Northern Nigeria, even with the obvious deficit in its capacity for the resolution of crises, is desperately trying to prove that it is a functional entity. The recent engagement of some of the presidential candidates for the 2023 election by the Arewa Joint Committee which comprises Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation, Arewa Research and Development Project, Arewa Consultative Forum, Northern Elders Forum and Northern Women Association (Jam’iyyar Matan Arewa) is a loud statement about the resolve of the North to extract a commitment to its genuine development from the contestants.
The appearance of Kola Abiola of the People’s Redemption Party (PRP), Atiku Abubakar (Wazirin Adamawa) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Social Democratic Party’s Prince Adewole Adebayo on Saturday 15th October as well as Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), a day after, before the Committee for the presentation of their respective programmes was morale-booster for the Northern voters, a lot of whom had earlier been unenthusiastic about the current electioneering. It was an occasion that provided the organizers as well as the candidates with the opportunity to bring out the best in them, which they did.
While, for the organizers, the event was a platform for the scrutiny of the essence and dimensions of the ambitions and styles of the candidates, it was also a perfect window through which the candidates can peep into the minds of the members of the Northern political elite and, by extension, all Northerners. During the sessions, basic concerns were expressed and, to a reasonable extent, addressed as a result of which fears and hopes are now founded on some objective realities and clear expressions by the power-seekers.
Even before they honoured the invitation, the contestants must have individually perceived the kind of issues that would be raised at the forum and consequently prepared themselves for the engagement. They must have reckoned with the fact that the prevailing insecurity, high rate of unemployment, low enrollment and retention of children in schools, under-utilization of vast arable land as well as dearth of industries and infrastructure have been the basic issues of concern to the people of the North.
They therefore, one after another, presented their respective prescriptions for the effective resolution of the various crises. Each one of them made promises that, if taken on their face-values, are enough to make all the people of the North begin to expect prosperity in the near future.
The North have, amongst the organizers and the participants, some of its best brains and most patriotic indigenes who have continued to demonstrate the readiness to give their all-in-all towards security restoration, peace-building and development. Both the high attendance and the reasonable quality of the interactions at the event were an indication of the unrivalled commitment and huge resourcefulness of the organizers.
The engagement of the presidential candidates was clearly an initiative that represented the climax of all the agitations over the existing crippling challenges in the North. All the issues that were thrown up by either the organizers or the individual candidates have always been the basis of the loud complaints by the Northerners to which the attention of the leaders at the various levels is continuously being drawn.
As campaigners for political power, the candidates typically made direct promises to the North in a manner that showed their appreciation of both the enormity of the problems and the absolute need to act fast. It appears that the North has so far, as a result of the interactions, made a good deal with each of the contestants, which is enough to make its peoples feel good.
Expectedly, insecurity to which human lives and wealth are consistently being lost is a problem that each of them has vowed to tackle. It was with virtually an equal amount of emphasis that they, in their respective presentations, analyzed security and re-affirmed determination to come up with effective counter-measures that can lead to the speedy decimation of the power of the various categories of violent criminals.
Atiku, Tinubu and Obi, for example, have all rightly placed the insecurity in the North as the number problem that requires most urgent and total attention. This means that it is the restoration of the security that constitutes the first item on their respective governance agenda, the implementation of which will guarantee the attainment of other objectives.
Such other objectives as the drastic reduction of the number of out-of-school children through their enrollment in either conventional schools or skills acquisition centres as well as the development of the Northern economy are of utmost priority to each of the candidates. They all have recognized the fact there are enormous endowments in the North which need to be harnessed for the purpose of the attainment of economic development.
Specifically, while Atiku expressed commitment to the revival of industries to allow for the creation of abundant job opportunities, Tinubu spoke about the need to complete the Mambilla and Zungeru Power Projects, boost agro-allied businesses and embark on the exploration of oil in the North. Obi’s expressed resolve to put the very vast arable land to use which will lead to the engagement of millions of Northern able-bodied youths in productive activities is also a very big and laudable one.
The unity and corporate existence of the country got the required attention during the sessions as evident in the numerous clarifications and arguments made by each one of them about his identities. It was while commenting on the contention over the emergence of the next president from any particular part of the country that Atiku made a statement that generated harsh reactions from his opponents who sharply criticized him of nepotism.
By insisting that the country needs a pan-Nigerian man, not Yoruba or Igbo, as president, Atiku was seen to have exposed himself for attack; the same kind of attack to which Obi is consistently subjected over the secessionist agenda of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPoB) and which became most pronounced during his inter-face with the Arewa Joint Committee. The divergent sentiments that were and are still being voiced out over the contestants’ statements as well as their ethnic and sectional backgrounds have continued to serve as a pointer to the inherent danger of the kind of the political system being operated in the country.
Undeniably, the dialogue with the presidential candidates was a perfect opportunity that was appropriately seized and fully utilized by some sections of the Northern intelligentsia and political class. Having now known the plans of the key bidders for the presidency for their region in particular and the country in general, the Northerners are now more informed and are therefore in a better position to make a right choice.
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