THE 2014 NIGERIAN NATIONAL CONFERENCE - FACTS NIGERIANS SHOULD KNOW

1.Before January 1914, there was no COUNTRY in the world called and known as NIGERIA.

2.The Northern territory of what is now known as Nigeria was inhabited by different independent ethnic nationalities, kingdoms and some socio-economic formations.

The JIHAD brought about the imposition of Islamic religion on the people of the Northern territory.

3.Similarly, the Southern territory of what is now known as Nigeria was inhabited by different independent ethnic nationalities, kingdoms and some socio-economic formations.

The advent of the British Colonial masters brought about the imposition of Christianity and Western education on the people of the Southern territory.

4. In the year 1900 the British government took control of the Trade territory belonging to the ROYAL NIGER COMPANY which was under the leadership of Sir George .T. Goldie.

5. In the year 1901 the British government made the territory a British protectorate and a part of the British Empire.

6. In the year 1914, under Governor General Lord Fredrick Lugard, the British government formally united the people of the NIGER AREA as the COLONY and protectorate of NIGERIA. This exercise was known as the Amalgamation. But administratively, Nigeria remained divided into the Northern and Southern Provinces and LAGOS Colony.

7.The Amalgamation exercise was done without a Referendum or Plebiscite to ascertain the wishes of the people.

It was, therefore, a FORCED Union which remained so until October 01, 1960 when Nigeria gained independence regardless of expressed fears of domination and demands for self-determination by various minority ethnic nationalities in Nigeria.

It is a truism that the modusoperandi of all Imperial governments and Colonialists is the use of force to conquer and subdue the people of the Colonies.That achieved, they proceed to loot, plunder, and confiscate the people’s Assets for their home governments.They are usually no different from an Occupation Army in a conquered territory.

8.The‘NIGER AREA People’(NIGERIA) given as the name of the Country after the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern territories is merely a geographical description. It is in the same manner thatthey named Gold Coast (now GHANA)and IVORY COAST by geographical descriptions. There is therefore nothing sacrosanct or even sentimental about the name NIGERIA.

Late Chief ObafemiAwolowo was therefore correct in saying that Nigeria was “a mere geographical expression’.

If our Nation, Nigeria, had a common ancestry or heritage, perhaps, we could have just before or after independence changed the name –NIGERIA. Like individuals, nations also do seek identity. Accordingly, some Nations before or after the attainment of independence change their name in an effort to preserve their history and rich heritage.Northern Rhodesia changed to ZAMBIA and Southern Rhodesia changed to ZIMBABWE. Gold Coast changed its name to GHANA.The Ghana name change caused some misgivings.

President Kwame NKWRUMAH’s political opponents contended that Ghana was not a vocabulary of any of the languages of the ethnic groups in the country. They contended that President Kwame NKRUMAH who was popularly called “OSAGYEFO”(The MESIAH) was too ambitious and was planning to make himself synonymous with the Nation. As a logical sequence of their reasoning, they contended that GHANA was a coinage of President Kwame NKRUMAH which meant – ‘GOD HAS ACCEPTED NKRUMAH ALREADY’. – G – H – A – N – A.

But this is not true. Rather GHANA is reminiscent of the source of the name GUINEA and Ghana sits upon the Gulf of Guinea. The French called it GUINOVE and used to refer to the West African Coast of Ghana as the Gulf of Guinea.

Ghana was adopted as the legal name for the area covering four separate Constitutional positions, namely:

1. The Colony of the Gold Coast
2. The Colony of Ashanti
3. The Protectorate of the Northern Territories, and
4. The Trust Territory of Togo land (under British administration)

The British Minister over seeing Ghana’s independence Charles Arden-Clarke (Lord Listowel) confirmed that the name GHANA was chosen in accordance with the wishes of the local people.

Historically, an ancient empire once sprawled over the areas of Ghana, Mali, to Guinea. This must have informed Kwame NKRUMAH’s formation of the Ghana – Guinea – Mali Union. KWAME NKRUMAHjust like Dr.NnamdiAzikiwe of Nigeria, always played broker politics and never played ethnic politics. Both men had their university education in the United States of America. Their politics must have been influenced by the American education. Dr.Azikiwe after his studies in the United States of America returned to Africa and lived and worked in the Gold Coast (Ghana) in the mid – 1930s with great men such as the elder States man Dr. J.B. DANQUAH – the Doyen of Gold Coast politics who unfortunately in his later life was detained by the Nkrumah government and thrown into the notorious dark underground Prison called NSAWAM. That is the other side of African politics! During the military regime in Nigeria we had our own version of the South African’s notorious ROBBEN ISLAND (where MANDELA was in prison). That of Nigeria was at ITA-OKO Island off Epe, near Lagos where people were ferried to and detained. Truly, man’s inhumanity to man makes countless thousands weep. We all forget that life is short, and what is more, it is very uncertain.

Kwame Nkrumah was himself over thrown from office while he was abroad on official visit by a Military Coup code named “OPERATION COLD CHOP” led by Field Marshal AKWASI AFRIFA on 24 February 1966 – One month and Nine days after the Nigeria first military coup of Saturday 15 January 1966.

9.On October 01, 1960 Nigeria gained independence and became free from British rule. This meant that the BONDAGE had ended. It also meant that their ownership of the Assets and the Mineral of the people of Nigeria had ended.

But our political founding fathers Late Dr.NnamdiAzikiwe, Late Ahmadu Bello and Late Chief ObafemiAwolowo failed to undertake some crucial initial political tasks of holding a National Conference to determine-

(a) Whether they should go their separate ways – Dr.NnamdiAzikiweto the East, Sir Ahmadu Bello to the North and Chief AbafemiAwolowoto the West. After all, that type of arrangement was made for South West and North West parts of the Cameroon which were part of Nigeria. In 1961 (one year after our independence) a plebiscite was held to decide whether they will remain in Nigeria or join the French speaking Republic of Cameroon. The uncertainty surrounding what will be the outcome of the plebiscite causedthe people of both countries ominous feelings. The result of the plebiscite was as follows:-

(i) The North Western part of Cameroon opted to remain in Nigeria (within the North Eastern part of the Northern Region of Nigeria). When the LAMIDO of Adamawa, at the ongoing Nigerian National Conference spoke of having where to go to if pushed out, (of Nigeria), he knew what he was saying. And he was absolutely correct.

(ii) The South Western part of Cameroon opted out of the Eastern region of Nigeria.


(iii) The result created population in-balance between the North and South of Nigeria.

(iv) The result also specifically reduced the population of the Eastern Region of Nigeria.


(v) The result affected the name of my political party- the N.C.N.C. (National Council of Nigeria and Cameroons). Since the South Western part of Cameroon was no more part of Nigeria, and as they and their leader Dr. ENDELEY had joined the Republic of Cameroon, the name Cameroon in N.C.N.C had to be drooped.

However, to retain the initials N.C.N.C which was popular with the Nigerian electorates, the new name became National Council of Nigerian Citizens – the same N.C.N.C initials.

But out of mischief, our political opponents and detractors called us N.C.N.C – NO CASH, NO CO-OPERATION! They probably believed that enough lobbying was not done to persuade the people of South West Cameroon stay with the Eastern Region of Nigeria. Others attributed the loss of South West Cameroon to marginalisation or unfair treatment they alleged to have experienced in Eastern Nigeria.

The point here is that a similar exercise should have been done for the North and South of Nigeria to determine their wishes.

(b) Whether they should stay together, and if so, under what clear terms and conditions which should have been reduced to structures and institutions.

Rather than do this, they assumed UNITY as a given. The failure to undertake that initial crucial political exercise amounts to what ProfessorALI MAZURIcalled “a truncation of politics” in other words, they turned politics upside down.

Had they done this exercise at that time, Nigeria would have been saved from all the troubles it has had since independence including the civil war, and there would have been no need for the 2014 Nigerian National Conference.
This is why the 2014 National Conference should have been courageous enough to undertake surgical operations and not just paper over crucial and fundamental national issues. Admittedly, the hands of the Conference members were tied by President Jonathan’s directives on ‘No Go AREAS’for discussion. Much as it is mandatory that the President should always be ‘Politically correct’ I am not so sure that the President has the power to gag and determine the destiny of Nigerians when he is not a DICTATOR or a Military President. Past Nigerian Presidents have always taken an aloof position of not tackling what they regard as ‘the delicate and risky task’ of re-structuring Nigeria. They fear that such an exercise may lead to the disintegration of the Country. They therefore say that Nigeria will not disintegrate in their time (tenure). Very well said, but if it is not in their time, in whose time will it happen? Is it a case of after me, the deluge? It is an unpatriotic and uncharitable attitude. The issue is not, and should not be, that of whose time (tenure), but whether such outcome is the ONLY solution that would be beneficial to, and in the best interest of the Majority of the people now living, and of generations yet unborn. Surely, it is more preferable to serve the interests of those majority of Nigerians than the interest of one man’s desire. The interest of the whole country should be paramount. InfactNigeria’s history will be kind to a bold and courageous Nigerian President who re-structures Nigeria to the point of stability and durability. Only courageous and bold individuals build Nations. Examples are Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin.

Our political founding fathers also made a great mistake in not undertaking the exercise of examining all the British Colonial Laws imposed on Nigeria and its people for the benefit and interest of the British Crown and government.

Such laws that expropriated the people’s lands and Mineral Wealth for the British Crown should have been expunged from our laws because the British Colonia Master had gone and the succeeding Nigerian government was not a Colonial Master.

Nigeria should have borrowed some lessons from the United States of America. On attainment of independence in 1776 from British rule, it abrogated all obnoxious British legislations, and rejected the British system of government. It declared itself a Republic with freedom to all citizens (except Slaves) and right for all citizens to own and hold Real Property, Mineral Wealth and Moveable Property.

Even General George Washington rejected the offer to assume office as the king of America preferring to be a President instead of king.

In keeping with the policy of the United States government, land and Mineral Wealth belong to the owners of the land and not to the United States government.

Rather than undertake such an exercise, the succeeding Nigerian government erroneously thought it was the heir and successor to the departed British Colonial government and accordingly had the right to inherit all the lands and mineral wealth of the people of Nigeria in the same manner as the British Colonial government did. Ofcourse the Nigerian government has no such right to do so. The British Colonial government did so because Nigeria was a colonized or conquered territory of the British and accordingly the British government owned all the Assets and Wealth of Nigeria.

The Nigerian government is not in the same position.

10. Sir Ahmadu Bello on his own part should have taken a proactive step in the interest of the Northern territory.It is clear that the Northern territory and the Southern territory were never one country until the Amalgamation of 1914. It is also clear that the Northern territory had embracedISLAM as its Religion long before the Amalgamation, and the Southern territory had also embraced Christianity, long before the Amalgamation.

Sir Ahmadu Bello, as leader of the Northern territory should have borrowed from the precedent set by INDIA.

Before the 14thof August 1947 the country,INDIA consisted of PAKISTAN, BANGLADESH and INDIA. The three countries made up what was INDIA before 14th August 1947.

The North Western part of INDIAwas predominantly MOSLEMS while the rest of the Country was predominantly HINDUS.

There were several other smaller religious groups. The Moslem North Western part led by Muhammad Ali JINNAH demanded from the British government that independence be granted to them separately as an ISLAMIC country. The demand was granted. On the 14th of August 1947 independence was granted to the North Western part as PAKISTAN while the rest of INDIA had their independence the next day 15th August 1947.

Had Sir Ahmadu Bello, knowing that the Northern territory was predominantly Moslems, and knowing that the Northern territory and the Southern territory were never one country any way, borrowed the precedent set by INDIA which had their independence from the same British government thirteen (13) years before Nigeria (1960) the British government would have granted. It would have amounted to a mere de-amalgamation of the 1914 amalgamation. Had this been done, there would have been no need for the 2014 Nigerian National Conference. There would have been no need for BOKO Haram whose desire is to establish an Islamic Repulic of Northern Nigeria in line with what late Colonel Gaddafi of Libya had always advocated.

It appears that by demanding an Islamic Rebublic of Northern Nigeria, they have gone beyond their brief by their sponsors to destabilize the government of President Goodluck Jonathan. This is an utter astonishment for their sponsors.

11. Our political Founding Fathers chose not to go their separate ways after independence on October 01, 1960. Sir Ahmadu Bello alsodid not demand independence separately for the Northern territory of Nigeria.

It is rational to assume that there must have existed an implied voluntary CONSENT to stay together in the spirit of the SOCIAL CONTRACT theory which is based on the understanding that individuals or groups in a polity voluntarily agree to give up someof their rights and freedom to the Ruler or the State in return for Protection to be given to them by the Ruler or the State. Consequently, the Ruler or the State acquires and reserves the monopoly right to acquire and possess the instruments of coercion within the polity with which to use in maintaining law and order and provide the protection it had undertaken to provide.

Individuals can only acquire such instruments of coercion by licence or permit from the Ruler or the State. In return for the protection given by the State, individuals pay fees (ie. taxes) to the Ruler or the State. The State uses the taxes paid to pay for and maintain the protection operations and other State services.

Modern States employ Ideological State Apparatuses to build good societies and good citizens within their polity.

However, because of the possibility that some people in the polity could be contumacious, the State also employs Repressive State Apparatuses to maintain order in the polity.

The State does not usually receive more than the tax from the individuals for the protection services.
Accordingly the State is not entitled to expropriate the Lands, Assets and Mineral Wealth of the individuals because of the protection provided. As a matter of fact the State protection covers the protection of the individuals and their Assets.



Read more on http://www.cdorike-oracle.com



AMBASSADOR
CHIEF C.D. ORIKE

Ambassador Chief C.D. Orike is a lawyer. He was called to the Bar of England and Wales on 27th June 1961.

He obtained an Honours Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of London and a Masters degree in Political Sociology from the London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London). He was an elected member of the Nigerian House of Representatives in 1964. Ambassador Orike was Nigeria’s Ambassador to Uganda with concurrent accreditations to the Republics of Rwands and Burundi.

Tel: +234 (0) 9030594340 sms only

Ambassador Chief CD Orike is a great national man. God bless you sir