The South-East Surely Had A Choice

By Harold N. EKE

Regarding the 2011 presidential election in Nigeria, some people have said that the South-East didn’t have any choice other than to move with the tides and support Goodluck Jonathan in order to bring an end to zoning in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Before I continue, I have to set the records straight. As a matter of ‘principle’, I don’t subscribe to the notion of zoning political offices; I’m more inclined to setting up a system that would allow credible and capable people emerge as candidates at all fronts. That said, I would also say that the zoning arrangement as enshrined in the PDP constitution is the best decision the party took in order to assure the stability and unity of the entity called Nigeria. I’ll explain why.

Nigeria is a multi-ethnic entity, a country where the citizenry have not gone beyond the assessment of individuals based on ethnic/tribal and religious lines. Until we mature to the level of recognizing people based on their abilities and competencies rather than where they come from or what religion they practice, we would always see fairness as what region got what. That’s just the realities of our times. This is the only reason why I think that sustaining zoning was necessary in the short-term.

Let me now address the main points. I will never subscribe to the narrative that the entire South-East had no option but to move with the tides: support the elimination of zoning in PDP. Some say that Goodluck Jonathan would have won anyways, just like I’m sure that the states that didn’t vote for him were aware that he would still win even if they didn’t vote for him. On that issue, I’d say that people don’t just vote for whom they think would win; they vote to make a statement; they simply want their voices to be heard in some capacity.

I was posed with a question to answer what the South-East would have done differently. Firstly, we wouldn’t have thrown Ogbulafor under the bus when he stood his grounds by saying that zoning existed in the PDP constitution. This gave them the chance to install a stooge in the person of Okwesilieze Nwodo. Yes, he (Ogbulafor) was involved in a scandal, but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the case made it to the court when he took that position. Now that the elections are over, I’m sure the case would die a natural death (if not dead already).

Secondly, even before Jonathan thought about running for presidency, the South-East had thrown the whole weight of their support behind him. All we kept reading in the papers were: Ohanaze gives Jonathan 100% support; South-East governors 100% behind Jonathan; Igbo Group this and that gives Jonathan a go-ahead, etc. Without other regions saying anything, the South-East had already shown how it was easy for them to move with the tides. In doing that (without negotiating for anything in return), Jonathan had to spend more resources in other regions, giving in to most of the things other regions bargained for. It was clear when he moved in with leaders from other regions at Obudu Cattle Ranch, excluding all the political jobbers from the South-East.

Thirdly, the presidential primary was a very good opportunity for the South-East to make a statement by withholding some votes, rather than giving Jonathan almost 100% of the votes. That would have sent a message to him that he had some work to do in the region. Instead of leveraging on the opportunity, the South-East simply gave him a free ride.

I gave a simple analogy in one of the comments I made on this particular issue. When you can easily give out what you have without putting up a fight, much resources and attention won’t be given to you in order to dispossess you of your belonging. Just like a promiscuous man spends more money on his girlfriends than he spends on his wife at home.

Now, the new spin is that the same so-called Igbo leaders that invested the hopes and future of the entire Igbo race in a bad venture are now negotiating for projects and no more for political positions. If I may ask, under what capacity? How? What makes them feel it’s going to be feasible?

Let me repeat an analogy I gave for this. It’s just like a trader that has a scarce commodity (which is hard to find somewhere else or may not be found anywhere else) and decides to sell it to a customer below cost price simply because he needed fast cash, even when the customer has no other choice but to buy the commodity at any price. On realizing that he lost money, he goes back to the customer to demand for extra money. If the customer decides to give him extra cash, that’s just like doing him a favour, because the trader is under no obligation to collect extra cash from the customer since the deal had been sealed.
If the South-East couldn’t negotiate for something worthwhile when they had the powers to do so, that is, when Goodluck Jonathan needed their votes, I don't see how they can do that now.