Malam Nasir el-Rufai, the former governor of Kaduna state, has urged a reevaluation of the country’s political decision-making process and a deemphasis on region and religion.
He claimed that these elements had a detrimental effect on government and had been exploited to maintain divisions within the nation.
A lot has changed in 50 years, and most changes have not been for the better, remarked el-Rufai in his keynote speech at Professor Ishaq Akintola’s retirement celebration and book launch. Unfortunately, increased literacy, religious and ethnic consciousness, better communication technology, and increased political sophistication have all contributed to an increase in intolerance, the use of created lies to drive ethnic and religious separation, and overall worse political, economic, and social governance. How did our country arrive at this situation? How do we get rid of this toxic combination that hasn’t been good for our country?
The ascendance of religion and region as the determining factors for power, rank, and privilege was permitted or even fostered by the Ibrahim Babangida government. As a result, bridge builders were demoted because their motivation was to remain in their own religious and geographic cocoons.
According to The Punch, he emphasized the necessity of returning Nigeria to a merit-based system of government, wherein elections and appointments are based on personal qualifications rather than factors such as religion or ethnicity.
In addition, El-Rufai commented on the criticism he received for selecting Dr. Hadiza Balarabe, a Muslim woman from a minority ethnic group, as his running mate in the 2019 elections.
“The first woman elected as Deputy Governor from the far north of Nigeria was not hailed as a trailblazer, a breakthrough for gender, and a reaffirmation of democracy’s ability to elect people from minority and marginalized groups. In such settings, only one identity marker seems to be significant. But having that marker—religion—had not protected her predecessor, architect Barnabas Bala (Bantex), from ridicule, he claimed.
Regarding his divisive pre-inauguration comments made in May 2023 regarding politics and administration in Kaduna State as well as the Asiwaju-Shettima ticket’s electoral success, the former governor said
“So, for those who are concerned with the truth, my message at the Kaduna event that gained widespread attention was straightforward: leadership based on Islamic and, yes, even Christian values is fair and equitable, and it mandates that a leader must be fair and just to everyone – whether they are Muslims or Christians or not.
In my humble opinion, this North-South electoral interdependency and political integration is a successful model for national politics and economics that will give Nigerians the policy continuity, political stability, and pragmatic leadership they need to help Nigeria achieve its manifest destiny of being the leader of the Black Race.
CREDIT: The Punch
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