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Buhari's Coup Was To Prevent Ekwueme From Succeeding Shagari. - Dr. Umaru Dikko - Politics - Nairaland

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Buhari's Coup Was To Prevent Ekwueme From Succeeding Shagari. - Dr. Umaru Dikko by silica(m): 11:36am On Nov 06, 2012
Hope For Nigeria
5 minutes ago
Buhari's Coup Was to Prevent Ekwueme from Succeeding Shagari. - Dr. Umaru Dikko. - By Shola Oshunkeye.

**Ekwueme reconfirms Umaru Dikko's statement.
**It was too early for Igbo to rule, after the War. They were lucky to get VP, It takes 200 years for loser to get leadership post - OBJ.

Last week, Dr. Alexander Ifeayinchukwu Ekwueme, former vice president, who clocked 80 on October 21, went back in time to recount his ordeal in the hands of coup plotters who toppled the government he ran with President Shehu Shagari on December 31, 1983.

His inference on the putsch would shock you. He said the latent reason the coupists struck was to stop him from succeeding President Shagari were he allowed to finish his second term as scheduled on October 1, 1987.

This week, the multi-disciplinary academic-turned-politician continues his story with his various efforts at helping Nigeria to midwife sustainable democracy and the hiccups he had to subdue in the campaign.

I read an interview where you said General Gowon's post war principles of the three 'R's-reconciliation, rehabilitation, and reconstruction. There was also his post-war philosophy of 'no victor, no vanquished', which you said were terribly, terribly flawed. Do you still stand by that or you have changed your mind?

I think we should draw a distinction between the three 'R's and the principle of 'no victor, no vanquished'. I think I applauded Gowon for the principle of 'no victor, no vanquished'. But I'm saying that, that was in real terms. In terms of implementation, it was observed more in the breach.

Question: How do you mean, sir?
Answer: At every turn, everybody here knew that he was vanquished. Ok, let me give you an example. Let's say on May 30, 1966, the day Biafra declared secession, if on that day, I had a million pounds in my bank account, and then I came on May 31 and withdrew half a million of that money; and then on June 1, I put back the half a million of the same money. Now, the way it was worked out by the Federal Ministry of Finance, at the end of the war, was that the money I took out on May 31, was good money. But the money I was returning was worthless money in the sense that it was no longer Nigerian money. So, I now ended up with half a million instead of one million. And if you take it all the way that one million could become zero. If you take and put, and take and put, what you take is discounted in the books of the bank. What you put is in fact credited. The debit is accepted but the credit is not accepted. So, it was calculated to impoverish those who are here. That cannot be an implementation of 'no victor, no vanquished' post-war philosophy. It is clearly against the vanquished. And then, no amount of money you have, when you go to exchange it, it is 20 pounds! And this 20 pounds, to get it, you have to sweat and fight! So, you can imagine.

This is not to talk about the issue of 'abandoned property', when the war was over and the people had to come back to nothing.

That was why I said the spirit in making this pronouncement is commendable but in actual terms of implementation, it was flawed.

Throughout his lifetime, till he died, Dim Odumegu Ojukwu kept saying the east have never been forgiven for the civil war which was principally why it has been impossible for any Igbo man to emerge as president of this country. Do you subscribe to that submission?

Well, I'm sorry, I'm an affected person. So, it is awkward for me to be the one talking about it. But I know that after Gen. Buhari's coup of December 31, 1983, Umaru Dikko gave a press conference. And he said at that press conference that the plotting of the coup was to prevent me from becoming president in 1987. That, that was the reason they had the coup. So, all this talk about corruption and all that, was neither here nor there.

The actual objective was to get you out of the way.

Oh, yes.

Question: What was their fear?
Answer: Well, I don't know, but it may because, as Ojukwu said, the East has not been forgiven. It may be because I'm from the East. That is one. And in 1999, PDP, which I nurtured from the scratch, bringing different associations together, nurturing them until we got registered as a political party...

Starting from G34 and...

Yes. Yes. In fact, it started from Institute of Civil Society, to All Politicians Summit, which I chaired in Eko Hotel, and which the military disorganised, and so on...to G. 34 which we formed at a great risk to my own person, then, to getting the different associations to form the PDP under my chairmanship, I handed it over to Chief Solomon Lar on September 12, 1998...

To become the first chairman of the Board of Trustees...

Yes. And then I went to go for the presidency against Gen. Obasanjo who was not around when we formed the party.

Obasanjo, who people had to go and beg from prison to come and run...

And yet you found out that some of those who were with me, dumped me at the last minute and they all went to vote for Obasanjo at the primary in Jos. Then, there was this rumour, again, that they did that because they didn't think that somebody from this part of the country should be president 'so soon' after the civil war. That's the rumour. And Obasanjo himself, when he came to Amaichi, in my state, I think in January 2001 or so, when he came for the 70th birthday of my friend, Chief Simon Okeke, who was the chairman of the Police Service Commission, he made a statement there publicly that Amaichi was where he had to take the surrender of Biafra. And that within nine years of ending of civil war, we had produced a vice president and we were now talking about looking for president. And that, historically, in some other countries where they had civil war like this, it took them 200 years or more after the civil war for them to become president. He was talking even about America where he said it took a long time before the southerners became president of the USA. He said this openly. So, to a large extent, what Ojukwu said was true.

But there is also this school of thought that believes that there seems to be no unity of purpose among the Igbos, most of the time, especially when it comes to the big stage. They are so factionalised.

Yes, it's true. Very true because we are Republicans to a fault. We are always described as a people with all chiefs and no aliens. They took from American cowboy films. There, you have a chief, an American Indian, and a thousand American Indians following him when they were fighting against the Americans in battles in the hinterland. There, it was one chief and so many Indians. But here, in this part of the country, we are all chiefs and no Indians. We are all leaders and no followers. Everybody aspires to be a leader, and no one aspires to be a follower.

Question: Can we talk about the state of the nation and coast home, sir? As the first chairman of PDP, and the first Board of Trustees' chairman, are you happy at the state of your party today?

Answer: Not at all. Not at all. I have said so many times that what we wanted the party to be is not what it is now. First, we wanted not just a party, but also a mass movement of all Nigerians. That was why we had four or five associations coming together, and on the we met to ratify the amalgam of these associations, we had many more associations coming to endorse. At the end of the day, we had about 10 associations coming to team up as against the four or five that we started with. And the idea was to a mass movement, to have a party that all Nigerian would have sense of belonging to, a party that would render such invaluable service to the citizens, a party that would enjoy mass support like the African National Congress, which is a century old as is still waxing strong by the day That was the idea.

And unfortunately there were many who did not follow the path of this philosophical underpinning that informed the formation of the party. Some just came to use the party as a vehicle for grabbing power because the party was popular, judging from its G.34 antecedents. It was very popular. And in the very first election, which was the local government election in December 1998, which was the litmus test for the final registration of parties by INEC, PDP swept the polls throughout the country except in the west. So, it was clear that anybody who wanted to be a president of Nigeria would have to belong to PDP to be able to attain that mission. So, a lot of people who didn't know anything about the spirit behind the formation of PDP jumped in and used it as a vehicle for grabbing power. And haven grabbed that power, they used it to destroy the party. That's when they wanted to turn the party into a personal fiefdom. They wanted to control the party, where they can use the party to perpetuate their hold on power. So, the first thing was to seize the party, and when the party becomes personal property, it's no longer the party that we contemplated when we got together, starting from June 1998 to August 31, when the manifesto and the name and the flag and the symbols and the motto and the constitution and all that, were formally adopted.

And some of those who seized power at the executive level did not do justice to the spirit of service, which we emphasised when we came together. We pledged to give selfless service to the people so that they won't go elsewhere for leadership. Today, the party is a shadow of itself and the entire pillars of democracy, which the party was grounded on, have already disappeared.

Could this have translated to the kind of impunity we see on the national stage in terms of governance? When people win power at the behest of godfathers who they are perpetually beholden to at the detriment of real service to the people, could this be the foundation of the misgovernance that we see?

Yes. As long as one person holds tightly to party power at the national level, in the various states, various godfathers would seize control of the party and dictate what the party does in those states. Which defeats the whole essence of the democratic norm, which informs the formation of the party in the first place.

Question: Sir, don't you think the PDP itself would have been better for it if Nigeria had a credible opposition? Wouldn't that have helped its internal democratic mechanisms?

Answer: The opposition today is fragmented, and the strength of the opposition is less than national in outlook. And it's difficult to see how a party or a group that is only interested in a section of the country can rule the country. No matter what you say about PDP and its shortcomings, it still remains the only party that has nationwide relevance. It's just like the NPN of our time, the Second Republic. In the Second Republic, if NPN was not the leading party in a state, it would be the second. It would be the runner-up. The same thing with PDP in this dispensation.

Question: Finally, in the 1994/1995 constitutional conference, you canvassed for a position about the need for us to have something like regionalism like we had in the First Republic, where we had three regions-Northern Region, Eastern Region, Western Region, and they were competing healthily among themselves.

Answer: Yes.

But it wasn't popular at the time you suggested it at the constitutional conference.

Yes, because people were intellectually lazy. The essence of what I was saying was that our independence, as Nigeria, was negotiated with our colonial masters on terms agreed by all the political leaders in Nigeria in the run-up to the First Republic over so many years. And the general agreement was that Nigeria would be run as a confederation of regions. Three regions to start with, eventually four regions in 1963. And each of these regions had its own constitution, and each region had a growth rate of as high as 11 percent, persistently, because of competition by the regions and the initiatives taken by the regional leadership. The only two drawbacks to the structure we had then were: one, imbalance in the size of the regions.

You're talking about the geography of the regions?

Yes, the geography and their putative population. The north was bigger than east and west put together, both in area and in recorded population.

Question: Why did you say 'recorded population'?

Question: Yes, because I am not satisfied that we have done a proper and reliable census of Nigeria all through the years.

Question: Why?

Answer: Because we do ad-hoc census. In 1979 August, when we were having a transition committee of the NPN, we suggested that we should set up a ministry of statistics demography so that we would have a record of everything under one umbrella; instead of having FEDECO, as it was then, having voters registration; Ministry of Internal Affairs having national identity card; having the same human beings; the National Population Commission having census. If we had a Ministry of Demography and Statistics, all these things would be there.

It would form our official database...

Yes. Births and deaths would be put into it automatically and the population would be ascertained based on empirical data. But each time we run through a census, it is a crash programme. We dole out money, do a count and push out figures that are out of this world. Then after the figures are out, we start adjusting until we get a figure that appears acceptable. Then, we publish it, and once it is accepted by the Council of State, it becomes the official figure.

Coming back to the question of the drawbacks of the regional structure, the north had vast rural areas and they recorded a census bigger than east and west put together. That was the first draw back.

The second drawback was that, within each region, there was a majority ethnic group and a lot of minority groups. In the north, Hausa/Fulani-majority; with a lot of minorities-Kanuri, Tiv, Junkun, Bachama, Igala, Nupe, Edoma, Gwari and so on. In the west, as it was then, we had Yoruba as the major group, we had Edo, Urhobo, Itsekiri, Isoko and so on. Then, in the East, we had Igbo as the dominant ethnic majority; then, we had Ijaw, Ibibio, Efik, Ogoja, and so on. And there was always tension between the majority ethnic groups and the minorities. In the north, there was the United Middle Belt Congress, UMBC, in opposition to the Hausa/Fulani majority. In the west, there was tension between the Midwest minorities, which eventually led to the creation of Midwest Region. In the east, there was the Calabar/Ogoja/Rivers in opposition to the Igbo majority. So, these were the two drawbacks to Nigeria's structure at the time.

There was an attempt to cure one of the two drawbacks by having three regions in the North, and three regions in the South so there was parity between North and South.

Now, to the six geopolitical zones...

Then, having three ethnic majority regions and three ethnic minority regions: northwest-mostly of Hausa/Fulani; southwest-mostlyYoruba; southeast-mostly Igbos; northeast-mostly minorities-Hausa/Fulani, Kanuri; north-central- a lot of minority groups-Nupe, Tiv, Gwari, Igala, Idoma and so on, including Yoruba in Kogi; and in the east, we have southeast and south-south

Made up mostly of the minority states of Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, and Cross River. So, once we have a balance between north and south, and between majority and minority, that would cure shortcomings in the regional structure of the First Republic. But when we do that, we would be operating on the basis of what we inherited, what we negotiated with our colonial masters, only reorganising it so that we would cure the deficiencies of the structure we had at that time. So, I put this forward in a minority report because the committee in which I served did not want anything to do with. So, I had to do in a minority report which I got eight other members to endorse.

Even to present that minority repot at the plenary caused uproar. They thought they could drown me by shouting me down but it didn't work. Eventually, I was protected by the chairman, Justice Adolphus Karibi-White, and his deputy, Justice Mamman Nasir. And it was accepted, not as a minority report. It was later adopted and included in the 1995 constitution, which the then head of State, General Sani Abacha was to propagate on October 1, 1998 before he died.

Question: Do you think that regionalism as we had it in the First Republic, plus the amendment you proposed, would have brought us to a much higher level, as a nation, than we are now? Or looking back again, do you think it would still have required some amendments?

Answer: Once we get the basic structure right, it was made for greater internal growth because, right now, the central government is so over-burdened and so powerful and the states cannot sustain themselves. They have to go cap-in-hand every month to draw allocation, to share money. The benefit of size and security, which the regions had, does not exist in the states. -
http://www.facebook.com/hopefornigeria


By Shola Oshunkeye.
Re: Buhari's Coup Was To Prevent Ekwueme From Succeeding Shagari. - Dr. Umaru Dikko by Nobody: 1:32pm On Nov 06, 2012
Ekwueme!

You are not getting younger oooo.
You Nigerian dream will remain a dream. Nigeria is too wide and wild to build be built as a nation.

Come back home now, let us what we can do to build the south east.

No talk say, I no warn you!
Re: Buhari's Coup Was To Prevent Ekwueme From Succeeding Shagari. - Dr. Umaru Dikko by kettykin: 2:59pm On Nov 06, 2012
Answer: At every turn, everybody here knew that he was vanquished. Ok, let me give you an example. Let's say on May 30, 1966, the day Biafra declared secession, if on that day, I had a million pounds in my bank account, and then I came on May 31 and withdrew half a million of that money; and then on June 1, I put back the half a million of the same money. Now, the way it was worked out by the Federal Ministry of Finance, at the end of the war, was that the money I took out on May 31, was good money. But the money I was returning was worthless money in the sense that it was no longer Nigerian money. So, I now ended up with half a million instead of one million. And if you take it all the way that one million could become zero. If you take and put, and take and put, what you take is discounted in the books of the bank. What you put is in fact credited. The debit is accepted but the credit is not accepted. So, it was calculated to impoverish those who are here. That cannot be an implementation of 'no victor, no vanquished' post-war philosophy. It is clearly against the vanquished. And then, no amount of money you have, when you go to exchange it, it is 20 pounds! And this 20 pounds, to get it, you have to sweat and fight! So, you can imagine.

I now realise why Nigeria has been swimming in the ocean of poverty and under development despite paradng men of God and jet flighing preachers.

The case against Gowon and Awolowo is before the court of Heaven and not just the ICC

1 Like

Re: Buhari's Coup Was To Prevent Ekwueme From Succeeding Shagari. - Dr. Umaru Dikko by ACM10: 3:56pm On Nov 06, 2012
Space reserved
Re: Buhari's Coup Was To Prevent Ekwueme From Succeeding Shagari. - Dr. Umaru Dikko by Elueme: 4:01pm On Nov 06, 2012
Igbos have to put the memory of the civil war and its consequences behind them and refocus on nationhood.. This ignomity is further tarnishing their collective image. It is a common knowledge that there was a conspiracy theory which was targeted at fighting the Igbo course but one major obstacle to the actualisation of the Igbo dream( pls, not Biafra) is inherent greed among themselves and the inability to speak with a united voice. My Igbo brothers must agree to this fundamental mistake which the north in particular has used to hoodwink them in the political scene and start from scratch. Demanding for 2015 presidency and also asking for a recognition of the biafran sovereignty amounts to double standard and gross lack of unseriousness. If I were you, I will take my time to work within my ranks, re orientate my people and unify different interest and forces among us, squash every agitation for a republic , rechannel my energy into equality in the area of state creation as well the actualisation of true federalism or geopolitical zones. Another important attitude ibos might have to exhibite to tell of their political maturity is sacrifice. The north has not voiced vehemently against the recent agitation for presidency, not because their silence is an endorsement but they see this agitation as a necessary evil and tool to destabilize your cousins in the south south in the event of Jonathan coming into the race so they can have an easy ride after a south with divergent views and writhing in political brouhaha. Presidency of 2015, may not come your way if you understood the polity but your future chances may be dependent on how longer a non northerner stays at the hem of affairs to help correct so many injustices and anomalies to pave way for equity. In essence, I am advising on your unalloyed support to GEJ since providence has brought him this far.
Re: Buhari's Coup Was To Prevent Ekwueme From Succeeding Shagari. - Dr. Umaru Dikko by Nobody: 4:47pm On Nov 06, 2012
If the comments of most Igbo posters on Nairaland is any measure and gauge of the feeling and outlook of the average Igbo person...then I say it emphatically that Political power at the center in the hands of an Igbo man is dangerous...he will either use it to achieve one or both of two things:

1. Correct perceived injustice arising from the Civil war.

2. Dismember Nigeria as we know it today.

Both of these can lead to serious blood letting.
Re: Buhari's Coup Was To Prevent Ekwueme From Succeeding Shagari. - Dr. Umaru Dikko by Afam4eva(m): 5:04pm On Nov 06, 2012
Of course there's a calculated attempt at letting an Igbo man or woman assume the seat of the president. Something always comes up whenever we inch close to an Igbo presidency. I'm earnestly waiting for what next they will come up with this time.
Re: Buhari's Coup Was To Prevent Ekwueme From Succeeding Shagari. - Dr. Umaru Dikko by 9jaIhail(m): 5:31pm On Nov 06, 2012
ilugunboy: If the comments of most Igbo posters on Nairaland is any measure and gauge of the feeling and outlook of the average Igbo person...then I say it emphatically that Political power at the center in the hands of an Igbo man is dangerous...he will either use it to achieve one or both of two things:

1. Correct perceived injustice arising from the Civil war.

2. Dismember Nigeria as we know it today.

Both of these can lead to serious blood letting.

Are you saying that after spending a whole lots of time reading long interview from papa Ekwueme, what you came up with is to divert from commenting in line with what you just read to bash igbo's which has become a daily job for you guys? In fact some of you yoruba's are stvpid to the core, sorry that i looses my temper on you but truth be told some of you guys from Yoruba origin is very sick in the head.Mind you i said some yoruba's which you are included other nice ones are excepted but it maybe 20%

1 Like

Re: Buhari's Coup Was To Prevent Ekwueme From Succeeding Shagari. - Dr. Umaru Dikko by PROUDIGBO(m): 5:33pm On Nov 06, 2012
ilugunboy: If the comments of most Igbo posters on Nairaland is any measure and gauge of the feeling and outlook of the average Igbo person...then I say it emphatically that Political power at the center in the hands of an Igbo man is dangerous...he will either use it to achieve one or both of two things:

1. Correct perceived injustice arising from the Civil war.

2. Dismember Nigeria as we know it today.

Both of these can lead to serious blood letting.

^^^The fears you raised would only come to pass in an ABSOLUTE MONARCHY and would not be possible with the national assembly and civil society acting as a check on the President over-reaching himself; this is one reason GEJ has not been as radical as i'm sure he would have liked to be in sorting out this country.....certain peoples and groups are watching him like a Hawk!

Any other excuse for not wanting an Igbo to be President?
Re: Buhari's Coup Was To Prevent Ekwueme From Succeeding Shagari. - Dr. Umaru Dikko by Nobody: 5:36pm On Nov 06, 2012
9ja_I_hail:

Are you saying that after spending a whole lots of time reading long interview from papa Ekwueme, what you came up with is to divert from commenting in line with what you just read to bash igbo's which has become a daily job for you guys? In fact some of you yoruba's are stvpid to the core, sorry that i looses my temper on you but truth be told some of you guys from Yoruba origin is very sick in the head.Mind you i said some yoruba's which you are included other nice ones are excepted but it maybe 20%

grin grin grin grin.......because what I wrote there is the un-written reasons why you and you ilk will never be President by default of your name.

You can keep abusing, cursing me and kicking your legs in the air...it changes nothing. That is the truth. You are a second class Nigerian...your thoughtless war made you one!

1 Like

Re: Buhari's Coup Was To Prevent Ekwueme From Succeeding Shagari. - Dr. Umaru Dikko by thelastPope(m): 5:54pm On Nov 06, 2012
I will keep posting that Buhari was one of the worst things to happen to Nigeria no matter what some eediots say on this forum. His anti corruption trash talk is exactly that; trash talk!
Re: Buhari's Coup Was To Prevent Ekwueme From Succeeding Shagari. - Dr. Umaru Dikko by 9javoice1(m): 6:00pm On Nov 06, 2012
by ilugunboy(m): 4:47pm
If the comments of most Igbo posters on Nairaland is any measure and gauge of the feeling and outlook of the average Igbo person...then I say it emphatically that Political power at the center in the hands of an Igbo man is dangerous...he will either use it to achieve one or both of two things:
1. Correct perceived injustice arising from the Civil war.
2. Dismember Nigeria as we know it today.
Both of these can lead to serious blood letting.

my brother pls be objective for once. what do we want from Nigeria if not progress. but if that refuse to happen because tribalism here and there,
why not dismember it so that we all shall live separatly in peace.

the man ekwueme has proven to be wiser than his peers. infact the wisest in today Nigeria politics.
Ekwueme's analysis of Nigeria situation and strategy for development to all region is superb.
Re: Buhari's Coup Was To Prevent Ekwueme From Succeeding Shagari. - Dr. Umaru Dikko by Ngodigha: 6:08pm On Nov 06, 2012
ilugunboy:

grin grin grin grin.......because what I wrote there is the un-written reasons why you and you ilk will never be President by default of your name.

You can keep abusing, cursing me and kicking your legs in the air...it changes nothing. That is the truth. You are a second class Nigerian...your thoughtless war made you one!
Piggy, why wont you be insulted when you only reason with your rectum instead of brain.
Re: Buhari's Coup Was To Prevent Ekwueme From Succeeding Shagari. - Dr. Umaru Dikko by 9javoice1(m): 6:08pm On Nov 06, 2012
And yet you found out that some of those who were with me, dumped me at the last minute and they all went to vote for Obasanjo at the primary in Jos. Then, there was this rumour, again, that they did that because they didn't think that somebody from this part of the country should be president 'so soon' after the civil war. That's the rumour. And Obasanjo himself, when he came to Amaichi, in my state, I think in January 2001 or so, when he came for the 70th birthday of my friend, Chief Simon Okeke, who was the chairman of the Police Service Commission, he made a statement there publicly that Amaichi was where he had to take the surrender of Biafra. And that within nine years of ending of civil war, we had produced a vice president and we were now talking about looking for president. And that, historically, in some other countries where they had civil war like this, it took them 200 years or more after the civil war for them to become president. He was talking even about America where he said it took a long time before the southerners became president of the USA. He said this openly. So, to a large extent, what Ojukwu said was true.

Obj never blv that people will understand his meaning. He try to make it look as if nigeria is doing a favor to igbos by making one of them second in command.
those are history and the future histories are about to happen.


do we all see how Ekwueme point out obj's word and record it to obj without calling it a yoruba voice but if it is an igbo man that says that,
all over the news will have it that the igbos never love them. pls can we be objective for once.
Re: Buhari's Coup Was To Prevent Ekwueme From Succeeding Shagari. - Dr. Umaru Dikko by Nobody: 6:11pm On Nov 06, 2012
Ngodigha:
Piggy, why wont you be insulted when you only reason with your rectum instead of brain.

Monkey.... grin grin You never die?
Re: Buhari's Coup Was To Prevent Ekwueme From Succeeding Shagari. - Dr. Umaru Dikko by 9javoice1(m): 6:14pm On Nov 06, 2012
Speaking at a recent Leadership Newspapers Awards event held at Abuja and reported by Thisday Newspaper of September 19th 2012, Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar reportedly stated as follows.

“[b]I want to recall that during the 1994-95 Constitutional Conference, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, the Second Republic vice-president of this federation, introduced and canvassed for the concept of geopolitical zones.

“I was among those who opposed it because I thought that Ekwueme, coming from the defunct Republic of Biafra, wanted to break up the country again.

“Now, I realise that I should have supported him because our current federal structure is clearly not working. Dr. Ekwueme obviously saw what some of us, with our civil war mindset, could not see at the time. There is indeed too much concentration of power and resources at the centre.

“And it is stifling our march to true greatness as a nation and threatening our unity because of all the abuses, inefficiencies, corruption and reactive tensions that it has been generating.

“There is need, therefore, to review the structure of the Nigerian federation, preferably along the basis of the current six geopolitical zones as regions and the states as provinces.[/b]

“The existing states structure may not suffice, as the states are too weak materially and politically to provide what is needed for good governance.”
Re: Buhari's Coup Was To Prevent Ekwueme From Succeeding Shagari. - Dr. Umaru Dikko by 9jaIhail(m): 6:18pm On Nov 06, 2012
9ja voice:

Obj never blv that people will understand his meaning. He try to make it look as if nigeria is doing a favor to igbos by making one of them second in command.
those are history and the future histories are about to happen.


do we all see how Ekwueme point out obj's word and record it to obj without calling it a yoruba voice but if it is an igbo man that says that,
all over the news will have it that the igbos never love them. pls can we be objective for once.


@Bold part. Yes they see it but they will not admit it rather they will just leave what they read and start commenting things that will lead to igbo bashing to divert the thread into Igbo hating.Or they will tell you that they are the most intellectual and civilized region in Nigeria, but when you need them to act like one you won't find them rather igbos will be doing the intellectual job for them.
Re: Buhari's Coup Was To Prevent Ekwueme From Succeeding Shagari. - Dr. Umaru Dikko by Nobody: 6:19pm On Nov 06, 2012
LMAO....as is clear even to a retard Nigeria has totaaaaally moved on from the war! Igbo whiners should dooooooo de same.

OBJ's minor comment about some people not smelling the presidential seat for 200 years notwithstanding, of course.

Up Naija!

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Re: Buhari's Coup Was To Prevent Ekwueme From Succeeding Shagari. - Dr. Umaru Dikko by 9javoice1(m): 6:23pm On Nov 06, 2012
For Ekwueme, a timely birthday gift from Atiku, By Chudi Offodile
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Published: October 17,2012

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Ekwueme did not become President and today, may not even be powerful in the party he founded but the ideas he put forth will serve this country well
The annual awards and lecture of the Leadership Newspaper held at the Sheraton hotel, Abuja, on the 18th of September, 2012, provided an opportunity for Turaki, Atiku Abubakar [GCON] to present, what I consider, a befitting and timely birthday gift to Dr Alex Ekwueme [GCON], former Vice president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria [1979-2003], who turns 80 on October, 21, 2012.
Atiku Abubakar, himself, a former Vice President of Nigeria [1999-2007] while reviewing the structure of the Nigerian state at the event, had this to say: “I also want to recall that during the said 1994-95 constitutional conference, Dr Alex Ekwueme [GCON] former Vice President of the federation, introduced and canvassed for the concept of geo-political zones. I was among those who opposed it because I taught that Ekwueme, coming from the defunct Republic of Biafra, wanted to break up the country again. Dr Ekwueme obviously saw what some of us, with our civil war mindset, could not see at the time. There is indeed too much concentration of power and resources at the centre. And it is stifling our march to true greatness as a nation and threatening our unity because of all the abuses, inefficiencies, corruption and reactive tensions that it has been generating.
Continuing, he said: ‘There is need, therefore, to review the structure of the Nigerian federation, preferably along the basis of the current six geo-political zones as regions and the states as Provinces. The existing state structure may not suffice, as the states are too weak materially and politically to provide what is needed for good governance’.
Atiku Abubakar may not have intended his remarks to be a birthday gift but I am convinced that it is a precious gift that is timely and befitting, because at 80 years, Dr Ekwueme has played his part as an architect, a successful one, a politician who became Vice President and a statesman who crafted an intelligent way forward for a country he truly loves. Ekwueme’s idea connects to our history in a special way. It reconciles our past with the present and offers limitless opportunities for a bright future for Nigeria.
Atiku’s intervention marks a remarkable and fundamental shift in the ‘thinking’ of the northern political establishment. Former military President, General Ibrahim Babangida has in the past suggested that the country needs to be restructured. Even General Buhari’s Congress for Progressive change, made restructuring of the federation, an issue in the last campaign but Atiku was direct and specific. He acknowledged the need to review the structure of the Nigerian federation, preferably along the basis of the current six geo-political zones as regions and the states as provinces.
Nigeria may be moving slowly but surely towards achieving a modus Vivendi on the question of restructuring. First is to cast away the ‘civil war mindset’ as Atiku has done and take a hard look at the journey so far. The way forward is a proper federal arrangement, a just and equitable power sharing formula that will command the loyalty of all Nigerians and pave the path for nationhood. The six geo-political zones as federating units is the best formula put forward so far in our long search for a stable system in post war Nigeria. Atiku Abubakar’s candour, rare to find in our country is quite commendable, although he was silent on the issue of rotation of power, the other leg of the Ekwueme submission at the constitutional conference.
Dr Alex Ekwueme was born on October, 21, 1932 in Okoh, Orumba North local government area of Anambra state. He completed his high school education at Kings College, Lagos on a government scholarship and passed the Cambridge school certificate examination with grade one in December 1949. He was one of the first four Nigerians to be awarded the Fulbright scholarship financed by the U S State department, following which he enrolled at University of Washington for the degree of B.Arch in Architecture and City Planning in 1952.
While pursuing his undergraduate degree in Architecture, he also earned a B.A in sociology in 1955. Concurrently, in June 1955, he sat for the B.A degree examination of the University of London as an external candidate in History, Philosophy and Constitutional Law and passed. He received his M.A degree in urban planning in March, 1957. He worked as an Architect in the United States, United Kingdom and finally in Nigeria where he set up the first Nigerian registered Architectural firm in Lagos in 1958. He was elected President of the Nigerian Institute of architects in 1965.
During the Nigeria/Biafra civil war, Dr Ekwueme returned to Eastern Nigeria [Biafra] and became the Head of planning of the Biafra National Airports Board. He obtained his doctorate degree, Ph.D in 1978 from the School of Architecture, Building Science and Planning of the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland. Once again, concurrently with his Ph.D research work, he registered for and obtained the L.L.B degree of the University of London in 1978.
Dr Ekwueme was elected Vice President of Nigeria in 1979 as running mate to Alhaji Shehu Shagari on the ticket of the defunct National Party of Nigeria, [NPN]. They were re-elected in 1983 but were overthrown in a military coup in December of 1983. Several of the civilian leadership went on trial before a military tribunal set up by the military junta led by General Muhamadu Buhari. It is a tribute to Dr Ekwueme’s incorruptibility that the panel announced publicly, after all investigations, that Ekwueme had left politics poorer than he was when he entered it and that to ask for more from him was to set a standard which even saints would be unable to meet.
Dr Ekwueme’s next political outing was as an elected delegate to the 1994-95 national constitutional conference where he served on the committee on the structure and framework of the constitution and where he made the ‘prescriptions’ for a durable and stable polity known as the six zonal structure. In April 1998, he led a group of eminent citizens popularly referred to as G-34 that confronted former military Head of State, late General Sani Abacha, asking him to perish the idea of succeeding himself.
G-34 with other groups became the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] with Ekwueme as the founding chairman. Dr Ekwueme failed in his bid to become the Presidential candidate of the party in the 1999 Presidential election. He had delivered his local government, Orumba North, his state Anambra, and his zone, South East, as demanded by the party as a pre-condition for qualification to contest the Presidential primaries. Something went wrong but that is not the subject of this write up.
Dr Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme notified the Igbo Nation of his Presidential aspirations and asked them to follow him to the PDP. A significant number of Igbo political heavyweights, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Chief Arthur Nzeribe to mention but a few, refused and joined the APP as it then was. But Ndigbo had decided to follow Ekwueme to the PDP.
The PDP swept the South East from local government elections to the gubernatorial elections. I stand on very firm grounds when I say, that almost all elected officials from the South East who were elected in 1999, on the ticket of the PDP, owe their political ascendancy to Ekwueme’s effort in rallying the Igbos behind his presidential aspiration. Did we keep faith? Again, that is not the focus of this discourse. Elili malu ngwugwu, mana ngwugwu ma onye kelie!
Dr Ekwueme did not become President of Nigeria and today, may not even be a powerful figure in the party he founded [PDP] but the ideas he put forth will serve this Country well and his place in history is firmly assured.
Ide Aguata N’ Orumba, Ide Nigeria, Awolo Awka n’ekene gi.
Happy Birthday Sir!
Hon Chudi Offodile is a lawyer and former member, House of Representatives
Re: Buhari's Coup Was To Prevent Ekwueme From Succeeding Shagari. - Dr. Umaru Dikko by 9javoice1(m): 6:25pm On Nov 06, 2012
Question: Yes, because I am not satisfied that we have done a proper and reliable census of Nigeria all through the years.

Question: Why?

Answer: Because we do ad-hoc census. In 1979 August, when we were having a transition committee of the NPN, we suggested that we should set up a ministry of statistics demography so that we would have a record of everything under one umbrella; instead of having FEDECO, as it was then, having voters registration; Ministry of Internal Affairs having national identity card; having the same human beings; the National Population Commission having census. If we had a Ministry of Demography and Statistics, all these things would be there.

It would form our official database...

plus 1000
Re: Buhari's Coup Was To Prevent Ekwueme From Succeeding Shagari. - Dr. Umaru Dikko by 9javoice1(m): 6:28pm On Nov 06, 2012
Question: Sir, don't you think the PDP itself would have been better for it if Nigeria had a credible opposition? Wouldn't that have helped its internal democratic mechanisms?

Answer: The opposition today is fragmented, and the strength of the opposition is less than national in outlook. And it's difficult to see how a party or a group that is only interested in a section of the country can rule the country. No matter what you say about PDP and its shortcomings, it still remains the only party that has nationwide relevance. It's just like the NPN of our time, the Second Republic. In the Second Republic, if NPN was not the leading party in a state, it would be the second. It would be the runner-up. The same thing with PDP in this dispensation.

words sir.

who can say it better than this.
Re: Buhari's Coup Was To Prevent Ekwueme From Succeeding Shagari. - Dr. Umaru Dikko by 9javoice1(m): 6:30pm On Nov 06, 2012
The second drawback was that, within each region, there was a majority ethnic group and a lot of minority groups. In the north, Hausa/Fulani-majority; with a lot of minorities-Kanuri, Tiv, Junkun, Bachama, Igala, Nupe, Edoma, Gwari and so on. In the west, as it was then, we had Yoruba as the major group, we had Edo, Urhobo, Itsekiri, Isoko and so on. Then, in the East, we had Igbo as the dominant ethnic majority; then, we had Ijaw, Ibibio, Efik, Ogoja, and so on. And there was always tension between the majority ethnic groups and the minorities. In the north, there was the United Middle Belt Congress, UMBC, in opposition to the Hausa/Fulani majority. In the west, there was tension between the Midwest minorities, which eventually led to the creation of Midwest Region. In the east, there was the Calabar/Ogoja/Rivers in opposition to the Igbo majority. So, these were the two drawbacks to Nigeria's structure at the time.

There was an attempt to cure one of the two drawbacks by having three regions in the North, and three regions in the South so there was parity between North and South.

Now, to the six geopolitical zones...

Then, having three ethnic majority regions and three ethnic minority regions: northwest-mostly of Hausa/Fulani; southwest-mostlyYoruba; southeast-mostly Igbos; northeast-mostly minorities-Hausa/Fulani, Kanuri; north-central- a lot of minority groups-Nupe, Tiv, Gwari, Igala, Idoma and so on, including Yoruba in Kogi; and in the east, we have southeast and south-south

Made up mostly of the minority states of Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, and Cross River. So, once we have a balance between north and south, and between majority and minority, that would cure shortcomings in the regional structure of the First Republic. But when we do that, we would be operating on the basis of what we inherited, what we negotiated with our colonial masters, only reorganising it so that we would cure the deficiencies of the structure we had at that time. So, I put this forward in a minority report because the committee in which I served did not want anything to do with. So, I had to do in a minority report which I got eight other members to endorse.

now i can see clearly the wisdom in six geo-political zone.
infact ekwueme you are the real president nigeria never had because of tribalism.
Re: Buhari's Coup Was To Prevent Ekwueme From Succeeding Shagari. - Dr. Umaru Dikko by Nobody: 6:31pm On Nov 06, 2012
Right, Buhari and co took over not because Ekwueme and Dikko were horribly corrupt but because they didnt want an Igbo man as President......

If that was the case why did Buhari go to great lengths (causing an international imbroglio on the way) to grab Umaru Dikko, contain him in a crate meant for cargo, and try to extradite him to Nigeria to face corruption charges; WAS IT BECAUSE UMARU DIKKO WAS IGBO TOO?!

"The issue of corruption is neither here nor there" indeed.

Nigerians, please stop letting these useless old men that are supposed to have been executed eons ago for destroying the future of generations keep taking advantage of you guys.

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Re: Buhari's Coup Was To Prevent Ekwueme From Succeeding Shagari. - Dr. Umaru Dikko by 9javoice1(m): 6:33pm On Nov 06, 2012
Question: Do you think that regionalism as we had it in the First Republic, plus the amendment you proposed, would have brought us to a much higher level, as a nation, than we are now? Or looking back again, do you think it would still have required some amendments?

Answer: Once we get the basic structure right, it was made for greater internal growth because, right now, the central government is so over-burdened and so powerful and the states cannot sustain themselves. They have to go cap-in-hand every month to draw allocation, to share money. The benefit of size and security, which the regions had, does not exist in the states. -


Ekwueme i must say that you are God sent to nigeria.
Your wisdom is from above not human.
Re: Buhari's Coup Was To Prevent Ekwueme From Succeeding Shagari. - Dr. Umaru Dikko by 9jaIhail(m): 6:35pm On Nov 06, 2012
ilugunboy:

Welll...like i keep telling you, you are a person if you still can't read the handwriting on the wall....mene-mene Tekel Uphrasin...read negro!

Hausas can't stand you...the Yorubas detest you! You can't get the Presidency in this Nigeriaghansitan (whatever that means to you) without the support of either.

Let the insult continues....it changes nothing like I said. I repeat, in the scheme of Nigeria political system...you are second class.

person! cheesy cheesy grin grin

Yes because u are first class citizen that's why your elites/leaders continue dying as ex convicts right? Or should i name them? This question is very simple to answer so don't come back with long explanation or apology.
Re: Buhari's Coup Was To Prevent Ekwueme From Succeeding Shagari. - Dr. Umaru Dikko by 9javoice1(m): 6:39pm On Nov 06, 2012
kingoflag(m): 6:31pm
Right, Buhari took over not because Ekueme and Dikko were horribly corrupt but because they didnt want an Igbo man as President......
If that was the case why did Buhari go to great lengths (causing an international imbroglio on the way) to grab Umaru Dikko, contain him in a crate meant for cargo, and try to extradite him to Nigeria to face corruption charges; WAS IT BECAUSE UMARU DIKKO WAS IGBO TOO?!
Nigerians, please stop letting these useless old men that need to have been executed eons ago for destroying the future of generations keep taking advantage of you guys.

are you for real, did you write the stuff in qoute yourself or is that a typo error?

when arm robbers rob a bank and come back to the public and spread some of the money to the poor,
does that in anyway justify their robbery offence?

why are some people thinking upside down?
Re: Buhari's Coup Was To Prevent Ekwueme From Succeeding Shagari. - Dr. Umaru Dikko by Nobody: 6:41pm On Nov 06, 2012
Anything done during Obasanjo's era of IBB's era should not be trusted. This is a good rule of thumb for all Nigerians to go by. If the Census was carried out 1979 then it was carried out at the tail end of Obj era as military ruler.
Re: Buhari's Coup Was To Prevent Ekwueme From Succeeding Shagari. - Dr. Umaru Dikko by Nobody: 6:43pm On Nov 06, 2012
But nobody has told us why Abiola's election was nullifed !
Re: Buhari's Coup Was To Prevent Ekwueme From Succeeding Shagari. - Dr. Umaru Dikko by Nobody: 6:44pm On Nov 06, 2012
9ja voice:

are you for real, did you write the stuff in qoute yourself or is that a typo error?

when arm robbers rob a bank and come back to the public and spread some of the money to the poor,
does that in anyway justify their robbery offence?

why are some people thinking upside down?

My friend, if you dont have a good retort its not imperative that you voice something just for the hell of it. If you are too young to remember the Shagari era, I'd advice that you pick up a few books and learn your history.
Re: Buhari's Coup Was To Prevent Ekwueme From Succeeding Shagari. - Dr. Umaru Dikko by 9javoice1(m): 6:44pm On Nov 06, 2012
when the major intention is achived Buhari and co has to move on with other issues.
i hope you get it now.

not only umaru dikko and atiku speaks in support of Ekwueme genuine and progresive intention,
too many progresive nigerians are with same idea.

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