Group Politics Editor, Taiwo Adisa, with additional reports from Kolawole Daniel, captures the historical undertone of the growing trend of South-West's waning political influence in comparison with the original Nigerian tripod.Originally, the Nigerian state rested on a tripod- the West, the East and the North. The emergence of that tripod as political entities was, however, evolutionary. It was initially the South versus the North. The two were merged in 1914, but all were peopled by different tongues, only symbolically encapsulated by the tripod. With time, the common denominator of Nigerianness became the tripod - Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo. Then, you have the three regions; North, West and East resting on that pillar. Even with the rearrangement of the political structure to give way to the six geopolitical set up, the tripod still retains its relevance.Much of the evolutionary process of the tripod was helped by the character and visions of the Nigerian independence fighters and the three main leaders of Nigeria's First Republic, the Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello (Northern Region); Chief Obafemi Awolowo (Western Region) and Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe (Eastern Region).Their efforts at ensuring that the regions stand out as political entities further strengthened the centre and the vibrancy witnessed within the polity. It can be said that their institution of the Federal Character principle in the nation's law books was a direct fall out of the building blocks put in place in evolving the regions by the first generation leaders.Notwithstanding the existence of the Federal Character principle and the establishment of the Federal Character Commission (FCC), there are reported infractions.Some chief executives of federal parastatals are known to pursue ethnic agendas and regionalism to discomforting extremes. In the immediate years after the Nigerian civil war, the term marginalisation of Igbo came into the national lexicon. The Igbos used to see themselves as being disadvantaged in every aspect of life, as a result of the pangs of the civil war. Over the years, the complaints of marginalisation of the East have been giving way. The region has now occupied almost all important offices in the land with the exception of producing a civilian president. The usual feeling is that the Hausa/Fulani of the North often exhibit domineering tendencies and that if the other groups that make up the polity are not vigilant, they stand being short-changed.While the Igbo complaint of marginalisation festered more in the military years, the grumble started giving way with the restart of democratic era in 1999. Then President Olusegun Obasanjo zoned the nation's number three position, the Senate Presidency to the East. From that spot, the zone moved into the economic arena, whereby at a stage, the nation's economic power base was handed over to indigenes of the South-East. The East maintained position of relevance till 2007, when the power equation was re-ordered. The South-East had Deputy Senate President and the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), while the Presidency went to the North-West under the late President Umaru Yar'Adua. The death of the former president ceded power to the South-South, as President Goodluck Jonathan emerged the nation's number one leader. His emergence, therefore, meant the reprogramming of the machinery of government, in line with both the Federal Character principle and the zoning arrangement.Incidentally, the coming of President Jonathan has coincided with the reversal of roles. It saw the South-East dropping the marginalisation baton and handing over the same to the South-West. The South-West, which hitherto enjoyed basic representation at the centre, in view of the largely pro-true federalism thinking in the area, now has its representation drawn down to zero. Whereas in 1999, it held the position of President and retained same till 2007, and also held the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives and Senate Leader between 2007 and 2011, the current scenario paints a woeful picture for the zone. It is not to be counted among the first seven positions in the land.A number of factors coalesced into what is currently manifesting. Whereas, the zone parades some of the most educated Nigerians in the federal civil service at any time, a systemic marginalisation pattern, said to have been facilitated by sentimental feelings among certain people of ethnic colourations, tends to retain south-westerners at the fringes of the core Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). How did the South-West come to this pass' Who are those behind the ongoing marginalisation of the zone' Why is it that Yoruba are relegated to the fringes of certain key agencies and ministries' And why is it that, era after era, indigenes from a particular zone keep emerging at the top of particular agencies, even when competent and well-qualified south-western candidates are sacrificed'Down memory laneThe Yoruba have never been interested in taking more than their share in the Nigerian polity. At independence in 1960, most citizens from that zone believed that the area was the centre of government activities. The leaders also saw the need for equity and fairness as the basis of interrelationship of the regions.As far as the politics of the zone is concerned, the form and character of today's Yoruba nation are traceable to the work of Chief Obafemi Awolowo and his followers in the Afenifere, the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, which midwifed the political machine, Action Group (AG). In the 1920s, the politics of the evolving Nigerian nation was fluid. Lagos area was the centre of activity, with the Yoruba intelligentia then converging largely under the National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC). In the minds of the then intelligentsia, there was hardly a demarcation between Yoruba politics and that of the larger Nigeria. But the music changed considerably, when the baton of leadership of the NCNC landed on the laps of the late Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe. The signals started coming to the open to the effect that, notwithstanding the Nigerian outlook of the Lagos politician, the North was galvanising a separate political identity. It also became clear with Dr Azikiwe's leadership of the NCNC that the Eastern Region was designed as his foothold, whereas the south-westerners of the time were tagging along in the NCNC. Chief Obafemi Awolowo saw the need to also galvanise the Yoruba with a common political identity. Thus, he and his peers organised the AG/Afenifere. From the point the AG won the Yoruba over, the zone became a force to reckon with and has never been relegated in the scheme of things.The current scenarioThe Yoruba played an active role in the return of Nigeria to democratic rule in 1999. With the inexcusable annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election (won by the late Chief MKO Abiola) by former President Ibrahim Babangida, the South-West took an adversarial position against the military. Battles against the military were coordinated from South-West capitals and when democracy returned in 1999, President Obasanjo emerged. He ruled for eight years and espoused his pan-Nigerian outlook. He never really favoured the zone he hails from and, indeed, played the statesman.Today, the South-West zone has moved down the pecking order of power. From the number one position, it moved in 2007, to number four in the hierarchy with some add-ons that provided cushion. In 2011, from number four in the land, the zone crashed dramatically, losing out of the top seven positions in the land. The case was worsened recently, when news filtered out that the zone was about to lose the position of Head of Service due to the forthcoming retirement of Professor Oladipo Afolabi. The North-East, which is already assured of the position of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Chairman, is angling to take the position of Head of Service as well. Insiders have stated that whereas the South-West has more than enough competent hands in the service who are qualified to hold the position of Head of Service, the Federal Civil Service Commission is preparing the grounds for the emergence of a North-East candidate.NASS ScenarioThe marginalisation of the Yoruba is most evident in the National Assembly, where it lost out woefully to the North-West and the South-East. In 2007, the Yoruba held the position of Speaker, House of Representatives. It also held the position of Senate Majority Leader added with the position of Chairman, Appropriation Committees in the Senate and the House of Representatives. In the Senate, the South-West was chairman of ten other standing committees, all regarded as Grade A.With the composition of Senate Standing Committees on Thursday, September 15, the South-West emerged the biggest loser. Compared to 2007, the zone lost the 11 standing committees it held in the last Senate to only four in the new Assembly. Unlike in the last Senate when all the 11 standing committees held by the South-West were Grade 'A' committees, only two Grade A committees were allocated to the zone by the Senate President last week.The South-West lost the chairmanships of Senate Committee on Appropriation, Privatisation, Industries, Capital Market, Police Affairs, Navy, Health, Drugs, Narcotics and Anti-Corruption, the Committee on Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the National Identity Card. It had lost the Senate Leader, following the defeat of the PDP in the zone by the opposition Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the last elections.Senate Standing committees now held by the South-West include Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions, headed by Senator Ayo Adeseun; Committee on Science and Technology, now headed by Senator Robert Borofice; Privatisation, headed by Senator Gbenga Obadara and the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, headed by Senator Ayo Patrick Kunlere.In the sixth House, led by Honourable Dimeji Bankole, South-West had 14 chairmanship slots namely Youth and Social Development, chaired by Honourable Oyedokun Oladepo; States and Local Government Affairs, chaired by Honourable Adedeji Emmanuel Omotayo; Pension, chaired by Honourable Adewusi Tunde Razaq; Science and Technology, chaired by Honourable Akinlade A. Isiaq; Legislative Budget and Research, chaired by Honourable Habeeb. Fashiro; HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, chaired by Honourable Oluwole Olakunde; Federal Character, chaired by Honourable Isa Abdul-Wahab Oladimeji; Environment, chaired by Honourable Faseyi Duro; Emergency and Disaster Preparedness, chaired by Honourable Leo Awoyemi; Diaspora, chaired by Honourable Abike Dabiri-Erewa; Defence, chaired by Honourable Busayo Oluwole Oke; Communications, chaired by Honourable Salako D. Oladapo; Appropriations, chaired by Honourable Ayoade Ademola Adeseun; and Agriculture, chaired by Honourable Makanjuola Gbenga Peter.However, in Tambuwal's House, out of the 80 standing committees' chairmen and about 70 vice-chairmen positions announced by the Speaker, the South-West was able to get just 10 chairmanship slots and five deputies' slot. Those who got chairmanship slots are Honourable Muraina Ajibola (PDP, Oyo) Petroleum Upstream; Honourable Akinlade Isiaq, (ACN, Ogun) Science and Technology; Honourable Opeyemi Bamidele, (ACN, Ekiti) Legislative Budget and Research; Honourable Oyetunde Ojo (ACN Ekiti) Communication; Honourable Solomon Adeola, (ACN, Lagos) Public Accounts; Honourable Ajayi Yinka (ACN, Osun), Aids, Loans and Debt Management; Honourable Monsur Owolabi(ACN, Lagos), Anti-Corruption, National Ethics and Values; Honourable Abegunde Ifedayo (LP, Ondo), Emergency and Disaster Preparedness; Honourable Adewusi Rasaq (PPN, Ogun), States and Local Government and Honourable Kamil Akinlabi (ACN, Oyo), Youth Development. While those who made deputies of committees are Honourable Segun Osoba, (ACN, Ogun), Federal Character; Hon Hazeez Akinloye, (ACN, Lagos), Housing and Habitat; Honourable Bimbo Daramola, (ACN, Ekiti) Millenium Development Goals; Honourable Albert Akintoye, (PDP, Ondo) Niger Delta and Honourable Ayo Omidiran, (ACN, Osun) Sports.The Tinubu factorUnlike what Awo did to galvanise the Yoruba and ensure its political identity was intact in the late 1940s, those who today claim to inherit his progressive ideas are doing the exact opposite to the Yoruba nation. Whereas Awo helped in removing the Yoruba from being a political appendage of any region in the polity, unfolding politics of the leading ACN in the South-West has shown a direct opposite of the Awo agenda.The ACN, under Tinubu, had the singular duty of either ensuring a South Westerner emerged the Speaker of the House or not in June. It threw away the position on partisan basis. The other opposition party, the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) did not oppose the emergence of the Speaker from the North-West. The calculations on the floor of the House of Representatives were that if the South-West members could vote for a common candidate, the candidate would automatically emerge the winner. But majority of the seats in the zone had been won by the ACN, which chose to ditch the promised support it initially gave Honourable Mulikat Adeola in favour of the promise of 16 Standing Committees, given by Honourable Aminu Tambuwal. On account of the unpatriotic and selfish excuse that a PDP rallying point could weaken its political fortunes, Tinubu's ACN reasoned that the emergence of a PDP Speaker in the South-West could provide a rallying point for the party, which could upstage the ACN in 2015. Critics of that excuse, however, stated that if the position of Speaker is too powerful as to undercut a rival political party, it would have been impossible for the ACN to defeat former Speaker Dimeji Bankole in the April elections. Many have said that for the opposition to defeat a sitting Speaker in an election means that the argument of the ACN and its leaders was baseless.Whether the decision taken by Tinubu and his men was a wise one would soon be put to test and the examination did not take eternity to conduct. The result came last week, when the two chambers of the National Assembly constituted their standing committees.Whereas the deal that swung ACN's votes in favour of Speaker Tambuwal in June was the promise of 16 committee chairmanships, the party got only six in the House of Representatives and two in the Senate. It was a woeful performance compared to the votes on parade. The party had 14 Senate seats in the South-West. It got two chairmanship seats, compared to the Labour Party (LP) which has four seats (three from South-West) in the entire country and got two chairmanship seats as well.Presidency dimensionInvestigations have, however, revealed the emergence of a group which discreetly orchestrates the South-West marginalisation agenda. The group is said to have permeated the Presidency recently to the effect that two key officials who are regarded as bent on straightening issues as far as Federal Character and equal representation of zones are concerned are being targeted. One of the officials who was said to have argued in favour of the emergence of Professor Oladipo Afolabi as Head of Service based on what he called the need to recognise excellence and bring the South-West to the mainstream of the service, was recently linked to some vicious attacks through some Wikileaks reports, sources said.It was learnt that another quiet and efficient official, who hails from the South-West was equally targeted, when some forces tried to come between him and the president recently.Sources confirmed that the operations of the silent group made things difficult for the South-West to gain the position of the Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA) between 2008 and 2009. The former Deputy Clerk to the National Assembly, Prince Yemi Ogunyomi, who emerged Clerk in 2010, had a difficult time becoming the substantive Clerk, even though his tenure was one of the shortest in the history of the Assembly. It was learnt that the group, with widespread network across the service believes that certain key posts should be reserved for a set of Nigerians.Now, with this very troubling picture of the Nigerian polity vis a vis the Yoruba, the natural question to ask is, what does the future hold for the Yoruba nation within the federation called Nigeria
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