Buhari’s victory and ethnic nationalities -By Vincent Egunyanga

President Muhammadu Buhari

I want to take this opportunity to congratulate President Muhammadu Buhari, and indeed all Nigerians for the just concluded 2015 General Elections and indeed the successful inauguration and transition from one president to another as well as from one political party to another. This is in fact the first time this country will witness such transition. I am really happy that has averted another civil war or another opportunity of break up. God really love this country if you asked me.

But beyond all the optimism of better things to come, the joy and celebration of victory and the happiness of supporters of the All Progressives Congress [APC] and Muhammadu Buhari himself, there are still questions about our nationhood, and how far we have gone to keep Nigeria one as well as how far we are willing to go.

While everyone may have a reason to celebrate, my concern really is where will the country go from here? Did the election that brought in Buhari stop the breakup of Nigeria or did it just postpone it. I love my country, and I am proud to be a Nigerian, but I also want a Nigeria where all citizens will be patriotic and ready to defend it at all cost; where all citizens will have equal opportunities and have a feeling or sense of belonging. What lessons did we learn from the election?

No doubt Nigeria needed a change. It was clear that former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was overwhelmed by the various problems the country faced under his administration. While we agree that some of these problems were as a result of acts of sabotage, it was clear Jonathan was not competent enough to deal with them.

With the exit of Jonathan, people had talked of what they expect from the new administration. Some have said that Buhari has to tackle the issue of corruption, unemployment, Boko Haram, power supply etc.

No doubt we need all these. But to me, what Nigeria need most is electricity, electricity and electricity, and all other things will fall in place. That is not all; we also need new orientation, patriotism and love. These are lacking in the country, and unless we have new orientation, patriotism and love, we will never be a great country. God has blessed us with so many resources in terms of great people and materials, but we are not yet a great country. Some say it is as a result of bad leadership, but I will also add that we have bad followership. We also have bad media. Nigeria media is highly partisan and tribalistic; we can never grow with that kind of media.

Buhari should not forget the millions of Northern youths who thronged to his campaign rallies to see him. These are the people that won the victory for him not APC. APC only provided him with the political platform to contest the election. It is the ordinary people from the North that won the election for him; the APC only took advantage of the cult followership Buhari enjoyed in the North to ride to power. These people called the Almajiris or the Talakawas need Buhari’s attention now, they see him as their saviour. These people need quality life, they need jobs, they need security, they need food etc. but government alone cannot provide them with all their needs otherwise it will be another hope betrayed. So what should Buhari do?

First, Buhari should strengthen the local government system. Funds should go directly from the Federal Government to the local government; this is the government that is closest to the people, if the local government is strengthened, people will rely less on the Federal Government. A situation where state governors appropriate local government funds to themselves and decide which project to embark upon is no longer acceptable. These state governors do not embark on projects that the people at the grassroots need; they only embark on projects which they intend to use for campaign purposes in the next elections.

I respect the religious belief of Nigerians, especially those from the north. But we leave our children in the hands of ‘Mallams’ or Quranic teachers, and in most cases do not care the type of education or belief or doctrine they are taught. This must be properly monitored. All Quaranic teachers should henceforth be employed by state governments and curriculums properly spelt out. Islam and Christianity must be tailored towards National unity and prosperity. Buhari should tell these people that there is no space for murderers or suicide bombers in paradise. No virgin in paradise will be willing to marry a murderer. Only good life based on the teachings of Christianity and Islam will take them to paradise.

Buhari should try all he could to encourage Northern states to rebuild their economies. These they can do by encouraging investments and investors from other parts of the country. The story of Kano is more pathetic.

What should also worry President Buhari is the high rate of consumption of hard drugs among youths in Nigeria, especially Northern Nigeria. It comes in different names which include concoction, monkey-tail, Indian hemp, inhaling fuel etc.

Political life for the Yoruba of the South West of Nigeria is highly volatile. The Yorubas have over 500 years of violent struggle for power and you must stay away from their politics if you want to live happily with them. Each time there is a power tussle among Yoruba people, desperate ones among them always turn to the North for advantage over his kinsmen.

With Buhari’s Presidency no doubt the current leader of the Yoruba is Bola Tinubu. He is simply contented being a Yoruba leader than being the President of Nigeria. At least he can use that position to negotiate his interest. That was why he made the Yoruba to reject the position of Speaker of House of Representatives in the last Jonathan administration, and offered it to Aminu Tambuwal, a Fulani. Obafemi Awolowo tried to free Yoruba as slaves to the Fulani. It has now failed.

From a face value, the Igbo lost out in the 2015 election, having massively supported the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP]. But the Igbo have every reason to be happy with the outcome of the election. First, for the first time the Igbo voted massively for a candidate, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, it was a block vote. Secondly, the Igbo voted for their South South neighbour, assuring the southern minorities that they will never betray them. I hope this unity between the South East and South South is sustained. But more importantly the numerical strength of the Igbo is now been acknowledged more than ever before.

The difference between Buhari’s vote and Jonathan is just two million. Even though some Igbo still voted for the APC, it is on record that seventy percent of Jonathan’s votes across the country came from the Igbo. If the Igbo are properly mobilized for the election and come out fully to vote like the North and the Yoruba, they will certainly remain a force to be reckoned with in Nigeria’s political revolution. The deceit of always using land mass as a yardstick to determine the population of various ethnic groups in Nigeria has now been put to rest.