By Ochereome Nnanna

I WATCHED the Northern political summit of Thursday, July 15, 2010 , which took place in Kaduna with keen interest. I was not surprised or disappointed with the outcome, which virtually endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan’s perceived presidential ambition.

Northern governors will soon meet to take a stand on the zoning controversy. My prediction is that they will continue to dilly-dally till the “last minute”, and finally, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors will throw their weight behind the President.

Listening to those who spoke at the summit, I noticed that most of them were actually positioning for relevance in a Goodluck Jonathan dispensation.

Of all the speech makers of that day, it was only the lady (Hajiya Maryam Waziri, if I get her name correctly) that made an intelligent, short, straight-to-the-point and real issues-based speech. The others merely jostled for positions or “front seats” when the over 8,000 federal political jobs are shared out after the elections of 2011.

The lady made it clear that when the so-called “gentleman’s agreement” of zoning was being concocted, Northern women were not consulted. This exposes yet another weak link in the North’s chain of armour. Governor Sule Lamido once lamented that Northern men dominate their women to the point of dehumanisation of a majority of them.

He decided to liberate Jigawa girl-children by giving them free and compulsory education to tertiary level. A smaller minority of Northern Muslim women, such as Senator Najatu Mohammed, have become radicalised and seize every forum to dismiss the Northern political elite as self-seekers.

The concept of “Northern unity” exists only on paper these days. The violent history of cohabitation between the ethnic and religious majorities and their minority counterparts, a trait that is peculiar only to the North, belies the pretences of “Northern unity”.

However, it has to be admitted here that Islam has continued to be a strong binding force for the adherents of the faith in the North because there is little difference between the Muslim from Idah in Southern Kogi and the Muslim from Bida in Niger State and the Muslim from Maiduguri in Borno State and the Muslim from Gusau in Zamfara State.

But the ability of this religious culture to translate into a common political interest is waning. The Sardauna of Sokoto, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello’s political movement laboured very hard to build a united North. Those who came immediately after them also did their best to consolidate on this legacy, but the internal contradictions of the North (ethnic and religious differences which periodically presented in bloody conflicts) gradually unsettled the prospects of Northern unity.

By far the greatest weapon against the North’s ability to re-assert its collective political weight is traced to the growing dependency of its elite on the state for their minimal comfort. The Northern elite have traditionally depended on government, especially the Federal Government. That is their primary reason for insisting on power staying in the North. This dependency syndrome (which some have called “parasitism”), unfortunately, is a habit that has spread to the elites of every section of the country. Everybody who is anybody in this country is struggling to have access to the government of the day, particularly the Presidency.

In this jostling for relevance, regional gang-ups cannot hold against the political ambition of the current occupant of Aso Villa. Just look at it: President Goodluck Jonathan has not even said a word about his plans for the presidency in 2011 and yet those seeking to replace him through the zoning arrangement have already lost the battle. The Northern elite have never been in the opposition. They are not going to start now. They know what it means to be shut out of reckoning. Gradually, the pro-zoning agitation will wither away. Those hoping to capitalise on the platform of zoning and “Northern unity” to run for president will receive the shock of their lives soon.

I said it before, and I say it again that Nigeria is changing, but there are many who are still living in the past. “Northern unity” is no longer desirable, and has never been.  Neither is “Southern unity” for that matter. A united North against a united South is a recipe for national disintegration.

Similarly, a united North against a splintered South is a formula for the enslavement of the South and the masses of the North by a small cabal of Northern oligarchs. Colonialism and the civil war were the fuels that fired the engine of that oligarchy. The fuel has burnt out. And the “unity” it forged among the beneficiaries of that oligarchical dispensation has collapsed.

The North no longer calls the shots when it comes to the issue of who should be the president of Nigeria . It is Aso Villa that decides, and everyone lines up behind its decision. The dependency syndrome of the elite is responsible for that. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo chose his successor. In the same manner, President Jonathan will pick his successor. If his choice happens to be Dr Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan, so will it be.

I hereby join Hajiya Waziri in calling on Nigerians to look for good quality persons to entrust with the leadership of this country. Let us look for the man or woman who will repair our economy and democracy, create jobs, give us electricity, rehabilitate our educational system and improve our infrastructure.

Let us emulate Ghana and South Africa , where the tribal or regional background of the presidents were never the factors behind their election. It was not “Zulu unity” that propelled Jacob Zuma to be president of South Africa ; neither was it “Ewe unity” that made Jerry Rawlings the “Junior Jesus” of Ghana .

Tribal, religious and regional politicians of Nigeria wake up. It is a new day!