The babel from Sokoto

“A dog with a bone in his mouth does not bark.” Ghanaian Proverb.

The Sokoto Zonal Public Hearing conducted by the Senate on 14^th and 15^th of November on amendments to the constitution were profoundly revealing. The symbolism of holding the zonal hearing in a State and city which serves as the springboard of much of the ethno-religious tendencies which dominate much of the north today appeared lost on the vast majority of the people who participated in the hearings. Although it was mentioned by one or two speakers as a deliberate choice, in reality the choice may have been informed more by security considerations than anything else. Certainly the venue was very far from Kano and Kaduna, the western frontlines in the war against an insurgency which itself claims substantial legitimacy from the spiritual fountain which Sokoto represented. It was also safe as a PDP stronghold, and V.I.Ps and Senators need not have feared hostile mobs or environments. There is the possibility that the choice of Sokoto was informed by the idea that it represented a political fortress of the people of the region, or, in any case, majority of them.

Those who made the journey to participate in what turned out to be an expensive charade would have noticed how peaceful and serene Sokoto and neighbouring states are, compared to others in the zone or in the north. You would think that the people have never heard of Boko Haram; and even the few police and military checkpoints that are barely visible are looking out more for rampaging mobs which have terrorized villages in Zamfara and Kaduna States than insurgents.

Northern leaders may have been lulled by the idea that there was no pressing need to be at Sokoto at the hearings. Certainly, only the Governor of Kano State of the seven governors in the zone attended. The Sultan and the host governor were absent. The Emir of Gwandu and a sprinkling of traditional rulers put up an appearance, and one of them made a presentation on behalf of traditional rulers. There were no prominent clergy; no politicians save the senators whose participation was apparently mandatory and paid for; no intelligentsia and very few young people, except for those who followed senators around fighting each other for little money. The women there were the usual retinue which followed politicians around; except for one or two very brave women who insisted on being heard. The multitudes of northern groups which sprang up in the last two three years were absent, except for groups such as the CODE Group and the Arewa Reawakening Forum who braved odds and a noisy and chaotic atmosphere to have their voices heard.

What the Sokoto zonal hearing lacked in political muscle and quality was more than made up by a surfeit of pedestrian and self-defeating presentations. The vast majority of the presentations made cases only for creation of states in the northwest zone. The vast hall in which the hearing held was taken up by placed-carrying people bussed-in from especially Kano, Jigawa, Kaduna and Katsina states to make cases for creation of additional states. These cases made, at great expense to the public and with active support and funding by Governors and some of the senators in the hall received loud ovations from mobs that took over the hall. Presentations which attracted attention and applause, which were few, included those which made cases for full autonomy for Local Governments, removal of immunity clause against elected persons, and those related to sharing of national assets and resources.

The governor of Kano State made maximum use of the passing presence of the President of the Senate, David Mark, to raise the bar in the case he has been making for review of the onshore-offshore dichotomy, and the fact that the southeast has no special right to demand additional state(s) in a manner that suggests that it is a do-or-die affair. He played to a very popular gallery, and his no-holds-barred stance may have contributed to the painstaking assurances given by Senator David Mark that the review exercise was going to be fair and thorough.

For a two-day event which addressed the fundamentals of the Nigerian nation held in a part of the country being increasingly defined by poverty and violence, those who thought they will hear presentations or suggestions on how the constitutional amendment exercise could mitigate the problems of the north were sorely disappointed. Not one single presenter mentioned Boko Haram, or the crippling levels of corruption and insensitivity which is alienating the bulk of the citizenry from the democratic process. There were elder statesmen, many of whom should have stayed at home and sent their grandchildren to the hearing, with their contribution if necessary. There were submissions from regional groups, and elderly members who are part of regional groups who chose to present their own views. Groups from Kaduna State showed the deep disunity around the clamour for another state by the unseemly scramble for Kaduna city in all their demands. Proposals were presented to create two or three states from states which daily claim that they can barely invest in infrastructure and human capital development after paying salaries. Governor Kwankwaso who made a passionate case for review of revenue sharing formula and the weakness of the north had three delegations from his state looking for their own states, apparently with his blessing.

The Sokoto zonal hearing exposed the lack of vision and cohesion in the north. It exposed the contempt of governors and other prominent politicians for the democratic process in the manner they boycotted a popular avenue to work with the people, principally because they have the powers to shoot down any proposed amendment they do not like. The biggest contribution made at the Sokoto zonal hearing was towards the cause of the southeast zone for additional state(s). Now that northerners are falling over themselves for additional states, the coast is clear for the southeast. If one additional state is created in the southeast, a major political goal would have been achieved by leaders from that zone. But two, three or four additional states in the north will crippled the region further, and compound its poverty and the fragmentation of its leadership. The rest of the nation must be lamenting the disastrous collapse of leadership in a region which a few years back basically set the rules of the game. No northern leaders led with vision, or competence during the entire preparations and conduct of these hearings. Little wonder, therefore, that the vast majority were left to believe that state creation is what the entire exercise is about.

Still, when all is said and done, the lack of leadership and foresight in the north may have inadvertently saved the region and the nation from a very expensive blunder. Every state for which a case is made is as deserving for consideration as others, including those from the southeast and south-south. Since you cannot create 19, 27, or 43 new states, the solution lies in creating none. Similarly, since the nation appears to have ignored the clamour from the southwest for substantial devolution of power to states (and the implied strengthening of zonal arrangements and greater autonomy), this too will not enjoy an overwhelming national endorsement in the end. The case being made by the south-south for larger share of revenues from oil and gas will also fail, as it confronts a nation which also wants more, not less from them.

The political fortunes of the north are dwindling by the day. The rest of the nation will be increasingly exasperated by a region which merely presents itself as a spoiler, a weak and divided people who cannot even decide what they want. If any evidence is needed that the region needs to radically improve the manner it organizes itself, it was all there in the open to see in Sokoto, Makurdi and Gombe last week.