PLS READ AND CONTRIBUTE

The controversy stirred by Dr. Junaid Mohammed on possible break up of Nigeria is yet to die down. Leaders of Kogi and Kwara, two Middle Belt states the Second Republic legislator threatened to drag along with the North have reacted. Group Political Editor BOLADE OMONIJO, EMMANUEL OLADESU and ADEKUNLE JIMOH present their angry responses:

THE political and social elite of Kogi and Kwara states are angry that a section of the North is threatening to hold them as bargain in the event that Nigeria disintegrates. Perhaps taking a cue from Karl Meier’s contention that “this house has fallen” and the foreign prediction that the country can only last a few years given the current sociological pressure, Junaid Mohammed told a Sunday newspaper that the North was not afraid of a break up. He, however, added that this would only be allowed if Kogi and Kwara states were ceded to the North.

But, furious at the sheer thought, David Jemibewon, a retired Major General, fired three questions in one minute: “On whose mandate is he talking? Whose interest is he representing? Who authorised him?”

Jemibewon, a founding member and leader of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) hails from Kogi State. He found it insulting that Mohammed could conceivably be speaking for the people of Kogi and Kwara states.

The former military governor of the defunct Western State who reacted on the phone, said Mohammed lacked the mandate of his people in Kogi to speak on such a sensitive issue.

He added: “If it’s his personal view, which I cannot query, there is no problem. But if he claims to be speaking on behalf of the North, who gave him the mandate?

“I don’t think he represents my interest until he gets my mandate. If he has been authorised, I don’t have the right to query him. But who authorised him?”

Jemibewon was too angry to continue with the interview. But Rotimi Obadofin, another Kogi politician would not want to contemplate such a development. He said Mohammed was wallowing in self-deception and self-delusion, pointing out that the two states would not go with the North, if there is a break-up.

He said: “If the country should disintegrate at the end of the day, which is most likely, Kwara and Kogi are returning to the West, and this is not negotiable. It is inconceivable that Yoruba of Kwara and Kogi will be part of the North. The boundary is clear. We are Yoruba. There is no boundary between Yoruba of Kogi and Kwara. The contiguity is there.

“We have the same culture, language and environment. We till the same land and drink water from the same source. We have the same blood. So, on the contrary, our location is far apart from Hausa/Fulaniland; thousands of miles apart. We don’t speak the same language. We don’t have the same culture. We don’t share the same boundary. In fact, we have absolutely nothing in common. It is easier to integrate Europeans with the Hausa/Fulani than to integrate Kwara and Kogi with them.”

The deputy governorship candidate of Action Congress of Nigeria in the state, Hon. Henry Ojuola, would not speak for the whole state. He said: “I am a Yoruba man from Kogi West. I got the mandate to represent my people in the House of Assembly, so I know what my people want. I know their interests, culture, political culture, behaviour and aspiration. I do not pray that Nigeria breaks and I don’t think that any patriot should work for the disintegration of his country.

“However, should we get to that point, certainly my people in the five local government areas in Kogi West will go with our kith and kin in the West. We share the same language and culture and would feel more comfortable with them. Junaid Mohammed cannot speak for us. Who is he to decide for our people? How can he from Kano do that?”

On the other two senatorial districts of the state, Ojuola said he was not in position to speak for them. His words: “I cannot speak for the Ebira and Igala. But, I know that we share a lot with the Ebira. Remember that we share affinity in old Kwara State. We understand one another.”

There were indications yesterday that leaders of various groups in the state who felt stung by the Junaid Mohammed interview held a meeting during the week to consider how to officially react to the statement. While some of the leaders dismissed it as a non-issue and the opinion of one man, others said he could be speaking for an entrenched Northern interest group and should, therefore, elicit appropriate responses.

A former House of Representatives member from Ebiraland said, “Junaid should not be dignified with response. I have followed his outbursts since the Second Republic and he derives pleasure in avoidable and unnecessary controversy. I will not want to speak on the issue. I am an Ebira from Kogi State. Beyond that, I am a Nigerian. That’s all. No more. I do not know if there is a North today. The only one that I know died many years ago.” He, however, refused to be identified.

Kwara people are no less outraged. Justice Mustapha Akanbi, a retired President of the Court of Appeal, who hails from Ilorin, would not contemplate the break-up of Nigeria. He described whoever is thinking of Nigeria’s disintegration as an enemy of the people and the African continent.

“Those talking about the division of Nigeria are pessimists and enemies of the country”, said the pioneer Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC),

Justice Akanbi told The Nation that, “speaking for myself, I don’t want the break-up of the country. I want a united country. I have struggled for pan-Africanism all my life. I have struggled all my life talking of one great Nigeria which all African countries can look up to as a role model. Although we have not been able to give them that satisfaction, I will, till the end of my life, struggle for a united Nigeria.

“I can’t contemplate a situation where Nigeria will be divided into pieces. It is forward ever, backward never. I think those who talk about dividing Nigeria are pessimists. I am an optimist.

Referring to his orientation early in life, Justice Akanbi, who was introduced to pan-Africanism as an admirer of the late Dr. Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana, said: “Now getting to about 80 years, how can I start talking about the division of Nigeria? I hope it does not happen during my time and I pray that it does not happen in the time of my own children. Throughout my stay in Nigeria, I have seen any Nigerian as a Nigerian, as I have seen him as an African and that is my basic philosophy and that of my family. I daily pray for the greatness of Nigeria and Africa. When Europeans are having the European Union and other countries are united, how can we be talking about Nigeria in small pieces? Once you start that, you are running into deep waters and I hope the whirlwind will not consume us.

“So the question of whether Kwara, Kogi or any of the states will belong to one area, as far as I am concerned, is a non-issue. As a matter of fact, I prefer to be known as Akanbi, the pan-Africanist.”

The Kwara State governorship candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in last year’s poll, Alhaji Mohammed Dele Belgore (SAN), was optimistic that Nigeria would not be balkanised.

In Belgore’s words: “We don’t think that Nigeria will break up; we certainly hope it will not break up. Our strength as a nation lies in the different peoples working together for a common purpose of development and economic empowerment.

“Poverty and unemployment do not discriminate between north and south. These are ills that are common to both and these are matters that should call for our attention. Rather than talk about break- up, we should not be talking about Nigeria breaking up. instead we should be talking about building a strong and virile nation.”

The possibility of disintegration of Nigeria has come up in debates in recent times, following communal disputes in different parts of the country, the Niger Delta struggle, the campaign for a Sovereign State of Biafra in the South East and the devastating strikes by Boko Haram nihilists in the North.

There are now more strident calls for sovereign national conference, greater autonomy to the federating units and need for regional control of resources as was the case in the First Republic.

This has reportedly and understandably led to unease in the North that believes that it could be at the receiving end if the centre is weakened, leading to the recent call by chairman of the Northern States Governors Forum for a revisit to the derivation formula designed to pacify and placate a devastated Niger Delta.

http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/news/39301-don%E2%80%99t-drag-us-into-break-up-debate%2C-kogi%2C-kwara-leaders-tell-north.html

I said it earlier that the Moh'd Junnaid guy was only day dreaming. I had my bachelor in Ilorin. It in not conceivable for anybody to think of joining Kwara with the retrogressive North considering their affinity with the progressive Yorubas.

We all wish for a United and progressive Nigeria but in the absence of that Oduduwa lo ni mi lotito ati lododo.

Moh'd Junnaid quit dreaming.

sholasys:

PLS READ AND CONTRIBUTE

The controversy stirred by Dr. Junaid Mohammed on possible break up of Nigeria is yet to die down. Leaders of Kogi and Kwara, two Middle Belt states the Second Republic legislator threatened to drag along with the North have reacted. Group Political Editor BOLADE OMONIJO, EMMANUEL OLADESU and ADEKUNLE JIMOH present their angry responses:

THE political and social elite of Kogi and Kwara states are angry that a section of the North is threatening to hold them as bargain in the event that Nigeria disintegrates. Perhaps taking a cue from Karl Meier’s contention that “this house has fallen” and the foreign prediction that the country can only last a few years given the current sociological pressure, Junaid Mohammed told a Sunday newspaper that the North was not afraid of a break up. He, however, added that this would only be allowed if Kogi and Kwara states were ceded to the North.

But, furious at the sheer thought, David Jemibewon, a retired Major General, fired three questions in one minute: “On whose mandate is he talking? Whose interest is he representing? Who authorised him?”

Jemibewon, a founding member and leader of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) hails from Kogi State. He found it insulting that Mohammed could conceivably be speaking for the people of Kogi and Kwara states.

The former military governor of the defunct Western State who reacted on the phone, said Mohammed lacked the mandate of his people in Kogi to speak on such a sensitive issue.

He added: “If it’s his personal view, which I cannot query, there is no problem. But if he claims to be speaking on behalf of the North, who gave him the mandate?

“I don’t think he represents my interest until he gets my mandate. If he has been authorised, I don’t have the right to query him. But who authorised him?”

Jemibewon was too angry to continue with the interview. But Rotimi Obadofin, another Kogi politician would not want to contemplate such a development. He said Mohammed was wallowing in self-deception and self-delusion, pointing out that the two states would not go with the North, if there is a break-up.

He said: “If the country should disintegrate at the end of the day, which is most likely, Kwara and Kogi are returning to the West, and this is not negotiable. It is inconceivable that Yoruba of Kwara and Kogi will be part of the North. The boundary is clear. We are Yoruba. There is no boundary between Yoruba of Kogi and Kwara. The contiguity is there.

“We have the same culture, language and environment. We till the same land and drink water from the same source. We have the same blood. So, on the contrary, our location is far apart from Hausa/Fulaniland; thousands of miles apart. We don’t speak the same language. We don’t have the same culture. We don’t share the same boundary. In fact, we have absolutely nothing in common. It is easier to integrate Europeans with the Hausa/Fulani than to integrate Kwara and Kogi with them.”

The deputy governorship candidate of Action Congress of Nigeria in the state, Hon. Henry Ojuola, would not speak for the whole state. He said: “I am a Yoruba man from Kogi West. I got the mandate to represent my people in the House of Assembly, so I know what my people want. I know their interests, culture, political culture, behaviour and aspiration. I do not pray that Nigeria breaks and I don’t think that any patriot should work for the disintegration of his country.

“However, should we get to that point, certainly my people in the five local government areas in Kogi West will go with our kith and kin in the West. We share the same language and culture and would feel more comfortable with them. Junaid Mohammed cannot speak for us. Who is he to decide for our people? How can he from Kano do that?”

On the other two senatorial districts of the state, Ojuola said he was not in position to speak for them. His words: “I cannot speak for the Ebira and Igala. But, I know that we share a lot with the Ebira. Remember that we share affinity in old Kwara State. We understand one another.”

There were indications yesterday that leaders of various groups in the state who felt stung by the Junaid Mohammed interview held a meeting during the week to consider how to officially react to the statement. While some of the leaders dismissed it as a non-issue and the opinion of one man, others said he could be speaking for an entrenched Northern interest group and should, therefore, elicit appropriate responses.

A former House of Representatives member from Ebiraland said, “Junaid should not be dignified with response. I have followed his outbursts since the Second Republic and he derives pleasure in avoidable and unnecessary controversy. I will not want to speak on the issue. I am an Ebira from Kogi State. Beyond that, I am a Nigerian. That’s all. No more. I do not know if there is a North today. The only one that I know died many years ago.” He, however, refused to be identified.

Kwara people are no less outraged. Justice Mustapha Akanbi, a retired President of the Court of Appeal, who hails from Ilorin, would not contemplate the break-up of Nigeria. He described whoever is thinking of Nigeria’s disintegration as an enemy of the people and the African continent.

“Those talking about the division of Nigeria are pessimists and enemies of the country”, said the pioneer Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC),

Justice Akanbi told The Nation that, “speaking for myself, I don’t want the break-up of the country. I want a united country. I have struggled for pan-Africanism all my life. I have struggled all my life talking of one great Nigeria which all African countries can look up to as a role model. Although we have not been able to give them that satisfaction, I will, till the end of my life, struggle for a united Nigeria.

“I can’t contemplate a situation where Nigeria will be divided into pieces. It is forward ever, backward never. I think those who talk about dividing Nigeria are pessimists. I am an optimist.

Referring to his orientation early in life, Justice Akanbi, who was introduced to pan-Africanism as an admirer of the late Dr. Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana, said: “Now getting to about 80 years, how can I start talking about the division of Nigeria? I hope it does not happen during my time and I pray that it does not happen in the time of my own children. Throughout my stay in Nigeria, I have seen any Nigerian as a Nigerian, as I have seen him as an African and that is my basic philosophy and that of my family. I daily pray for the greatness of Nigeria and Africa. When Europeans are having the European Union and other countries are united, how can we be talking about Nigeria in small pieces? Once you start that, you are running into deep waters and I hope the whirlwind will not consume us.

“So the question of whether Kwara, Kogi or any of the states will belong to one area, as far as I am concerned, is a non-issue. As a matter of fact, I prefer to be known as Akanbi, the pan-Africanist.”

The Kwara State governorship candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in last year’s poll, Alhaji Mohammed Dele Belgore (SAN), was optimistic that Nigeria would not be balkanised.

In Belgore’s words: “We don’t think that Nigeria will break up; we certainly hope it will not break up. Our strength as a nation lies in the different peoples working together for a common purpose of development and economic empowerment.

“Poverty and unemployment do not discriminate between north and south. These are ills that are common to both and these are matters that should call for our attention. Rather than talk about break- up, we should not be talking about Nigeria breaking up. instead we should be talking about building a strong and virile nation.”

The possibility of disintegration of Nigeria has come up in debates in recent times, following communal disputes in different parts of the country, the Niger Delta struggle, the campaign for a Sovereign State of Biafra in the South East and the devastating strikes by Boko Haram nihilists in the North.

There are now more strident calls for sovereign national conference, greater autonomy to the federating units and need for regional control of resources as was the case in the First Republic.

This has reportedly and understandably led to unease in the North that believes that it could be at the receiving end if the centre is weakened, leading to the recent call by chairman of the Northern States Governors Forum for a revisit to the derivation formula designed to pacify and placate a devastated Niger Delta.

http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/news/39301-don%E2%80%99t-drag-us-into-break-up-debate%2C-kogi%2C-kwara-leaders-tell-north.html

I

Nigeria

That Junaid Mohammed is a clown of the highest order. It is easy to see what he was attempting anyway; in his shallow mind, he thought that Yoruba's, Ebira's and Igala's would not respond with one voice.
Who wants to be in the same country with the likes of Junaid Mohammed who see nothing wrong in stuff like generating 10 million almajiri's and "marrying" 10 year old girls?

Anybody thinking kwara a state with about 80 yoruba obas and just 4 emirs would align with the North in the course of the country's breaking-up gotta be kidding himself. Even till date, my village owning to convention still pay tributaries to Oyo (Alaafin), That almajiri man talking might be a lunatic sha.

Y

@@@@@

therefore as has been demonstrated here and elsewhere

the word north is dead and gone

gone forever im afraid

weather alj boko harem and crew will accept the new order na der wahala

again jarus i still like to see what u think on this one

one north really

last time in nassarawa the people their hate u lots aboki and s hit hahahha

my only problem with the yaribas is bad belle; it in their blood; jesus help us; infact it makes up their dna structure; will need a lot of diffusion to deal with

colomb:

Anybody thinking kwara a state with about 80 yoruba obas and just 4 emirs would align with the North in the course of the country's breaking-up gotta be kidding himself. Even till date, my village still owning to convention still pay tributaries to Oyo (Alaafin), That almajiri man talking might be a lunatic sha.

I know Ilorin quite well and have always marvelled at how tolerant the folk are to have an Emir. It is times like this that show that level of tolerance to be a grave error.
Even if the Emir claims to be a Yoruba (na lie, he is Fulani), there is no reason on Earth why at the very least, his title does not become [b]Oba [/b]instead. Enforce it.
A foreign title represents something unwholesome (certainly, Junaid Mohammed see's it that way).

I'm really missing the political drama in this country, who is junaid mohd and what did he say? From the replies I've seen he's another dreamer living in his own world.

Beaf:

I know Ilorin quite well and have always marvelled at how tolerant the folk are to have an Emir. It is times like this that show that level of tolerance to be a grave error.
Even if the Emir claims to be a Yoruba (na lie, he is Fulani), there is no reason on Earth why at the very least, his title does not become [b]Oba [/b]instead. Enforce it.
A foreign title represents something unwholesome (certainly, Junaid Mohammed see's it that way).

shut up . they are muslims . so they want an emir. not an oba.

oduasolja:

shut up . they are muslims . so they want an emir. not an oba.

Why don't you have an Emir in Ibadan then, since they too are Muslims?
By the way, you just gave yourself out as someone with a fake Yoruba id (probably another incarnation of alj haram).

ikeyman00:

@@@@@

therefore as has been demonstrated here and elsewhere

the word north is dead and gone

gone forever im afraid

weather alj boko harem and crew will accept the new order na der wahala

again jarus i still like to see what u think on this one

one north really

last time in nassarawa the people their hate u lots aboki and s hit hahahha

my only problem with the yaribas is bad belle; it in their blood; jesus help us; infact it makes up their dna structure; will need a lot of diffusion to deal with

u like. yorubas dont have bad belle. nah u igbo get bad belle pass. so shutup. u guys always want to dominate things. yorubas are more liberal and acommodating.

yorubas are more liberal and acommodating.

  ^^^^ explain plz

u guys always want to dominate things.

one north hmmm

its good the people of kwara and kogi have finally opened up , its obvious the middle belt will be shared amo ng the east and west because as soon as kwara and yoruba part of kogi joins the west there will be nothing left of the middle belt, the eastern igala and idomas can join the east ,its not yet clear where the tiv, berom ,gwari etc will join but judging from the recent blood sheds the berom and tivs have been having with the hausa fulanis even up till this morning its obvious they will never think of joing a hausa fulani dominated north vus that will be suicide and slavery. besides who no want oil so they will definitely want to join the rich east , jos will be rebuilt again

oduasolja:

u like. yorubas dont have bad belle. nah u igbo get bad belle pass. so shutup. u guys always want to dominate things. yorubas are more liberal and acommodating.

your actually a fake yoruba man , you have fooled us all this while , alhjharem. how can you wish emirs on yorubas instead of obas

Beaf:

I know Ilorin quite well and have always marvelled at how tolerant the folk are to have an Emir. It is times like this that show that level of tolerance to be a grave error.
Even if the Emir claims to be a Yoruba (na lie, he is Fulani), there is no reason on Earth why at the very least, his title does not become [b]Oba [/b]instead. Enforce it.
A foreign title represents something unwholesome (certainly, Junaid Mohammed see's it that way).

Let him keep his title,it will be part of the deal. After all,we have been tolerating it since forever. He's as powerless as its gets.

ikeyman00:

@@@@@

therefore as has been demonstrated here and elsewhere

the word north is dead and gone

gone forever im afraid

weather alj boko harem and crew will accept the new order na der wahala

again [b]jarus i still like to see what u think on this one
[/b]
one north really

last time in nassarawa the people their hate u lots aboki and s hit hahahha

my only problem with the yaribas is bad belle; it in their blood; jesus help us; infact it makes up their dna structure; will need a lot of diffusion to deal with

Our elders have spoken.

sholasys:

PLS READ AND CONTRIBUTE

The controversy stirred by Dr. Junaid Mohammed on possible break up of Nigeria is yet to die down. Leaders of Kogi and Kwara, two Middle Belt states the Second Republic legislator threatened to drag along with the North have reacted. Group Political Editor BOLADE OMONIJO, EMMANUEL OLADESU and ADEKUNLE JIMOH present their angry responses:

THE political and social elite of Kogi and Kwara states are angry that a section of the North is threatening to hold them as bargain in the event that Nigeria disintegrates. Perhaps taking a cue from Karl Meier’s contention that “this house has fallen” and the foreign prediction that the country can only last a few years given the current sociological pressure, Junaid Mohammed told a Sunday newspaper that the North was not afraid of a break up. He, however, added that this would only be allowed if Kogi and Kwara states were ceded to the North.

But, furious at the sheer thought, David Jemibewon, a retired Major General, fired three questions in one minute: “On whose mandate is he talking? Whose interest is he representing? Who authorised him?”

Jemibewon, a founding member and leader of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) hails from Kogi State. He found it insulting that Mohammed could conceivably be speaking for the people of Kogi and Kwara states.

The former military governor of the defunct Western State who reacted on the phone, said Mohammed lacked the mandate of his people in Kogi to speak on such a sensitive issue.

He added: “If it’s his personal view, which I cannot query, there is no problem. But if he claims to be speaking on behalf of the North, who gave him the mandate?

“I don’t think he represents my interest until he gets my mandate. If he has been authorised, I don’t have the right to query him. But who authorised him?”

[size=14pt]Jemibewon was too angry to continue with the interview.[/size] But Rotimi Obadofin, another Kogi politician would not want to contemplate such a development. He said Mohammed was wallowing in self-deception and self-delusion, pointing out that the two states would not go with the North, if there is a break-up.

up-debate%2C-kogi%2C-kwara-leaders-tell-north.html

hehehe!

This division will be very interesting.

Oduasolja = Alj Harem.

It didn't take long for this desperate parasitic pauper to really expose himself. I dey laugh

Beaf:

Why don't you have an Emir in Ibadan then, since they too are Muslims?
By the way, you just gave yourself out as someone with a fake Yoruba id (probably another incarnation of alj haram).

don't bring your input into matters you know nothing about.
'Oba' is traditionally a pagan title. 'emir' is a muslim one.

Kwara people are no less outraged. Justice Mustapha Akanbi, a retired President of the Court of Appeal, who hails from Ilorin, would not contemplate the break-up of Nigeria. He described whoever is thinking of Nigeria’s disintegration as an enemy of the people and the African continent. 

He added: “If it’s his personal view, which I cannot query, there is no problem. But if he claims to be speaking on behalf of the North, who gave him the mandate?

AMEN.

this is a note to similar "mouth pieces" on nairaland (only truth etc). who claim to be speaking on behalf of their ethnic group instead of sharing their personal opinion as just that-- personal opinion!!

What do you call "pagan"? What in Yorubaland is "pagan"?

Dudu_Negro:

What do you call "pagan"? What in Yorubaland is "pagan"?

even if you don't have a dictionary, you have access to "google search" through a computer.
you are not a primary school student.

Ejiné:

Oduasolja = Alj Harem.

It didn't take long for this desperate parasitic pauper to really expose himself. I dey laugh

^^^His job is to cause and add fuel to ethnic squabbles mainly between Igbo on one hand, and Yoruba/Ijaw/Efik/Ibibio (etc) on the other. I sussed him out long ago .

On topic: If in the event of a break-up Kwara elects to go with the Southwest, what happens to the poor Emir of Ilorin ?

c.fours:

don't bring your input into matters you know nothing about.
'Oba' is traditionally a pagan title. 'emir' is a muslim one.

Dude, Emir is an Arabic title that is used across the Middle East. It certainly did not arise from Islam. Ok?
Secondly, I take offense at your calling a traditional African title, pagan. Who defined your culture, identity and soul as pagan? White men and Arabs?

@topic
I truly wanna see an Oba of Ilorin.

c.fours:

even if you don't have a dictionary, you have access to "google search" through a computer.
you are not a primary school student.

He's prolly not interested in your dictionary explanation but  rather wondering about your condescension.
What's not Pagan about Arab culture?
Emirs are foreign creation and they shall remain so no matter how many religious props it get.
Obaship is pegan but emirship is religious this is what has been successfully sold to these people and that's why such aberration has existed in Ilorin,no disrespect to the emirate system though.

Neo-colonial aspect of religion.

Nice one. The divide and rule game is ending. I hope Southern Nigeria can be formed soonest!!!!