Dialogue With Nigeria By AKIN OSUNTOKUN
Dialogue With Nigeria BY AKIN OSUNTOKUN
The ramifications of the recent public engagement between Tony Elumelu and a graduate trainee of the United Bank of Africa, UBA, go beyond a controversial public encounter to the sociocultural disparities inherent in the amalgamation of Nigeria. Many years ago, Segun Adeniyi of the Thisday fame, dropped by my office looking quite distraught. He did not wait for me to inquire of him what might have gone wrong. He had gone to see the late Malam Adamu Ciroma, a ranking functionary of the Nigerian power elite.
But first, a word on the fascinating and colorful public career of Ciroma who was somewhat a permanent fixture in the corridors of power in Nigeria since the era of the late Sardauna of Sokoto and Premier of the Northern region, Sir Ahmadu Bello. He had the reputation of a disciplined and credible public figure and proudly wore the tag of an unapologetic ideologue of Northern Nigerian supremacy. Never mind that he studied history at the University of Ibadan and was married to a Yoruba lady. He was one of the first generation highly educated Northerners which made him and others like him a highly prized commodity in a milieu where such attainment was in scarcity. He belonged to a peer group of bright young adults whom Ahmadu Bello recruited and groomed for political leadership on the platform of the ascendant conservative wing of the Northern political establishment.
