The grandson of the late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, Alhaji Hassan Danbaba, has decried the impact of the January 15, 1966 coup on Nigeria, saying the coup was a major setback for the country. Danbaba, who is the Magajin Garin of Sokoto and member, Sokoto Emirate Council, told LEADERSHIP Sunday in an interview that the coup was absolutely unnecessary, and that it inhibited the nation’s democracy as well as its development. “What progress did we make? Democracy would have taken root deeply but it was truncated and it took a very long time for it to come back. From 1966, we did not get back democracy till 1979. If there were mistakes, they would have been corrected and continued to be corrected and democracy would have been deeply rooted. Now, it is not even long we got back the democracy. “Let me tell you, I saw a development plan at the Arewa House and can you believe that as at then, even the thought of dredging River Niger was in the development plan, so that goods would be carried from Lagos to northern Nigeria? It did not take them very long to build railways everywhere. They were selfless leaders, not looking for anything. Ahmadu Bello had absolutely nothing; they were just interested in serving and if they were given the opportunity up to the end of their term and another good person took over, it would have been another different story all together. Look at Malaysia, when did they get their independence, look at Dubai, they had so much foresight,” he added. He further pointed out that those who carried out the coup did not do it not to correct any ill, but were only copying what was happening around Africa. “I do not think that Chukwuma killed Ahmadu Bello because he wanted to correct the things that were done wrongly. It was a time of coups and young officers were revolting everywhere. It was the in thing; that is why they did it. It was done in Libya by Gaddafi and so, young officers came and felt they could change everything and that is why we are in the sort of crisis we have 50 years on,” he lamented. The traditional ruler, who is also the chairman of the finance and general purposes committee of the Sultanate council, also lamented the handling of some of the legacies of the late Sardauna by the people of the North, using the Bank of the North as an example, saying, “how can I be impressed when we lost our bank? The southern and eastern Nigeria had their bank, same with the north. I believe that of the other parts are still there and ours is now being run by people from the south. The Northern Governors Forum were taking deposits and giving to other banks; they would rather patronise other banks than theirs. Why then would the Bank of the North not die? It died because there was no patronage. Bank of the North was bought by the people of South- South. Even the managing director, a very versatile and dynamic man is from the South- South.” Danbaba also praised President Muhammadu Buhari’s leadership style, saying with the tremendous goodwill the president got, he would reciprocate and that Nigerians will certainly benefit from electing Buhari and by the time he finishes his term, “Nigeria will be like Dubai.” leadership.ng/news/492501/coup-major-setback-nigeria-sardaunas-grandson

its public knowledge d military set nigeria 40 years backwards but still, some nigerians prefare military rule where they will be guided like cattles