http://www.gamji.com/article8000/NEWS8404.htm

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The title of this discourse will surely anger many. It is not meant to please any group either. What I intend to do is to discuss the recent crisis in Plateau State in a different context. At the end we may be able to understand what roles we are to play in the political configuration called Nigeria.

Many are knowledgeable about Nigeria’s history. Many know that there were at one time two protectorates: North and South. There came to be an amalgamation in 1914, followed by regions with NA system; then States with the present Local Government system, (includes the blood-spilling Jos North Local Government area.

The transformation of the political structure of Nigeria has not yet given us an acceptable living condition. We are at home with riots, killings, maiming; and we have our share of IDP’s (internally displaced persons). Can we say that we heard the last of crisis after the recent one in Jos? Nothing on the ground seems to suggest that. Of more importance to me is the fact that Nigerians seem to stick to their past, however ugly and unrewarding it might be.

The politics of Nigeria is still the first Republic model: extreme hatred amongst Nigeria’s major tribal groups; that is the Hausa-Fulani, the Yoruba and the Igbo. One would have thought that with the success of power shift, the main contending blocs would have sheathed swords, and redefined the battle to be of ideas and programs. But that seems not to be the case. We have moved to a more dangerous platform: the politics of religion.

Conflicts bring out the beast in man. When people are in conflict, all the contending parties are right; and no Jupiter will make any of them to agree the he has some share of the blame. Political intrigues know no bounds. You do not tell someone the weapons to use in war: any weapon that gives victory or causes the most harrowing damage will willingly be used. You can for instance entice someone to a course of action by doing an act which you surely know will lead your enemy to act in the way you want. If you decide to take your preaching to the territory of an opposing believer, brazenly trying to show that he is not in majority in the area you are targeting, you surely know the outcome you want: your enemy will riot, certain number of your followers will lose lives and properties; but in the end you achieve your propaganda value: your enemy is behaving true to type.

Hausa-Fulani gave Plateau State a lingua-franca: Hausa language. The diverse tribes within or on the Plateau do not understand each others dialects. Hausa is spoken by all of them. We may see changes in the future if the ethnic cleansing ideology takes root. Hausa-Fulani gave the non Hausa-Fulani residents of the Plateau their traditional dress. Before that they were naked, or wearers of animal skins. In turn the different tribes offer to the Hausa-Fulani alcohol; and this they vehemently reject as a societal culture. Many leaders of Hausa-Fulani do guzzle alcohol, but it is not the culture of the majority of the society.

We digressed to the realms of values to show that it is one of the impediments to integration. Ironically, Botswana, to my understanding a predominantly Christian country, is waging war against alcoholism. Why is it that the regulatory agencies of aviation have zero tolerance for alcohol in those who pilot planes? Alcohol is evil and we all know it. But some insist that it must form part of their culture.

Lagos prides itself as being the economic nerve centre of the country. It generates the highest internal revenue, and consumes 70% of the nation’s power output. However, are the Yoruba the only consumers of Lagos’s industrial output? The Igbo can be found in the remotest corner of the North; trading and making fortunes in the midst of the legendary poverty of the Northerner. However they are safe as long as the political machinations of their politicians do not cause the host communities to seek vengeance.

Whenever there is a crisis in the North, whether ethnic or religious, it is the fault of the Hausa-Fulani; and this will be the line of majority of the Yoruba press. When IK Mou wrote his version of what happened in Plateau in the BusinessDay, he wrote that the Hausa-Fulani started the conflict by burning churches and the market place before there was a reprisal on the mosques. Would you want him to write otherwise? Would any commission of enquiry make him to accept that the Hausa-Fulani can be a victim? He was generous enough however to concede that the Hausa-Fulani have found themselves for the first time at the receiving end. First time? There was no Mile 9, there was no Sagamu? There was no Zangon Kataf, there was no Numan? Like I said earlier, you cannot win against prejudice.

There was a time when the Western world wanted a united Nigeria. Then the Hausa-Fulani were the darlings. Having more experience with governance based on knowledge, (due to their Islamic heritage) they were able to lead because thy understood human nature better. Their earlier leaders were able to eschew corruption, and to care for the down-trodden. Today, Western intelligence agencies want a more fragmented Africa: an Africa with dispersed population, living in camps in the dense forests, unable to farm, and being fed through Western-donated food packs. They want Nigeria to disintegrate.

When you look closely, there are more clamors for resource control, for ethnic identity, then you had twenty or thirty years back. MASSOB exists to keep on tearing the Nigerian identity. Would the reader want to remember when the United States wanted the Nigerian Government to let OPC be? Who then owns or funded the OPC? The Yoruba would say it is a justifiable outrage against Northern hegemony then using the Nigerian army. But what of today, is the hegemony still a reality?

Humans and conflicts seem inseparable; for though we always call for justice and fair play, we are not able to inculcate same; nor are we able to set up and maintain institutions that ensure that we don’t play with justice. The Nigerian State, nay the Nigerian Constitution, does not exist in the minds of the citizens. You believe that you are a Nigerian in an area where your tribe is not in the majority to your own peril. So whether there are ten million Hausa-Fulani in Jos North local government of Plateau State is not the issue. The main issue is: who are more in number in all the surrounding areas of the State? And it is those in the outlying area who will be fueled by the zeal of ethnic identity to try to cleanse their state of those who ‘forced’ them to wear clothes. You may reflect on certain characteristics of two tribes that are many in number and are enterprising: Hausa-Fulani and the Igbo. Wherever they set up business do they try to bring in those who might be the earlier settlers of the place? Most unlikely. They go about their lives as traders but not as missionaries. It is the missionary who is after winning hearts and minds. He is also the one most qualified to use incendiaries, even if they are in the form of words, and mutilated ideology.

The integration that Nigerians desire in order to really be democratic is really still domiciled on Jupiter. It is many light years away. In the interim, sanity demands that we understand our limitations. There was failure in the normal traditional peace brokers when they allowed an election contest between a Hausa-Fulani and a Birom: the Hausa-Fulani must (‘pentacostically’) lose. I may have offended some, but it is the reality is it not? It is a contest defined to be between a Muslim and a Christian; and it is apparent the Christians have overall majority in that State; your majority in a particular Local Government does not give you electoral advantage: the State is ours, you are a settler, accept that status or pay with your lives, limbs, and property, and so on.

So what is next? The onus is on the one who found himself in an enemy territory. Sit down with your ‘canine’ host and decide a charter of your ‘tenant’ and ‘landlord’ relationship. Should you have voting rights? Or would you accept the one that says you can vote and not be voted for? Should you have property rights? Or should you take cue from the PDP youth leader who says that those whose properties were burnt should not be compensated, for that will entice them to burn their properties for gain in the future?

This is all a manifestation of intense hatred. But what is the source of this intense hatred? It comes from religious leaders, and the inheritors of the politics of the First Republic. Can you fight it? You can, if you remove religion from people’s hearts! Then they will kill each other due to causes such as ethnic grouping, land disputes, creation of local government, and so on. Concluding on a wishful thinking note, Nigeria may know more peace if South- West changes its perception of what politics is all about; or be brave enough to leave Nigeria.

As for minorities of the North, and even those of the South, you may not want to believe it, but the Hausa-Fulani you despise is your best guarantor against extermination. If Nigeria disintegrates, you may come to the same realization.

He is not one of us, he is of the ONE Nigeria Group, I am of the Arewa Republic Group.

Sorry for Him, but thanks for defending Hausa-Fulani on ranges of issues above.

Simply a case of the unreadable being commended by the SIMPLE.

Xavier.:

Simply a case of the unreadable being commended by the SIMPLE.

I'm sure you did not read anything from the article before posting your reply.

What part of UNREADABLE do u find difficult to comprehend. The title alone is repulsive.

Xavier.:

What part of UNREADABLE do u find difficult to comprehend. The title alone is repulsive.

Places like this one

Whenever there is a crisis in the North, whether ethnic or religious, it is the fault of the Hausa-Fulani; and this will be the line of majority of the Yoruba press. When IK Mou wrote his version of what happened in Plateau in the BusinessDay, he wrote that the Hausa-Fulani started the conflict by burning churches and the market place before there was a reprisal on the mosques. Would you want him to write otherwise? Would any commission of enquiry make him to accept that the Hausa-Fulani can be a victim? He was generous enough however to concede that the Hausa-Fulani have found themselves for the first time at the receiving end. First time? There was no Mile 9, there was no Sagamu? There was no Zangon Kataf, there was no Numan? Like I said earlier, you cannot win against prejudice.

As much as i see this delusioned or deceptive writer trying to romance with the Igbos, i dont agree with him on why the yorubas became the sole problem of the the failed nigeria. I say, the housa/fulanis and the yorubas collectively ruined the country with the former having a greater damaging hand.
Fortunately or unfortunately, the north seem to be realizing how the Igbos could have helped built a wonderful nigeria.

The politics of Nigeria is still the first Republic model: extreme hatred amongst Nigeria’s major tribal groups; that is the Hausa-Fulani, the Yoruba and the Igbo. One would have thought that with the success of power shift, the main contending blocs would have sheathed swords, and redefined the battle to be of ideas and programs. But that seems not to be the case. We have moved to a more dangerous platform: the politics of religion.

Infact, the writer is a big time slowpoke for thinking that power shift to yorubas was suppose to be a compensation to other tribes in the south.

auwal87:

He is not one of us, he is of the ONE Nigeria Group, I am of the Arewa Republic Group.

Sorry to say, but from the tone of his piece, he is definitely one of you. First of all, the title of his piece is prepostorous. No one has given the Hausa-Fulani a burden of leadership. Infact, we all wish they would unburden themselves of their leadership duties.

The writer certainly isn't of the "ONE NIGERIA" persuasion. The only "ONE NIGERIA" he believes in is the "ONE NIGERIA" where every other tribe is under Fulani imperialism. . . . just like the Huasa are.

Look at some of his quotes. . . .


Hausa-Fulani gave Plateau State a lingua-franca: Hausa language. The diverse tribes within or on the Plateau do not understand each others dialects. Hausa is spoken by all of them. We may see changes in the future if the ethnic cleansing ideology takes root. Hausa-Fulani gave the non Hausa-Fulani residents of the Plateau their traditional dress. Before that they were naked, or wearers of animal skins. In turn the different tribes offer to the Hausa-Fulani alcohol; and this they vehemently reject as a societal culture. Many leaders of Hausa-Fulani do guzzle alcohol, but it is not the culture of the majority of the society.


The writer completely discredits himself when he makes statements such as the one above. We can see through his facade just by reading the tone of his article. He is an Hausa nationalist.

This is the most rubbish I have read in a while. "We gave them language and culture and they gave us alcohol". . . . . how laughable!. . . . . this is imperialist hogwash. .

Whatever they did not receive from the Hausa, they would have received from the British or Yoruba, whether that be language or clothing. . . . .  


The Igbo can be found in the remotest corner of the North; trading and making fortunes in the midst of the legendary poverty of the Northerner. However they are safe as long as the political machinations of their politicians do not cause the host communities to seek vengeance.

More bollocks. . . . . Igbos trade peacefully all over Nigeria without any problems. . . . except in the North.

The fact that he juxtaposes the wealth of the Igbo traders against the backdrop of Hausa poverty gives you an insight into his mentality. . . . he finds it grating.


There was a time when the Western world wanted a united Nigeria. Then the Hausa-Fulani were the darlings. Having more experience with governance based on knowledge, (due to their Islamic heritage) they were able to lead because thy understood human nature better. Their earlier leaders were able to eschew corruption, and to care for the down-trodden. Today, Western intelligence agencies want a more fragmented Africa: an Africa with dispersed population, living in camps in the dense forests, unable to farm, and being fed through Western-donated food packs. They want Nigeria to disintegrate.

If the West wants Nigeria to disintegrate, then what are they waiting for?. . . .the will is there on all sides. . . surely, if the West wants us to disentegrate and all other tribes are in agreement, the Hausa cannot stop it. . . . this guy is a joke!


When you look closely, there are more clamors for resource control, for ethnic identity, then you had twenty or thirty years back. MASSOB exists to keep on tearing the Nigerian identity. Would the reader want to remember when the United States wanted the Nigerian Government to let OPC be? Who then owns or funded the OPC? The Yoruba would say it is a justifiable outrage against Northern hegemony then using the Nigerian army. But what of today, is the hegemony still a reality?

What is this guy talking about?. . . . if the Yoruba's were not allowed to vent their frustrations through the OPC in the 90's, Nigeria would have imploded. . . . he should be thankful that OPC acted as a pressure valve to let off the Yoruba's frustrations. . . . . America was wise not to outlaw OPC. . . .maybe, the writer can learn something about good governance by their actions (since he claims that Hausas are better at governing due to their Islamic heritage). . . . the lesson here is that you do not govern in a repressive and totalitarian fashion.


You can, if you remove religion from people’s hearts! Then they will kill each other due to causes such as ethnic grouping, land disputes, creation of local government, and so on. Concluding on a wishful thinking note, Nigeria may know more peace if South- West changes its perception of what politics is all about; or be brave enough to leave Nigeria.

And finally, he hits us with the coup de grace. . . . if the South-West does not change it's perception of politics, it should grow some balls and attempt secession. . . . .really?. . . . . i.e, what he is saying is that we are running this shit by force of arms and if you don't like it, come and fight us. . . . i.e we will not let you leave unless you defeat us. . . .first of all, there is nothing democratic about that statement. . . . there are secession movements all over the World from Scotland to Spain. . . .I do not see the British Govt telling the Scottish National Party: "If you don't like living in Britain, come and fight us". . .  .this guy does not know what he is talking about. . . . which University did he get his degree from. . . . does he think that we cannot secede with help from our "Western allies" - since he believes they are on our side?. . . . . and to top it off, he claims that religion is not the problem when everybody knows that religious fervour can turn a neighbourhood skirmish into a nuclear war.


auwal, where do you get writers like this from? No wonder he is working for gamji.com.

auwal, where do you get writers like this from? No wonder he is working for gamji.com.

Birds of a feather, they browse together.

Ibime:

Sorry to say, but from the tone of his piece, he is definitely one of you.
auwal, where do you get writers like this from? No wonder he is working for gamji.com.

No, he is not one of us, now if I will introduce the Arewa Republic agenda to him, he will bash it much more than any other Hausa, Yoruba, or Igbo will do, remember things, there are people who read and research to understand facts and embrace the truths, those people are quite okay, and there are people whose their main mission of reading and research is to find ways to attack other views or opinions of others.

E.g. I have wrote so many times in one of the Nigerian dailies, but the replies I am getting are far more interesting than my own article, there is an article I wrote just about 2 pages only, but the responder sends up to 10 pages as reply, mainly attacking the opinion, even though I am not attacking any of his own opinions. He is Hausa Fulani, I am also, but his opinions defers from my own, but at the end we are all trying to defend ourselves.

Xavier.:

Birds of a feather, they browse together.

You always use to make meaningless approaches, now you are trying to hook me up with that writer, well maybe if he buys our (as in us interested in Arewa Republic) opinion.

He is not in any way having the same opinion with mine, but we are just trying to defend our culture to which we are born into. Even though I don't consider his article as defending Hausa-Fulani, in fact he is even exposing things which are hidden thousands of meters away from the ground.

I posted his article as a tool for others to understand the reasons why Nigeria is still amalgamated since 1914.

.

tpia:

Africans hate too much.

don't know why they spend so much time and energy simply hating. Its so stupid. Just this Christmas Ugandan or Congolese rebels masscared over 400 people. No one even knows what they're fighting for or why.

same story everywhere in Africa. Will Africans ever get their act together. They have so much in common with these Arabs/SE Asian tribes- blood feuds, generational hostilities, "honor" mentality, etc etc.

no chance. too divided and too many small minded people about

auwal87:


E.g. I have wrote so many times in one of the Nigerian dailies, but the replies I am getting are far more interesting than my own article

My sister, with this kain grammar, I wonder wish newspaper you dey write for. . . . abi na Gamji.com?

only on gamji can u find such nauseating trash. burden of leadership indeed.

Ibime:

My sister, with this kain grammar, I wonder wish newspaper you dey write for. . . . abi na Gamji.com?

Sister? For your church or for your house? Den I will sit here to kyan kyan all my Brighter Grammar just to post on Nairaland, how would I mind my english if people like you are the one reading on nairaland??

Gamji? I have never sent my articles to them, they are just a website, not a paper.

@ auwal,
Can I have a copy of your article? Check my profile for my email address and let me have a soft copy.