Victor EzejaJoining voices in condemning the Muslim-Muslim presidential and Vice Presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2023 election, former Speaker, Nigeria’s Federal House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara said that the party with that choice, is playing politics of exclusion which is capable of disintegrating the country like Yugoslavia in Europe.
He stated that the party presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu made a fatal error in his judgement, leading to the choice of another Muslim in the person of Senator Kashim Shettima as his running mate thereby ignoring the diverse nature of Nigeria.
Dogara made the comment while delivering a speech at a summit organised by APC Northern Christians Leaders with the theme, “Righteousness Exalts A Nation, but sin is a reproach to any people”, held on Friday in Abuja.
The speaker of the House of Representatives in the 8th National Assembly, said it is not about opposing the emergence of Tinubu and Shettima as presidential and vice presidential candidates respectively, but it is about reflecting Nigeria’s diversity in national positions to ensure fairness, equality and justice in order to promote peace and unity.
“When we talk about a Muslim-Muslim ticket; God forbid that we should be understood to be objecting to Muslims or that we don’t want Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to be president. It is not about Senator Kashim Shettima either, but it is about what is right and what is wrong. It is about justice, fairness and equity. It is about Nigeria; its diversity and how it can be harnessed in an inclusive manner for the greater good of all of us.
“Be that as it may, some of us really wanted Asiwaju to be president because he has sacrificed much for our Party, the APC and for what he represents to so many people. So, our position cannot be against Muslims or Islam. That fact cannot be denied in any way.
“But when it comes to choosing between the love and admiration I have for an individual and what is right and what I believe represents my vision for Nigeria, my choice will clearly be for the latter. After all, my rise to the position of Speaker was never going to be possible without the support of some Muslim members who believe that our diversity must be reflected in national positions for the unity, peace and advancement of our dear country,” Dogara stated.
Dogara said many Muslim brothers and leaders warned APC about the consequences of adopting a Muslim-Muslim ticket which according to him has caused a rift within the party today.
The former speaker who faulted Tinubu’s claim that the choice of his running mate was based on his quest for competence, observed that such amounted to saying that there is no competent northern Christian to be appointed as VP which according to him is not true.
Speaking on managing diversity to ensure fairness, equity, peace and justice, he gave example of how the United Kingdom parliament dramatically changed its members composition between 2005 and now by allowing the emergence of people from minority ethnic groups and non-White nationals, to prevent the country’s politics from polarizing along racial lines.
Dogara said the APC Muslim-Muslim ticket is “a bad decision”, and “fuels inequality” in the country, and warned that going by history, such usually causes revolt as people would naturally oppose it. He made reference to what happened in Nazi party in Germany; how the members were disregarded at the beginning until they increased in number and grew stronger, leading to the decimation of an estimated 40 million people.
Explaining his position, he said “It is a bad decision because it fuels inequality. We must always bear in mind that the liberty we enjoy is as rare as it is fragile. Inequality has a way of upsetting the balance due to the universal law of cause and effect. Throughout history, every revolution has been waged to either consolidate or destroy inequality. Just like all revolutions, they first seem impossible and then improbable until they become inevitable.
“You may not understand the structure of revolutions until you trace the progression of the Nazis from an unpopular fringe group to the most powerful political party in Germany. Those who are dismissive of those who built conflict generating structures such as the Muslim-Muslim ticket in a pluralistic society always end up as enablers of revolution or violent changes. That was how Nazism was dismissed as a fringe idea that will never make it into the mainstream of civilized Germany until it led to the death of an estimated 40 million people.
“It is a bad decision because it breads division which is counter-productive to our collective aspirations for a united and prosperous nation.”
Dogara who faulted the current governnace structure at national level in which the President, Senate President, Speaker and his deputy; Senate and House Leaders; National Chairman and the Deputy National Chairman; Presidential and the Vice-Presidential candidates are all Muslims, leaving the Christians with just the position of VP, Osibanjo and Deputy Senate President, Omo-Agege, in a Country whose population is fairly split between Muslims and Christians, said such development provided the basis for the current agitation by the Christian community.
“For me, it is a rude awakening and I am so happy it happened sooner than later. The very fact that they said we should not worry about a Muslim-Muslim ticket while a Muslim-Christian ticket gave them sleepless nights (in 2015, 2019 elections) should make you worry the more. To worry about a Muslim-Christian ticket while counselling others not to worry about a Muslim-Muslim ticket is the very textbook definition of cognitive dissonance and an attempt at gaslighting gullible Christians. Truth must be told that anyone who is not bringing us together is consciously tearing us apart.
“Furthermore, I do not want to speak to the argument that there is no Christian competent enough to be Vice-President because as we all know, that is hogwash. It only speaks to the need to deliberately exclude – whereas the need now is for inclusion.”
While emphasizing the need for unity, the former speaker stated that the APC Muslim-Muslim ticket does not promote politics of inclusion which is needed to “heal national fault lines and unite our disparate peoples for nation building.
“Of course, our strength is not in numbers but unity. You are not strong because you are many, you are strong because you are united. Nigeria cannot survive if we merely tolerate each other or if the happiness of one group is the unhappiness of the other group. But if we are united, we will be indomitable. And if all of us: Muslims, Christians, atheists, the old, the young, women and men work together and pray together in unity: believe me; we will be invincible. On the corollary, many are the Nations and Empires that could not withstand divisions.”
Dogara who gave ample examples from history of how disunity led to fall of empires and disintegration of countries in different parts of the world, noted that there is a widening gap of division in the country, coupled with the challenges of insecurity, adding that what is needed now is effort to unite the people.
“We are here to talk about what is right and what is wrong. To my mind what is right is not just to win elections but to unite Nigerians both now and after the elections so that we can collectively build a Nigeria that works for all regardless of creed.
“As President Obama warned, ‘if you have to win a campaign by dividing people, you are not going to be able to govern them. You won’t be able to unite them later’. This is spot-on because anyone who wins an election by dividing us would have to keep us divided in order to govern us. This is not what any reasonable and peace-loving Nigerian wants.”
He urged Nigerians to continue to resist injustice no matter who or which group is involved. Given the current political landscape, he called on Christians to identify with other Musilim brothers and sisters who believe in unifying the country to form an alternative platform to “usher in the much need peace and advancement for Nigeria to unleash her true potentials.”
“I am sure we will jointly agree on a platform that would advance our collective search for unity, peace and development. Believe me, the only alternative is the road to Yugoslavia. God forbid! If we want to see Nigeria exalted, we must insist she does the right things,” he concluded.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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