North’s Dirty Politics Against Nigeria

History has chronicled all the manoeuvring of regional leaders during the countdown to Nigeria’s independence in 1960. It is well known that northern leaders, unlike their southern counterparts, were unwilling to push for independence at the time. The North felt the South had more educated and politically savvy personalities, and thus may dominate the North.
The North was not in a hurry to jettison colonialism, which had empowered the emirs and traditional rulers through the British policy of indirect rule. However, a pre-independence British shenanigan put political power in the hands of the northerners. With time, the North started seeing the presidency as its birthright.
Modern-day northern leaders have inherited the pre-independence reluctance for national progress and carried over the egocentric attachment to political power. That is why the elite prioritises politics of self-aggrandizement above developmental initiatives and is hostile to progressive ideas that curtail their consumptive appetite. This is why it continues to oppose any initiative or idea other regions of the country see as progressive.
It is the reason the North has always opposed political and economic restructuring of the country. Such initiatives will upset the status quo and force states to become inventive. The northern elite is comfortable with a status quo that continues to weaken the federating states through dependence on federal allocation when all their states have the potential to become huge economic hubs and high revenue-generating sub-nationals.
This is also why some northern politicians, including state governors are up in arms against the reforms of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, especially the tax reform bills. I have not heard or read about any economist, even from the north, who has faulted the Tinubu tax reform bills. It’s always the political elite wanting to preserve their comfort at the expense of developing their states.
Some of these politicians would do anything to stop any FG policy or initiative that may upset the comfortable status quo, no matter the potential long-term benefits to their people and the country. That is why politicians here are fond of saying politics is a dirty game because they will fight the good to preserve the bad for selfish reasons.
It is this dirty politics that the north is currently playing against the Tinubu administration, and they will not stop even if it would lead to the demise of Nigeria.
How else can one describe the statement issued by a group of political discontents who came together under the banner of the League of Northern Democrats (LND), which rejected Nigeria’s response to the allegation made by Niger Republic’s military leader, Abdourahmane Tchiani, against Nigeria?
In a Christmas Day interview, Gen Tchiani accused France of allying with militant groups in the Lake Chad region to undermine Niger’s security, allegedly with Nigeria’s knowledge. He had said, “Nigerian authorities are not unaware of this underhanded move.” The Nigerien leader had alleged that high-ranking Nigerian officials were linked to Boko Haram insurgents, who were being armed and funded by France.
In response, the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, the Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, and the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa have all dismissed the allegations as “baseless” and “false,” and as a “diversionary tactic aimed at covering his administration’s failures.”
Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar also condemned Niger’s allegations. He said in a statement that French soldiers are not camped anywhere in Borno State, calling it a figment of Gen Tchiani’s imagination. “Most importantly, there are no French soldiers in Nigeria or any plans by the government of Nigeria to establish a military post manned by the French,” the statement said.
Ambassador Tuggar said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was in Paris, where Nigeria and France signed two agreements to boost infrastructure development and food security. At the same time, Nigerian lenders, Zenith Bank and United Bank for Africa (UBA), expanded their operations into France. He said the agreements included a 300 million Euro investment plan to support critical infrastructure, healthcare, transportation, agriculture, renewable energy and human capital development across Nigeria.
“As a country in transition, Nigeria has signed development agreements with France and China, the USA, Japan, Russia, the Netherlands, etc. Bilateral economic relations and mutual support are standards for countries to engage in; even Niger itself has countries it is involved with,” the statement added.
Ecowas also came to Nigeria’s defence. In a statement to refute the claims of Niger’s junta, Ecowas said Nigeria has supported peace and security of several countries not only in the West African subregion but also on the African continent for years and rejected “any suggestion that such a generous and magnanimous country would become a state sponsor of terrorism.”
But these denials were not enough for the LND which appeared to value the north’s affinity to Niger more than its Nigerian identity. In a statement issued by its spokesman, Dr Ladan Salihu, the group said it expected the Nigerian government to address the destabilising role France has allegedly played in the subregion, blaming the Boko Haram and ISWAP insurgency in the region on France!
It said the government’s denial revealed “gaps in logic and credibility,” and questioned how Boko Haram and ISWAP insurgents were able to acquire sophisticated weapons, including drones, which are typically only accessible through state-sponsored channels or illicit global arms networks.
The group showed its empathy for Niger when it also blamed Tinubu and ECOWAS for imposing sanctions on Niger which led to the alleged suffering of the people!
Any patriotic Nigerian who read Dr Salihu’s statement must wonder about his end game. What was the purpose of the statement? Of course, it was not intended to seek any answer. It is the typical dirty politics of the North. The aim is simply to hurt the Tinubu administration and put it under pressure.
The LND knew that Boko Haram did not start under the Tinubu government and the claim of France destabilising African countries could also be made against other superpower countries. But the LND only intended to diminish the positive impact of Tinubu’s France visit and further poison northern minds against the president. It’s like when they introduced Sharia in some states to get back at then President Olusegun Obasanjo who was retiring political soldiers (mostly northerners) and pursuing policies perceived as unfavourable to them.
North’s Dirty Politics Against Nigeria is first published on The Whistler Newspaper