* Vows to drag FG to ICJ over Baga massacre
By Michael Olugbode

The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) Tuesday said the North
had decided not to play second fiddle in 2015 as the
position of the president rightly belong to the region and
the mistake of 2011 where the politicians were allowed to
trade away the right of the zone would not be tolerated.

The elders also said the North should be counted out of any arrangement that wouldn’t delivery the presidential ticket to the region, insisting that they will not accept anything short of the position of president.

This is coming even as the region threatens to drag the
federal government before the International Court of
Justice (ICJ) on Baga the incident where 185 persons were reported killed during the confrontation between soldiers and the Boko Haram sect.

At a separate meeting between Borno State Elders Forum
and the state Governor, Kashim Shettima, the NEF
revealed that a team of Lawyers had been put in place to
visit Baga town and come up with findings that would
determine its decision, saying if any organ of government
is found guilty, it will be dragged before the ICJ.
The forum said it was so much interested in the Baga
massacre and anyone who found to have given the order
which led to the killings would be take to the ICJ for
genocide.

Speaking on behalf of the forum, Alhaji Ango Abdullahi who stood in for the Chairman of NEF, Alhaji Maitama Sule, said the killing of innocent civilians in Baga town was unacceptable pointing out that the necessary findings must be made to fish out the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

Abdullahi, a former Vice-Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello
University (ABU) and founding member of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP), said the forum had already
commenced mobilisation of all northerners to have a
consensus candidate who would protect and project the
interest of the North ahead of the 2015 presidential
election.

"The NEF has no political party and no candidate, our party is the people of the North, so join us in this fight to take back power in 2015.

“We are not happy that the North is not playing active role in the present day. That is why we decided to bring
together our surviving elders. We resolved that something must be done, that the North ought to do more than it is currently doing in the affairs of the country. You know the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) is a socio-cultural group but in the current situation in this country, we need more than a socio-cultural group to address our challenges and that is why we came with the formation of the NEF. Our group believes that any discussion that will not bring back power to the North in 2015 is not in the interest of the north and its people," Abdullahi said.

He accused the northern governors and others political
bigwigs from the region for voting massively for President
Goodluck Jonathan, describing their actions as a "stupid
mistake which should not be allowed to repeat itself in
2015.

"We now know where the lapses are and we are going to
tackle the governors of the northern states. We have the
population and all it takes to produce the next president of this country.”

He noted that the North was responsible for its present
political and economic woes and that if urgent steps were
not taking by all stakeholders from the region "to take over power in 2015, the north may never have the opportunity to be in power in Nigeria again.

"This crises is the fault of the northerners, with due
respect, we derelict in so many ways, we allowed Obasanjo to come into power and he dealt with us severely, but we can still change things in 2015. It is better late than never. The North must rediscover itself as soon as possible.”

He said the North had the population to continuously
dominate the politics of the country by producing the
president and said it was unfortunate that the region can
be push aside.

Abdullahi said should the North decide to be independent
country with a population of 90 million, it will still be the
largest country on Africa.

He equally said it was arrogant for a section of the country to refer to the North as beggars and not contributing any resources to the commonwealth of the nation, arguing that at a point in the past, it was the resources from the North that was spent on the eastern and western regions, and was used in exploring the nation's oil.

Meanwhile a member of the Borno Elders’ Forum, Alhaji
Bulama Mali Gubio, had accused the North at the peak of
the Boko Haram crisis for abandoning Borno State to its
fate, saying it is unfair for NEF to come out now and start
preaching the unity of the northern region after so many
lives have been lost.

"At some point, I do not consider myself a northerner or
even a Nigerian because of how we were so abandoned to our fate," he said.

Shettima had promised to work closely with the forum to
further project the interest of the region pointing out that
"the North has no business begging any one for power
and even if the North which has 90 million population, it
will still remain the largest in Africa."
He said with the North having two-third of the nation land
resources, it should be at the fore front of everything “for
land is wealth and the most valuable of all resources.”

Source:www.thisdaylive.com/articles/nef-the-north-will-not-play-second-fiddle-in-2015/147506/

cool.

then they should better get set for the disintegration which is very sure!

BH interest = northern interest

Lmao everybody is threatening Nigeria this country has been abused and molested by so many. What a shame

We will whoop your asses in 2015

THAT IS VVERY TRUE.THE STAGE IS GETTING SET BY THE DAY.WHO OLD THIS GUYS THAT NIGERIA WAS AT A TIME BEEN

noblezone: cool.

then they should better get set for the disintegration which is very sure!

we allowed Obasanjo to come into power and he dealt with us severely, but we can still change things in 2015. It is better late than never. The North must rediscover itself as soon as possible.

I hear this statement every time from most northern leaders... Can someone tell me how OBJ did this? These people are shameful to say the least.

ilugunboy:

I hear this statement every time from most northern leaders... Can someone tell me how OBJ did this? These people are shameful to say the least.

My Brother, the type of ignorant and arrogant statements coming from these Northerners is baffling. They are gradually making it difficult for any sane Southerner to vote for any Northern candidate because its obvious these guys plan to enslave us again. We say NO to Hausa/Fulani dominance. Ruling Nigeria is not their birthright. Scumbags