'Why We Need Power in Southern Kaduna'
You are at the forefront of agitation for power shift from northern Kaduna to the southern part, what is the situation now?
Kaduna State as you know evolved out of the Zaria province. The present Kaduna State is the former Zaria Province, no addition, no subtraction.
So, we are a product of history. Zaria Province was divided into two, north and south. we were called southern zaria but with the creation of Kaduna State, we are now known as southern Kaduna. Before Kastina State was created out of the Kaduna State, the division was Kastina, zaria and southern Zaria, then you had Kastina, Zaria, Kaduna as headquarters and the Kafanchan, representing the important cities in these divisions. We share common history as a province which we now share now as a state. All along we have said that power should be shared with respect to the known traditional divisions within the states so that if a person from the northern part rules, they should give chance for the southern part. All along our governors have always come from the north. The present governor is on his second tenure and he has enjoyed absolute support from the people of southern Kaduna.
Infact, during the last election we voted massively for the president. We are known for bloc votes. We had a candidate from our place but once we resolved that we are going to support a particular candidate, we give him our block votes. This time around, we are working on that kind of thing, that there should be respect, there should be recognition and we are capable of producing good leaders, leaders who will promote unity and harmony, leaders who will make sure that there is justice, fairplay and equity.
Infact, we are saying that, this time around we want to prove that Kaduna State would be governed properly, individual and corporate interests will be properly protested because we are speaking as a people. We can produce somebody from among our people and stand by him for good.
We are trying to protect every interest. We are not politicians per se, in SOKAPU, but we are interested in good governance. We are interested in justice, equity and fairplay and peaceful co-existence in Kaduna State and we believe the present governor has been doing quite well. we need to continue with that because we have a good understanding of what is happening and we are ready to handle it.
What then is the motivation for power shift if the governor is doing well or do you have a feeling of persecution or deprivation?
There have been that division, that dichotomy, you have Zaria and then southern Zaria which is now southern Kaduna. So that division have been there and we are saying that for recognition and human dignity, the other part of the state can handle issues. And you need to be given the chance to prove it.We should have a good shot at the governorship come 2007, of course with the support of the northern part of the state. Unless they have a more superior agreement, we are saying that it is time for us to prove that we are capable of producing good governance.
Kaduna can be very volatile and we have had our share of social up heavals and to resolve some of the conflicts, these are some of the sentiments people use to cause social unrest and upheavals. In order to resolve some of this things, we believe that if we are giving a chance we will diffuse some of these sentiments that tend to divide the state.
But we understand that two people from southern Kaduna have been governors, one of them, an elected governor, the late Alhaji Dabo Lere and the other during the military era?
We cannot talk about the military because the military governors were on military assignment. We are talking about democractic rule. Dabo Lere was from part of Lere which is in the northern zone. There is no way southern Kaduna could have produced both the governor and the deputy governor. His deputy governor then, James Bawa Magaji, is from Zangon-Kataf. Lere is in the northern senatorial zone, in this political arrangement. Lere people do not accept that they are from southern Kaduna.
So, are you saying that power rotation should not be done among the senatorial districts for zones found generally across the country?
The political arrangement of the three senatorial districts is a political requirement for producing three senators per state. It does not therefore follow the dichotomy because Kaduna State is not divided into three, traditionally. They had to take a part from the northern area and another part from the southern area to produce a central zone. If we are to respect tradition, we should not look at it in terms of three zones. The implication is that you are likely to get a candidate who belongs to the northern part of the traditional divisions but comes from the central senatorial districts and will not satisfy that dichotomy which people know traditionally. It is this dichotomy that normally brings about conflict. We need to resolve that by respecting it and giving opportunity for other people to share power equitably.
There is this memorandum of understanding said to have been reached by people from these traditional areas. part of the agreement is to recognize the senatorial divisions, was SOKAPU not part of that agreement?
I'm sure you are talking about PDP caucus agreement. That is PDP as a political party. We do not represent any particular political party. we represent the entire people of southern Kaduna and you know we have them in all the political parties.
The group that signed that document cannot speak for other members of southern Kaduna who are in other parties and can not said to represent the will of the people of southern Kaduna. At the moment we are not talking about who is to be the governor. We need to resolve this thing first then we can settle down on the appropriate candidate, we believe will meet the desires of both the southern people and northern people.
There is this view that southern kaduna people are united when they are supporting others but there is always a tug of war when it comes to choosing a candidate to represent the people?
Not exactly, we have never had a situation where we use religion or ethnicity for political reasons. We try to look at various interests that can keep us together. People need to understand this.
What they are talking about is the candidate to emerge at the lower level of elections. We are dealing with that at the moment because we have formed a forum with leaders of all the ethnic development associations in southern kaduna, with the support of our elders and royal fathers, to begin to understand that power belongs to the people. Once there is unity of purpose and once that forum is able to solidify into a strong force to deal with dissidents and selfishness and overzealous politicians, people who champion their individual causes. This forum will deal with this kind of thing. That is why it is important to look at the issue of 2007 as holding the key for self determination for the people of southern Kaduna rather than an individual coming out of us and asking us to support him, no we know what we want and we know who among us can handle it, then we will promote that person. We will win the support of the northern people. That is the challenge for SOKAPU.
Politics is a game of number, do you have the population to match or even surpass that of the northern people?
It is a question of number, but that does not mean that because you are more in number you ignore the integrity of the so called minority. Power should be given to somebody who is reliable and can be trusted. I believe it should be more of reasoning because the word "majority" to us can insult people who come from smaller ethnic communities. People who are called minorities do not get where they are by accident. They are placed there by God and it is wrong to refer to them as minority. They must be recognized as capable of doing whatever others do, and even more, if they are given the opportunity that brings in the issues of self-determination that I said earlier. We must recognize these dichotomies and use them for progress. If we dwell on numbers, then we will say that we will be on our own. If you don't recognize us, why should I be part of you, we must deal with this issue, not only in Kaduna State but at the national level too. We must recognize people and know that they are capable of contributing to the development of the national project. The question of number cannot settle this matter. There has to be honesty and respect. I did not choose to come from southern Kaduna. Nobody chose to belong to where he comes from.
You have some Hausa, Fulani as members of SOKAPU, How well do they corporate with you? Initially they were suspicious, they thought we were talking about religion. But they have come to understand that they have no second home. They are part of us, we mean business and we meet with their leaders from various local governments. Some of the royal fathers are Muslims they are willing to be part of the project.
Secretary, Kaduna State branch of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Rev. Joseph Hayab.
What, in your opinion, is responsible for this agitation for power shift to the southern part of the state?
What has informed this agitation is inequality. If all of us are citizens of this state, if all of us own this state, then everybody here should be qualified to lead. Any bonafide citizen of this state is qualified to lead. Any bonafide citizen of this state is qualified to be the governor. It should not be seen as a birthright of a section of the state. We should all be equal, in this regard, in the state in particular and in the country.
Are you saying there has been a form of marginalisation of the southern Kaduna people by the northern part, which has been in control of the political power?
Let us be honest, if you have been following the trend of events in this state, it is only governor Makarfi who has been able to incorporate the southern part. All others neglected and abandoned the people as if they are not citizens of this state. Do you know that until recently, people in the southern part of Kaduna State did not even watch television? They were more familiar with the Plateau Radio Television (PRTV) and the NTA, Jos. They did not know if Kaduna has a television station. It is just of recent that the people there started receiving KSTV. And, do you know that if go 30 kilometres from here, towards southern Kaduna, you are completely cut off. If you forget something in Kaduna, there is no way you can get in touch with somebody to pick it up for you. You must drive back from Kafanchan. It is as if they are not part of the state. When talk of equality. In the spirit of equality, without any malice, allow the other side to lead too. It should not be seen as a competition. Allow the southern part of Kaduna State to also produce the governor and the north produces the deputy governor and you see people begin to be integrated and celebrating together. If one side continues to have it alone, it becomes difficult for the other side to understand. In Nigeria today, if you feel the president must always come from a particular area, other people will feel marginalised. If we must be together, every citizen should have equal rights to the highest office. We are not preaching ethnicity or religion in this thing, we talking about equality and that is all.
If a Muslim from southern Kaduna aspires to be governor, is CAN likely to support such a candidate?
Why Muslim? We supported Makarfi, is he a Christian? We have voted chains of Muslims, we supported Balarabe Musa, Lawal Kaita, Dabo Lere, Makarfi, all these people are Muslims. The issue is not religion. But the question is, if today we say a Christian from the northern part of Kaduna State should be governor, will the Muslims support him? Will they accept him? We don't want people to mix the issue with religion. We are talking of equality between the northern and the southern parts. If a Muslim can lead, what is wrong if a Christian should also lead? Until we reach a level where Muslims accept Christians to rule and vice versa, some of these things we do in this state will never work. If we won't to be fair and do what is right and give the southern Kaduna the chance to produce the governor. We done enough, supporting the northern part, so why can't the north for once support one of us?
But it is believed that the northern people are more united in their aspirations than the south. How ready are the southern people in terms of being united for a common cause?
I beg to disagree that the northern part is more united. Let me give you examples, in all the elections that have taken place in Kaduna, the south always give block votes. So, what unity can be more than that? Balarabe became governor overnight, less than 48 hours. The entire people of southern Kaduna resolved that we were supporting, Balarable Musa because he promotes grassroots development. And, all of them voted for him. It was the same thing for Lawal Kaita and Dabo Lere. Even in 2003, our people unanimously resolved to vote Makarfi. The results not only showed that Makarfi won but 95 per cent of the total votes from that area went to him. There has never been division in southern Kaduna but people having some level of differences in opinions.
But southern Kaduna had produced governorship candidates in the past but the people did not vote for them? Col. Nyiam was there in 1999 and Rev. Kaduna was there in 2003.
The issue here, is who is faithful or who is sincere. The fact is that if the southern Kaduna people give you their word, they abide by it. If someone comes later and tries to convince them based on ethnic or religious sentiments, they will not change their word. If you look at those who came out, they came out at the last minute, when people had already made commitments to particular candidates or parties. The southern Kaduna people value honour. We know all these people you mentioned but none of them actually did a homework. You cannot just wake up and say you want to be governor, without consultations, any preparations. If you don't outline your agenda and programmes we cannot support you because we don't want you to go and disgrace us, we want to produce the governor so that everybody will know that we can also perform and work to develop this state. The north has actually done its best and we appreciate. We want them to also support someone from the south so that together we can build the state and not to be seen as observers. I believe our brothers from the north will be willing to see someone from the South to be the governor.
Do you think a governor from the south will be able to redress the spate of ethno-religious strife, which had plagued the state in the past?
Any committed end sincere citizen of Kaduna State will be able to address the problem if he truly loves this state. The whole this is, are you committed to the development of the state leadership is having the people at heart. No one man is capable of bringing peace to Kaduna State, it has to be a joint effort. Leadership is not a one-man show. The southern Kaduna man will be the governor of the whole state, our governor. He will carry everybody along, whether from the north or south. I am confident that if someone emerges from there, he may even do it beyond what people think and they may even beg his to continue.
Do you have particular candidates in mind from among which you may pick a choice for governor?
It is too early to mention a candidate who will likely fill the position. The most important thing is for us to agree on how it should be done. The choice of a candidate will not be a problem. At the appropriate time, candidates will come. Although some people have indicated interest but they may not necessarily emerge at the end of the day. We are working towards achieving a peaceful election in 2007 and Kaduna will be a model for other states in Nigeria. It will be peaceful and people will do it.
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