POLITICS OF ZONING IN NIGERIA AND THE QUESTION OF PRESIDENCY FROM THE IGBO EXTRACTION

Abstract

Zoning as a system of power distribution has since been operational in Nigeria. Different cycles of electioneering trumps up discourse on this reality. As the 2023 presidential election draws forward, talks about zoning has found itself on the political air once again. The Igbos of the South Eastern Nigeria have laid claim to presidency this time, given that it is the only region in the South that has not produced the president. The call is, however, not without opposing voices from other blocs and surprising from within especially among the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) but for other reasons. The present work is therefore poised to examine the concept and practice of zoning in Nigeria with the aim of assessing the call for presidency from Igbo extraction. To do this, the work uses the method of analysis and hermeneutics. The piece maintains that zoning is a contextualized system of power distribution in Nigeria. It first the concept of zoning related concepts of quota system and federal principle and further shows the evolution of the practice in the Nigerian political history. The work then zeroes in on the question of presidency from Igbo extraction. It handles this in the light of the history of zoning in Nigeria and of the Igbos. While it notes that the call for president of Igbo extraction is justifiable, it observes that zoning system by not being enshrined in the constitution is simply left to the vagaries of politicking which could assume the form of realpolitik that care only about beneficial results for oneself sometimes at the expense of justice. This means that the Igbo, while being adamant in their quest, must build bridges with other regions. To do this, they must find a way of integrating the staccato of voices among them, for the purpose of creative symphony and furnishing a common front.