Do Not Cry For Southern Nigeria, By Douglas Ogbankwa Esq

“Politics is a Business of Interest.It starts from group interest , then it moves to class interest , then if you like personal interest”-Dr Tanko Yakassai,

First Republic Politician .

This was around 2017.I was on the set of Independent Television, (ITV) Benin , in the Programme “This Morning On ITV” , where I lamented the fact that all the Security Agencies in Nigeria are in the hands of Notherners .After the Programme a National Official of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria , who was on set with me asked me thus : “Do you know the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Interior ?No , I said .He retorted : ” He is a Southerner , my brother the South is the biggest problem of the South”.

This scenario above , aptly encapsulates the political foolishness and betrayal of the South against the South , over the serpentine wisdom of the North in favour of the North.Southern Nigerian Leaders are mostly selfish , self -entered , can easily sell out , put personal interest over group interest and are incorrigible on all of the above .

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Take the current political calculation for the Presidency of Nigeria at the Opposition PDP for instance , the astute ness of Northern politicians over ran the naivety , inordinate greed and fleeting ambition of Southern Politicians.Some Southern Politicians are like political pick pockets , giving what is due to the South to the North , thereby taking for themselves crumbs of what is meant for the South , making them perpetual second class citizens and you know what ?They do this so shamelessly and some times ,you wonder if they had any children or how they manage to sleep at night.

The Problem of Nigeria is not religion , tribe or region .The Problem of Nigeria is a small set of northern and southern oligarchs , united by greed , fine tuned by interest and separated by ambition.

Stories are rife of Southern activists fighting Southern lights in Government , at the end , the North is the biggest beneficiary.there are a plethero of cases and issues bordering on this matter .

The former Minister of Finance-Kemi Adeosun was forced to resign by Southern Activists , over an NYSC Discharge Certificate and the biggest beneficiary was the North , as a Northerner took over the the reins of office of the Minister of Finance to the detriment of the South , till today.When the Igbos were given the Senate Presidency from 1999 to 2007 , all the five eastern states produced one Senate President to the another .Remember the statement by Chuba Okadigbo to Anyim Pius Anyim “Beware of the Banana Peels “?

Some times when they betray one another , Southern Politicians rationalise same on the alter of empty rhetorics .Remember the now impracticable quotation of Chuba Okadigbo , at the 2007 ANPP National Convention at the Eagle’s Square in Abuja , where he choose to betray his Igbo Brothers for the Candidature of General Mohammedu Buhari (Rtd.), when he said *”It takes political sagacity to understand the political arithmetics.I have chosen to forgo my personal ambition for higher national calling*”.At the end , such futile political betrayals, remain a relic of the Igbos playing second fiddle in national politics .

Atiku Abubakar is the Candidate of the PDP for the 2023 Presidential Elections.This was achieved by the sheer political brilliance of the Northern Elements in the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) , easily made possible by the Political Betrayals of Southern Elements in the PDP .Peter Obi who I call the social media Presidential aspirant, is campaigning on the Social Media , as if you have polling booths on Twitter , Instagram , Face book and Tick Tok.He may well be on a “Mission Impossible ” , to do a hatchet man’s job for some Elements in the North , knowingly or unknowingly.

Nigerian Southerners must wake up and be smart and learn to negotiate and get the best for the Region.We must also cooperate with one another and learn to protect our own .With the outcry over the conduct of the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal -Danladi Umar Esq., and the campaign for him to step down , the North stood be him and today he is still the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal and it is as if the incidence where he viciously attacked a poor security personnel at Banex Plaza Abuja , never happened .But see the ease with which we bring down our Southern Lights in Government and in Business.Do we really find satisfaction in bringing down our own ?

Southern leaders should wake up from their dreams or they will realise while Americans call a phenomenon the American Dream -because it happens only in your dreams .

● Douglas Ogbankwa Esq., @ douglasogbankwa@gmail.com , a Benin Based Lawyer , is the President of the Benin Writers’ Society and the Convener of the National Movement for the Actualization for Good Governance (NAMAGG).