Honourable Bitrus Kaze is a two-term member of the House of Representatives. He speaks with ISAAC SHOBAYO on the recent #End Bad Governance protest, especially in the northern part of Nigeria and the overall implications for the North and Nigeria. Excerpt:
WHY did the recent protest in the North turn violent? Does it mean the north is more affected by the bad governance than the southern part of the country?
I think it is a very dangerous assumption to think that the Northerners are behaving the way they do because they are not educated. They are very educated. I mean, education doesn’t have to be Western; it can be literacy in any language. But you see, they know their interest; they can establish their interest, and once their interest is not being met, they behave the way they do. To me, their interest, as far as I know, is that the far North believes that Tinubu is not living up to the Northern interest that they perceive the Muslim-Muslim ticket will deliver. They believe Tinubu is a liberal Muslim, and they are reacting angrily because somehow it is clear that the far North is not able to control Tinubu. That’s what I see.
But the protest was against bad governance and pervading hunger in the county, and a hungry man is an angry man…
(Cuts in) If it was against the hunger in the country, why the violence, especially only in the far North? Wasn’t there hunger in the North when there was ENDSARS? Was there more hunger in the North when there were anti-subsidy removal protests in 2012? Was it because there was more hunger in the North that the protest was more successful in the North? It is not just the issue of hunger; hunger is there, and hunger is everywhere. Hunger doesn’t know North; it doesn’t know South; it doesn’t know Christian, Muslim, or atheist—hunger affects humanity. But the North is simply angry that their perception of Tinubu is not really playing out. Tinubu is handling government the way he believes, in the best interest of the entire nation. The North would really enjoy a Tinubu that plays into their hands—a Tinubu that is more of a stooge to the North than a Tinubu who is independent and cutting a way for himself, a niche for himself, if you understand what I mean. So, it is not really about hunger. It is about the Northern interest not being pacified the way the far North wants it.
What is your perception of the Russian flags displayed by the protesters?
Apart from Russian flags, the violence we have seen is more pronounced in the North than anywhere else. It is simply a manifestation of the anger. You can see social media videos of Northern youths in Kano, Sokoto, Jigawa, and Katsina, openly calling for a military takeover. That is most unfortunate. So, it’s just for the North to express anger, to be recalcitrant, to be deviant, to just show disloyalty to the system, just because they find that the person they trusted with their votes is not really being the one. I don’t see any better reason. So, if you talk about Russian flag, that’s just one aspect. Destruction has been more in the North. And if there is hunger in the North, why was there more destruction in the North? I mean, they have openly called for a military takeover, which no reasonable protester would ever contemplate. For those of us who are old enough to know military rule, no matter how angry you are with any democratic system, if we endured Buhari, we can endure any ruler in this country. And if other parts of the country endured Buhari, the North must be able to endure any Nigerian civilian elected leader, no matter what his weaknesses are.
I think if you observe very carefully, there are three fundamental differences in this protest in the North compared to other parts of the country. And when I say the North, I definitely mean, with the exception of the Middle Belt, the far North. They carried Russian flag; they are more violent compared to other parts of the country, and they openly came out and called for a military takeover. I was saying that if anybody organizes any protest in this country, for the sake of our country, nobody in their right mind would contemplate a military takeover. What if the military takeover that is expected happens and somebody emerges from where they do not expect, what happens then? We will lose the country. That’s not an issue to be contemplated at all.
And I also said, if Nigerians have endured the recklessness of Buhari’s eight years in office, the North must be ready to endure any civilian elected administration in this country, whether from the North, South, West, or East—Muslim, Christian, pagan. Whoever is elected and sworn in as president of this country, the North must be prepared to endure, just like we endured Buhari.
A cursory look at those on the streets for the protest shows they are underage and might not really know the rationale behind the protest; what is your perception of this?
You see, qualitative education to you means Western education. If you are talking about Arabic education, they have it. But when they begin to speak against Nigeria, it is as though either you give them what they want or this country can go wherever it wants. And that is the sense we get from some of them, and it has been like that for ages.
As far as the North is concerned, they can use anything and everything as long as it protects their interests. Now, I can assure you that the Muslim-Muslim ticket before 2023 was not so much about having a Muslim president and a Muslim vice-president. It was more about the expectation that whoever emerged under that Muslim-Muslim ticket—in this case, Tinubu—would do the North’s bidding. And it has emerged that the president is not really doing the North’s bidding. That is what informs their anger. So, this protest just provided an excuse.
As I said previously, when there were anti-Jonathan protests in the name of anti-subsidy protests in 2012, the North participated fully. But when there was an anti-Buhari protest in the name of the ENDSARS protest, the North was totally against anybody going against their “son,” so they pretended as if they were not part of this country. The point must be made that the North cannot always have its way. It is about Nigeria. It is about all sections of this country, and they must learn to tolerate every leader that is elected in this country.
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