The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
An English literary icon, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who was heavily influenced by William Shakespeare, was a renowned poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian, founded the Romantic Movement in England. He was a member of the Lake Poets with his friend William Wordsworth. The origin of the word albatross as currently used as an idiomatic expression is traceable to his work “The Rime of The Ancient Mariner” telling the story of a sailor who shoots an albatross, a seabird traditionally seen as a good omen at sea. This act brings misfortune upon the ship and its crew.
As a consequence, the mariner is forced by his crewmates to wear the dead albatross around his neck, symbolising his guilt and the bad luck he has brought upon them. And he writes lamentably “instead of the cross, the albatross/about my neck was hung”.
An albatros is an inescapable and annoying burden on one’s neck that he desires to remove as quickly as he can. The idiom in literature signifies a heavy load of guilt.
Leaders of the newly formed political coalition in Nigeria, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) appear to have found themselves in such a state where instead of the cross on their neck, they are hanging an albatross because of their inability to pragmatically address the critical issue of zoning. This symbolic albatross they are currently wearing is self-inflicted because they have failed to stand by their operations on justice and fairness, preferring instead to play politics with what should be open and transparent.
If this much-desired coalition that is coalescing as ADC is really deriving its strength and vision from justice and hankering to bequeath the legacy of our dream, it should have no difficulty unboxing itself from the current enclosure.
If really they are desirous of chasing away President Bola Tinubu out of Aso Rock, they should not be shy of calling a spade by its correct name. They should not willingly be wearing an albatross and looking for someone to help them remove it. They should be acting in tandem with the political dynamics in the country.
Why should the ADC that is facing a gargantuan task of unseating an incumbent President be toying with the issue of zoning, the only stabilising factor in the country’s polity since 1999? The euphoria that greeted the unveiling of the coalition, started dying down the moment it became apparent that they were more interested in the politics of the coalition than its result. Not even the good standing in the public space of its interim leader, Senator David Mark, has been able to unwind the public perception of a circuitous and Janus-faced act, given by the group’s reluctance to be categorical on the issue of zoning.
Nigerians, from all indications, are ready and willing to subsume and sacrifice their tribe and religious inclinations in their journey to realising a new Nigeria, but certainly not the geopolitical interest that has acted as a stabiliser.
Therefore, having needlessly hung zoning as an albatross on the coalition, the onus of removing this burden falls on the former Senate President, who has taken the challenge to lead the troubled organisation. Senator Mark and his team may not have killed an albatross knowingly, but by starting off without settling the critical issue of zoning, they may have inadvertently found themselves hanging the carcass of the symbolic dead seabird around their neck.
Senator Mark sincerely deserves public sympathy because he has found himself presiding over a gamble in the name of the political party which ADC has become. If the former Senate President knew he was taking a leap in the dark and decided to take it, he would have himself to blame, but in this case, he appears to have been conned, if he is not the one conning us.
The credibility and quality of leadership Senator Mark left in the Senate for twelve years is seriously under threat with his new job. He is seen in Nigeria as a pragmatic leader by the way he handled the doctrine of necessity during the trying time in the nation’s polity when Nigeria’s President Umar Yar’Adua died in office.
Senator Mark’s new job, as the National Chairman of the coalition has thrown him up for scrutiny. At age 77, the former Army signal one-star General may have entered into the last and most critical chapter of his salivating political career.
If he gets it right, it becomes a good climax, but if not, he sees the tarring of his bright morning road. The question in everybody’s mind is, can David Mark’s team as interim ADC leadership conduct a dollar or naira-free primary where a presidential flagbearer can emerge transparently, or is he playing a script aimed at delivering a particular candidate? Even if he desires to conduct credible primaries, can he manage the gladiators and to what extent can he go in all these without settling the issue of zoning?
Perhaps the big challenge for Senator Mark will be whether he remains coy about the issue of North/South zoning. All the talk of trying to lure people to the bridge before deciding how to cross it is just shifting the evil day, and that might just be a clever half-way to get everybody to the bomb site before detonating it. Any coalition in the country today, no matter how formidable its programmes or personalities are, that fails to confront the issue of zoning frontally will find it difficult to take off. After the precedent was set on this matter that saw the PDP lose power in 2015, anybody ignoring it is not oblivious of history and may live to regret it.
Just as the PDP began its downward journey into obscurity because of zoning, so will ADC suffer the same fate if it fails to respect the sanctity of zoning. As disastrous as the PBAT regime is, ignoring zoning by the coalition is going to be the best prayer answered for him. No matter how sweet the logic may sound in the ear of those advocating for no-zoning, their argument will be a hasty recipe for a disastrous electoral outing.
If Senator Mark and his interim team are putting their ears to the ground to gauge the mood of the nation, if they want to go into a tournament they hope to get a trophy, they must do what a great coach will do: pick the in-form and eligible players and get the desired results. Not to do that and expect a victory will be tantamount to day dreaming, and akin to shooting oneself on the foot.
History is a witness that since this political dispensation, all those who stood in breach of zoning have always failed and nothing is outstanding on the ground today to show that 2027 will be different.
When Olusegun Obasanjo finished his mandatory eight years in 2007, the then Governor of Rivers State, Peter Odili, was easily the front-runner for the presidency, but a relatively disinterested Umaru Yar’Adua, who could not even campaign effectively due to ill-health, got the ticket ahead of him because of zoning.
When Yar Adua died and his Vice President Goodluck Jonathan took over through the doctrine of necessity to finish his tenure, he hit a rock and made his party lose power for going against zoning.
In 2023, after his eight years in office, late Muhammadu Buhari lost the privilege of determining his successor when he and the discredited National Chairman of his party, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, jettisoned zoning and started pushing former Senate President Lawan Adamu, a northerner, to succeed him. Even in opposition, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, a northerner who ran against the tide in 2023, not only lost but his running mate, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, publicly regretted and apologised for going against zoning after they lost.
So, enriched with this history, why should anybody who is sincere with himself ignore zoning ahead of 2027? Even when it has become a way to balance power, engender peace and ensure representation across different regions?
A political party can often find itself in some kind of quagmire due to the difficulty in finding a suitable candidate but that is not the case here because the most empirically unjustly treated geopolitical zone in the country today, the South-East favoured by zoning has a tested and a formidable aspirant in all ramifications and who is, desired by many across the country. If justice has any central role to play in the coalition, they have no difficulty in picking their flagbearer not tomorrow or next tomorrow but today so that all the armoury can be turned in for the great battle ahead.
Deferring the evil day has no advantage other than further dividing the family, whose cohesion is critical for the task ahead.
In furtherance of an argument in favour of zoning, it might still be necessary to present the pros and the cons intrinsic in disrespecting zoning in the current political dynamics in the country. The moral reason for equitable power sharing is that it helps to prevent conflict, reduce confusion in managing the state. And it reflects the will of the people more accurately.
Respecting the sanctity of zoning can be crucial for several reasons. It creates equitable power sharing and ensures representation and balance across different regions, which can foster unity and cooperation within the coalition. Adhering to zoning agreements can promote internal party harmony, reducing conflicts and power struggles. Zoning will enhance the coalition’s legitimacy, both within the party and among the broader electorate. But if the coalition decides to disregard zoning, it can create tensions, resentment, and power struggles within the party as we are already witnessing with the ADC. Ignoring zoning can lead to feelings of marginalisation among certain regions or groups, particularly the people of the South-East. Already, toying with zoning is eroding the much-needed trust among coalition members and potentially weakening the alliance. Removing an incumbent from office can never be achieved with mind game politics or fabrication of lies to swindle the gullible public.
If Senator Mark and his team feel they can go far without settling the issue of zoning, which agrees with justice and fair play, good luck to them, but it would not be out of ignorance of the resultant consequences.
May God guide their decision.
