The Nigerian Crucible
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THE NIGERIAN CRUCIBLE Politics and Governance in a Conglomerate Nation, 1977-2017 RICHARD JOSEPH PART ONE V. The Ethnic Trap: Notes on the Nigerian Campaign and Elections, 1978-79 Issue: A Journal of Opinion, 11, 1/2 (April, 1981), pp. 17-231 The building of a trans-ethnic political space, and a nation that commands the loyalty of the country’s citizens, have been persistent aspirations of Nigerian governments. The 1979 elections demonstrated that, however much political party leaders may seek to build a national following, they are “trapped” by ethnic and other sectional identities. Attempts to build policy-oriented parties, and promote a progressive social agenda, are hostage to the persistence of Nigeria as a conglomerate society. In his opening address to the forty-nine members of the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) on 18 October, 1975, the head of Nigeria’s new military government, General Murtala Ramat Muhammed, declared: “It is important that we avoid a reopening of the deep splits which caused trauma in the country.”2 Those splits, made known to the outside world during the civil war, were ethnic, regional, and to a lesser extent, religious. Of these three modes of overt division, Nigerians have always been most successful in controlling the religious aspect.3 General Muhammad’s statement is also instructive on the problem of regional divisions: “The fear of the predominance of one Region over another has… been removed to a large extent by the simple Constitutional Act of creating more States.”4 Four months later, following the assassination of Mohammed, the successor regime of General Obasanjo declared the creation of seven more states, bringing the number to nineteen from the twelve established by General Gowon in May 1967. While it is evident that the existence of “regions” has not been obliterated by their subdivision into states, this development has reduced the immediate political visibility and at least some of the salience of regional boundaries. It can be asked whether in the 1978-79 campaign and elections Nigeria made a notable step forward in transcending or diluting the political significance of its ethnic scission. In considering this question, one must be mindful that the Electoral Decree of 1977 and the new 1 Also published as “Le piège ethnique: notes sur les élections au Nigeria (1978-79),” Politique Africaine, Vol.1, No. 3 (1981). 2 Federal Republic of Nigeria, Report of the Constitution Drafting Committee containing the Draft Constitution (Lagos, 1976), vol. 1, p. xli (hereafter referred to as CDC, vol. 1). The 50th nominee, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, declined to participate, complaining about the method by which he was informed of his appointment. 3 I have already dealt in a preliminary way with the issue of class divisions in “Political Parties and Ideology in Nigeria,” Review of African Political Economy 13 (1979). See also, in that volume, Segun Osoba, “The Deepening Crisis of the Nigerian National Bourgeoisie,” and Gavin Williams, ed., Nigeria: Economy and Society (London, 1976). [An interesting remark considering the extent to which the prolonged Boko Haram Islamist movement has shaped Nigeria’s global image.] 4 CDC, vol. 1, p. xli. 2 Constitution of 1979 took every opportunity to promote national unity and prohibit ethnic discrimination in the political arena. Some of the relevant provisions in the Electoral Decree (E.D.) and the 1979 Constitution can be indicated.5 First, no associations other than political parties were allowed to canvass for votes or provide funds for electoral candidates [E.D., s. 77(1)]. Membership in such parties was open to all Nigerians, irrespective of place of origin, religion, ethnic group, or sex; the name, emblem, or motto of such parties could have no ethnic or religious connotation or give the appearance that its activities were confined to a geographical part of Nigeria; and the headquarters of all parties had to be situated in the Federal capital [E.D., s. 78(1), b, e, f]. The final important provision regarding political parties is that their executive committees were to include representatives from at least two-thirds of the states of the Federation. The wording of the Constitution shows a strong formal commitment to these goals. It is often affirmed that a criterion for appointment to governmental positions or bodies is that consideration be given “to the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity.”6 This requirement is accorded its ultimate expression in the provision that, in nominating federal ministers, the President must include at least one indigene from every state of the Federation [s. 135(3)]. Indeed, in its statement of the fundamental objectives and directive principles that should guide all future Nigerian governments [Chapter II discussed in “National Objectives and Public Accountability”], the Constitution lays a duty on the officers of the State that goes well beyond nondiscrimination and includes demands for affirmative action that are seldom regarded as pertinent to political institutions: s. 15(3) For the purpose of promoting national integration it shall be the duty of the State to… (c) encourage intermarriage among persons from different places of origin, or of different religious, ethnic or linguistic association or ties; and (d) promote or encourage the formation of associations that cut across ethnic, linguistic, religious or other sectional barriers (4) The State shall foster a feeling of belonging and of involvement among the various peoples of the Federation, to the end that loyalty to the nation shall override sectional loyalties It could be argued that the main reason the drafters of these fundamental documents of the Second Republic placed so much emphasis on positive action to combat ethnic discrimination is because they recognized how prevalent the latter is in all dimensions of 5 Federal Republic of Nigeria, “Electoral Decree 1977,” Official Gazette 64, no. 61 (29 December 1977), and The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1979 (Lagos, 1979). 6 The parallel phrasing at the state level is “shall have regard to the diversity of the people within the State.” See 1979 Constitution, s. 157(5) and 188(4). 3 Nigerian life. It should also be noted that they considered it insufficient merely to proscribe such discrimination. Nigerian political aspirants and officers of state were enjoined to take account of sectional identities in their public actions. National unity or integration was to be achieved not by disregarding ethnicity and place of origin, thereby rendering them irrelevant in the eyes of politicians and elected officials, but by ensuring that they figure in decisions at the Federal, state, and local levels of government. Formation of Political Parties All five registered political parties satisfied the Federal Electoral Commission (FEDECO) that their organizations were national rather than regional or ethnic in nature. Despite the achievement of the required spread in executive committee membership, as the campaign unfolded it became apparent that each of the parties had a regional, if not ethnic, core.7 The National Party of Nigeria (NPN) attempted to mesh the formal electoral provisions with its own informal structure by devising a “zoning” arrangement. According to this plan, the presidential candidate would come from the North and his running mate from the East (note the resort to regional categories) and the chairman of the Party from the West. Even this strategy itself camouflaged a deeper level of categorizing since it was expected, given the balance of power among aspirants from the competing ethnic groups, that the Northern president should be Hausa- Fulani, the Eastern vice-president an Igbo, and the Western chairman a Yoruba.8 The Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN)—the first to be announced on 22 September, 1978— nominated Obafemi Awolowo as the presidential candidate, Chief Philip Umeadi (an Igbo lawyer) as the vice-presidential candidate, and Alhaji Alinakura (a little-known former opposition parliamentarian in the Northern House of Assembly from Sokoto) as chairman.9 Considerable effort was made to ensure the participation of Northern delegates at the first National Convention of the UPN. Moreover, although it was well known that the party was the brain-child of Chief Awolowo and his closest, largely Yoruba, advisors, all the rituals of having the party propose Awolowo as its torchbearer, then calling him back into the General Assembly to receive his supporters’ acclamation, were duly observed. The UPN had no difficulty in establishing offices and procuring candidates - albeit of greatly varying degrees of credibility - throughout the Federation, but it could never overcome the tension between its national 7 On the process of party registration see “Political Parties and Ideology in Nigeria.” 8 There was a prolonged struggle for the position of vice-presidential candidate. The hopeful non-Ibo from the East, Dr. Joseph Wayas, was rewarded following the elections with the plum post of president of the Senate. Observers present at the NPN convention in December 1978, including myself, were able to notice the process by which state delegations gave their votes to the candidates endorsed by the party’s national organizers. 9 Alinakura defected from the UPN even before the elections were held, and lost heavily in the race for the Senate. These remarks about the UPN National Convention held in Lagos in September 1978 are based on my observations of the situation. 4 aspirations and the facts of its being mainly Yoruba-led and Yoruba-financed and deriving such a high percentage of its support from the Yoruba peoples. The Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP) was originally designed to transcend the ethnic and regional divisions of Nigerian society. In fact, Club 19, which gave rise to the NPP, wanted to promote the cause of Nigeria’s “majority of minorities” and to challenge the inevitable reduction of Nigerian politics to maneuvers among the parties representing the three major ethnic sections of the population.10 The original thinking of the NPP was in keeping with the spirit of the speech with which General Muhammed launched the transition.