Take it or leave it, the Northern part of this country have demonstrated times without number that It is more politically savvy than the South.
I have not seen a Nigerian president who was not elected at the mercy of the North.
The 1993 failed presidential election which would have produced the late Basorun MKO Abiola as president did look like this insinuation may not apply to all presidential ballots.
I am of the firm view that the results of that election was a reflection of a general consensus orchestrated by the North.
If you have any doubt, go and do a research on how Abiola was able to take the ticket of the Social Democratic Party, (SDP) , from the duo of Babagana Kingibe and Atiku Abubakar, the latter was persuaded to step down for the late Abiola at the Jos Convention of the SDP.
If the North had decided to take the ticket of the SDP in Jos, all It needed to do was to combine the delegates of Atiku and Kingibe and Abiola would have lost the ticket there and then.
The late Lamidi Adedibu and the late Gen. Musa Yar’adua were instrumental to how Atiku was persuaded to withdraw for Abiola at the residence of a late Military General in Jos.
I was surprised that those gentlemen were not recognized for their roles towards June 12 by president Bola Ahmed Tinubu in his Democracy Day speech.
Likewise, if you look at how president Bola Ahmed Tinubu got the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress, (APC), there is no way you will not come to a conclusion that the ticket was handed over to him by the Northern Governors of the APC.
Similarly, a breakdown of the results of the presidential election is a testimony to the influence of the North in the emergence of Tinubu.
It has always been like that.
As we speak, the North is angry. Perhaps, rightly so and president Tinubu must be seriously worried.
What started as murmurs of discontent among some Northern elites is fast taking the shape of a near general and physical threat and except the president and his Kitchen cabinet chose to ignore this clear and present danger, they have to get their thinking Caps on. There is a clear and present danger enroute 2027.
It is unfortunate to say that the president is largely responsible for the agitations by the North.
To whom much is given, much more is expected.
The way and manner the president have chosen to handle his relationship with some politicians of Northern extraction, coupled with the activities of Government in both the Ministry of Aviation and the Central Bank where relocations of some Departments took place are factors that gave rise to concerns.
The president’s direct involvement in the election of the Senate president is another issue which president Tinubu have not managed very well.
Except we want to deliberately deceive ourselves, it doesn’t look like the Government of Tinubu sets so much in store for the North.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, even before his election as president, is a man who enjoys being in charge.
Unfortunately, while he could successfully do that in Lagos and partially as a Leader of the APC, such demeanor, from a sitting president will never sit well with Northern Nigeria.
The Region is one, as a president, you have to find a way to strike a balance and manage.
I think president Tinubu’s problem started when he chose to deliberately leave out the likes of El Rufai in the scheme of things.
The former Governor of Kaduna state is one who has been around for some time now and his advice and experience would have been invaluable to this president.
Secondly, the president, as a result of his love for being worshipped as a ” master strategist” got his fingers burnt when he directly involved himself in the election of Akpabio as the Senate president.
Do not get me wrong. There is no president who would not want his preference for such a sensitive position but he ought to delegated such involvement considering the prevailing circumstances.
During Buhari’s first term, we all know how the president then, delegated the responsibility to handle such delicate tasks to Tinubu as Leader of the APC, even though, Buhari’s preferences must have been discussed with Tinubu.
Why was it difficult for Tinubu to delegate such responsibility to another person?
The North Central is displeased with him because he has unilaterally decided to gift the position of the National chairman of the party to someone from the North West.
Since the selection of the present National chairman, there have been serious agitations from the zone and the president have kept ignoring such agitations.
Instead of the president to strengthen the APC and then take in whoever is willing to join him, he has priortised the dismantling of the party in many states in favour of opposition characters.
This is clearly evident in both of Rivers and Oyo states.
It is obvious that the choice of Ministers in his Cabinet were made by himself and his Kitchen cabinet without recourse to party hierarchy in many of the states.
Nyesom Wike, a former Governor of Rivers state and a man who still claims to be a member of the PDP is the Minister representing the state in his Cabinet.
I am yet to understand why the president have failed to realize that Wike has become more of a liability rather than an asset. Yet, president Tinubu will keep caressing this liability at the risk of losing the goodwill of the APC and the people of Rivers state.
Whatever the game plan of the president in Kano is, is still a mystery to me.
Why the president will allow himself to be linked, even remotely to the fiasco in Kano still baffles me.
The strategy which saw president Tinubu gifting Oyo state to Seyi Makinde of the APC has fallen like a pack of cards.
Today, the Governor of Oyo state is president Tinubu’s number one critic.
In the South West, the president has chosen to leave out those who are equipped with political maturity for the “boys”.
I do not understand why people like Fayemi, Amosun, Fashola, Folarin and even Aregbesola could not be with him to stabilize the Government.
The movements around the North recently must be giving those in Aso Rock sleepless nights. Though, they will claim the opposite.
However, it is the president who have been making it possible for his political opponents to unite against him.
His actions in Kano and Kaduna, coupled with the handling of the position of the National chairman of the party are necessary ingredients for a political marriage of convenience between erstwhile political enemies.
Yorubas call it the one who is helping his enemies to raise an army against him ( o nsegun si eyin ota e).
The North is fast becoming one against the president and what is happening in the South?
Chaos. Self inflicted chaos in Oyo, Osun, Ogun, Ondo, Ekiti, Rivers and don’t forget, the South East is a no go area.
How will the president calm this storm that is daily gathering strength?
Eng. Oluwasina Adeyemi.
