Rejoinder on Junaid Mohammed interview in Punch Newspaper of May 14, 2017

By Lanre Ogundipe

My attention has been drawn to the interview granted by Dr. Mohammed Junaid titled “If anything happens to Buhari, North will insist on two terms in 2019”. This reaction becomes more apt and necessary to the Yoruba Unity Forum in view of the COAS, Lt. General Buratai  disclosure on coup plot.

Going through the said interview, one could have allowed Dr. Junaid’s opinion to pass unchallenged and watch for fallout.  But his statement that the North will resist and insist on two terms in 2019 if President Muhammadu  Buhari dies  in office raises  some fundamental issues. In addressing the issue, let me state that no sane human  being would pray or wish a fellow human dead. My prayer therefore  is that God would heal and bring back our beloved President hale and hearty .

Now to Junaid Mohammed’s statement, my take on that is that the man need to purge himself of ethnic bias cum ethnic superiority  he has been championing with his ilk in the North. He should bear in mind that no ethnic group is superior to the other, hence the need to come down from his Olympian height. It is imperative to note that issues raised  have  already been taken care of by the 1999 constitution section 142, and 145 respectively. And this is devoid of any ethnic bias or sentiment. Whatever Junaid Mohammed may be canvassing amount to illegality and is tantamount to subverting the ground norm on which the tenet of democratic governance in Nigeria is structured. Invariably, it should be emphasised that any understanding or arrangement(s) made by politicians on their political party structure could by no means be surreptitiously forced on the entire country by any section thereof, no matter what that section of the country thinks of itself. Therefore, the idea being  propounded may have  existed only in the thinker’s  imagination.

I would want to place on record that Dr. Junaid does not in anyway speak  for any section of the North but only trying to wipe up sentiment to stir crisis that may propel the Northern elements in the military to rebel against the present administration to further entrench the so called northern supremacy. Such enterprise, we assure will fail. The attempt to revive the old Mafia group in order to dictate the pace on how Nigeria should be governed  is gone. The new  cabal which he represents is no longer in position to impose anything on Nigeria and its people any further.

One honestly thinks that the North should have realised by now that they have no bigger stake nor right to the presidency of Nigeria than any other majority or minority ethnic group. Therefore, the only ground for the north to canvass for the return of power to it is to present an enigmatic, qualified candidate that could not be matched by any contender from other parts of the country. The belief  that such privilege should naturally  come to the North  on a platter of gold is no longer tenable nor would it be  acceptable to any sane person either you being Ibo, Efik,Hausa or Yoruba. Such aspiration/ambition would not be considered on the basis of threat. And if at all, it would be conceded as consequence of the freely exercised rights of Nigerians across board. Here in Nigeria, we run a presidential system of government and not monarchy where an individual by virtue of birth possesses  the “divine right” to the seat of power. It is time for the North to bury the idea of born to rule, the belief is not only insulting to the sensibilities of other Nigerians, it is outrightly inimical to justice, equity and probity. Nigerians reserve the right to choose who leads them without any let or hindrance. We are all free born in this country, we must put a stop to the master-servant relationship.

I emphasis unequivocally that no person,  no matter how highly placed, would have the luxury of lording himself/herself, neither would any ethnic group be allowed to lord itself over the country and dictate what should be done. Citizens shall resist that with all our strength. It is time to embrace the reality, Nigeria is endowed with thousands of enterprising and intelligent youths who are gradually emerging on the political landscape as leaders, these young professionals brood no nonsense. They would not tolerate any sort of rascality from anyone or settle for crumbs which the older generations have subjected themselves to.

Let’s not shy away from the truth, and we pray such would not happen to our dear President but if it happens, Nigeria will surely move on. The Vice President who is now the Acting President will step up with full powers as Commander-in-Chief to complete the term. That remains a constitutional act and there is nothing anyone could do to stop that.  Moreover, the clamour for the restructuring of the country is a necessity which nobody can wish away or sweep under the carpet. As citizens we demand for true and authentic federalism as the basis of relations among constituent units and between those units and the Federal Government. In a polity as diverse as ours, the country  need a political arrangement that can banish the possibility and fear of ethno-political and religious domination, and to unleash the productive capabilities of our people. This is the only way to insulate the constituent units and their development programmes from the weaknesses of political leadership at the federal level. Every unit should be allowed to develop at its own pace and wherever progress is lacking or is slow it would be easy for the people to place the blame where it rightly belongs.

The current pseudo-federalism which has saddled our country with a bureaucratic behemoth at the centre, where enormous powers and financial resources are concentrated, with  little positive contribution to national development, remains the source of our woes as a nation. Enervated by endemic corruption and visionless political leadership, the centre has been no more than an annihilator of potential and is mired in corruption. Rather than despair and reckless actions, however, citizens should demand a return to the workable federal structure that Nigeria’s founding fathers put in place for political organisation.

It is obvious that the problem facing the country is structural. Once the country is restructured,  where every section of the country is represented, those issues holding us back will take flight. Nigeria will then be able to move on based on mutually agreed terms, not through a forced union as currently being experienced.

Lastly for an umpteenth time, Dr. Mohammed Junaid should  note that nobody either from South, East or West  would appease the gods of the North if the President could no longer  continue in view of his health condition.

*Lanre Ogundipe is former National President of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) and Member, 2014 National Conference.