Nigeria may not be stable, great, and reach its full potential until we stop using tribal sentiment and ethno-religious interests in the selection and election of our potential political leaders, especially the president, at the federal level.
In any thriving democracy, political parties are the main constitutionally recognised and empowered institutional frameworks for leadership recruitment; hence, any divisive ethno-religious or tribal sentiment is inimical to the growth of the country and wellbeing of her people.
Right from the beginning, the problems of Nigeria seemed to be caused by the British colonial government, which divided the country into tribal groups: the Northern region, comprising the Hausa-Fulanis, the Western region, comprising the Yorubas, and the Eastern region, comprising the Igbos. This division, rather than creating three distinct countries, was due to their cultural differences.
However, considering the three independent regional governments from the onset, the Western region seemed to excel most, out of the three regional governments, in terms of impactful programmes and activities, as well as the provision of welfare packages to her people. Others were really lagging behind at the time of independence.
Another problem that the British colonial government left behind was the manipulation of the census to favour the Northern region because, at the time of independence, in 1960, the Eastern region had the highest population figure during the census. But the results were manipulated by the British colonial government to favour the Northern region.
In the same vein was the rigging of elections by the British colonial government in favour of the Hausa-Fulani of Northern extraction.
In essence, arising from the above anomalies, most of the instability in our political system, like the military interventions in our democratic system, could be traced to the British colonial government’s handiwork, which makes many Nigerians prefer Military dictatorship, instead of civilian rule. And our constitution is still tailored towards the Military doctored inputs, instead of a truly evolving democratic constitution.
Finally, Many Nigerians believe that our constitution, fashioned towards an American-borrowed one, the tenure of members of the assembly, at all levels, should, like in America, be temporary instead of the present permanent elected full-time job, for four years.
Professor Abass Aderemi Adedibu is a member of the Governing Council of Emmanuel Alayande University of Education and the American University of Nigeria (AUN). He is also the first Child of the late legendary political godfather and an acclaimed garrison commander of Ibadan Politics, Chief Lamidi Ariyibi Adedibu.
