A lot of people have a problem with the northerners’ apparent domination in politics. People from the north have ruled the country for over 30 years since independence, and many people down south aren’t satisfied with the way they’ve run the country.
They think the north is responsible for most of our problems because the northerners have been in charge longer than everyone else.
Naij.com commentator on political issues, Adedayo Ademuwagun explore some of this issues in this piece.
The British handed power to Balewa with Azikiwe in a figurehead role after independence, but the Balewa government was corrupt and the army soon crushed it in a coup. Then Ironsi ruled briefly before he too was sacked in a counter coup by the north. Then the north-led army made Gowon head of state.
Ojukwu was superior to Gowon in the army and should have been head of state based on seniority, but the army chiefs from the north got behind Gowon instead. It looked like the north wanted to keep power for themselves and shut the door on the south. This was one of the things that led to the civil war.
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Gowon settled in after the war and the young nation prospered under his watch thanks to the oil windfall, but he apparently wasn’t committed to returning to civilian rule despite his heroic conduct during the war. It was the perfect justification for his coup, and another northerner Murtala Muhammed sacked his government and continued the north’s run.
Obasanjo took over after Murtala was assassinated and he applied himself to Murtala’s intention to restore democracy. So he organised the 1979 election and helped Shagari win it. Then it was back to the north.
But of course Shagari too was overthrown shortly after he won a second term through a bogus election, and again a northerner took charge. Incidentally, this man is running for president this weekend.
Buhari’s own regime didn’t last either and another soldier from the north seized power from him. Babangida became the 8th head of state. Now six out of those eight were northerners. It looked like the north would continue to run the government and that power would pass on from one northerner to another indefinitely.
Babangida became very unpopular among the people and he eventually handed power to a civilian from the south. But Abacha booted that one out months later and the north was back in the game.
The north that led the army and the ex leaders apparently decided to compensate the south when Abacha died, so they backed Obasanjo to become president in 1999 and he won again in 2003.
Obasanjo returned the favour just like he did in 1977, helping Yar’adua win the election and passing control back to the north.
The political arrangement was that power would alternate between the north and the south every eight years, and so Yar’adua should have been president for eight years. But his death disrupted all that and destabilised the government. That’s how vice president Jonathan got bumped up to be president and has retained control for five years now.
So in all, the north has been in control longer than the south. But the thing is the south has actually been in control for most of the Fourth Republic. In fact, it’s like the tables turned and the south took over.
The north has led the government for only three years for the past 16 years since democracy returned in 1999, and if Jonathan wins again this time it would stretch the south’s run by four more years. So by 2019 the south would have been in charge for 16 years and the north would have had only three years. That looks like the south is actually the one dominating the north this time, not the other way round as people think.
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If Buhari wins then the north can try to close the gap and then the dogfight will continue. It’s always been like that for Nigeria. History is simply being repeated here. The way it works is that the north has power and the south tries to wrest it from the north. The south has power and the north tries to wrest it from them. The object of this perennial tussle is power.
So no matter who wins this weekend, the dogfight between the north and the south will continue It’s clearly the way the country is wired
READ MORE: http://www.naij.com/408328-opinion-this-election-is-another-dogfight-between-the-north-and-the-south.html
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