Rotimi Akeredolu, the governor of Ondo State, has stressed that the presidency of Nigeria must visit the south in 2023 in order to maintain the country’s system of rotating power.
Since the return to civil government in 1999, power rotation has been an unwritten agreement in the nation, according to Akeredolu, and it needs to be rectified right away.
In a talk titled “Nigeria: The politics of religion in a transitional society,” he said this on Wednesday at the University of Ibadan’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine’s one-year memorial for Prof. Bankole Oke.
He urged Nigerians to take precautions to prevent a restoration of power to the North under the garb of a party choosing a southerner as its vice presidential candidate, as he put it.
He said, “A party that picked somebody from the North as its presidential candidate is not doing so in the country’s interest. (Peter) Obi has the right to contest because he is from the South.
“We are ready to give it whatever it takes to make sure power returns to the South in 2023.”
“There appears to be an understanding that power must rotate between the North and the South. This understanding witnessed the contest of two candidates from the South-West for the Presidency. It was part of the unwritten agreement that the power equation must be balanced to allay the fear of domination harboured by the people of the South.
“There is a conscious attempt not to disrupt the extant agreement. There has been a seamless transition from one civilian regime to another since 1999, the longest in the political history of the country.
“The current political permutations raise strong suspicions on an undeclared motive to thwart the arrangement that has been working for the country. The rotation of the office of the President is between the North and the South since the inception of the Fourth Republic.”
The governor issued a warning to Nigerians, cautioning them to watch out for political ploys that use religion to polarize the populace.
Religion was not a factor in deciding those elected and appointed into jobs, according to Akeredolu, but rather the capacity to deliver. Politicians in the First Republic accomplished so much because they were people with enormous capacity.
He urged Nigerians to be hopeful that their country would become great once more, saying that before independence, Nigerian leaders toiled hard to reclaim power from the colonial masters. He acknowledged that it was taking too long, too.
In order to solve the rampant insecurity in the nation, he emphasized that Nigeria must be reformed and state police must be established.
“Religion is currently being deployed most shamelessly by the elites to gain unmerited advantage. The earlier we stop this dangerous and divisive campaign, the better it will be for everyone. Any war fought to establish the supremacy of a faith over others can only end in tears. The manipulative skills of politicians currently put to use will aggravate an already bad situation.
“The solution to the challenges faced in the country will not be found in the faiths of individuals. A person’s religious persuasion is based on personal conviction. It is essentially private. The public space must remain secular.
“Consequently, the current agitations for a faith-based political representation are anchored on a certain misapprehension of the requirements for leadership in a multi-ethnic state such as Nigeria.
“It borders on plain mischief to set the people on themselves to attain political power. Any so-called religious leader, who ignores knowledge and competence as necessary criteria to measure leadership capacity, is an apostate,” he added.
Simeon Cadmus, a professor of veterinary public health and preventive medicine, and others praised Oke as a superb mentor, teacher, and scholar.
