Former Kaduna Central Senator, Shehu Sani, has emphasized the importance of sustaining Nigeria’s rotational presidency as a tool for national cohesion.
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, Sani urged Nigerians to embrace the system of rotating the presidency between the North and South, referencing the country’s complex historical and political context.
“We are a country of experience. There are many African countries that never had the kind of experience we had,” he said, listing Nigeria’s history of coups, civil conflict, and varying forms of government.
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Reflecting on current security threats like terrorism and banditry in the northern part of the country, Sani expressed hope that the country will weather its present storms as it has in the past.
He explained that multi-ethnic and multi-religious nations tend to feel more secure when leadership is distributed evenly across regions.
He acknowledged that the rotational model may evolve in time, but for now, it helps each part of the country feel included and fairly represented in governance.
He cautioned that no region should dominate power by leveraging population or geographical size, and that the principle of rotational leadership should also be applied within states.
Recalling the period before Goodluck Jonathan became president, Sani mentioned the heightened attacks on oil infrastructure, linking these to feelings of political exclusion.
However, he warned against overestimating what regional leadership can accomplish.
“Former President Muhammadu Buhari was seen by the northerners as a magician and a miracle worker who would solve all the problems of northern Nigeria; he came, saw and left the problems as they were,” he said.
The 57-year-old politician argued that citizens from other regions still aspiring for power may soon realize that regional leadership does not guarantee problem-solving.
“I believe that it will reach a point in our history where everyone will realise that the ethnic and religious identities of a leader doesn’t mean the solutions to the problems before a nation and that is when we will consider abandoning rotation of the presidential seat,” he noted.
Addressing the recent killings in Benue’s Yelewata area of Guma LGA, Sani called for a unified Northern response to the crisis, which he said also affects Plateau and Nasarawa states.
Sani who is also a human rights activist urged political leaders in the region to treat the violence as a collective concern and find lasting solutions.
Referencing the longstanding coexistence between the Tiv and Fulani communities, he questioned what had disrupted their historical harmony.
“There is even a folk relationship between the Tiv people and the Fulani people for centuries. So at what point was the trigger for this violence?” he asked.
The former lawmaker stressed that both sides have responsibilities: herders must not destroy farms, and farmers must also refrain from actions that could provoke herders.
“The former lawmaker said that it would be wrong to use the solutions to problems in the 20th century to solve problems of the 21st century,” he concluded.
