Beyond Appointments: Buhari and imperative of north agenda
Francis Abayomi
Beyond the explicitly lopsidedness in the appointments made so far by President Buhari, there is still a huge sense in which an agenda for the north should not be seen as a political imperative to be encouraged rather than politics of exclusion. Those who argue in support of the appointment made so far are simply indulging in deceitful politics of denial and pretence which only further attest to the hypocrisy of a presidency that is, more than anything else, largely a product of ethno-religious balancing justified as power shift. Those who argue that Buhari should be pardoned or ignored in his pursuit of a misplaced northern agenda on the pretext that there are still over 6000 appointments to be dispensed by the president as political patronage should ponder over the sidelining of the southsouth and southeast regions in key appointments that should form the basis for a balanced representation in the executive arm of government.
Nevertheless, an agenda for the north should not be considered outrageous or perceived as politically incorrect or unsuitable in view of the grinding challenge foisted by the crises of Boko Haram. If there was a deliberate intervention in the crises of Niger Delta, an agenda aimed at holistic intervention in the peculiar crises in the north should be a welcome development. Rather than northernising key appointments as it appears, the president should prioritise is a development agenda for the north. In other words, an agenda for the north in this respect becomes a national agenda if we really care about dealing with fundamental issues bedevilling the polity. And it all depends on what we make of the objectives and goals of such agenda. Indeed, the correctness or feasibility of an agenda so-called for the north has become a political imperative; if not a social exigency. Rather than dismiss the idea, the question should be as to the content of the agenda and in whose interest in the immediate and long terms.
Of course, there are posers to ponder in appreciating the issues beyond the cosmetics of politics; and such posers may include who could possibly be afraid of an agenda for the north and to what extent does such an agenda hurt or benefit the rest of the country? Whichever way we look at it, we would most probably come to an agreement, at the end, that there is really no big deal about an agenda provided such address the encumbrances of religious manipulation and disharmony and by extension advance the ideals of pro-people; development-driven governance with trickle-down effects on the political health of the nation as a whole. This should be more important to the president if he is really determined to help the north. What is being proposed however is not an agenda that essentially serves the interest of a class of briefcase contractors to the exclusion of the neglected. The proposal is for a carefully enunciated program of action whose goal is targeted at the downtrodden and in repositioning the society for peace and prosperity. In other words, all considered, there is sense in which a north agenda properly conceived approximates a pan Nigeria agenda!
More than ever, the time calls for deeper reflections on the future of politics and governance in the country. The challenge requires a deeper commitment to restructuring of the polity in such a way that governance is ultimately freed from nebulous and relevance-seeking politics of sectionalism and personal survival. Regrettably, Buhari is an unlikely believer in a new Nigeria founded on restructuring. He is more likely a protector of the status quo which is at the root of the rots he can only pretend to tackle. Buhari is not an enthusiast of structural reengineering beyond his quest to offer leadership in a federal arrangement that is largely skewed. However, that he lacks visceral commitment to structural reforms may not be as much concerns as attempt yet again to gloss over the deep-seated evil of socio-religious disharmony in the north and the attendant danger it continues to portend for the country. It would be in the interest of the country to have an agenda predicated upon charting a new path of religious de-radicalisation with new vistas of commitment to socio-economic revival aimed at stemming the dangerous tide of neglect and poverty in the region. It could only be in the overall interest of the country if an agenda for the north is conceived in that direction.
Rather than lopsided appointments, Nigerians would like to see greater commitment to the much debated neglect of the north which became a dominant issue around the narratives of insurgency that has crippled the northeast. There are those who continue to argue passionately that the root of insurgency in the north is primarily and essentially attributable to long years of neglect and pervasive poverty as though there had been deliberately policies or agenda to short-change the north compared to other sections of the country. Even if that logic appears to stand the truth on its head considering the dynamics of global wave of terrorism, there can be no denying the fact the entire country would be the better if the monster could be effectively dismantled through an agenda deliberately designed and implemented to bring about the desired change. But how prepared is the president beyond playing a sectional card that only benefits power oligarchy and its hangers-on?
Therefore those who insist that the long years of crises instigated by religious manipulations and consequent evil of Boko Haram are purely as a result of some forms of orchestrated neglect should now have unfettered opportunity to right whatever wrong perceived or imagined. But it remains to be seen how a government heavily dominated by lopsided appointment would address germane problem. Whatever the case, it would be a huge disservice to the north and the rest of the country if the north emerges at the end of Buhari’s presidency still crying wolf over real or perceived marginalisation and neglect and with grave consequences for the entire country in the near or foreseeable future.
• This article first appeared on HARDBEAT COLUMN; Daily Independent, Sunday 30th, August, 2015