Yorubas Are The Problem With Nigeria – By Lamido Sanusi (Must Read)

In sum, the Yoruba political leadership, as mentioned
by Balarabe Musa, has shown itself over the years to
be incapable of rising above narrow tribal interests
and reciprocating goodwill from other sections of the
country by treating other groups with respect.
Practically every crisis in Nigeria since independence
has its roots in this attitude.
The Yoruba elite and area-boy politics;
Igbo marginalisation and the responsible limits of
retribution; and
The Yoruba Factor and "Area-boy" Politics.
My views on the Yoruba political leadership have been
thoroughly articulated in some of my writings, prime
among which was " Afenifere: Syllabus of Errors"
published by This Day (The Sunday Newspaper) on
Sept 27, 1998. There was also an earlier publication in
the weekly Trust entitled " The Igbo, the Yoruba and
History" (Aug. 21, 1998).
In sum, the Yoruba political leadership, as mentioned
by Balarabe Musa, has shown itself over the years to
be incapable of rising above narrow tribal interests
and reciprocating goodwill from other sections of the
country by treating other groups with respect.
Practically every crisis in Nigeria since independence
has its roots in this attitude.
The Yoruba elite were the first, in 1962, to attempt a
violent overthrow of an elected government in this
country. In 1966, it was the violence in the West which
provided an avenue for the putsch of 15th January.
After Chief Awolowo lost to Shagari in 1983 elections,
it was the discontent and bad publicity in the South-
West which led to the Buhari intervention.
When Buhari jailed UPN governors like Ige and
Onabanjo, the South-Western press castigated that
good government and provided the right mood for
IBB to take over power. As soon as IBB cleared UPN
governors of charges against them in a politically
motivated retrial, he became the darling of the South-
West. When IBB annulled the primaries in which
Adamu Ciroma and Shehu Yar Adua emerged as
presidential candidates in the NRC and SDP, he was
hailed by the South-West. When the same man
annulled the June 12, 1993 elections in which Abiola
was the front-runner, the South-West now became
defenders of democracy.
When it seemed Sani Abacha was sympathetic to
Abiola, the South-West supported his take-over. He
was in fact invited by a prominent NADECO member
to take over in a published letter shortly before the
event. Even though Abiola had won the elections in the
North, the North was blamed for its annulment. When
Abdulsalam Abubakar started his transition, the
Yoruba political leadership through NADECO
presented a memorandum on a Government of
National Unity that showed complete disrespect for
the intelligence and liberties of other Nigerians.
Subsequently, they formed a tribal party which failed
to meet minimum requirements for registration, but
was registered all the same to avoid the violence that
was bound to follow non-registration, given the area-
boy mentality of South-West politicians. Having
rejected an Obasanjo candidacy and challenged the
election as a fraud in court, we now find a leading
member of the AD in the government, a daughter of
an Afenifere leader as Minister of State, and Awolowo
´s daughter as Ambassador, all appointed by a man
who won the election through fraud.
Meanwhile, nothing has been negotiated for the
children of Abiola, the focus of Yoruba political
activity. In return for these favours, the AD solidly
voted for Evan Enwerem as Senate President. This is a
man who participated in the two-million- man March
for Abacha´s self-succession. He also is reputed to
have hosted a meeting of governors during IBB´s
transition, demanding that June 12 elections should
never be de-annulled and threatening that the East
would go to war if this was done. When Ibrahim Salisu
Buhari was accused of swearing to a false affidavit,
the Yoruba political elite correctly took up the gauntlet
for his resignation.
When an AD governor, Bola Tinubu, swears to a false
affidavit that he attended an Ivy League University
which he did not attend, we hear excuses.
For so many years, the Yoruba have inundated this
country with stories of being marginalised and of a
civil service dominated by northerners through quota
system. The Federal Character Commission has
recently released a report which shows that the South-
West accounts for 27.8% of civil servants in the range
GL08 to GL14 and a full 29.5% of GL 15 and above. One
zone out of six zones controls a full 30% of the civil
service leaving the other five zones to share the
remaining 70%. We find the same story in the
economy, in academia, in parastatals.
Yet in spite of being so dominant, the Yoruba
complained and complained of marginalization. Of
recent, in recognition of the trauma which hit the
South-West after June 12, the rest of the country
forced everyone out of the race to ensure that a
South-Westerner emerged, often against the best
advice of political activists.
Instead of leading a path of reconciliation and strong
appreciation, the Yoruba have embarked on short-
sighted triumphalism, threatening other "nationalities"
that they ( who after all lost the election) will protect
Obasanjo ( who was forced on them). No less a
person than Bola Ige has made such utterances.
To further show that they were in charge, they led a
cult into the Hausa area of Sagamu, murdered a
Hausa woman and nothing happened. In the violence
that followed, they killed several Hausa residents, with
Yoruba leaders like Segun Osoba, reminding
Nigerians of the need to respect the culture of their
host communities. This would have continued were it
not for the people of Kano who showed that they
could also create their own Oro who would only be
appeased through the shedding of innocent Yoruba
blood.
I say all this, to support Balarabe Musa´s statement,
that the greatest problem to nation-building in Nigeria
are the Yoruba Bourgeoisie. I say this also to
underscore my point that until they change this
attitude, no conference can solve the problems of
Nigeria. We cannot move forward if the leadership of
one of the largest ethnic groups continues to operate,
not like statesmen, but like common area boys.
iii.The Igbo Factor and the Reasonable Limits of
Retribution.
The Igbo people of Nigeria have made a mark in the
history of this nation. They led the first successful
military coup which eliminated the Military and
Political leaders of other regions while letting off Igbo
leaders. Nwafor Orizu, then Senate President, in
consultation with President Azikiwe, subverted the
constitution and handed over power to Aguiyi-Ironsi.
Subsequent developments, including attempts at
humiliating other peoples, led to the counter-coup
and later the civil war. The Igbos themselves must
acknowledge that they have a large part of the blame
for shattering the unity of this country.
Having said that, this nation must realise that Igbos
have more than paid for their foolishness. They have
been defeated in war, rendered paupers by monetary
policy fiat, their properties declared abandoned and
confiscated, kept out of strategic public sector
appointments and deprived of public services. The
rest of the country forced them to remain in Nigeria
and has continued to deny them equity.
The Northern Bourgeoisie and the Yoruba Bourgeoisie
have conspired to keep the Igbo out of the scheme of
things. In the recent transition when the Igbo solidly
supported the PDP in the hope of an Ekwueme
presidency, the North and South-West treated this as
a Biafra agenda. Every rule set for the primaries, every
gentleman´s agreement was set aside to ensure that
Obasanjo, not Ekwueme emerged as the candidate.
Things went as far as getting the Federal Government
to hurriedly gazette a pardon. Now, with this
government, the marginalistion of the Igbo is more
complete than ever before. The Igbos have taken all
these quietly because, they reason, they brought it
upon themselves. But the nation is sitting on a time-
bomb.
After the First World War, the victors treated Germany
with the same contempt Nigeria is treating Igbos. Two
decades later, there was a Second World War, far
costlier than the first. Germany was again defeated,
but this time, they won a more honourable peace. Our
present political leaders have no sense of History.
There is a new Igbo man, who was not born in 1966
and neither knows nor cares about Nzeogwu and
Ojukwu. There are Igbo men on the street who were
never Biafrans. They were born Nigerians, are
Nigerians, but suffer because of actions of earlier
generations. They will soon decide that it is better to
fight their own war, and may be find an honourable
peace, than to remain in this contemptible state in
perpetuity.The Northern Bourgeoisie and the Yoruba Bourgeoisie
have exacted their pound of flesh from the Igbos. For
one Sardauna, one Tafawa Balewa, one Akintola and
one Okotie-Eboh, hundreds of thousands have died
and suffered.
If this issue is not addressed immediately, no
conference will solve Nigeria´s problems. By Sanusi
Lamido Sanusi.
Being Excerpts from A Paper Presented At The
"National Conference On The 1999 Constitution"
Jointly Organised By The Network For Justice And The
Vision Trust Foundation, At The Arewa House, Kaduna
From 11th –12th September, 1999.
.