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Gov. Bokola Saraki Is Not Yoruba! - Politics - Nairaland

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Obasanjo, Tinubu Not Yoruba Leaders – Afenifere / Bukola Saraki Is The Senate President Of The 8th NASS / Dr. Sola Saraki Is DEAD (2) (3) (4)

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Gov. Bokola Saraki Is Not Yoruba! by DaHitler(m): 3:18am On Jul 30, 2006
What the hell has gotten into the people of Kwara? Your freakin Governor does not come from the majority. This would be fine, but he doesn't even seem to be looking out for your interests. All his policies are based on out-dated knowledge of economic policy.

Dammit, I thought it was bad enough when I heard Bokola was agitating for power shift to the North, but it makes sense. The man is a bloody Fulani. Yeah, really. Damn you decendants of Afonja, you are just as stupid as the traitor!

I have no idea what can be done with you. Sell-outs!

Once again, your hatred for Yoruba rule has pushed you into the hands of a Northerner. In all honesty, there is no excuse not to have a Yoruba Governor. Your State has over 80 percent Yoruba population, but yet you have fereign people rule you. Can the same be said about any other state in the union?
Re: Gov. Bokola Saraki Is Not Yoruba! by Seun(m): 9:32am On Jul 30, 2006
Before you go on with your unsolicited abuse, you need to reveal your source.

We know better than to believe everything someone posts without a source. We are not idiots.
Re: Gov. Bokola Saraki Is Not Yoruba! by Odeku(m): 2:01pm On Jul 30, 2006
Damn he does look like a Fulani man too.
Re: Gov. Bokola Saraki Is Not Yoruba! by mrmayor(m): 2:57pm On Jul 30, 2006
It doesn't matter if Saraki is Yoruba or not,the fact is he his from Kwara State.As much as you may dislike his politics its a free world out there,its up to the people of Kwara State to decide if his calls for power shift to the north represent them or not.I doubt it does.
Re: Gov. Bokola Saraki Is Not Yoruba! by pnkydbrain(m): 2:41pm On Jan 24, 2007
Please please please lets be reasonable, Ilorin was part of the Old Oyo Empire. Bukola is a Yoruba name.Politicians usually tell lies to get what they want.
Re: Gov. Bokola Saraki Is Not Yoruba! by ishmael(m): 8:26pm On Jan 24, 2007
if he's a fulani nko?? The most important thing is that he is an indigene of kwara state. If we can have Hausa-Fulani i believe we should also have Yoruba-Fulani too, which i believe Saraki is. Make una allow the man jo.
Re: Gov. Bokola Saraki Is Not Yoruba! by mazaje(m): 8:58pm On Jan 24, 2007
so what the Bleep if he is fulani? is he not from kwara state? shut up and stop posting meaningless treads go get a life and stop hating a person cos of his ethnicity u tribalist mumu
Re: Gov. Bokola Saraki Is Not Yoruba! by McKren(m): 10:06pm On Jan 24, 2007
I dont understand how this is supposed to be our bussiness ??
Re: Gov. Bokola Saraki Is Not Yoruba! by LoverBwoy(m): 3:14am On Jan 25, 2007
What the hell has gotten into the people of Kwara? Your freakin Governor does not come from the majority. This would be fine, but he doesn't even seem to be looking out for your interests. All his policies are based on out-dated knowledge of economic policy.

what the hell has gotten into the people of Nigeria? your freaking President does not come from the majority. This would be fine, but he doesn't even seem to be looking out for your interests. all his policies are based on erm who knows
Dammit, I thought it was bad enough when I heard Bokola was agitating for power shift to the North, but it makes sense. The man is a bloody Fulani. Yeah, really. Damn you decendants of Afonja, you are just as stupid as the traitor!
Dammit, I thought it was bad enough when I heard Obasanjo was agitating for power shift to the North, but it makes sense. The man is a bloody Yoruba oops grin. Yeah, really. Damn you decendants of --, you are just as stupid as the traitor!

undecided
Re: Gov. Bokola Saraki Is Not Yoruba! by scribe(m): 12:27pm On Jan 25, 2007
This thread and the responses shows how we Nigerians can spend so much energy fighting over trival things while the main issues are left unattended to.
I can imagine what it will be like if the originator of this thread and those that responded are elected into the house of assembly.
The whole tenure of their reign will be spent arguing on which tribe is responsible for the problem of Nigeria instead of passing bills that will improve the well-being of the citizens.
It is a shame that intellectuals can still be found living in the dark ages where a mans ethnicity is what counts, not what he can deliver. I weep for Nigeria cry
Re: Gov. Bokola Saraki Is Not Yoruba! by nigeria1: 1:37am On Jan 26, 2007
olusola, bukola, gbemi are they now fulani name, what does that tell you,
Re: Gov. Bokola Saraki Is Not Yoruba! by ishmael(m): 7:20am On Jan 26, 2007
nigeria1:

olusola, bukola, gbemi are they now fulani name, what does that tell you,

Yes, they are yoruba-fulani, just like we have hausa-fulani.
Re: Gov. Bokola Saraki Is Not Yoruba! by No2Atheism(m): 8:37am On Jun 07, 2009
ishmael:

Yes, they are yoruba-fulani, just like we have hausa-fulani.

what a load of nonsense, then that means we have ibadan-ijebu , ekiti- ondo.

The tribe of a father determines the tribe of the child. Its obvious even from the bible.

its either you are Yoruba or you are Hausa , stop all this relativity nonsense that you are throwing and banding about.

---------------------------
The Afonjas keep digging themselves in a hole.

The Saraki family are not Yoruba in way or form. The race or ethnic group of a person is determined by where his father comes from. Saraki comes from the Hausa-Fulani stock of Kwara.

The Hausa-Fulanis are only using Yoruba first-names so as to please the majority Yorubas in Kwara state.

The sarakis are not yoruba they have never been

I hope the Yorubas in Kogi and Kwara finally succeed in salvagin the yoruba land from those two rubbish states that keep getting grouped together with the North for socio-politcal reason.

I hope the present generations of Afonjas succeed in not making the same mistakes made by their forefathers when they ignorantly trusted the Hausa-Fulanis.
Re: Gov. Bokola Saraki Is Not Yoruba! by KnowAll(m): 2:55pm On Jun 07, 2009
The kwarans are smart, look at buhari-idiagbon regime, Buhari from the northwest as president, normally his 2nd in command should a southerner. Who did he choose, Tunde Idigbon. By choosing Tunde Idiagbon most yourbas will think a yoruba man is the number 2, but in reality what we have is is 2 northerners as number 1 and number2. Because of Idiagbon's yoruba name he got away with it.

Same thing can happen come 2011, Yardua as the presidential candidate of PDP and bukola as VP. Because of Bukola's yoruba name the north might want to pull a fast one.
Re: Gov. Bokola Saraki Is Not Yoruba! by lannre(m): 3:03pm On Jun 07, 2009
everyone seems to be carried away by tribalism, until an Igbo can be Governor in Sokoto base on merit and popular demand,when An Hausa can be A commisioner in Ogun State without any form of hatred then Nigeria is ready to develop. Our problem is not ethnic its with the leaders who manipulate us to believe we are not one when they want power.
Re: Gov. Bokola Saraki Is Not Yoruba! by No2Atheism(m): 3:06pm On Jun 07, 2009
Am sorry to say the faster we split up as a country the better for Yorubas and Igbos and Niger Delta, simply because Hausa-Fulanis have the backing of the west cust the west is using them and their illiteracy to kill the country known as nigeria and hence make it easy for the west to steal our resources.

I must confess that uptill a few weeks ago i also tut idiagbon was yoruba until i also got the info that he was not.

Men, not only must we separate should also dash those northern elites a few nukes for breakfast, for all the bloodshed that have done.

The stupid Yoruba and Igbo senators and house of reps would still allow Niger Delta people to be slaughtered over their own resources.

Men nigeria really needs to split up as fast as possible, f**k super eagles, F**k largest black nation nonsense.

Yoruba's achieved so much when we were operating independent of a central government.  Now little or no progress is forthcoming.

1 Like

Re: Gov. Bokola Saraki Is Not Yoruba! by No2Atheism(m): 3:14pm On Jun 07, 2009
No nation is this earth can survive wen major ethinic groups are fighting for control.

UK is made up of Wales, Britain and Scotsland

Guess wat Ireland - means land of the irish
Wales mean land of the welsh
Britain means land of the Britons.
Sweden means Land of the Swedes.
Germans are basically the name of an ethnic group of people, guess what they occupy their own land and country and name it after themselves.
greeks occupy greece
Japanese occupy Japan
Koreans occupy korea
Persians occupy Iran
Arabs occupy Arabia and other colonised countries
Thus until Yoruba's and Igbos and Hausa control and occupy their own independent countries or operate true federalism of the 1st republic, we would just be deceiving ourselves cus their would be too much conflict and variables that would ultimately lead to increase in corruption , strive and violence.

Hence British intentionally left Nigeria like this form in other to ensure that we would never be successful as a country and thus leave room for them to control us indirectly.

Most European nations are formed based on Ethnic groups.
Most Asian countries are formed and named based on ethnic groups.

African is predominantly the one with major ethnic groups forced to come together even when they had nothing in common except the color of their skin.

yoruba's were always at war with the Huasa-Fulanis before the British.

Afonjas betrayed the general yorubas and are still paying for it today at the hand of the hausa fulani people who incidentally are actually a minority in kwara,
Re: Gov. Bokola Saraki Is Not Yoruba! by lannre(m): 3:20pm On Jun 07, 2009
@ No2Atheism

read my post again. The Nigerian Elites I mean,they are the one manipulating us
Re: Gov. Bokola Saraki Is Not Yoruba! by No2Atheism(m): 3:29pm On Jun 07, 2009
lannre:

@ No2Atheism

read my post again. The Nigerian Elites I mean,they are the one manipulating us


Yes u are correct.

I was wrong

I would ulter my post accordingly.

nevertheless the manipulation was designed into the system at the beginning by forcing 3 major groups together.
Yorubas in togo , nigeria and benin ought to have formed one single Yoruba country instead of being split amongst 3 different countries.
igbos in nigeria and cameround also ought to form one single igbo country instead of being split btw two countries.

Likewise Hausa-Fulanis ought to be joined together with the other bororo friends in niger or something.
Re: Gov. Bokola Saraki Is Not Yoruba! by tpiah: 4:40pm On Jun 07, 2009
not my biz!
why was i on this thread?
Re: Gov. Bokola Saraki Is Not Yoruba! by Nobody: 8:45pm On Jun 07, 2009
I'm a Yoruba Kwaran. I am more southern than northern, but I have to live with the 1914 geographical gaffe that put northern boundary after my town, thereby classifying me as a northerner.

I personally don't have any problem with my being seen as a northerner, or more specifically, from the north-central or middle belt, whatever nomenclature they use to describe us.

I am tired of these arguments about whether we are Yoruba, northerner or whatever. I am a Yoruba northerner and I don't have any regret. I don't care about whatever zone I am classified. What is important is that I will never deny my tribe-Yoruba. Others are human groupings and can be changed any time. Tomorrow, they can come and merge us with Osun and tell us we are now in the South. I don't see all these  stopping my personal goals in any way.

On the Bukola issue, I think the Sarakis are Yorubas.
Re: Gov. Bokola Saraki Is Not Yoruba! by JosBoy4Lif(m): 8:55pm On Jun 07, 2009
Old threads shall rise
Re: Gov. Bokola Saraki Is Not Yoruba! by tubabie(f): 9:17pm On Jun 07, 2009
Jarus:

I'm a Yoruba Kwaran. I am more southern than northern, but I have to live with the 1914 geographical gaffe that put northern boundary after my town, thereby classifying me as a northerner.

I personally don't have any problem with my being seen as a northerner, or more specifically, from the north-central or middle belt, whatever nomenclature they use to describe us.

I am tired of these arguments about whether we are Yoruba, northerner or whatever. I am a Yoruba northerner and I don't have any regret. I don't care about whatever zone I am classified. What is important is that I will never deny my tribe-Yoruba. Others are human groupings and can be changed any time. Tomorrow, they can come and merge us with Osun and tell us we are now in the South. I don't see all these  stopping my personal goals in any way
.


Am in agreement with you! The boldened parts mirror my sentiments.
Re: Gov. Bokola Saraki Is Not Yoruba! by AloyEmeka9: 10:14pm On Jun 07, 2009
Who cares what he is as long as he is a good governor. His father already made it a public knowledge that he is not Yoruba but I think  you should be worried more with his  father that is holding the whole state to a ransom and not his tribe. I don't care if an Ethiopian man is ruling Nigeria as long as he is doing better than what we are used to. Same goes to the states. We celebrate Obama everyday but will never see it happen at home.
Re: Gov. Bokola Saraki Is Not Yoruba! by sjeezy8: 6:51pm On Jan 10, 2010
Yorubas should wake up to this cause I just thought about it. Those bloody fulanis arefreaking annoying igbos get brain cause they see whats going on yorubas are still acting dumb.

Ive always wondered why some people have yoruba first names and hausa-fulani last names. Bastards
They are doing to yorubas what they did to hausas and co . . .

Saraki is no yoruba name and niether is Tunde Idiagbon. what does saraki even mean No yoruba will know

The time we actually had a real yoruba man elected as president they killed him (Abiola).
The power of religion is something else cause those yoruba-fulanis that ive met have never married a yoruba christian like real yorubas do.
Re: Gov. Bokola Saraki Is Not Yoruba! by Mekusxyz: 7:14pm On Jan 10, 2010
Saraki says over and over that he is Fulani. Please live him to his choice. He is not a superstar that people should be claiming him every other day against his will.
Re: Gov. Bokola Saraki Is Not Yoruba! by Mekusxyz: 7:16pm On Jan 10, 2010
Pa Dr. Olusola Saraki: Warts & all • Yes! I’m Fulani from Mali • Why I never served military govt
By FEMI ADEOTI

Monday, August 17, 2009
Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki, elderstatesman and chairman, Northern Union (NU), has spoken as never before. He practically opened up for close to two-and-a-half hours when he met with a group of selected journalists at his Abuja home recently.


Saraki


http://odili.net/news/source/2009/aug/17/514.html

He answered every question as much as he could, and clarified some “knotty” issues. He talked about his “real” origin, past military governments, why ex-civilian governors of Kwara State always rebuffed him after installation, NU, collapse of ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo’s third term agenda, etc.

Excerpts:

Who is Saraki?

As you know, I am Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki. By profession, I am a medical practitioner but by accident, I found myself in politics and I don’t regret it in the sense that I am satisfied that I am doing what I like. I am happy with it even though the road has been very rugged and rough. But if you are honest and sincere, and this is what has happened to me, you will feel fulfilled. I have been very honest in politics and in life. I have been very sincere and very considerate and so I feel fulfilled and very satisfied.

I found myself in politics by accident because I am essentially a medical practitioner and I trained in one of the best medical schools. I was at the Saint George Medical College, University of London. When I was a student in London, I was a very active member of Nigerian Students Union. That was before Nigeria’s independence during the colonial days. I used to attend Nigerian Students’ meetings and I used to write a lot of articles such as those “Letters to the Editors” in the West African News Magazine which was popular at that time.

When I qualified as a medical doctor in 1962, I came back to Nigeria. I would have gone to Kaduna to practise medicine but I never did because I was angered by the refusal of the then Northern Regional Government to grant me scholarship to study medicine. The refusal was on the grounds that my parents could afford to train me and, so I too refused to go and work for the Northern government. I worked in Lagos at the General Hospital instead.

Later on, I joined the Peak Hospital from where I resigned my appointment in order to contest election into the Federal House of Representatives in 1964 as an independent candidate. Of course, I lost the election. The reason was that the Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) was a very strong party which would not accept me as the official candidate. The leader of the party and Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, announced that all the old members should be returned at the polls because the NPC believed that it was being threatened by the Action Group (AG). They believed that the devil they knew was better than the one they never met.

That decision was taken barely two weeks before the elections.

My people insisted that I must contest even if as an independent candidate because I was very popular with the people at that time. But we forgot the strength of the government and the party officials at that time. Two weeks before the elections, it was announced that nobody should vote for an independent candidate and that the Sardauna had a big mirror in his Kaduna office with which he could monitor anyone flouting the order. They voted for the official candidate and that was how I lost the election. But I was never daunted because I believed in what I was doing. I went back to my practice in Lagos and I was doing well in my medical practice until the return to party-politics in 1978/79.

Real identity

My mother is from Iseyin in Oyo State, while my father is from Ilorin in Kwara State. My great-great grandfather originated from Mali and I am talking about some 150 to 200 years ago. And they are Fulani and that is where we got our Fulani connection from. My great grandfather settled in Ilorin preaching the religion of Islam. A section of Ilorin came from Gwandu and they were religious, but my people came there as practising Muslims from Mali with their own Quran. In fact, the Emir and I used to joke that we had our own Quran and that nobody gave us Quran. My great-grandfather brought our own Quran to Ilorin from Mali to Agbaji where we settled. The Agbaji quarters is about 200 to 300 years old. Over the years, religious piety and devotion have led the prohibition of drumming (in whatever circumstance) in the area.

But because of our connection with the Southern people, a lot of Yoruba are always in Ilorin and so we speak the same language.

If you look at the Ilorin people, the real Ilorin people like Saraki for example, the culture and their ways share affinity with those of the far Northern Nigeria. That accounts for the difference you observe between us and, particularly, people of the South-West, despite the existence, now, of Yoruba as a common language. I leave people to say whatever they like about me. Some people even say I am from Ogun State and some even say I am from Togo but I know where I am from. Even, not long ago, I had a letter inviting me to join in the formation of a Mali-Fulani Organization and that I should be its chairman.

What about your ancestral lineage? People have accused you of bearing Alhaji Abubakar Saraki when you needed votes from the North, Chief Olusola Saraki when you needed votes from the South-West and in the South-East and South-South, you answered Dr. Sola Saraki. How do you reconcile these differences?

People are just reading political meanings to my actions. My Islamic name is Abubakar. When were growing up in Lagos in those days, unless you were a Christian or bore a native indigenous name, you couldn’t get a school. If I wanted to be admitted to a school, I had to drop Abubakar in favour of Sola as virtually all the schools belonged to Christian organizations. It is not correct that I was changing names to garner votes. Politicians invent those kinds of stories against their opponents. You, yourself, should know who you are.

What was your growing up like?

Oh yes. Commitment, for example, is not there now but it was in abundance in those days. Now, the greed for money has taken over the whole place and I won’t blame our members of the National Assembly alone for that. Look at what is happening at the House of Commons in England where members of Parliament are fighting for very lousy money as small as £3,000 allowances for housing and gardening and all sorts of things. In those days, when I was in the Senate, such things never occurred to us. We never got ourselves involved in anything except the idea to serve the public. But today, it is different. It is now what you can get and what you can grab as everything is now about money which was not so during our own time.

Let me give you an example. The salary as a Senator in those days was about N1,000 per month; and by the time you paid tax and all those things, it came to about N750. But with that, we were fairly satisfied. But today, when you get to the National Assembly, they talk about millions and billions. It is very unfortunate that people, who are supposed to look after the welfare of the country, are not doing the right things. In those days, there was commitment.

Look at the political parties of today, look at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for example which everybody seems to be joining, you will find that the governors have turned leaders of the party at state level. Just as the President, in the recent past was supposed to be the leader of the party at the national level. Happily, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has refused the offer and said that the party should elect its leaders. Anything contrary to that would certainly undermine good governance and party discipline which, in a democracy, should be supreme.

Indeed, they have not got the political experience to run the party. In our time, the party was supreme and whatever the party decreed was final. But now, everyone is a big man and a leader. That is the difference between politics of those days and what obtains today.

Let me give you another example. I was in the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). The party, during the 1979 elections had only 36 seats in the Senate out of 95 and so could not command the majority. In the House of Representatives, NPN had only 127 out of 450 members and so fell short of majority. Yet, because of party discipline, we were able to run the National Assembly without any quarrel whatsoever and all the bills and all the budgets scaled through without any problem. But today see what is happening in the National Assembly. Here, you see a member of the PDP getting up to insult or abuse the President. In those days, you can never see a member of Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) getting up on the floor to abuse Chief Obafemi Awolowo or an NPN member abusing Alhaji Shehu Shagari. It never happened. But today, there is no discipline. Everybody does as he likes and there is nobody to check them.

Maybe they could do so because of the way they were voted in?

I think you are right in that aspect because some of them are saying that they themselves fought for their elections and that the party never assisted them. In our own time, the party would come and campaign for you right from the wards and constituencies and even up to the state level. I remember that in 1979, Shehu Shagari spent about three or four days in Kwara campaigning for all of us who were running for elections. But today it is not like that as they now use aeroplanes to fly from Abuja to Enugu and from Lagos to Kano to go and campaign. I think you are right. The members, once nominated, are left alone to go and source for money. They are left alone to do the campaigning to win the elections and, of course, where the party is not doing its work and where the candidate is not getting the support of the party, how can the party expect such a member if he won an election to obey its orders? That is exactly what is happening and I think we have to look into that aspect of the whole thing.

You said you came into politics by accident. Was it because your medical practice was not booming then?

I had a thriving medical practice then and I still have even up till today. My income was about £500,000 per annum at that time. I had a very successful medical practice. I was looking after companies and private clients. I didn’t have any hospital where I admitted patients but 99 percent of my jobs then were on retainership. I was retained by companies to look after their staff and family members. If I was making as much as £500,000 per annum as at 1962 then, definitely, it was quite a lot of money.

But people said you made your money during the Nigerian Civil War, how true?

Civil war? That is not true. I had nothing to do with the Army at that time. As I said, I was on retainership with many virile companies like NEPA (ECN at that time), NPA, NICON and so on. NPA and ECN were the big ones and as an NPA staff, you could get treated along with your family members and my monthly bill then could come to about £70,000 or so. Some of them had up to 10 children and they all came to me and I attended to them. Like I said earlier, I found myself in politics by accident. I was trained as a medical practitioner and doctors were like gods in those days and not now that it is three for a penny.


Senator Gbemisola Saraki-Fowora, as governor in 20011.

Oh yes, I love my daughter very dearly and she did all the furnishings in this my Abuja home for me. She renovated the whole building for me and anybody doing such for you, you love her or him more and more and more.

Is that the reason why you now want to install her as governor in 2011 after the tenure of her brother, Bukola?

Who was saying those kind of things? I am praying to God and I intend to go for the Umrah to seek the guidance of God. When I wanted to put Lawal there, I went for Umrah for the same purpose since the previous three governors did not perform to my expectation. I went to Umrah and sought forgiveness and true guidance. I prayed to God that I wanted somebody who would take care of Kwara State for me. I went to Umrah and I called Mallams to join me and together, we prayed to God. Lawal was among us, praying and he was saying, as I later gathered God, “make me the one to give this Saraki man what he wanted for Kwara State”.

When it became obvious that he would get the ticket, I complained to my faithful that I didn’t want any person with military background to be the Governor of Kwara State. I set-up a seven-man screening committee. They screened all the aspirants. I was worried that Lawal had got the highest mark. But I said, perhaps God wanted to use this man for the development of Kwara State. I could have changed the result if I had wanted so to do, but I told them to release the result and Lawal became the governorship candidate. After only one year in office, he began to agitate for a second term, convincing himself that I was going to make my son, Bukola, the governor. But I told him that Bukola was never a politician and that he never for once interfered in the political situation of Kwara State. But Lawal never believed me.

As God answered your prayer by giving you Lawal, now if that same God answers your prayer after the Umrah over Gbemisola, would you install her as the next Kwara State Governor?

I have not yet decided on who I will pick as candidate. I heard people saying that I would be giving the ticket to Gbemisola after Bukola but those are rumours, because I have not yet decided. If you ask me this question after Christmas this year, then I would be definite in letting you know my next candidate for the governorship of Kwara State. But as of today, I do not know who will be the next governor and I leave that to God. I want to go to Umrah and pray to God after fasting to help me because Kwara State has now gone very far. So, we want somebody who would continue and do even more than what Bukola has done. If you go to Kwara State today, you will know what I am talking about.

Maybe he deserves an extra term in office?

Bukola is serving a second term now and the law does not allow a third term, otherwise, I would have sought for him to go ahead.

Why are you always the arrowhead in championing the cause of Northern politics?

Today, I think I have a mission in the Northern Union (NU). But one of our members, just hours ago, stood up and said sir, I think we should change this Northern Union to Nigerian Union. In fact, the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akinolu, told us, when last we went to visit him, that it would have been better for Nigeria if the name of the organization could be changed from Northern Union to Nigerian Union.

But let me tell you the reason behind the formation of Northern Union. Like I told you, I was the Chairman of the Constitutional Conference during the 1994 to 1995 era of Abacha. At that conference, all our deliberations and decisions were through consensus. But when we came to the issue of the election of the President, one boy from Osun State almost destroyed the conference because he insisted that, after Abacha, the next President must come from the South-West. We had to adjourn the debate till the following day. Then Abacha phoned me and said Waziri, (that was the name he used to call me because he was very close to the Emir of Ilorin and it was the Emir who told him that he was going to make me the Waziri of Ilorin), can I see you? I said C-I-C (that was what I used to call him), “I would see you immediately”. I went to see him and he said he had intelligence reports that there was going to be trouble at the Constitutional Conference the following day. I told him that I heard the rumour too but that I was not sure. He said he heard that some people in the South-West wanted to be president after his dispensation and that the following day, they would start the agitation against the North and I laughed. He now asked to know why I was laughing and I said: “C-I-C, you don’t know how the parliament works”. I promised him that we would meet the agitators force for force.

When I left him, I went to Justice Karibi-Whyte (all of this could be verified from him) and reported what Abacha told me. He wanted to know what I told Abacha. I said that I merely reassured him. I then confided in him, and urged Karibi-Whyte that on the following day, at plenary, we would allow everybody to air his or her views, while we listened without interruption. The South-West delegates again started their agitation as if they were going to burn the whole place down. For many hours, they were busy abusing everybody and did not allow any other person to contribute. But when they were tired, really tired, they said I should put the question to vote.

I reminded them that I was the chairman of the conference. I also reminded them that since the beginning of the conference, all our deliberations had been by consensus and that there was never any time we voted on any issue. I assured them that the contentious issue too would not be voted on as voting on it would divide the country. I then suggested that we set up a committee of about 50 members to go and deliberate on it and report to the conference.

You won’t believe it that the same people who had been shouting and clamouring for voting on the issue started hailing me as the good leader. The same people who had been abusing everybody.

We agreed on that and set up a committee of 50. Of course, I was chairman of that committee which comprised of traditional rulers like the Emir of Ningi, Dr. Alex Ekweme, Ojukwu among many others. It was the Emir of Ningi who was sitting by my right hand, who brought the suggestion that the North should produce the next President for eight years, followed by the South for another eight years, and so on. We all agreed. We all clapped and agreed.

The following morning, after prayers and announcements, the 50-member committee announced the details of their agreement which they had earlier communicated to me. We all agreed and it was duly recorded in the minutes of the conference. Peter Odili (ex-governor of Rivers State) was at the conference and a member of the 50-member committee alongside the former governor of Akwa-Ibom State, Obong Victor Attah. For Odili to want to succeed Obasanjo after the reversal of the decision of the conference in favour of the latter (i.e. the South) was unacceptable. I couldn’t accept that because it would be against my conscience.

My involvement in the forming and leading the NU was, therefore, to let people know how we arrived at that point in our political journey. At the end of eight years now, nobody in the North would get up to say that he wants to be President because nobody would listen to him. So, the next President after the eight-year tenure of the Northerner must come from the South. It could be from the South-West, South-East or South-South because that has been settled. Nobody from the North could come out to contest because a candidate must come from the South. This idea of rotation may not be the best arrangement in a true democracy, we just have to patch up our country.

But where is the North?

Where is the North?

Yes?

The 19-Northern states. It starts from Kwara State up North.

You know why I am asking this question?

No

You remember the other time the former president Olusegun Obasanjo was appointing people from the Middle-Belt where Kwara State incidentally belongs to sensitive national positions. The core North cried out that you were never part of them. With that stance, do you think that they would allow any of you who are not core Northerners to be President using slot of the North?

You see, you find out that people saying that are really not from the North. How can anyone say that? Of course, they regretted saying such and we really lampooned those who said that. The 19 states of the North start from Kwara up to Sokoto and Kano State.

Let’s take you back to when you had the ambition of becoming the president after IBB’s tenure. There was the rumour that he really tricked you by promising to make you the president just as he allegedly did to others. Could you clarify this issue once and for all?

Well, when we were preparing for that, I was advised by the then Chief of Army Staff, General Ibrahim Salihu, to see IBB (Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida). He arranged a meeting to give me the opportunity to find out his boss’ thinking. It was the first time. During the second meeting with him, in Minna, he told me that it was people like me, w
Re: Gov. Bokola Saraki Is Not Yoruba! by No2Atheism(m): 7:39pm On Jan 10, 2010
I apologise for saying on this thread that Saraki is Hausa Fulani.

He is not Hausa-Fulani.

Instead He is a Fulani man from Mali that was born by a Yoruba mother . . .
Re: Gov. Bokola Saraki Is Not Yoruba! by Choco5: 7:53pm On Jan 10, 2010
poster So fuk what? Y not let your mother run for governor since u want it so bad! idio t!
Re: Gov. Bokola Saraki Is Not Yoruba! by sjeezy8: 9:14pm On Jan 10, 2010
^^ it matters ode!!

kwara is a retrogressive state because of how islamic laws are being used by these fulani-yoruba clowns. Imagine Yorubas don fall for the Bullshit they have the wool pulled over their eyes.
Yoruba christians have always lived in peace with their muslim brother but these clowns are inciting division between Us. and its working
Re: Gov. Bokola Saraki Is Not Yoruba! by gists: 10:38pm On Jan 10, 2010
No2Atheism:


nevertheless the manipulation was designed into the system at the beginning by forcing 3 major groups together.
Yorubas in togo , nigeria and benin ought to have formed one single Yoruba country instead of being split amongst 3 different countries.
igbos in nigeria and cameround also ought to form one single igbo country instead of being split btw two countries
.

Likewise Hausa-Fulanis ought to be joined together with the other bororo friends in niger or something.

Firstly I am  not from Kwara. Secondly, I think this is a crazy topic that shouldn't be responded to (not so sure, I tot the constitution says anybody is qualified to contest any election in any part of the country if you have lived in that place for 20 -or is it 10 years).

However, I like ask you how many countries should we have in Edo state alone when there a number of should I say clans that speak completely different languages within the state. The same is true of Rivers state - the Ikweres and calabaries (hope I got the spelling corret) can't even understand one another when they speak, yet they are from the same rivers state. There are other examples liket that in Nigeria.

Today the U.S is the most powerful nation in the world yet they have a black President!! (Wot's d population of blacks in U.S compare to whites?) Until we rise above ethnicity and tribalism, put round pegs in round holes irrespective of of where s/he come from, then the future remain extremely bleak.
Re: Gov. Bokola Saraki Is Not Yoruba! by tubabie(f): 12:43am On Jan 11, 2010
gists:

Today the U.S is the most powerful nation in the world yet they have a black President!! (Wot's d population of blacks in U.S compare to whites?) Until we rise above ethnicity and tribalism, put round pegs in round holes irrespective of of where s/he come from, then the future remain extremely bleak.

You have hit the nail on the head!! We need help from Tribalism in this country . . . .

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