Northern Politicians: Insolence & Reverence Surrounding Yar’Adua

By Odimegwu Onwumere

Instinctually, human beings are naturally greedy. But with the thought of civilization or training, some people tend to know the difference between right and wrong; some people tend to caution the inner-self, which is the nature, and behave in a manner so understandable than others.

The headlines making the rounds of many of the newspapers, “More Northern Politicians Queue for 2011 Presidency” betrays many Nigerians, especially those from the North, as a people in a period of time during which a country doesn't have a leader and is looking for a new one, (otherwise called interregnum).

It is very appealing that the North which has the presidency in the zoning formula in the person of President Umaru Yar'Adua is still looking for a president to come from among themselves. That is bizarre.

The presence of Yar'Adua in the Aso Rock seems to not be of any maximum significance to the Northern politicians who are now glamouring for the 2011 due to Yar'Adua's so-much-talked about ill-health. As a result, many Nigerians make mockery of the President who on a clean bill has not betrayed their trust in him by not recordin g any politically motivated killing since he mounted the saddle, unlike Nigerians experienced during the 'nascent democratic' days of the Owu-generalissimo: 1999-2007.

Showing courage and determination, Yar'Adua had maintained minimal rule of law he promised as against the zero presence of the rule of law Nigerians experienced under the maximum do-or-die ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo.

The health status of Yar'Adua is hackneyed so much by his Northern brothers to hack him out of office. And this is the hacking-cough in the throat of many Nigerians who hate stigmatization of any citizen due to the person's state of health should stop.

More than those living with HIV, Yar'Adua is one Nigerian who has been abused so much because of his ill-health, but he never showed gutless. He is always stoical to take Nigeria to the next level.

No matter that few Nigerians have not believed that Yar'Adua is the president of Nigeria due to their believe that he was imposed on Nigerians by Obasanjo, Yar'Adua was well respected when he showed interest before the 2007 elections following his antecedents when he was governor of his home state, Katsina. But it seems that Yar'Adua has no reverence but insolence from his Northern brothers who want to take the leadership in Aso Rock before the time Yar'Adua's Creator would call him. But they did not know one thing! Yar���Adua might live up to 50yrs more! The sudden strong increase in the amount and speed of wind that is blowing heralding Yar'Adua's ill-health especially by his Northern brothers' shows that Nigeria has no respect for their Leaders and Nigerians need a long way to be re-branded.

The craze for the 2011 Presidency by Yar'Adua's Northern politicians is like an event in which people riding horses take part in various competitions, otherwise called gym-khana. Not because Yar'Adua belongs to the pseudo-Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the insult and embarrassment on his personality is not only irritating but should be guzzled and rejected by other humanists. Is Yar'Adua his Maker? Humanists should take the centre stage and sieve or separate PDP-politics from the hip of insult being mated out around Yar'Adua because of his poor health.

It is the worst form of debasement to humanity for politicians of Northern extraction to use Yar'Adua's poor health for their selfish campaign for their inglorious quest to occupy Aso Rock by 2011 therefore casting vituperation on a man who preferred to be calm to himself, than insulting anybody, unlike Obasanjo.

It is messy that Nigerian politicians don't play politics with the spirit of sportsmanship but with the spirit of Obasanjoship, where forgiveness is sent on errand. Nigerians haemoglobin seems to be infected with gross maliciousness and the colonial masters of British aborigine's 'divide and rule' syndrome.

It is gutting that Nigerian politics has metamorphosed to a medical attention now seen as a condition that causes sever Niger ia's bleeding from even a slight injury because Nigeria's political blood fails to CLOT normally. And this syndrome always affects Nigeria that it has not stopped being passed from generation to generation. Yar'Adua is not a sick president but perhaps a sick person and we all are in one way or the other sick.

In his capability following the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Yar'Adua is doing his best not to malign any constitutionality. As so doing to be careful, a lot of political jobbers or demagogues misconstrued him as a “sick president”.

But instead again Nigeria would witness a regime of political motivated killings, it is even better to have a 'sick president' than a 'killer president'.

Nigerian politics is like a gymship, and many politicians are wearing half-truth and parade insolence around Yar'Adua, avoiding reality.

The Northern politicians who are now gallivanting for Aso Rock 2011, what was their contribution during the infected regime of Late Sani Abacha that made many Nigerians sick in their quest to seeing that there was democracy, if not 'we are born to rule'? If not for humanists from the South popularly called activists, Niger ia would have still been under 'fire'.

It could be depicted that for the 35 or more years the soldiers from the North ruled Nigeria, no doubt, was the period of beehives of tyranny in Nigeria. And many of them are still bent on that with the slandering of Yar'Adua's name on the ground of his poor health.

Yar'Adua may not be charismatically endowed with governance, nobody on earth either, but his gesture to move the nation forward could be seen. Though, the much confusion his Northern brothers and the national legislators are causing has not really made a lot of people to study the work Yar'Adua is doing in Nigeria.

Those politicians from the North radiating to replace Yar'Adua come 2011, might not be better, either. That Obasanjo ruled for 8yrs of 4yrs each term, isn't constitutional that any ethnic group that gripped the power must rule for 8yrs. Nigerians must embrace the spirit of CHANGE and abrogation of dichotomy. Nigerians must fornicate the expression like “once upon a time” in the Nigeria's democracy for a more proper definition of democracy from town meeting.

Odimegwu Onwumere is the Founder of Poet Against Child Abuse (PACA), Rivers State, Nigeria. +2348032552855. [email protected]