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On the Matter of Zoning: The North, Jonathan & the Niger Delta

July 13, 2010

It is becoming increasingly clear that the matter of zoning cannot just be wished away. Such that even if we suddenly agree that there is or there was nothing like a zoning agreement in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), we cannot but agree that there was indeed a meeting about zoning political offices (especially for PDP) even though we hear conflicting positions from those who were at that meeting and should know better.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the matter of zoning cannot just be wished away. Such that even if we suddenly agree that there is or there was nothing like a zoning agreement in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), we cannot but agree that there was indeed a meeting about zoning political offices (especially for PDP) even though we hear conflicting positions from those who were at that meeting and should know better.
Some say they signed a document on zoning. Others say they were there but did not sign the document. Some others say they were not there but heard that zoning was talked about.

And then there are those who cannot understand why former PDP governors from the South-South and Niger Delta like Peter Odili, Obong Victor Attah and the flamboyant Donald Duke publicly and actively campaigned for Presidency in 2003. Were they not told about the zoning policy of PDP at the time? Or was the zoning policy is a creation of a cabal within PDP itself?

Running a campaign like these people did in 2003 is pretty expensive and I do not think that any of them would have wanted to waste his money if they had been informed that the office of the president had been zoned to the North.

There are those who believe that the term ‘zoning’ was brought up by so-called politically disadvantaged groups (especially in terms of numbers) to tame the tendency of stronger political groups (or blocs) to cling to power as a result of their numerical strength.

At the time they called it ‘power shift’, ‘rotation of power’, etc. The idea was that political power should be made to go round the country in such a manner that no part of the country is left shortchanged in the scheme of things because it lacks the numerical strength or resources to access that opportunity.

The current clamour by the people of the Niger Delta that Goodluck Jonathan should be allowed to run for office is a just and moral one even though it has suddenly become an opportunity for political rent-seekers and opportunists to impress President Goodluck Jonathan.

The current agitation on whether President Goodluck Jonathan will run for presidency next year (2011) calls for basic reasoning.

One of the most intelligent comments made most recently on this matter came from Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, senate deputy majority leader who said ”….it would be awkward for President Jonathan not to run for the office of president come 2011....”.

Awkward in my view because while it was necessary for him to finish the term of former President Yar’Adua after his death, it would also be imperative for Jonathan to finish the programs he started with his former boss, late President Musa Yar’Adua.

Awkward for me because I do not believe that many people will forgive Goodluck Jonathan if he does not run for Presidency in 2011. If for nothing else, he would be seen as weak as having given in to the Northern establishment that today seeks to rattle him out of political aspirations.

Recently, President Jonathan during an oversea trip posited that ethnic jingoists are at the heart of the current agitation concerning the 2011 elections.

While many from the North rose up in self-defense and maybe guilt, there are others who think that he could also be referring to some of his kinsmen from the Niger Delta and the South-South who have been screaming ‘war’ in the event that Jonathan is not allowed to contest in 2011.

It is important that the North and PDP be made to understand that President Goodluck Jonathan deserves to be allowed to the right to run for the Presidency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on completion of this term which he is completing on behalf of his former boss.

It is important that the North be made to understand that Goodluck Jonathan had been a loyal deputy to Musa Yar’Adua even to the latter’s death.

It is important that the North be made to understand that so far, Goodluck Jonathan has provided balanced leadership to all people and citizens of Nigeria even to the chagrin of the people of the Niger delta who believe they should be given a little more attention.

It is important that the North be made to realize that President Goodluck Jonathan has always acted in the good interest of all Nigerians in his position as Vice President, Acting President and now President.

It is important that the North recognizes the tremendous value that the Niger Delta and its people has rendered and provided to the Nigerian state.

For decades now, the resources of the Niger Delta have oiled the economy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Revenue accrued from oil and gas have been used to build roads, hospitals, schools, bridges, dams, etc all across the country from the North to the South while some of the villages that the oil was sourced from lack good roads.

Billions of naira from the Niger Delta was used to transform Abuja from a simple bare land to one of the most glamorous cities in the developing world.

The oil from the Niger Delta has transformed struggling businessmen from the North and other regions into world class billionaires.

The oil and gas from the Niger Delta has been more of a blessing to the North than to the Niger Delta and its people who stay put with their polluted environment where they are left at the mercy of badly poisoned rivers with corrupted sea-life, filthy air, acid rain and contaminated soil.

If these people who have been so badly short-changed suddenly demand that their son Goodluck Jonathan should be allowed to run for Presidency in 2011, the North (or rather the northern political elites who seek to stop Jonathan) should give it a thought and quickly accede to their demands.

They have not asked for too much.

What is most important right now is for all Nigerians to work together for the success of the current administration in such a manner that the life of the common man in both the North and the South will be improved.

However said, power belongs to God.

 

George Kerley

Port Harcourt

[email protected]

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