Nigeria should be divided into two nations to avoid further bloodshed between Muslims and Christians, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has said.

In a speech to students, he praised the example of India and Pakistan, where he said partition saved many lives.

Splitting Nigeria "would stop the bloodshed and burning of places of worship," state news agency Jana quoted him as saying.

A senior Nigerian diplomat said he did not take the suggestion seriously.

Hundreds of people have died in communal violence in villages around the central Nigerian city of Jos this year.

'Historic, radical solution'

Although the violence generally takes place between Muslim and Christian communities, the underlying causes are a complex mix of political, social and economic grievances.

Nigeria is roughly split between its largely Muslim north, and a Christian-dominated south.

Mr Gaddafi, until recently head of the African Union, characterised the Jos violence as a "deep conflict of religious nature" caused by the federal state, "which was made and imposed by the British in spite of the people's resistance to it".

He described the partition of India as a "historic, radical solution" which saved the lives of "millions of Hindus and Muslims".

Splitting India in 1947 caused a breakdown of law and order in which at least 200,000 people died. Some estimates say one million people were killed.

About 12 million people were left homeless and thousands were despoiled.

An attempt by the Igbo people of south-eastern Nigeria to secede in 1967 sparked a war which left more than one million people dead.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8570350.stm

Now thats putting the cats amongst the pigeons.

here we go again

Gaddafi should show us a good example by first splitting his useless terrorist country into two

This is the man who declared Nigeria an Islamic State.

Yes he is Damn right !!

bilymuse:

Gaddafi should show us a good example by first splitting his useless terrorist country into two

He only said what [the last time i checked] 70% of nairalanders are clamouring for. So why crucify him.
I am impressed by his courage in making such pronouncement. Other foreign leaders have to a large extent being non-chalant or adopting the politically correct stand.
Terrorist country or not, eccentric character he may be, you have to applaud him for the positive transformations he has made in Libya.

snowdrops:

He only said what [the last time i checked] 70% of nairalanders are clamouring for. So why crucify him.
I am impressed by his courage in making such pronouncement. [b]Other foreign leaders have to a large extent being non-chalant or adopting the politically correct stand.[/b]Terrorist country or not, eccentric character he may be, you have to applaud him for the positive transformations he has made in Libya.

that could be because the people of Nigeria are not actually agitating for it well apart from some of those online
and the leaders- state governors, Representatives etc are not clamouring for it ?

Foreign leaders are supporting Sudan seeing as the people are actually taking up arms and discussing it

believe it or not the man is making sence. Hillary Clinton has also hinted at such ideas

we have refused to be one and yet refused to divide. the only way nigeria survives is if it is a secular state where no religion is recognised

muslims said no they must practice sharia against the will of the rest of the country and its constitution.
christains said no they wont accept sharia rule.
those who want to continue sharia are trying to conquer jos, hence the massacre.

now if this is the status quo what is the point of remaining one nation. we nigerians like to live in denial untill we are consumed.

we have to repeal sharia law in states where they are being practiced, enforce the necessary sections of our constitution if we want to stay together or better still we simply follow the advice Gaddaffi and simply divide.

Can anyone tell me why Nigeria cannot break up amicably ?

Why are some people here so violence oriented, as soon as you mention breakup they think 'war' ?

There is every possibility that we can achieve this division by mutual consensus.

Abi is it by force ?

This is a dumb idea. What happens to Lagos, Ogun, and Oyo states that have 50% - 60% Muslim polulation - how do you split them along religious lines?

OYB_MEND:

believe it or not the man is making sence. Hillary Clinton has also hinted at such ideas

we have refused to be one and yet refused to divide. the only way nigeria survives is if it is a secular state where no religion is recognised

muslims said no they must practice sharia against the will of the rest of the country and its constitution.
christains said no they wont accept sharia rule.
those who want to continue sharia are trying to conquer jos, hence the massacre.

now if this is the status quo what is the point of remaining one nation. we nigerians like to live in denial untill we are consumed.

we have to repeal sharia law in states where they are being practiced, enforce the necessary sections of our constitution if we want to stay together or better still we simply follow the advice Gaddaffi and simply divide.

Just wondering, do you by any chance know how the Senate or national assembly reacted back then to some state adopting Sharia, i read somewhere that it went to the supreme court or a up north court and it was allowed in the constitution??

ndu_chucks:

This is a dumb idea. What happens to Lagos, Ogun, and Oyo states that have 50% - 60% Muslim polulation - how do you split them along religious lines?

they will stay as they are

I am impressed by his courage in making such pronouncement

Its not courage its madness. The last time Gadaffi  gave a speech at the UN, he was ranting incoherently and bore most of the delegates. Many commentator agreed the guy is mentally unbalance.  If you have to split every country where there is religious or other conflicts, there wont be any country in the world

Gadaffi is a Muslim terrorist, who sees the world in terms of Islam. His last remark that a Jihad should be wage against Switzerland was widely condemned.

The guy is simply insane

ndu_chucks:

This is a dumb idea. What happens to Lagos, Ogun, and Oyo states that have 50% - 60% Muslim polulation - how do you split them along religious lines?

What planet do you live on ? Is it the lagos I lived in for donkey years or another ? Or is it the Oyo state where I went to university that is known for its evangelical heart ?

Lagos 60% muslims ? So it is people like you that use rigged census statistics to create baised quota systems ?

The muslims I have interacted with in the south by the way are totally different from those I met in the north. They are more liberal and peaceful and mostly tolerant.

For example in one family you can easily have 3 members christian and 4 muslim and they still get along. This will never happen in the north or lets say Far North to please you !  

bilymuse:

Its not courage its madness. The last time Gadaffi  gave a speech at the UN, he was ranting incoherently and bore most of the delegates. Many commentator agreed the guy is mentally unbalance.  If you have to split every country where there is religious or other conflicts, there wont be any country in the world

Gadaffi is a Muslim terrorist, who sees the world in terms of Islam. His last remark that a Jihad should be wage against Switzerland was widely condemned.

The guy is simply insane

Abolutely , but because he is 'insane' by your standards does not mean he cannot make meaningful analysis and recommendations sometimes.

Even a heartless monster will look at what happened in Jos and wish this never happened again by any means !!!

Can anyone tell me why Nigeria cannot break up amicably ?

Because no country has ever broke up amicably, there is no way Nigeria is going to brake up amicably, it going to be blood , blood, blood.

All the country surrounding Nigeria are going to be drawn into the conflict, it going to be all west Africa civil war

bilymuse:

Its not courage its madness. The last time Gadaffi  gave a speech at the UN, he was ranting incoherently and bore most of the delegates. Many commentator agreed the guy is mentally unbalance.  If you have to split every country where there is religious or other conflicts, there wont be any country in the world

Gadaffi is a Muslim terrorist, who sees the world in terms of Islam. His last remark that a Jihad should be wage against Switzerland was widely condemned.

The guy is simply insane

I detest the guy as well. But even though you had disagreed with his position in the past this scenario is different. He is spelling the obvious.
Nigeria is not like other countries with ethnis/religious conflicts. We are unique. Evenly plit across the middle. Our differences have become inreconcilable. When that happens we need to tow the path of india/pakistan, greece/cyprus, the old yugoslavia, north/south korea.
Division is not automatic peace, but it will sure save countless and needless more politically motivated deaths.

bilymuse:

Because no country has ever broke up amicably, there is no way Nigeria is going to brake up amicably, it going to be blood , blood, blood.

All the country surrounding Nigeria are going to be drawn into the conflict, it going to be all west Africa civil war

In that case a thought to ponder !

But another question why then can we not live in peace together ?

Together is war , apart is war ?

From the article:

Splitting India in 1947 caused a breakdown of law and order in which at least 200,000 people died. Some estimates say one million people were killed.

About 12 million people were left homeless and thousands were despoiled.

I hope that's not want to proponents of division want for their mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers.

ndu_chucks:

This is a dumb idea. What happens to Lagos, Ogun, and Oyo states that have 50% - 60% Muslim polulation - how do you split them along religious lines?

Those are no issue because those once are not seeking to impose their religion on others.

Fashola the Governor of Lagos is a Muslim and yet you will not know.

We have to either agree to be a secular state where your religion does not matter or we must come to the reality of sepration.

Seun:

From the article:

I hope that's not want to proponents of division want for their mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers.

The status quo has already exceded those figures of humanitarian catastrophe. People have been dying and are still to die. The latest Jos crisis is one in a never ending list of religious conflicts.

We have to either enforce our constitution to be a secular state or divide.

bilymuse:

Because no country has ever broke up amicably, there is no way Nigeria is going to brake up amicably, it going to be blood , blood, blood.

All the country surrounding Nigeria are going to be drawn into the conflict, it going to be all west Africa civil war

That is a pure lie

All it took Serbia and Montenegro to break up about 6years ago is a simple vote

Dear Mr Gadaffi,

If anything, Nigeria and the rest of BLACK-AFRICA should unite as one nation.

Firstly though all the Arabs that occupy north Africa including :Libya, Tunisia, Egypt etc should vacate those occupied lands and return to arabia.

As a dictator that has ruled for over 40 years we do not welcome your suggestions.

Thanks,

stupid idea
when you brake up cos the North is always willing to slay the southerners

what happens when you split

lemme answer by asking questions

will the split stop the killings in Jos and Kaduna?

will the split ensure the Ijaws will not want to go Gung Ho on the Itsekiris?

who says the Ijebus and the Egbas will not go up in arms against each other in Ogun State
splitting will not stop the killings; use ur head!!!!!

Waaaaaaattttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt

Seun:

From the article:

I hope that's not want to proponents of division want for their mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers.

Seun, while I understand your yearning for Nigeria to remain one and which is highly commendable, the facts on the ground tell us something different.


There is a power struggle between the south and north so much that in order to prevent Jonathan ascending to the presidency Yaradua is hidden from public eye for months at a time.

There is also religious bias, do you seriously think that it is normal to kill hundreds of people because of a cartoon that was written thousands of miles away in a different country.

What about the massacres and the plans to impose Sharia on states such as Kaduna that are 50% Muslim and Christian.

I have learnt not to be politically correct but factual.

We need to sit down and settle our differences and go our separate ways.

Too much blood has been shed since the Biafran war in order to keep Nigerian as one unit.

We do not want a Somalia or Dafur so lets do it now!!!

AU Presido is flexing his musles.

He resently orderd 10 billion dolars of Russian weapons.

Everyone  support a course, if  you support the break up, thats Good for you, hope to see at the front line of the divide,

But Gaddafi  is just a TOOL.

by the time we have a working president, everything would be just cool

Why did Gaddafi have to open his big mouth?

Even though I want the country divided, we do not need his support on this cause! He is a tainted dictator who does not give his people any political freedom.

I think the guy is right! Lets destory FCT and made the division

@frosbel
If the reason for splitting is cos of religion?
then are u saying we dont have muslims and xtians in the southern part of Nigeria?

were you not in this country when Ijaws/Urhobos/Itsekiris were killing themselves
were you not in this country when Kaduna indigenes were killing one another

the recent wahala in the North is a feud between locals indigenes (locals vs settlers)

how does that sound like a recipe for secession?
a sovereign conference is more like what we should be clamouring for not a violence break up