By
Muhsin
Ibrahim
@muhsin234
A fact known to
some of my readers is that: praise-singing of individuals, especially
politicians of whatever party, is not what I do. Yes, it is still the same. Today’s article is no different; I actually see nothing extraordinarily admirable in the person of Rotimi Amaechi. He’s much like,
below or a little above, his mates, such as Engr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (Kano), Malam
Ibrahim Shekarau (Kano; to PDP), Aliyu Wamako (Sokoto), Kashim Shettima (Borno; from ANPP) and
other PDP renegades. To me, and I don’t
stand to be corrected, they all deserted their former party after a meticulous
foresight that, among other things, they would not get what they wanted in the
party, and that could cost them very dearly to the extent of losing relevance
in the nation’s polity. Thus, to avoid anything of the sort, they renounced
their loyalties and found a niche in the APC.
Today, many people
(supporters) think highly of Amaechi, as well as others. The recent debacle around
his screening/confirmation as a minister in Nigeria leaves many salient lessons that many people have not traced. The massive, unprecedented
support he enjoys marks a milestone for a better Nigeria where differences in
religion, region and ethnicity are forgotten, or, at best, repressed. The
‘quality’ a person embodies is seen first and foremost. This is evidence of a moral awakening and a paradigm shift in our politics, which was usually characterised by hostility, bigotry and ethnocentrism.
I believe it couldn’t be only me who noticed a kind of vogue among numerous youths interested in the country’s politics in recent days. When news broke that some so-called concerned individuals had petitioned the National Assembly not to screen Amaechi, many angry youths from around the country began protesting. The protests took two shapes: physical and virtual. Those who demonstrated in the Capital, Abuja, could, as it were, be a hired lot who might have little or nothing to do with their ‘messiah’. But those on social media did it with great passion and force.
It’s
particularly the northern youths that fascinated me the most, hence this
article. Many among my friends made several posts, decrying why their man, Amaechi, was not screened till the last day. They openly criticised their own, a fellow northerner and a Muslim, the Senate president, Bukola Saraki and accused him of plotting everything. That’s interesting. Hitherto, what could have been
happening was the other way round, Amaechi’s close relationship with the
President notwithstanding. That’s why many northern youths did not see the Muslimness of almost everyone in the
former President, Goodluck Jonathan’s government, including his VP, Namadi
Sambo. They were simply all arna, infidels.
Thus, whosoever voted for him had ‘blasphemed’, according to some zealots. Unfortunately, we were (and some still are) that extreme. No doubt Boko Haram
thrives.
I firmly believe
that many in the pro-Amaechi horde know little or nothing about his record as the former Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly and as a governor. He’s, to
them, a dedicated, uncorrupt Buharist who did everything possible until Buhari
was declared the winner of the 2015 presidential election. Hence, he deserves
to be rewarded. Others, however, believe that had the past mattered, he could not be one of the ‘Meeks’ to form the President’s cabinet. The present and the future are
all we should worry about; the past is forgiven. And more theses still emerge. You
may not buy any of those suppositions, but one thing stands unique, and that’s
how a typical Hausa-Muslim youth from the North supports a typical non-Hausa
and Christian Southerner.
I hope the trend
continues. Nigeria is a pluralistic nation. The earlier we realise the beauty and benefit of that, the better. As I saw in a viral video a few days ago, some
Igbo people are calling for the recreation of Biafra. I doubt if they know how
Nigeria is. They should, for once, travel down North to see how their kinsmen live in almost every dwelling of the region. Should they be granted the secessionist
state without any bloodshed, what would be the fate of those millions of Igbo?
Should they take or abandon everything and migrate to Biafra, or stay and,
perhaps, be killed in the North? I recently learned that some Igbos in Kano have vowed not to go anywhere whatsoever, no matter what happens. They have been here for
generations. A similar scenario may be observed among northerners living in the
south. This is it. This is our country; unity in diversity.
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