Anyim’s Job: An Orchid for Ndiigbo or an Intriguer’s Bait
For Ndiigbo, the macabre politics now playing out over the allotment of national offices might seem proper, if not divinely induced. But where some see orchids, others discern well-concealed pitfalls... These developments open up channels for those who would seek retaliation and oppose southeast’s claim to the presidency in 2015 on the grounds that zoning died in 2011.
As Nigeria celebrates its recent electoral reform successes, the seemingly hitch-free leadership transition, and contemplates the future of its nascent democracy, some nagging thoughts recur. Is all that is happening politically Kosher and in the national interest? And have we heard the last of how best to strike a power and resource sharing balance in ways that even if not every geopolitical zone is satisfied, at least every zone will be equally unhappy. That is called compromise!
The recent doling out of national offices by the ruling party has ruffled some feathers, while in some quarters, there is understandable gloating. But is this the way things should be in a progressive democracy that attaches great premium to equity, balance and common ownership? Was the mantra of the ruling NPN in the Second Republic not “one nation one destiny”, which underlined a commonality of shared interest and fairness?
With the calming, beneficial and unfailing influence of hindsight, I have facetiously wondered what the state of political play in Nigeria would have been, had the political strategists in General Muhamadu Buhari’s CPC camp offered Anyim Pius Anyim the position of being Buhari’s running mate, with the clear understanding that Buhari, like President Goodluck Jonathan, would not seek a second term in 2015. This, of course, would not happen without the usual faux alliances or carpet-crossing. But ponder that scenario momentarily.
This supposition, if it were ever conceivable, is now a moot point. But then this pundit just can’t help thinking of it; more so now that Anyim Anyim has emerged as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), presumably by Igbo consensus. Still there is a certain irony in the evolving trends and political calisthenics, which are resulting in unintended power shifts. Put together, recent events relating to allocation of national offices are clear indicators of how difficult it is to navigate Nigeria’s political landscape and indeed, discern reality from actuality.
To some, Anyim’s emergence could be a sign of Ndiigbo finally getting their act together; and hence a development that could be well-leveraged into an effective presidential slot and run in 2015. Such thinking is precipitate if not back by any strategic plan. I am averse to the notion of an “Igbo presidency”, which carries with it certain connotations. Rather, I am all for an Igbo candidate for the Nigerian presidency. Call it semantics or parsing the issue, but my point should clear.
My point afore, is one which seems to resonate with Ohanaeze Ndiigbo, which reportedly played a pivotal role in Anyim’s emergence. The President of Ohanaeze, Chief Ralph Uwechue has already marked Anyim’s appointment as the veritable sign of a new beginning for Ndiigbo and perhaps for Nigeria. But there remains a murky constitutional issue in tow, since overall, the constitutional order of federal character has been breached, even if unwittingly. So a bad precedent has been set.
Nevertheless, what is clear is that Ndiigbo either did their homework this time around or that fate smiled on them. Out of the Obudu Retreat, Anyim’s name was reportedly not on the table, since the Igbo focus was on the Speaker of the House. Reliable sources hinted that President Jonathan had earmarked for that slot, an Igbo lady who once served as Foreign Minister, who had impeccable policy and administration credentials, but was not from the southeast zone. In classical Nigerian politics, what turned out to be less geopolitical balancing but more of ethnic chauvinism, won the day thus creating an obvious constitutional imbalance.
But some underline the putative value of Anyim’s emergence as an overriding consideration. In the main, Anyim was considered for his soundness -- a safe hand (comparatively to Ojo Maduekwe and others), who had safely navigated the vagaries of the Senate Presidency and survived where several men considered more politically astute and nimble than him, had crashed (See,” The prerogatives of power: The case of Anyim P. Anyim”). Indubitably, Anyim’s appointment will assuage some Igbo folks but not all, and especially not those who coveted the Speaker of the House, the number three ranking job in the nation. That was not to be, thanks reportedly to the scheming of former president Olusegun Obasanjo, who, using his clout and control of the PDP Board of Trustees, ensured that slot of the Speaker of the House was to be retained by the southwest zone. By a twist of fate and some say retribution, that too, was not to be eventually.
For Ndiigbo, Anyim’s appointment can be seen as the proverbial half-full glass. Ndiigbo lost the PDP Chairmanship and got the SGF, but the political needs-expectation-and- entitlement scale is still unbalanced. What and how much support Anyim gets and how much political mileage he is able to leverage that position – not necessarily in a Machiavellian sense—will determine if the position is worth the marbles. Despite his behemoth physical size, he must be low-keyed and unobtrusive, like U. J. Ekaette and Yayale Ahmed, but essentially, he must not be perceived as insensately ambitious or politically overbearing as Babagana Kingibe.
Also, Anyim can drive Nigeria’s much needed reform and transformative policies and their efficient implementation, if he rises above the political fray and does not allow himself to be dragged into partisan politics. True, he is Igbo, but he must serve in the interest of all Nigerians. He should not let self-serving Igbo charlatans distract him from discharging tasks within his unenviable remit, which will include policy coordination, as well as oversight of governmental ministries, parastatals, and related agencies, that fall under the Cabinet Office. He has the sole responsibility for the administration of the Federal Executive Council. If there is one task, he must assist the president with; it is cutting down on the cost of running the central government, which has escalated against the need to ensure diverse representation and geographic balance.
President Jonathan has already indicated that Anyim’s role includes driving the reform and transformation agenda. In that context, Anyim will need every goodwill and experience he garnered as a lawyer, senator, and Senate President for this new job. More importantly, he will need the lessons he gleaned in the many years he was out of office and as a private citizen, to guide him. From the latter position, he must have garnered invaluable lessons, on how not to serve public interest in self-serving ways. Of his role, Anyim said, “I will fit into the vision of the President. I will help to drive his vision to the best of my abilities.” Forthcoming and accommodating as his pledge is, this disposition should in no way be synonymous with being a yes-man. What the President needs henceforth are men about him, who are honest, forthright and loyal, but not afraid to look him in the eyes and call a spade a spade or disagree on policy direction. He also needs men who can shield him from his own party and the extremist sharks within without being spoilers.
It would be of invaluable worth to take the present position of Ndiigbo for its presumed added value, by discounting subplots and the groundswell of subterfuge that are commonplace in Nigerian politics. Apropos Anyim’s emergence, Ohanaeze claim to have “consulted heavily amongst ourselves and the governors,” and “suggesting names to the president”. That may all be true, but for Nigerians, it is commonly known that the expressed and vital interest of Ndiigbo was never the SGF as it was the Speaker of the House, which though initially zoned to the southwest, has now be de-zoned by popular fiat and given to the north-west.
Indisputably, the election of Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, a three-term member from Sokoto State as the new House Speaker, over the party-mandated Mulikat Akande-Adeola from the Southwest speaks to the vagaries of Nigeria politics. Many of those who voted for Tambuwal, crossed political zone and party lines in doing so, and those within the ruling PDP justified their stance by saying that the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) did not consult them. Thus, they basically voted their conscience, asserted their independence or cast protest votes over the upending of zoning in selecting the presidential candidate. As regards the latter, those who truncated zoning paved the path for Tambuwal to emerge, since he was encouraged to join the fray by northern and southern political leaders who felt aggrieved by the party’s handling of its zoning policy.
Coincidentally, the north and the southeast, two zones which felt most disenfranchised by the scuttling of the PDP zoning policy, seems to be the beneficiaries of the fallout of this fractious politics. A corollary to this fallout of the zoning fiasco was the arrest of former House Speaker Demeji Bankole, which has further compounded the political loss for the south-west. When former House Speaker Patricia Etteh lost her position in 2007, the south-west did not lose the slot. So to some, the diametric loss for the south-west is perhaps a poetic justice reward of sorts for PDP chieftain former president Olusegun Obasanjo, whom many in the south-east and north-west have always considered the intriguer, who “killed” zoning after benefiting from it. To them those instrumental to upending zoning, which essentially cost the north the presidency, had to pay a price: it seemed only rational that the import and pains of such Machiavellianism should be felt all around.
In a broader sense and in reality no one anticipated the present status quo which is a reverse for PDP. The north has produced the Vice-President Namadi Sambo, Senate President David Mark, House Speaker Aminu Tambuwal and the Chief Justice of the Nigeria Aloysius Iyorgyer Katsina-Alu. The South-East has SGF Anyim Pius Anyim, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, and Deputy House Speaker Emeka Ihedioha. For its part, the South West has no national official – an inadvertent but still clear breach of the constitutional dictate requiring federal character. There may be some veracity in the remarks by acting National Chairman of PDP, Alhaji Bello Haliru Mohammed, that “[the] election will not mean the end of zoning because even if we don’t take zoning as a policy, PDP is a party of equity and fair play. And equity and fair play demand that of the major positions, at the party and the government, each section of this country should have at least one position or the other so that we can achieve peace and stability.”
This is PDP doubletalk at its best! Still this development is fraught with imponderables for Nigerian politics and our political leaders and historians must recognize these actions not mere happenstance but as precursors to the crisis ahead. The piqued undertones accompanying southwest losses and the north-west and southeast triumphalism over their gains are noteworthy. They are evocative of long-standing dichotomies that have dogged east-west political relations. Whereas southeast politicians did not hatch the plot that led to southwest losses, they risk the blame due to the incivility and gloating in some quarters. As an Igbo saying goes: “the dog eats the excrement and the goat that gets the rotted teeth”.
For Ndiigbo, the macabre politics now playing out over the allotment of national offices might seem proper, if not divinely induced. But where some see orchids, others discern well-concealed pitfalls. Either way, there are great stakes at play. The actuality is that the return of David Mark from the north-central zone seems only proper, so that after eight years the position may rotate out without dispute. Same privilege should have been accorded the southwest. After all, the southeast enjoyed its full eight-year senate presidency tenure under Obasanjo. For Ndiigbo to be perceived as joining others to upend the southwest’s retention of the House Speaker’s slot, after being allotted the SGF, would open up channels for those who would seek retaliation and oppose southeast’s claim to the presidency in 2015 on the grounds that zoning died in 2011. Go figure.
