Between 1964 and now, the Nigerian electoral body with its metamorphosis in nomenclature and name is producing thirteen chairman, not if, but when Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan takes the mantle. Of the thirteen, Professor Amupitan will be the third northerner to occupy that position in succession, coming after two other Northerners; Professor Attahiru Jega and Professor Mahmud Yakubu. Coincidentally, all the three are outstanding academics or repute.
Ten of their predecessors were all southerners. Considering Nigerians sentiment for political appointments, imagined if the ten before this last three were Northerners and vice versa. The hubris that some are good at, and tantrum throwing against a whole region and her people would have been be at its loudest. But that is a topic for another day.
The monolithic North, if there is anything like that, or the “elephantic” Arewa with its large landmass and population, has always received the hard end of the stick in national discourse. Sadly, some even within Nigeria with little or no knowledge of the Northern geography, do not know that it is more heterogeneous than some twenty nations combined. Infact, one state in Northern Nigeria can be heterogeneous than a whole geopolitical region in the south. But to the ignorant, Arewa is homogeneous.
This bring us to Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan, the Kogi State born, Plateau State trained Professor of law and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). His nomination that received the blessings of the National Council of State also results in rumbles in the North.
To better illustrate his plight, let me tell a story of two Abdulls; Abdulhakeem and Abdulrasaq both from Kwara State North Central Nigeria.
We gained admission into the famous and highly cosmopolitan Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in the Social Science faculty. Abdulhakeem and Abdulrazaq were in Department of Political Science, one out of the five departments that make up the faculty; Economics, International Studies, Mass Communication and Sociology.
In our usual intellectual and politico-social discourse, the geographical politics and Zonal malady always come up. Ironically, while Abdulrazaq held on to his Northern ideology, Abdulhakeem denounced anything Northern. He agreed he was from Kwara, but identified more with the south west of Nigeria in every ideology. It was always interesting seeing this our brothers take at each other on this geopolitical identity debate. For the four years plus we spent on campus, Abdulrazaq stood his ground, but Abdulhakeem ended up shifting ground a bit, of cause, with a caveat always of “the colonial mistake of artificial boundary”.
With the nomination of Professor Amupitan, the North rumbles with that “dichotomy” again with those who see him as a northerner and those who see him as not Northern enough.
You may not have noticed, out of the six north central states and the FCT, to a large extent, indigenes of Niger and Nasarawa state seem to be as “Northern” as any one from states of the North West and North East. In Plateau State, those from the Kanam Empire are such “pallbearers” while in Kogi and Kwara to a large extent few ethnic groups travel that lane.
Some of us have been accused of being “bought over” by core Northerners, if there is anything like that. Some of us never believed in the modern political opportunism called middle belt. J.S. Tarka seemed to have died with his original ideology of Middle Belt.
You may want to argue this. Why do we today have, a middle belt stretching to Taraba, Borno, Adamawa et al. Even that new ideology seems to have died with Dan Suleiman. Modern day advocates of Middle Belt explore religion and ethnicity to line their political exploitation of the people.
Today, there are those who see Professor Amupitan as not Northern enough to succeed Professor Yakubu. Some call to question his Northerness. It further revealed the fact that some people consider others from the north central states as Northerners only when it suit their motives and bulge their political calculations. At other times, they denounce them and cast them away when the shoe changes leg and seem not suitable for the new garment.
We have heard the North, nay Nigeria, Rumble on this with Professor Amupitan’s nomination as INEC Chairman. Should the monolithic or elephantic north be stomping on this at this time when the region needs solidification of unity to ward off her many detractors that prefer to see her in tatters and disarray?
The one north and one destiny Sir Ahmadu Bello superintended and advanced within a short time with his leadership style of inclusiveness, is today dismembered into twenty; nineteen states and the FCT. Those holding the reign of leadership at this levels need to form a close and peer review allies to leapfrog the region out of its current challenges that is holding us down. Not further widen the divisive gorge that derides and set the people apart and at each other’s throat, often with support from detractors without.
For Professor Amupitan, I don’t envy him stepping into this new role. No one goes into INEC and comes out unscathed however much s/he tries. Nigerian electoral system is evolving, but like many things Nigeria, the outcomes never met the expectations of many a Nigerian.
But that is no reason for Amupitan not to put in his best by puttinghis feet down. Nigerian electoral stakeholders are known for their underhanded dealings that always undermine the efforts of the electoral body and officials.
Until the jury scale the tenure of Amupitan, that is after his tenured-stay in INEC, for now we live with the rumbling in the North for the third northerner to superintend the Nigerian electoral body. Never mind that no one ever superintend that body in the interest of the region, religion or tribe he hails from.
Abdull-Azeez is a multi media journalist based in Kaduna and can be reached via azeeznews@gmail.com
