Presidency 2003: South South in a dilemma 

By 

Dele Shobowale

If the South-South ever achieves the Presidency in 2003, it would have been a gift of the Almighty because if the South-South honestly seeks to identify all obstacles on its path to Aso Rock, the first entry on the list must be: South-South. Whereas the North-Central provides home to more ethnic groups and languages, internal colonialism, the conquest of the rest by the Hausa/Fulani provided the North-Central with a common language making the South-South the nation’s authentic Tower of Babel; a zone where multiple languages and ethnic animosities almost foreclose the possibility that one single candidate can be acceptable to all.

South-South states had always suffered from marginalisation and exploitation from the beginning of amalgamation. The Yorubas in the old Western region and the Igbos in the old Eastern region, treated the smaller ethnic groups within their borders, at best as second class citizens. Often, politics during the First Republic was a matter of divide and rule. The Action Group in the West and the NCNC in the East selected allies in the minority areas whose interests were promoted through appointments and contracts, using them to suppress the agitation for the creation of the Mid-Western region and the Calabar - Ogoja - Rivers State in the West and East respectively.

As can be expected, the minority areas frequently voted against the majority party in each region in a sort of reversal of alliances; the minorities in what is now Delta and Edo voted for the NCNC and against the Yoruba-led Action Group; the minorities in the Calabar - Ogoja - River State voted for Action Group against the Igbo-led NCNC until the creation of the Mid-Western Region provided the first break for the minorities; it also revealed the deep-seated animosities amongst the minorities themselves. Whereas they were united against Yoruba domination, creation of the Mid-West (later called Bendel) failed to eliminate marginalisation and inequity. The first government of the Mid-West under Premier Dennis Osadabey, a Mid-West Igbo, had more Igbo ministers out of the twelve ministers and about the same number of permanent secretaries. Thus overnight, the minority tribes of the Mid-West had passed from Yoruba domination to Igbo domination until the first coup and the civil war liberated them. Or so they thought.

With the creation of Bendel State by Gowon and the emergence of Ogbemudia as the first military Governor, marginalisation and inequities should have stopped. But they didn’t. Soon after, the minorities in Bendel were clamouring for their own states citing Edo domination as their main reason. Bendel State eventually gave way to Edo and Delta. Yet the marginalisation and large ethnic group domination had not stopped. As things stand right now, only through the utmost generosity of the Urhobos will any Itsekiri, Ijaw or Isoko candidate ever emerge as the Governor of Delta State. Yesteryear’s allies have become today’s implacable antagonists. In fact, it is far easier for an Itsekiri or Isoko person to become President or Vice President or Minister than to get elected Governor of his own state and he will achieve the Presidency with the backing of the three major ethnic groups. That’s the irony!

Lest, I be misunderstood, Delta only serves proxy for all the other states of he South-South where one dominant ethnic group has gripped others by the jugular. While Ijaws cry marginalisation in Delta, same Ijaws are under attack for marginalising others in Bayelsa. And Binis have a vice-grip on power in Edo State. Those whose fathers and uncles protest unfair distribution of power in the 1950s now routinely monopolize power because as one of them said: "Politics is a game of numbers", forgetting that numbers can be deadly.

Thus, while the call for a South-South presidency in 2003 appears captivating as far as political rhetorics go; the practical obstacles to its realization are extremely formidable. The proponents of this idea like their forefathers are united with regard to what they detest; they are far from united when the chips are down. Even the call for South-South presidency in 2003 is far from unanimous. Despite, his minor shift in recent days, Chief Anenih, the acclaimed leader of the South-South PDP and a very powerful factor in the equation is very much against it; and he is not alone. Even the governors of Edo and Rivers State had cast their votes for Obasanjo in 2003. With such powerful friends, the South-South needs no further enemies. In the end, if the South-South fails, it will not be because the major ethnic groups or outsiders were against it; it will be because nobody, not even the people of the South-South can build a tower reaching to the heavens with a crew of workers speaking with a Babel of voices. 

Chief Marshall Harry, the most ardent promoter of this idea has his work cut out for him. Before he can convince others, he needs to convince his people first. And that is like a mission impossible.