Preamble:

n April of 2003, after my book, Surviving in Biafra - The Story of the Nigerian Civil War, was published, a cross section of Nigerians had problems with it. They felt that I should not have told the story because it made Nigeria look bad to the international community. To them, the story of the darkest period in Nigeria, when terror was unleashed on civilians from air and land, cutting down many like ribbons while thousands of innocent children died of starvation, should be swept under the rug. They wanted the world to continue to see Nigeria as an unblemished nation. Of course I rejected those suggestions and forged ahead.

This commentary is also one of those that will make some people uncomfortable if not downright upset. It deals with an issue that some would rather not see in print because, as the saying goes, the truth hurts. But from this writer's perspective, this issue needs to be highlighted and kept in the forefront of the burner. Hopefully, as Uzokwe's Searchlight is beamed on it, Nigerians of goodwill will work to find a lasting solution.

Here we go�

January 20, 2009, was hailed by many as a turning point in the annals of history. In the United States, what seemed improbable, as recently as only a few months ago, came to pass. Barack Obama, the son of an African immigrant, became the 44th president of the United States. Before then, many, the world over, did not believe that they would live to see a person of color emerge as the president of the United States but this country proved, once again, that it is a land of positive surprises. It is the nation that put a man on the moon just at the urging of the then president- John F. Kennedy.

The reaction from people around the world, to Obama's victory, was overwhelming. CNN carried images of people, in remote countries, around the world, glued to their TVs, watching history being made. From the Southernmost tip of Africa to the mountain ranges of Kenya, through the rain forests of the Congos, to the arid zones of Nigeria and elsewhere, ordinary citizens and politicians jubilated. When I got to Nigeria last December, I was stunned by the level of interest that the ordinary Nigerian expressed regarding the election. They asked probing questions about it and expressed their joy that the son of a Kenyan immigrant had given them reason to hope. They were not expecting Obama to perform wonders for Africa but the symbolism of the removal of what seemed like a glass ceiling for the black race the world over, meant a lot to them.

Like many have said, the greatest significance of this development is that the dream of the young black child or any child of color, in the United States, would henceforth know no bounds. My children can also dare to dream about being whatever they set their minds on in the United States of America. If, for some reason, they fail to reach their God-given potentials, it will no longer necessarily be because of the absence of opportunities but it will have more to do with the level of effort and determination they put in. Inotherwords, they can dare dream and possibly reach the pinnacle of the political pyramid in the United States. That is awesome!

As if not to be outdone by ordinary citizens in their appreciation of what happened in the United States, Nigerian politicians, both past and current, some of whom were said to have shed tears of joy, were full of effusive praise. They openly noted that the word racism was on its way out of the world lexicon because it would no longer be needed. They freely quoted Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech and jubilated that the dream of a land where people would no longer be judged by their race but by the content of their character, had been realized. The unbridled joy of some of these people, about the Obama phenomenon, made good press but as I watched them, I could not help but wonder about the hypocrisy of their actions. They needed to be reminded about the biblical admonition that one must remove the log in one's eyes to see clearly to remove the small speck in the eyes of one's neighbor. They were jubilating about what was going on 6000 miles from them when Nigeria still had a giant political glass ceiling for people from certain parts of the country. Inspite of their theatrics and grandstanding about Obama's victory, Nigeria was still a nation where someone's political success, at the federal level, depended on that person's region or tribe of origin. You have better chances of becoming the president of Nigeria only if you hail from certain regions or tribes. This has been the case for almost 40-years and I will elaborate below.

In the beginning, Nigeria was really a disparate group of people in terms of tribe and language, coexisting loosely. In 1914, for ease of governance, the colonial masters amalgamated the Northern and Southern protectorates and one Nigeria was born. Using indirect rule, a form of governance where indigenous citizens were used to enforce the policies of colonial masters, the amalgam was kept together. Attempts to resist the British system, at various times, were met with crushing blows in various places. But as soon as the British left in 1960, inter-tribal suspicion, which never went away, reared its head again in various sections of the more than 250 ethnic groups that made up the nation. Several coups, counter coups and massive pogroms, in Nigeria, culminated in the 30-month civil war chronicled in my book - Surviving in Biafra, in which more than 2 million people died.

In January 1970, at the end of the Biafra War, the then head of state, General Yakubu Gowon, declared that there was no victor and no vanquished. This singular declaration gave hope to the people of the eastern region. The hope was that Nigeria would become a nation where everyone had equal access in all respects. It is mind-boggling, therefore, that almost 40-years after that epoch declaration by Gowon, the presidency has remained in the hands of members of a few tribes and regions. Talk about political glass ceiling! General Gowon, a northerner, was overthrown by another northerner, Murtala Muhammed in 1975. Later, under unfortunate circumstances, the mantle fell on General Obasanjo, a South Westerner, who then handed over to Shehu Shagari, another northerner. Muhamadu Buhari, a northerner, forcibly took over from Shagari but his tenure was short-lived when a fellow northerner, Ibrahim Babangida, took away the helmsmanship from him. Under fire for annulling a supposedly free election that would have put Moshood Abiola, a south westerner in power, Babangida handed over to a south westerner, Ernest Shonekan before General Sani Abacha, another northerner, snatched it away from him. When Abacha mysteriously and suddenly died, General Abdulsalam Abubakar, a northerner, took over and eventually handed back to Obasanjo, a South Westerner. Before leaving office, Obasanjo made sure that the presidency went back to another northerner - Umaru Yaradua. Haba! I am sure that this is sounding like a chess game between the north and southwest to the reader but it truly is the position that Nigeria is in as I write.

In a country that boasts of many regions and tribes, the baton of the presidency is being passed back and forth, sometimes forcibly, amongst the same regions. The question that any person of goodwill should ask is this: where are the rest of the regions in this presidential equation? Are they less intelligent than the rest of Nigerians? Are they less hard working? Are they less ambitious than others? Do they contribute less to nation building than the rest of Nigerians? If the answer to my questions are no, as I know it is, then someone has to call the situation what it is- a political glass ceiling for other regions for the presidency. There are those who have argued that it is no body's fault because when the army was in charge, there were no senior officers from other regions to head Nigeria. For the sake of argument, I will briefly entertain that argument but then my question would be: how about during the many democratic experiments that gave Nigeria General Obasanjo when Alex Ekwueme was craftily edged out and then Shehu Shagari, Abiola and now Umaru Yaradua? The truth is that if you are not from certain sections of Nigeria and you dare to nurse presidential ambition, you are seen as a joke or unrealistic person. In light of this, people from other regions have turned into political lackeys and harlots, always aiming to join political parties headed by people from more privileged regions for a shot at the corridors of power not the helm.

In the 2003 election, Dr. Chuba Okadigbo, a well read and well-traveled politician, threw his hat into the presidential race. His eloquence and political savvy was unquestionable. However, being challenged in his party for the presidential nomination by General Buhari, someone from one of the privileged regions, Chuba Okadigbo knew that he was at a disadvantage so he fell behind Buhari as a vice presidential candidate. He did what he felt was necessary to at least get into the corridors of power even though I disagreed with him.

Then there is Orji Uzo Kalu, the former governor of Abia State. During the 2007 elections, he also threw in his hat for the presidential race even though he knew that the odds were very much against him. To compensate for that, he started doing what he felt was necessary to placate the king makers in the north to at least take a second look at him. He touted the fact that he attended the University of Maiduguri in the north and the fact that he built a mosque for northern Muslims in Abia state. Seeing that it was not working for him, he offered an apology to Nigeria for the Biafran war even though that was not the position of Easterners. The young man was looking for a way to bring the northern king makers to give him a chance. His actions were pathetic but calculated politically to suit the reality on ground. This is not to say that he was the best candidate that south easterners could have put forward, but his case is referenced to show what the political equation in Nigeria has turned some into. Inspite of all the groveling, he did not register any win outside the South East.

In the past, some have tried to address my concerns above by saying that after a war, the winner takes home the spoils or booty. To them, the triumphant regions are keeping the presidency of Nigeria as part of the spoil of war. I have even heard people, including silly internet bloggers and politicians opine that the Easterners should be glad that they are included in government at all. To them, perpetual subjugation is the penalty for fighting a war. Their assertions have been acted out recently at the Nigerian Mission in Washington DC. Nigeria's ambassador to the United States, Rtd General Oluwole Rotimi, has just been relieved of his job by Nigeria's president. This was because he refused to subordinate himself to and take orders from his boss, the External Affairs minister, Ojo Maduekwe. The more outlandish thing is not that Gen Rotimi refused to respect Ojo Maduekwe but had the temerity of writing to Maduekwe, boasting, "I have dealt with people like you in the past. I was the Adjutant General of the Nigerian army that thoroughly defeated your ragtag Biafran army."[ThisDay, Feb 14, 2009]. It turns out that he is one of those that believe that easterners, such as Maduekwe, should remain in perpetual subjugation and should never rise politically. What this despicable man wrote, epitomizes how some still feel in Nigeria but cannot utter openly. I am glad that he committed his opinion to paper and I would say to him, good riddance!

Let me for a moment agree with the people like Oluwole (Sadist) Rotimi, who feel that some of their fellow Nigerians should be happy with political crumbs that fall off the table of people like him because he defeated their "ragtag army". The big question that begs for answer is this: On what moral pedestal do the Oluwoles stand when they boisterously say that the last political barrier in the world, for blacks, have been removed with the election of Obama? What happened to the barrier that currently exists in Nigeria and which people like him routinely uphold? How could Rotimis of Nigeria, that encourage what amounts to tribal subjugation, be pointing elsewhere for the shattering of political glass ceiling when a bigger and tougher ceiling, created by people like him, exist in Nigeria? Rather than talking about shattering of glass ceiling in the United States and pretending that all is well, Nigeria should use the opportunity presented by Obama's victory to seek true inclusiveness where everyone, regardless of tribe, would have equal political access. It is refreshing, though, that Yaradua, a man I have criticized in the past for his slowness and will continue to, has sent an unmistakable message to would-be Rotimis that insubordination stemming from tribal jingoism is unacceptable.

The incident about Oluwole Rotimi is not unique. It is rampant in government. During Babangida's regime, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe was the second in command for a period of time. Suddenly, he was dismissed by Babangida without telling the nation why. That dismissal was instructive. Babangida, just like some others, saw his appointment as a favor that could easily be taken away from the "unworthy" south easterner. How about the current second in command in Nigeria, Dr Jonathan Goodluck? Here is how his current situation was described in a recent newspaper article: "According to investigations, the situation is so bad in the Villa that the Vice President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, has been schemed out of the main events in the government and his responsibilities virtually entrusted to some of his sub-ordinates. The Vice President whom investigations revealed had by his role been having only a little direct personal contact with his boss is now completely alienated and his aides often have to scamper for every fresh memo from the office of the President just to see if there is anything for their boss" [Online Tribune, Feb 7, 2009] It is the opinion of some that the northern king makers do not want him to develop any ambitions so that after Yaradua, the presidency will remain in the north.

To be continued in Part 2 of 2