The Editorial of The Nation newspaper of Friday March 14th, 2014 is
another instant of deriding anything northern that has been the hallmark of our
media industry dominated over time by those from the other part of the
country. The north has become used to
such mindsets of seeing nothing good from this part of the country. Such thinking is what can be rightly said to
be responsible for the stunted growth the country has been experiencing. This is exactly why Nigeria is perpetually a
country of potentials. Sadly, such interventions
by these regionalist writers are more often than not shallow, pedantic and lack
any scholarship. It is directed to a
gullible audience and unfortunately they achieve their expected results.
Whoever wrote the Editorial failed to do
justice to The Nation as an
institution trying hard to project itself as a national media
organisation. The vitriolic deportment
of the Editorial against Dr. Bugaje’s revealed a mind made-up long ago to shoot
down any idea initiated and pontificated by anyone from this side of the divide
– because whoever listened to and chose to understand Dr. Bugaje’s position
wouldn’t have written what was written as The
Nation’s opinion that day. It
exposed the haste in condemning the message and the messenger without actually
grasping the import of the message. If
the writer of the Editorial or the Editorail Board of the paper had cared to
digest what was delivered, the context of the delivery and the circumstances
that informed the delivery, then they wouldn’t have rushed to make fools of
themselves and the tendencies they represent.
In the course of presenting his paper, Dr.
Bugaje veered off his prepared text and spoke ex tempore on an issue that is of concern to northerners – the
unending blackmail of the region by those who believe they are “oil producing
states”. With facts and historical
figures, Bugaje debunked the concept of “oil producing states” and also
attempted to inform those who wished to be informed that the northern region is
now turning its attention to human capital development in order to build a
society based on ideas, innovation and creativity. That the north should wean itself from the
shackles of oil is not in doubt. Be that
as it may, he also laid bare the “false sense of entitlement” by those who
believe that they are “oil producing states”.
The exposure of their spurious claims might have been responsible for
the angst displayed in the editorial. I
fail to fathom why the discussion of oil always elicit abusive responses from
who falsely believe they are the only ones entitled to it. They are entitled to anything and everything
the country has to offer in all its nooks and crannies but oil is off limits to
all.
Bugaje only tried to educate the uninformed
that there are only oil producing countries and not oil producing states. Last time I checked, there is no Nigerian
state that is a member of OPEC. This is
what is unpalatable to “oil militants” and their godfathers. Another issue raised by Bugaje is the
dwindling nature of oil as an asset and its negative effects on the environment
in contrast to intellectual development.
I wonder how Dr. Usman Bugaje’s submission
at the Kano Summit of Northern Elders could be termed ‘dangerous’ if mischief
is not intended. A mindset that has been
nurtured on a diet of laziness cannot in all honesty doesn’t possess the moral
high ground to accuse one nurtured on hardwork of tilling the soil of
preventing the country from realising its potentials. I am baffled as to how a mindset that makes
the dependency of rent-collection from oil explorers could accuse the one who
has always survived by the fruits of his labour. What The
Nation wants its readers to believe is that those who Bugaje represent
should not be heard talking about the injustices in the country.
Well, The
Nation should do well to educate us as to the labour and efforts put in by
the inhabitants of the Niger Delta in burying the hydrocarbons lying beneath
their feet that has formed the basis for the arrogance and insultive and condescending
behaviour exhibited to the other component parts of Nigeria. Is it not funny at the dawn of Goodluck
Jonathan’s Conference, the Editorial is talking about a “fraudulent sense of
entitlement” that has “historically undermined robust economic activities
across the country”. Funny in the sense
that the hydrocarbon deposited by nature in almost all the West African
sub-region, but which successive governments refuse to explore and exploit in
other parts of the country, is what is engendering this “fraudulent sense of
entitlement” on a people who doesn’t have a clue as to how the deposit find its
way to their backyard. The Nation should have dedicated its
Editorial to what Bugaje’s paper portends for a people who want to appropriate
the hydrocarbon under their soil to the exclusion of other Nigerians, yet want
to enjoy everything the Nigerian nation provides to them.
It is ironical that those advocating for a
“true sense of entitlement” where hydrocarbons are concerned, will in the same
breath pontificate on the enforcement of Section 43 of the Constitution (the
right to acquire immovable property in any part of the country). if as the Editorial said Bugaje’s thesis is
“antithetical to the fundamental principles of federalism”, then we are in
serious trouble. What can be inferred
from the Editorial is more “hogwash” and more “dangerous to the fundamental
principles of federalism” than Bugaje’s
submission. The removal of the
onshore/ offshore dichotomy by a legislature that was bought and stayed bought
to pass the Bill in total disregard of a Supreme Court on the same issue is
more dangerous to The Nation’s
concept of fundamental principles of federalism. This Act effectively redefined who has
international borders as known in all international laws and conventions. This is what is dangerous and this should be
what The Nation should have had the
conviction to editorialise on. This is a
law that effectively implied that Nigeria doesn’t have borders along the
Atlantic shores but its component states, (the units so graciously created by
the country). this doesn’t appear
dangerous to the Editors at The Nation,
but a statement of fact by Dr. Bugaje is what constitutes danger.
What is clear to me from the editorial is
that the mind that pens it only see a united monolithic southern Nigeria but
cannot accept the existence of its northern counterpart with intellectuals and
scholars making informed submissions. If
the intention of the Editorial is to bring the issue of a sense of entitlement,
true or false, then by all means let it be on the table. We don’t have a quarrel with it. All we ask is that all issues should be on
the table, to be discussed and agreed on.
The fact that the north constitutes 72% of
the landmass of the country cannot be wished away but have to be accepted as a
matter of fact. We have seen how first,
Festus Odemegwu, the dismissed National Population Commission (NPC) Chairman,
and then Tony Nyiam, a dismissed Colonel, have been trying their best to
discredit the population of the north.
They might have succeeded in convincing some of their naive listeners,
but certainly this cannot change the facts of the matter. I see this Editorial in the same light –
create doubt in the minds of the gullible as to the total landmass of the north
– the maxim of “a lie repeatedly told will take the garb of truth”.
The country will do well for itself by
investing more on human capital development than on an asset that is fast
dwindling. The 21st century
is a century driven by ideas, knowledge and innovation and not by “crude”
oil. The success of Bill Gates and
Carlos Slim attest to this. The
discovery of shale oil should be concern to those flaunting oil as a high horse
to be ridden and thumb oily noses at the rest of us.
Bugaje only sounded a cautionary note to the
discerning and therefore deserved a round of applause and condemnation for him
and his people.