complex was the nucleus of the movement that overthrew the gentle giant named Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi. They replaced him with Lieutenant Colonel Yakubu Gowon, a compromise head of state (a Christian Anglican to pacify the South, and a Northern minority to pacify the North) and he led the Federal Government’s effort to crush the Emeka Ojukwu-led Republic of Biafra, and bring the Eastern region of Nigeria back into the union.

After they succeeded, Ojukwu went on exile, and Gowon was eventually overthrown. In the course of time, a Northern civilian President, who was a minister in the Balewa government that was overthrown by Majors Emmanuel Ifeajuna and Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, was elected, and to secure the votes of the Igbo for his re-election, he suppressed his feelings about the events of January 15, 1966, and brought back the very same Emeka Ojukwu that the Northern Nigerian military industrial complex had fought, pardoned him, invited him to join their party, the National Party of Nigeria, on whose platform Ojukwu even contested.

The Northern Nigerian military industrial complex was able to do that because they play politics of strategy and logic. And that is why they are ahead politically in the grand scheme of things in Nigeria. They understand that there is no permanent friend, or enemy, only permanent interest. They do not take things personally. They take things analytically.

But many in Southern Nigeria are not that politically mature enough to subsume their emotions for their logical side. And we are blinded to it by our exploits in Western education, which have made us puffed up with pride, resulting in hubris. We do not want to understand others, but demand that others understand us.

I may not like Bola Tinubu for the sole purpose of his past as a drug lord. But note that he was exiled by Abacha. At Abacha’s side at the time of his exile was his ally Buhari, who was the de facto deputy to Abacha, while Diya was just a de jure. Today, Tinubu is the ally of Abacha’s ally, Buhari. This is just a reprise of what Shagari did with Ojukwu, previously his mortal enemy.

Although I do not like Tinubu, he has continuously displayed political maturity. Very few Nigerians have the capacity to absorb insults without getting offended like Tinubu.

But there are some of us Southerners who are not so politically mature. We are led by our emotions. If you do not support our narrow political interest, then there is no need to persuade you. You must be insulted, attacked, slandered, bullied, and threatened.

But to what end? The main purpose of politics is to expand your base. Northerners are very good at that. Yoruba, especially Yoruba Muslims, are equally as good at that game as their Northern compatriots. The rest of us should better learn from them, or we will continue to call them malu, and we will continue to be the grass that the malu eats.

Whoever the cap fits, let him wear it.

Oya, you may now insult me!

Reno’s Nuggets

Improve yourself by constant reading. Learn a new word daily. Learn how to pronounce words you already know with better elocution. Don’t be intimidated by those who are smarter than you. Instead, rub your iron against theirs to sharpen it. Don’t wait for opportunities. Create them! Master your fears and you will fare well. Understand money and money will never underfund you. Control your thoughts and you will control your life. Don’t just be religious, or spiritual. Be faithful and virtuous. Be humble, but never be proud of your humility!

#RenosNuggets #FreeLeahSharibu