The Trouble With This House Of Ours I am prompted for two reasons to write to you. The primary one is an attempt to remind some of our fellow Nigerians that a dangerous and progressively increasing rhetoric and dialectic of violence is gradually overtaking rhyme and reason in our polity; that much is becoming clear even to the blind, and constrains even the patriotic mute to attempt to add a quelling voice to the din; lest we bring down This House. The second reason for writing, is that having just read a beautifully written”Right Of Reply” by Abdulazziz Mamman Kida, in your January 31st, 2011 publication, which clearly reflects the sanguine mind of a man of Reason, I found the prose, and reasoning so irresistible that I was prompted to Write A Reply, if only because I may be addressing a kindred mind possessing that soul property called empathy. The first point at which I join issues with Abdul is over a certain flaw in his otherwise sound logic, which undermines the integrity of his article. He tells us, that Atiku could have promoted his views, “as a former number two”. I’m actually not sure what this means because we all have views but I’m sure that being a "former Number Two" does not especially imbue anyone’s views with greater validity or gravitas than, for instance, a "present number one" or anyone else for that matter. He continues, Atiku’s “views on the economy and other key issues should not be ignored by who (m) ever ascends to the throne . . .” and then he adds, concerning, apparently, his campaign in the PDP party primaries, “he diverged from key issues”. What Abdul should be talking about, since, after all he is talking about a former number two, is “POLICIES”. Any further attempt to rule this nation by one’s views, which are much like opinions, could land us in waters murkier than Tunisia’s. Could it be that Atiku couldn’t talk about “key issues” emanating from OBJ’s administration because only the president is responsible for POLICIES of his administration, not a mere delegatee(to coin an apt phrase!), which is the Scope of Work? Need we be reminded of where the buck stops? The other issue of concern is, as Abdul notes,”the governors . . . made sure delegates voted for Jonathan to have a share of the National Cake.” He adds again, “make no mistake; the North is still bitter about PDP’s reneging on the Zoning formula". And then comes the hammer, “recent reports of riots in some parts of Northern Nigeria which voted for Jonathan illustrates this case.’’ I call this the hammer because there has been a rather irresponsible deployment of covert and not so covert threats of anarchy, chaos and mayhem to the polity coming from so many quarters, that the issue of riots, and or, violence from the North is not new. Thousands of lives have already been lost in Northern Nigeria over past decades that I fear people have become somewhat inured to the loss of life, so devalued has it become. Abdulazziz of cause hit the matter on the nail when he talked about The National Cake because the popular consensus is that for nearly forty years, the North in various guises and garb, has wielded the cake cutting knife. This is the very problem that the PDP sought to redress with the Zoning Formula so that other tribes may have a sense of belonging in this great nation of ours. The PDP Constitution says that in, "Realizing the need to; i. make fundamental break with past mistakes in order to realize the optimum potentials of the Country; ii. build a qualitatively better society based on the principles of democracy, human rights and social justice under the rule of law; The operative term here is, "to make a fundamental break with the mistakes of past mistakes". To re iterate, zoning was instituted to attempt a redressing of the imbalance of power amongst the various tribes of Nigeria so that there can be some modicum of equity; so in fact that one section of the country does not monopolize power ad infinitum. If God chooses to lend a helping hand, in this redress, by giving four or eight extra years to the unrecognized and unsung underdog, at whose expense, environmentally, economically, and socio-politically, the rest of us developed, or not, as some might say, who are we to argue? We should celebrate the good fortune that gave us a South South presidency, much like we celebrated the fortuitous Obama presidency. It offers us a golden opportunity to deepen our unity, increase equity and justice for all in our great nation, especially at this moment of great need and greater global angst. Lastly, Abdul talks about events unfolding in the dictatorial countries of North Africa. In that context, people of the North might awaken one day and ask of its leadership, “what have you done for us in the past forty years? The leadership of Northern Nigeria has outperformed its North African kin only in the depth of its avarice, ineptness, choking corruption and monumental legacy of colossal waste. The Northern land mass that could have aspired to feed the continent is now a near wasteland. I hope that one day we may hear the voices of the disenchanted, the disenfranchised, and the despondent of the North. The question, after forty years, is; are the common people of the North happy with its leadership? Clearly not, in North Africa.