By Ata Ukuta

When the Speaker of the House of Representatives was vying for the speakership in 2019, he felt his God and religion would be an impediment. He quickly jumped ship from being an elder at House On The Rock, Lekki, Lagos to become a faithful Muslim who quickly made the lesser Hajj to Mecca to appease the men he must appease in the Islamic North. Fast Forward three years later, and his mentor Bola Ahmed Tinubu made the same call in his choice of a vice president. Instead of choosing from the plethora of highly qualified Christian Northerners who are loyal party men, he used the advice he gave to Femi Gbajabiamila three years ago. There are indeed good reasons to go this way because Femi won the speakership as a result of this “wise” counsel. But that was the speakership, a different beast from the presidency. Many have argued that MKO Abiola and co did likewise in the past and got away with it. What they fail to acknowledge was that Nigeria is a very different nation when MKO was alive than it is today. Today, the sadistic nepotism practiced by the Buhari administration has divided the nation in ways that we need a messiah to help heal the land. Today, Nigeria competes for superiority with Afghanistan in terms of insecurity which truth be told is an Islamic phenomenon featuring Boko Haram, ISWAP, and Fulani Herdsmen among others. This is the Nigeria that Bola Ahmed Tinubu wants to lead with a Muslim-Muslim ticket.

Superiority in the majority of Islamic nations is tribal. The Quraysh tribe, a grouping of Arab clans that historically inhabited and controlled the city of Mecca is the most important. Hence, most emirates or caliphates do everything within and outside the book to establish a connection to this lineage that gives legitimacy in the Islamic world. This is the lineage that Usman Dan Fodio used in consolidating the Sokoto caliphate where Fulanis are number one. They are probably followed by the Hausas and Kanuris before other tribes like Yoruba are considered. This is probably the inferiority complex in Tinubu’s mind that made him make this unwise decision that is backfiring. What many Nigerians know but refuse to acknowledge is the sizable population of Christians in the core Islamic-controlled states in Northern Nigeria. This has become increasingly difficult to ascertain because no census in Nigeria has ever been free and fair like most elections. There has always been vested interest from our colonial days till now. So, for Tinubu to appease the kingmakers in the Islamic North, he chose one of the most unqualified and controversial northerners with regard to his complexities with Boko Haram. As we head to election day slowly and surely, Tinubu and Atiku keep making choices and utterances that take the air out of their balloon. Like Tinubu, Atiku’s choice of Ifeanyi Okowa, the Delta State governor, is totally insignificant in terms of the desired outcome. But Peter Obi’s choice of Datti Baba-Ahmed has shown all the importance of choosing the right candidate that is not influenced by your desperation but by your aspiration.

Ata Ukuta, Editor – Towncryyers