TAYO LAWAL
Once again, Mallam Shehu Sani, the human right activist, a former Senator, has dared to speak where others remain silent, stirring the hornet’s nest and shaking the very foundation of Northern Nigeria’s political elite. With characteristic candor, he’s peeled back the layers of deceit and self-interest that continue to define Nigeria’s relentless power struggles.
Hear him:
“I want you to cast your mind back to 2017 (because 2017 is politically equivalent to 2025), and imagine some politicians from the South ‘ganging up’ against the then President… One thing I know is that if you dare say anything good about them, overzealous and fanatical supporters and thugs will come after you if you live in the Northern part of the Niger River. We love to do to others what we can never tolerate.”
And therein lies the truth.
In Nigeria’s cyclical political drama, the mighty are not so much held accountable as they are forgotten. Memory – or perhaps conscience – is selectively deployed: used when convenient, discarded when not.
The truth is, we shouldn’t be alarmed by the sudden surge in banditry and kidnapping across the country. It’s a familiar script – a vicious cycle that replays itself every two years before a general election. This is when political actors begin to sense a potential power shift, and the chaos begins. It happened in the run-up to the 2015 elections, under President Goodluck Jonathan. Then, despite the tension, Jonathan conceded defeat to Muhammadu Buhari for the sake of peace.
Today, 2025 eerily mirrors 2017.
But has the reactions completely reversed?
Where there was bluster, there is now silence.
Where there was silence, now a crescendo of righteous indignation.
The same voices that slumbered during the Buhari years are suddenly wide awake under Tinubu. A quiet -perhaps not-so-quiet – coalition brews in the North. Names once comfortable in the shadows of Northern rule now blare resistance slogans:
Atiku Abubakar, once a passive onlooker, now decries every policy of the Government.
Nasir El-Rufai, baron of barbed wit, jabs at the throne he once danced around mainly because he failed to be appointed as a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Bala Mohammed, growls beneath a veil of regional nuances – on a national TV station he confessed having invited Fulanis all over Africa especially the West African Fulani to come to Nigeria and see Nigeria as their great grandfather’s heritage!
Ali Ndume, former gatekeeper of the ruling North, now pounds on its gates – leaving his Senatorial district burning and unattended to.
Of course one can not forget the tiny but uncoordinated voice and reasoning of Peter Gregory Obi otherwise known now as ‘Agbọ́tikúyọ̀’ – because of his inccesant tweets and visits to disaster areas for mere notice.
If this isn’t hypocrisy, juju or witchcraft, then what is it?
Where were these voices when power wore Northern robes for eight straight years?
Why was their patriotism mute then?
Why has their commitment to justice only awakened now that power has shifted to the South?
In 2017, Southern voices were chastised as divisive.
In 2025, Northern voices are hailed as heroes of democracy.
But history is not easily fooled.
The throne of Northern allegiance to rotational power has not been surrendered by virtue – but by necessity. The same North that once demanded silence now cannot be quieted. Meanwhile, the South, so used to shouting, now seeks to govern with grace.
But before we lose our minds in the frenzy of politicking – guys, let’s all calm down.
Nothing happening today in Nigeria is worse than what we’ve seen before.
Chaos is part of politics.
Outrage is the oxygen of multiparty democracy.
Do we truly expect more than 250 million people from almost 300 ethnic groups to sleep facing the same direction?
Let’s be real: in politics, if your skin isn’t thick, you won’t last.
Opposition will always talk. That’s their job. Even if the dollar went back to pre-1979 when it was 0.86 kobo to $1, Atiku would still complain, Obi would sermonize, and El-Rufai would coalesce.
Have we already forgotten 2015 when Buhari took office?
The Niger Delta Avengers made it seem like Nigeria was falling apart.
IPOB raised their flags.
Bandits gave Buhari sleepless nights.
How many schoolchildren were kidnapped?
Did we not witness ‘EndSARS’?
‘Yorùbá Nesion’ protests?
“End Nigeria” hashtags?
Let’s not pretend this is new.
Atiku once defected from APC with Saraki, now on his way to SDP using El-rufai as a place holder there.
House Speakers, Governors, Senators jumped ship like it was musical chairs.
Today’s loudest critic may well be tomorrow’s minister.
Nigeria will not break.
Politicians come and go. That is the beauty – and power – of democracy.
The same way Buhari left, Tinubu will leave. Another will rise. And another. And another.
So instead of lamenting as if the country is ending, let’s channel our energy into fixing it. Nigeria doesn’t need more tears but more years of action – every hour, every day.
To transcend this hypocrisy of selective patriotism, we must pledge allegiance not to ethnicity, religion or region, but to reason, justice, and truth.
As George Orwell once wrote:
“The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.”
Truth is painful – but very necessary. And no matter how long it is buried beneath tribalism and ambition, it always finds its voice.
Let us be the generation that prays less – but preys on hard work and opportunity.
We’ve been praying since the criminal amalgamation of 1914 by that drnkærd called Lord Lugard and nothing to show for it
It’s time we watched more, questioned more, and acted more.
Nàìjíríà sí ma dùn ò sì ma lóyin lọ́lá nlá nlá Elédùà!
© TayọLawaL
ManTee Communication.
manteedetlaw@gmail.com