Photo by Abayomi Adeshida Supporters congratulate Governor Victor Attah (right, with chief’s hat) shortly after he submitted his letter of intent to run for the presidency of Nigeria.

By Kevin Lambert and James Overly
"In Nigeria, you have very strong ethnic identification," says Governor Victor Attah. "In America, for example, people say, ‘I was originally from Boston. Now I’m from New York,’ or, ‘My parents are from Boston, but I’m from Washington.’ But in Nigeria, If you’re from Akwa Ibom, you are [always] from Akwa Ibom, even if you happen to be living at the time in Kaduna or Lagos or wherever."

This leads to the "Regionality Factor" in Nigerian elections. Geography is possibly the most important consideration, eclipsing religion and even qualifications. While no country is immune to this, Nigerians seem to have it in a virulent strain. Most observers trace this back to the days of British rule.

The British legacy
Nigeria is a country of 250 separate ethnic nationalities with nearly 466 languages and dialects, and the British cobbled that into 3 regions. "Most of these ethnic groups have been alien to each other for time immemorial," writes Nigerian observer Tom Mbeke-Ekanem, author of Beyond the Execution. There is as much difference between them as there is between the Germans and the Greeks. Each of the major groups sees its domination as a key to its survival, the rest in the minority have to constantly fight to evade extinction."

In the Muslim-dominated north, many feel one of them should inherit the presidency after eight years of President Obasanjo, a Christian from the South-West Nigeria’s current regionality issues boil down to a 1994 "understanding" that power should shift alternately between the north and south. This was the argument used by chairman of the Northern Union and second Republic Senate Leader, Dr. Olusola Saraki, who feels that 2007 will be the north’s "turn."

Nigerian's Political Regions

Opposing this is the undisputed fact that the oil revenues, gouged out of the South-South, particularly the Niger Delta region, have been the financial force behind all of the county’s socio-political and economic projects. And this has not been without pain; the ecology and pastoral economy of the South-South has suffered through oil extraction, and the infrastructure investment necessary to "support the oil industries in the style that they are accustomed" has not been light. The population closest to the oil fields is alienated from the national mainstream, and this has fueled some of the violence in a few of the states. Governor Attah, and to a lesser extent, the other South-South governors, have dug deeply to address these issues. The South-South has been paying the piper; many voters feel they have the right to call at least a couple of the tunes.

Time for a new philosophy?
But the new wave of leadership, the one that favors merit over zoning, is making itself felt. In an interview with Tellmagazine, Elder statesman and economist Gabriel Onosode, remarked, "we need people of sound track record, of credible field of knowledge who can deliver the goods. Where he comes from in Nigeria is irrelevant."

Governor Attah agrees, declaring that the Nigerian president should be chosen by "the quality of the person." In a recent statement, Attah said Nigeria has a pool of talents from all the geo-political zones from which a credible presidential candidate can emerge.

"The historical antecedents of the South-South and our contributions to Nigeria commend us to the people of this country for the highest office," he said. "But we would be the last to say that is the only thing that qualifies us."