Bayo Onanuga’s ethnic bigotry, symptomatic of Nigeria’s political class, By Felix Nyerhovwo Jarikre
When Bayo Onanuga wrote about his trip to Rwanda in 2018, bemoaning the evil of ethnic supremacy, leading to ethnic strife,
I’m sure he was still the M.D., News Agency of Nigeria. So it was convenient for him to wear the toga of a patriotic Nigerian nationalist who disdained ethnic supremacist pride.
Now that he’s no longer holding a Federal office, but having run ‘Yoruba-lokan’ presidential campaign whereby his principal emerged triumphant, Onanuga felt entitled to give vent to his ethnic supremacist thinking as a Yoruba man who sees the survival and prosperity of another ethnic group to be a threat.
Reasonably, it should be expected that to send a strong message that his type of view is de-legimitized and unacceptable, he would be blocked from ever holding a Federal appointment throughout his life – not even when his principal assumes power as the President of Nigeria!
But no, it’s not going to happen. Why? Because Bayo Onanuga’s vile thinking is symptomatic of how a large percentage of Nigeria’s political class conducts governance.
Whenever a Nigerian politician is eyeing and canvassing for a Federal office, he’s quick to don the toga of ‘de-tribalised Nigerian patriot.’ The politicians on the national stage are eager to sell themselves as ‘de-tribalised’ as they look on greedily at Nigeria as a ‘kill and divide’ bounty, a big fish they can ‘point and kill.’
But let them go back to their states and regional configurations, and these pretenders quickly revert to being the ethnic champions they really are, whether as governors, commissioners, assembly men etc.
Since 1999, with the advent of civilian democracy, how many governors – apart perhaps from Tinubu-led hegemony – have appointed non-indigenes in their states as commissioners? Whether in South West, South East, South South, North West, North East, North Central, show me any governor that appointed a non-indigene as commissioner, you can find none. Would it have been morally or legally wrong for example, say Anambra or Kano state governor to invite a well-credentialled technocrat, a star performer who is an Urhobo man or woman etc and appoint him as commissioner in a strategic ministry, then charge him or her: ‘Sir/ma, you realise what we are doing now is new, breaking a mold, a social experiment. If you put in your best, deliver and serve the people to the utmost, that’s a credit for all of us, and I’ll not be a laughing stock. But as governor I can be encouraged to do more. Let’s change our society for good.’
A good friend the other day spoke about how an evolving consciousness, friendships and acceptance among Nigerians can stop the country from drifting into avoidable anarchy through ethnic bigotry.
Do we realise that perception can be altered or shifted through our positive actions? There’s nothing static about culture. Because we can deliberately build a new culture that serves our purpose as reasonable human beings. We can actually strive to take actions that align with a consciousness very far removed from a primal state of existence. Tribalism or ethnic supremacy is primal. There’s nothing developmental about tribalism. Ethnic supremacy like racism is EVIL like bottomless pit of hell.
Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa/Fulani, these big three, you are all guilty of this evil, and you are destroying Nigeria with your ethnic bigotry. All the smaller tribes are foolishly dancing to the tempo of the drum you are beating.
We have not changed the mindset that led to Nigeria’s civil war. Until we deliberately purge ourselves of this mindset, anarchy looms.
No wonder the Bible says: ‘Do not be conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove the good, acceptable and perfect will of God.’
When judgment calls, ethnic bigotry belongs to the hottest part of hell.
Let’s downgrade and de-legimitize ethnicity and religion in our body polity as quickly as possible for Nigeria to survive and thrive.
The minds of Nigerian politicians are ossified in the primitivism of ethnic supremacy and hypocrisy of religious bigotry.
A once bright shining star, Enoch Powell found himself ostracised and banished to the ‘Siberia’ of British politics for his bigoted speech, ‘Rivers of blood’ which was unfriendly and hostile to immigrants. Many Western societies are trying as hard as they can to move away fast from their racial past. That’s why we could see the emergence of Rishi Sunak, a man of Indian origins, as Prime Minister of U.K.
We celebrate gleefully when we see a person of Nigerian origins elected into British Parliament, or serving in a cabinet position in London or as mayor in one English town without realising as a people, our hypocrisy is showing!
What’s wrong with having a complete Igbo man from Enugu state emerging as Lagos state governor in the year 2027? Or a complete Yoruba man from Ekiti state becoming governor in a South East state? If our purpose or expectation is to serve in government – and not to ‘come and eat’ , there’s nothing wrong with it. But in whatever State you reside in Nigeria, we run our governments like criminal enterprises because we have a ‘come and eat’ mentality.
*Felix Nyerhovwo Jarikre is an
Advocate of Governmental Leadership by the Elect.
