Recent events in the country, especially with the Bola Ahmed Tinubu presidency, is becoming very interesting and exposing the very lies that have made our nationhood a mirage. As it is, the glitches we face as a people on our journey to nationhood, will continue to make it impossible for us to build that nation which we seek, as long as one part of the country insists on dominating the rest of us. The unity of this country would remain a fluke so long as the structures of falsehood, deceit, injustice, inequality and hypocrisy upon which this country is built subsist.
Under Muhammadu Buhari’s dispensation, all the pretense to national unity was laid bare. He threw all cautions to the wind as his bias, sectional and religious bigotry were all too glaring for all to see. He simply continued on the trajectory of previous presidents from the north by ensuring that all state institutions of importance, significance and relevance were shifted to the north and the so-called Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
These cronyism, clannishness and deceit got to the zenith when even the headquarters of the Nigerian Ports Authority was taken to Abuja, all in the name of Abuja being the FCT. Meanwhile, until the Tinubu government appointed Nyesom Wike, no southerner had headed the FCT as minister. Yet, our northern elite still kicked against his appointment. A coincidence, I guess?
I like it when the northern elite cry. I enjoy seeing them suffer discomfort because they have a problem with having a taste of the very medicine they so recklessly administer to the rest of the nation.
The Federal Government had recently authorised the relocation of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) from Abuja to Lagos. This was made known in a memo released January 15 and signed by Olubunmi Kuku, managing director of FAAN.
This is coming after earlier reports by the Central Bank to relocate some departments to Lagos for effective supervision since most of the banks have their headquarters in Lagos. Planned for relocation by the CBN Governor, Yemi Cardoso, are Banking Supervision; Other Financial Institutions Supervision; Consumer Protection Department; Payment System Management Department and Financial Policy Regulations Department.
Trust the elite from the north when it comes to protecting ethnic interest and selfish agenda, some have started escalating the issue to a ridiculous level of accusing Tinubu of wanting to relocate the federal capital to Lagos.
Ali Ndume, Chief Whip of the Senate, claimed the relocation was influenced by ‘political cartels’ within the government.
Ndume, the senator representing Borno South, said, “All these Lagos boys who are thinking that Lagos is Nigeria are just misinforming and advising the president wrongly.
The Northern Senators Forum (NSF) also threatened legal action against the Federal Government if the relocation of the offices was not reversed.
The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) had earlier condemned the relocation of the offices, claiming that the decision was to further under-develop the northern part of the country.
In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Professor Tukur Muhammad-Baba, the ACF claimed the two announcements were aimed at serving the same purpose which is the underdevelopment of the Northern region of the country.
The statement said, “The CBN’s decision is by no means isolated or normal administrative action to fix some logistics problem. Rather, it fits into a disturbing pattern of antagonistic actions often taken by certain federal administrations against the interests of Northern and other parts of Nigeria.
Empty threats. Pray, where were they when the Kaduna boys were riding the rest of the country roughshod? Where were these northern elite when all key military institutions were sited in the north under the last dispensation? What was their reaction, when all military chiefs came from the north under Buhari? Are they not now confirming that the only purpose Abuja serves is to service the north?
There is also the veiled attempt to seek recourse to the constitution as a basis to push their ethnic agenda as though they have ever been guided by the law in all their dealings with the rest of the country.
They said, “The relocation plans of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja to Lagos, one of the 36 states of the federation cannot proceed without amending Sections 297(1) and 298 of the Constitution, Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).
“The two sections made it sacrosanct that key government institutions including, of course the CBN, FIRS and FAAN, shall be domiciled within the federal capital territory, Abuja, for proximity, connectivity and seamless networking. In this regard, the 1999 Constitution has to be amended or suspended for any relocation out of Abuja by any Ministry, Department or Agency (MDA) to be backed by the law.”
Shame! If the Constitution, as they claim, envisaged proximity, connectivity and seamless networking, as the reason to have all government businesses in one spot, was it talking about connectivity with the political seat of power or did it intend easy connectivity to their operational bases? If all the banks have their headquarters in Lagos, how seamless will it be for the regulator to supervise the banks from Abuja?
They also pretend to be worried by the financial implication of the relocation. For them the cost of relocating some staff of the agencies, a one-off thing, is greater, in the long run, than the cost having regulators and operators travelling almost on a daily basis to perform simple operational and supervisory duties.
Meanwhile, these so-called federal institutions are populated by the children of these elite who hold the levers of power in Abuja. Appointments are consistently skewed in favour of the north which explains why Hausa is the official language in these ministries, departments and agencies. Is that what the Constitution states and envisages?
Their only worry is the discomfort they and their scions will ‘suffer.’
Not even the explanation by the Federal Government to the contrary, will assuage these irate elite from the north.
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, had in a statement in Abuja, explained that the relocation of some departments and parastatals from Abuja to Lagos was for administrative convenience and better service delivery to Nigerians.
“We consider it necessary to inform Nigerians that there is no iota of truth in the interpretations given to the directives in some quarters and the unfounded claims and rumours that President Bola Tinubu is planning to relocate the Federal Capital back to Lagos,” he said.
They are now accusing Tinubu of promoting ethnic agenda and pretending to be now interested in leaders “who can unite and develop the nation, not those who develop themselves and their regions at the expense of others.â€
Talk about paying lip service to patriotism.
President Obasanjo’s first action in office in 1999 was to order the relocation of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), from Abuja to Lagos.
Kudos to President Tinubu and he must be prepared to follow these moves through. We cannot because of the convenience of an avaricious few from the north continue on these paths that have left us in squalor, deprivation, insecurity and stunted growth as a people.
Only the discomfort of the insignificant minority elite from the North can guarantee meaningful growth in this country. Therefore, for us to build this country and achieve the elusive nationhood we crave we must be prepared to dislodge and inconvenience these northern elite and their co-conspirators from the south.
Nigeria belongs to us all and at all times, the greatest good for the greater majority should guide our dealings.
Every part of this nation must be given a sense of belonging. Who says the headquarters of the NNPC and the oil majors cannot be in the Niger Delta region for “proximity, connectivity and seamless networking?”
