Jokolo’s bombshell: North should forget
2015 Presidency
...Says IBB, Gusau, Atiku, Buhari, govs
failed the North
From ISMAIL OMIPIDAN, Kaduna
Thursday, March 22, 2012
From an uncommon quarter came a
warning yesterday to the northern political
elites already jostling for political power in
2015. Deposed Emir of Gwandu, Alhaji Al-
Mustapha Jokolo, said they should tarry a
while and give the South-South another
four-year term beginning from 2015.
Jokolo, who was deposed about seven
years ago in a controversial circumstance
and still fighting his deposition in court, told
Daily Sun in an exclusive interview in Birnin
Kebbi, Kebbi State capital, on Tuesday, that
the North should forget the Presidency for
another eight years.
He insisted that the North should only
return to power at the federal level, after
the Igbos too must have produced the
President for one term of four years,
beginning from 2019.
All these, according to him, are his own
panacea for restoration of peace to the
country, and to further strengthen the
country’s claim of oneness without
discriminating against any section or ethnic
group.
This is even as he accused the likes of
former military president Ibrahim
Babangida (IBB), ex-vice president Atiku
Abubakar, former Head of State Muhammed
Buhari, former National Security Adviser
(NSA) Aliyu Gusau, including all the northern
governors, of being responsible for the
spate of insecurity in the region, saying, if
they had played their parts well as leaders
in their respective times, the situation
would certainly have been different.
He said: “The situation whereby all these
leaders, who created these problems will
now sit down and claim they want to find
solution to the problems they created will
no longer be acceptable to us. They should
just bury their heads in shame, and allow
the younger generations in the north, to
take the driver’s seat.”
He also spoke on the recent defection of
former governor of Kebbi State, Senator
Mohammed Adamu Aliero, from the
Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), back
to the PDP, saying that “it is our turn to
laugh at him, and to laugh at Buhari, who
handed over the party’s platform to him in
the state, after what he did to him in the
ANPP. We warned Buhari but he wouldn’t
listen,” Jokolo added.
Below are the excerpts of the interview:
What is your take on the recent defection
of Aliero from the CPC, back to the PDP?
Why don’t you just leave me out of these
political talks. You know I am not a
politician. Please, let me be.
But you are a major stakeholder in Kebbi
State; as such, you should be concerned
about what happens there.
Okay, will you have the courage to publish
whatever I would say?
Why not, go ahead, so long as they are not
libellous.
(General laughter) You see, Aliero is a serial
political betrayer. There is nobody that has
associated with him that he has not
betrayed. You know he was in ANPP, on
which platform he won election to be
governor of Kebbi State in 1999. But this
man was one of Obasanjo’s agents in the
ANPP. He was one of those who betrayed
Buhari in 2003.
Now, as we were approaching the 2007
elections, he had concluded plans to move
to the PDP, so as to cover his tracks. But he
was still attending ANPP meetings, just to
jeopardise the party’s chances of making
any impact in Kebbi, since he was moving
out of the party.
He brought Saidu Dakingari with the hope
that he could remote-control him. When that
was not working, he connived with the
former First Lady, (name witheld by us) to
undo Dakingari. But Dakingari trusted in
God, and in the end, God delivered him from
their hands.
Through divine intervention, he got back
the party’s machinery in the state, and he
was nominated as the candidate for the
2011 governorship election. So, this was
what angered Aliero and he had to leave the
party for the CPC.
Now, after losing the election, he is coming
back to the PDP. To do what? I don’t know,
because Dakingari had won all his elections
before now without Aliero. It is absurd to
say that out of all the 36 states in the
country, only the governorship election in
Kebbi State was not free and fair.
Having said that, however, it is good that he
is returning to the PDP, after all the insults
he had poured on the governor and the
government. We will now wait to hear what
he would be saying next. But his returning
to the PDP will give us opportunity to laugh
at him, and to also laugh at Buhari, because
we warned him about Aliero, but he would
not listen. Now he has abandoned him
again. It is our turn to laugh at him, and
laugh at Buhari, who handed over the
party’s platform to him in the state after
what he did to him in the ANPP. We warned
Buhari but he wouldn’t listen.
We also hear that his return may have
everything to do with positioning for 2015.
What do you think?
Well, I don’t deal with speculation. Once the
time comes and you are sure of your facts,
ask me for my comment then, I will tell you.
However, frankly speaking, I am aware
some of our northern governors, including
former Vice President
Atiku Abubakar are already jostling for
the Presidency, come 2015. And I ask
myself, what have they done for the North,
to justify their aspiration?
Look at Atiku, for the eight years he was
vice president, what did he do for the North
and Islam, apart from the expensive
university he built in Yola, which is not
within the reach of the poor in the state?
With what he is earning from all his
investments, tell me what he has done for
Islam and the North. Yet, these people will
want to lord it over us in the name of North
and Islam. I think they should just forget
about 2015.
Look at TY Danjuma, the man is assisting
Christianity with his wealth. He has
singlehandedly built infrastructures for
universities in the Middle Belt area. But what
do we have from our own leaders?
Nothing! They created Boko Haram and
other security challenges we have in the
north. Yet, the same people will now sit
down and say they want to find solution to
the problem. They should please give me a
break. They should quietly retire to their
homes and wait for their turn to die, and
allow the younger generations to take over
leadership in the region.
Since all these people; IBB, Gusau, Buhari,
Atiku, Ciroma, and others in their category,
have all failed us, they have nothing more
to offer. The likes of IBB, Atiku, Buhari,
Gusau, Ciroma, including all the governors,
are responsible for the spate of insecurity
in the North. If they had done the right
thing, as leaders during their time, the
situation we find ourselves today would
certainly have been different. The situation
whereby all these leaders, who created
these problems, will now sit down and claim
they want to find solution to the problems
they created will no longer be acceptable to
us.
They should just bury their heads in shame
and allow the younger generations in the
north to take the driver’s seat. Look, the
truth is that if Mohammed Yusuf, (late Boko
Haram leader) was not killed, all these
people, including the former governors of
some of the North-Eastern states, would
have been exposed, and Nigerians would
have had the opportunity of knowing the
role they played in the whole thing.
If I heard you correctly, you are saying the
north should forget about 2015
Presidency. Is that correct?
Look, not only 2015 but after 2015. They
should not think of producing the president
until after the South-East has produced the
president in 2019. The South-South
produces the oil for God’s sake. So, I am
strongly advocating that for peace to reign
in Nigeria, South-South must be given
another term of four years in 2015. It must
not necessarily be Jonathan, it can be
anybody, but the Presidency must remain in
the South-South by 2015.
The one year Jonathan spent before the
2011 election is part of Yar’Adua’s tenure,
so this is just the first term of the South-
South. The region should be given another
term of four years after Jonathan’s first
term. After that, the South-East should also
be given another four years after South-
South’s second term. It is after that that the
north can now have it. And even in the
north, it should go to the North-East,
because we in the North-West have
produced Nigeria’s president on too many
occasions. I am talking of both military and
civilian.
After North-East, it should go to the South-
West, for another four years, from where it
should come back to the North-Central, for
another four years, from where it should go
back to the South-East for another four
years, before returning to the North-West.
This is my own recipe for a lasting peace
and unity in the country. Since we are
talking about constitution review now, they
should find a way of inserting it in the
constitution, so that the Presidency would
go round and every section or region will
have a sense of belonging.
Are you sure northerners will not call for
your head with this position of yours?
I don’t give a damn! Those who want to call
for my head can as well go to hell. Don’t you
think we should be honest enough by
telling ourselves the truth? Tell me which
Sardauna’s legacy is still standing today?
Sardauna united the north but they have
succeeded in dividing the north. I am
prepared for whatever that will follow my
position on this Presidency matter.