What a brilliant speech by Sanusi, he just made my day.


The Central Bank Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, surprised guests present at the Musom Centre for the launching of the book of Sir Lanihun Ajayi at the MusoN Centre in Lagos.
The book titled: “Nigeria, Africa’s failed asset?” attracted many important dignitaries, intellectuals and some governors.

The argument by discussants centered on whether or not the colonial masters laid the foundation for the problems Nigeria is currently facing. Many argued that the British loved the North and that was why it gave more than 5o percent of the National Assembly seats to the North at independence.
Sanusi, however, stole the show when he spoke. His speech was anchored on the plank that the British and Nigerian rulers are responsible for the state of the situation Nigeria finds itself today.
Below is his unedited speech.

“Let me start by saying that I am Fulani (laughter). My grandfather was an Emir and therefore I represent all that has been talked about this afternoon. Sir Ajayi has written a book. And like all Nigerians of his generation, he has written in the language of his generation.
“My grandfather was a Northerner, I am a Nigerian. The problem with this country is that in 2009, we speak in the language of 1953. Sir Olaniwun can be forgiven for the way he spoke, but I can not forgive people of my generation speaking in that language.

“Let us go into this issue because there are so many myths that are being bandied around.
Before colonialism, there was nothing like Northern Nigeria. Before the Sokoto Jihad, there was nothing like the Sokoto caliphate. The man from Kano regard himself as Abakani. The man from Zaria was Abazasage. The man from Katsina was Abakani. The kingdoms were at war with each other. They were Hausas, they were Muslims, they were killing each other.

“The Yoruba were Ijebu, Owo, Ijesha, Akoko, Egba. When did they become one? When did the North become one? You have the Sokoto Caliphate that brought every person from Adamawa to Sokoto and said it is one kingdom. They now said it was a Muslim North.
“The Colonialists came, put that together and said it is now called the Northern Nigeria. Do you know what happened? Our grand fathers were able to transform to being Northerners. We have not been able to transform to being Nigerians. The fault is ours.

Tell me, how many governors has South West produced after Awolowo that are role models of leadership? How many governors has the East produced like Nnamdi Azikiwe that can be role models of leadership? How Many governors in the Niger Delta are role models of leadership? Tell me. There is no evidence statistically that any past of this country has produced good leaders.

You talk about Babangida and the economy. Who were the people in charge of the economy during Babangida era? Olu Falae, Kalu Idika Kalu. What state are they from in the North?
“We started the banking reform; the first thing I heard was that in Urobo land, that there will be a course of the ancestors. I said they (ancestors) would not answer. They said why? I said how many factories did Ibru build in Urobo land? So, why will the ancestors of the Urobo people support her?

“We talk ethnicity when it pleases us. It is hypocrisy. You said elections were rigged in 1959, Obasanjo and Maurice Iwu rigged election in 2007. Was it a Southern thing? It was not.
“The problem is: everywhere in this country, there is one Hausa, Ibo, Yoruba and Itshekiri man whose concern is how to get his hands on the pile and how much he can steal.
Whether it is in the military or in the civilian government, they seat down, they eat together. In fact, the constitution says there must be a minister from every state.

“So, anybody that is still preaching that the problem of Nigeria is Yoruba or Hausa or Fulani, he does not love Nigeria. The problem with Nigeria is that a group of people from each and every ethnic tribe is very selfish. The poverty that is found in Maiduguri is even worse than any poverty that you find in any part of the South. The British came for 60 years and Sir Ajayi talked about few numbers of graduates in the North (two at independence). What he did not say was that there was a documented policy of the British when they came that the Northerner should not be educated. It was documented. It was British colonial policy. I have the document. I have published articles on it. That if you educate the Northerner you will produce progressive Muslim intellectuals of the type we have in Egypt and India. So, do not educate them. It was documented. And you say they love us (North).

“I have spent the better part of my life to fight and Dr. (Reuben) Abati knows me. Yes, my grandfather was an Emir. Why was I in the pro-democracy movement fighting for June 12? Is (Moshood) Abiola from Kano? Why am I a founding director of the Kudirat Initiative for Nigerian Development (KIND)?
“There are good Yoruba people, good Igbo people, good Fulani people, good Nigerians and there are bad people everywhere. That is the truth.
“Stop talking about dividing Nigeria because we are not the most populous country in the world. We have all the resources that make it easy to make one united great Nigeria. It is better if we are united than to divide it.
“Every time you talk about division, when you restructure, do you know what will happen? In Delta, Area, the people in Warri will say Agbor, you don’t have oil. When was the Niger Delta constructed as a political entity? Ten years ago, the Itshekiris were fighting the Urobos. Isn’t that what was happening? Now they have become Niger Delta because they have found oil. After, it will be, if you do not have oil in your village then you can not share our resources.

“There is no country in the world where resources are found in everybody’s hamlet. But people have leaders and they said if you have this geography and if we are one state, then we have a responsibility for making sure that the people who belong to this country have a good nature.
“So, why don’t you talk about; we don’t have infrastructure, we don’t have education, we don’t have health. We are still talking about Fulani. Is it the Fulani cattle rearer or is anybody saying there is no poverty among the Fulani?”, he said

source: http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2009/nov/20/national-20-11-2009-00-10.htm

I like this

What a brilliant man!

The truth has been spoken ! !

He who have ears let them hear

He who have eyes let them read

The problem is and can never be tribalism; but selfish individualism

The British came for 60 years and Sir Ajayi talked about few numbers of graduates in the North (two at independence). What he did not say was that there was a documented policy of the British when they came that the Northerner should not be educated. It was documented. It was British colonial policy. I have the document. I have published articles on it. That if you educate the Northerner you will produce progressive Muslim intellectuals of the type we have in Egypt and India. So, do not educate them. It was documented. And you say they love us (North).

no2a see them nasty white devils in action

As expected, this post has not drawn too many comments. Shame on all the nairalanders blaming the North for all of Nigerias problems, and shame on all those advocating for Nigeria to break up. WAKE UP!

Sanusi's recollection of history has always been eloquent, the problem is implementation.
If the British planned for the muslim north not to be educated, what has happened since after we sent the British home?

naijaking1:

Sanusi's recollection of history has always been eloquent, the problem is implementation.
If the British planned for the muslim north not to be educated, what has happened since after we sent the British home?

Eloquent? I will call him a rabble-rouser.

real4life:

As expected, this post has not drawn too many comments. Shame on all the nairalanders blaming the North for all of Nigerias problems, and shame on all those advocating for Nigeria to break up. WAKE UP!

It is because silence is golden. Maybe you will have a rethink when you read this.

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/letters/article01//indexn2_html?pdate=011209&ptitle=Sanusi%27s%20comment%20on%20colonial%20policy




Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Sanusi's comment on colonial policy

SIR: Among the issues that the Central Bank Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi raised during the presentation of the book, Nigeria: Africa's failed asset, written by Chief Olaniwun Ajayi in Lagos recently, only one, in my view, requires polite response. That issue is the claim by Sanusi that the British Colonial masters avoided providing education for the Northerners to prevent breeding progressive minds as in Egypt.

In Sanusi's words as reproduced in some major national newspapers: "It is all too easy to keep up this myth of British love for the North. But it has been documented that the same British had an official policy of not educating Northerners, because they feared doing otherwise would breed progressive minds as in Egypt. And you tell me they loved us".

Wherever the very erudite CBN Governor got his documented official policy of British administration in Nigeria from, it should not be lost to the unwary that Sanusi's claim runs contrary to the much-documented activities of Christian Missionaries in some coastal towns in Southern Nigeria, which included the provision of educational facilities, long before British colonial rule took off in Nigeria.

The cities of Calabar, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Bonny, Ahoada, Buguma among others have the oldest primary and secondary schools in Nigeria. Duke Town Primary School, Hope Waddel Training Institutes both in Calabar, C.M.S Grammar School, Bariga, Lagos, St. Michael's Primary School in Omoku, St. Paul's in Ahoada are some pieces of evidence of Christian missionaries efforts and not British colonial administration. Christianity has had as its twin missions in Nigeria, the liberation of the soul and the liberation of the mind.

While the Northern heathen communities were in the throes of the Jihadists; the Bible-wielding Missionaries notably the Irish, Scottish, British and others - were building schools and church towers for their converts in the South.

The graphic historical chain of the Merchants - the Missionaries - the Majesties in such preceding order would make Sanusi's claim too simplistic. To limit Northern/Southern educational imbalance to the period of the Majesties which started later in time is to assert, albeit erroneously, that British colonial rule first brought western education to Nigeria. Worse still, it is on record that Nigerians of the South who opposed British colonial oppressive policies were in greater number, and most of them had enjoyed educational facilities provided by the Missionaries.

The revolutionary tendencies exhibited by some educated natives of the South during colonial rule were enough to make, and indeed made the Colonial power to repress Southerners in a most brutal fashion. It equally made the North a friend of the Colonial masters and this could not have led British to any fear as asserted by Sanusi.

Just as the British colonial administrators established some schools in the South, so did they in the North. There is evidence of such in the Northern cities of Jos, Keffi, Bida, Kaduna and others. But with the already existing schools in the south, made available by Christian missionaries, the South had an advantage over and above the North. Such schools in the South followed the pattern well-laid by the missionaries years before colonial administration took off in Nigeria.

It is on record that the first West African to obtain a university degree was Prince Domingo of Itsekiri in 1610. Instructively, he graduated in Theology. If the whole of the North could have only four university graduates as at 1960, while the Ijaw of Rivers State had its first university graduate in 1856 from the University of London in the person of John Jumbo, that should make Sanusi to seek a more convenient forum to rephrase his unhistorical thesis.

Until the polity is restructured and the present Constitutional imbalance created by Northern military rulers corrected in a fair and equitable manner, the tension and suspicion, no matter how mild, between the North and the South would not abate. Such correction is imperative, so much so when the imbalance is the basis of resources allocation, governmental policies and actions. The correction should start with the presentation of correct historical data. But not emotive oration laden with lopsided facts, no matter the applause such oration attracted!

Opunim Nwagbegbe,
Calabar,
Cross River State.

Prince Domingo and John Jumbo: makes me proud! Some history.

Sanusi has created his own history and seriously only a fool will believe him. A picture will definitely convince you. An Ally of the colony during slavery and colonization was ther sultan of Sokoto back then. They remain friends and the tradition will continue through the seeds of the filthy royal families.

How many other Kings in Nigeria has been invited by the royal family? None and I repeat none. He's poking his head where he can't breath. He knows little of history let him stick to commerce. The sad thing his many educated illiterates will buy his bullshit. The North are still power hungry. Why didn't the British allow them to break when they wanted to if the Brits hate them so much? Why did they tell them they'll lose access to sea if the Brits hate them so much? You can lie to those old Nigerians kissing asses not the new generation of Nigerians.

I am still waiting on the new generation social commentator to comment on the Yar'adua situation.

Nigeria is at cross roads, what has he said? NOTHING.

Tomorrow he will come and lecture us on progress

pcicero:

Eloquent? I will call him a rabble-rouser.
It is because silence is golden. Maybe you will have a rethink when you read this.

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/letters/article01//indexn2_html?pdate=011209&ptitle=Sanusi%27s%20comment%20on%20colonial%20policy




Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Sanusi's comment on colonial policy

SIR: Among the issues that the Central Bank Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi raised during the presentation of the book, Nigeria: Africa's failed asset, written by Chief Olaniwun Ajayi in Lagos recently, only one, in my view, requires polite response. That issue is the claim by Sanusi that the British Colonial masters avoided providing education for the Northerners to prevent breeding progressive minds as in Egypt.

In Sanusi's words as reproduced in some major national newspapers: "It is all too easy to keep up this myth of British love for the North. But it has been documented that the same British had an official policy of not educating Northerners, because they feared doing otherwise would breed progressive minds as in Egypt. And you tell me they loved us".

Wherever the very erudite CBN Governor got his documented official policy of British administration in Nigeria from, it should not be lost to the unwary that Sanusi's claim runs contrary to the much-documented activities of Christian Missionaries in some coastal towns in Southern Nigeria, which included the provision of educational facilities, long before British colonial rule took off in Nigeria.

The cities of Calabar, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Bonny, Ahoada, Buguma among others have the oldest primary and secondary schools in Nigeria. Duke Town Primary School, Hope Waddel Training Institutes both in Calabar, C.M.S Grammar School, Bariga, Lagos, St. Michael's Primary School in Omoku, St. Paul's in Ahoada are some pieces of evidence of Christian missionaries efforts and not British colonial administration. Christianity has had as its twin missions in Nigeria, the liberation of the soul and the liberation of the mind.

While the Northern heathen communities were in the throes of the Jihadists; the Bible-wielding Missionaries notably the Irish, Scottish, British and others - were building schools and church towers for their converts in the South.

The graphic historical chain of the Merchants - the Missionaries - the Majesties in such preceding order would make Sanusi's claim too simplistic. To limit Northern/Southern educational imbalance to the period of the Majesties which started later in time is to assert, albeit erroneously, that British colonial rule first brought western education to Nigeria. Worse still, it is on record that Nigerians of the South who opposed British colonial oppressive policies were in greater number, and most of them had enjoyed educational facilities provided by the Missionaries.

The revolutionary tendencies exhibited by some educated natives of the South during colonial rule were enough to make, and indeed made the Colonial power to repress Southerners in a most brutal fashion. It equally made the North a friend of the Colonial masters and this could not have led British to any fear as asserted by Sanusi.

Just as the British colonial administrators established some schools in the South, so did they in the North. There is evidence of such in the Northern cities of Jos, Keffi, Bida, Kaduna and others. But with the already existing schools in the south, made available by Christian missionaries, the South had an advantage over and above the North. Such schools in the South followed the pattern well-laid by the missionaries years before colonial administration took off in Nigeria.

It is on record that the first West African to obtain a university degree was Prince Domingo of Itsekiri in 1610. Instructively, he graduated in Theology. If the whole of the North could have only four university graduates as at 1960, while the Ijaw of Rivers State had its first university graduate in 1856 from the University of London in the person of John Jumbo, that should make Sanusi to seek a more convenient forum to rephrase his unhistorical thesis.

Until the polity is restructured and the present Constitutional imbalance created by Northern military rulers corrected in a fair and equitable manner, the tension and suspicion, no matter how mild, between the North and the South would not abate. Such correction is imperative, so much so when the imbalance is the basis of resources allocation, governmental policies and actions. The correction should start with the presentation of correct historical data. But not emotive oration laden with lopsided facts, no matter the applause such oration attracted!

Opunim Nwagbegbe,
Calabar,
Cross River State.

http://www.cms-ogs.org/About/history.html



School History

The Church Missionary Society (CMS), as a boarding school for boys, founded the CMS Grammar School, Lagos, the oldest secondary grammar school in Nigeria, on 6th June 1859.



The first Anglican Missionaries, who had arrived in Lagos, from Sierra Leone, in 1842, and had established the Yoruba Mission, soon realized the need for a good secondary school for their missionary work in Lagos. It was these missionaries
of the Yoruba Mission that founded the School, the primary aim of which was to offer boys the opportunity of having secondary school education, which was not then available in Lagos. Some local merchants and traders also contributed funds towards the founding of the school. The CMS Grammar School in Freetown, Sierra Leone, had been founded a few years earlier.

The School started with only six pupils, all boarders, in a small, single storey building, the 'Cotton House' at Broad Street, the present site of Hallmark Bank (UTC) Building. For decades after it was "founded, it was the only secondary grammar school that offered boys training as future leaders of Nigeria. Until recently, most of the Anglican Clergy in Nigeria were products of the CMS Grammar School, as were the early administration. Though a Mission school, it does not discriminate in its admissions, with boys from different religious background being offered admission into the school through an entrance examination.

Later, after a British colony was established in Lagos in 1861, the British colonial authorities recruited most of their local clerical and technical staff from the School. Among these were Dr. Henry Carr, the first African Inspector of Education and, later, Administrator General of Lagos Colony, and Herbert Macaulay, who later trained as Surveyor.

From its inception, the School's motto has been 'Nisi Dominus Frustra', extracted from Psalm 127, meaning 'Without God we labour in Vain', which enshrined the faith of the founding fathers, and the tradition of the School.

i can see that two years is 'looooong before the british took over'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_Nigeria

Influence of the Christian Missions

Christianity was introduced at Benin in the fifteenth century by Portuguese Roman Catholic priests who accompanied traders and officials to the West African coast. Several churches were built to serve the Portuguese community and a small number of African converts. :-XWhen direct Portuguese contacts in the region were withdrawn, however, the influence of the Catholic missionaries waned[b] and by the eighteenth century had disappeared.
[/b]

Although churchmen in Britain had been influential in the drive to abolish the slave trade, significant missionary activity was renewed only in the 1840s and was confined for some time to the area between Lagos and Ibadan. The first missions there were opened by the Church of England's Church Missionary Society (CMS). They were followed by other Protestant denominations from Britain, Canada, and the United States and in the 1860s by Roman Catholic religious orders. Protestant missionaries tended to divide the country into spheres of activity to avoid competition with each other, and Catholic missions similarly avoided duplication of effort among the several religious orders working there. Catholic missionaries were particularly active among the Igbo, the CMS among the Yoruba.

The CMS initially promoted Africans to responsible positions in the mission field, an outstanding example being the appointment of Samuel Ajayi Crowther as the first Anglican bishop of the Niger. Crowther, a liberated Yoruba slave, had been educated in Sierra Leone and in Britain, where he was ordained before returning to his homeland with the first group of missionaries sent there by the CMS. This was part of a conscious "native church" policy pursued by the Anglicans and others to create indigenous ecclesiastical institutions that eventually would be independent of European tutelage. The effort failed in part, however, because church authorities came to think that religious discipline had grown too lax during Crowther's episcopate but especially because of the rise of prejudice. Crowther was succeeded as bishop by a British cleric. Nevertheless, the acceptance of Christianity by large numbers of Nigerians depended finally on the various denominations coming to terms with local conditions and involved participation of an increasingly high proportion of African clergy in the missions.


In large measure, European missionaries were convinced of the value of colonial rule, thereby reinforcing colonial policy. In reaction some African Christian communities formed their own independent churches. British expansion accelerated in the last decades of the nineteenth century. The early history of Lagos Colony was one of repeated attempts to end the Yoruba wars. In the face of threats to the divided Yoruba states from Dahomey and the Sokoto Caliphate, as represented by the emirate of Ilorin, the British governor—assisted by the CMS—succeeded in imposing peace settlements on the interior.

Colonial Lagos was a busy, cosmopolitan port, reflecting Victorian and distinctively Brazilian architecture and the varied backgrounds of a black elite, composed of English-speakers from Sierra Leone and of emancipated slaves repatriated from Brazil and Cuba. Its residents were employed in official capacities and were active in business. Africans also were represented on the Lagos Legislative Council, a largely appointed assembly.

After the Berlin Conference, Britain announced formation of the Oil Rivers Protectorate, which included the Niger Delta and extended eastward to Calabar, where the British consulate general was relocated from Fernando Po. The essential purpose of the protectorate was to control trade coming down the Niger. Vice consuls were assigned to ports that already had concluded treaties of cooperation with the Foreign Office. Local rulers continued to administer their territories, but consular authorities assumed jurisdiction for the equity courts established earlier by the foreign mercantile communities. A constabulary force was raised and used to pacify the coastal area. In 1894 the territory was redesignated the Niger Coast Protectorate and was expanded to include the region from Calabar to Lagos Colony and Protectorate, including the hinterland, and northward up the Niger River as far as Lokoja, the headquarters of the Royal Niger Company. As a protectorate, it did not have the status of a colony but remained under the jurisdiction of the Foreign Office.

Continued expansion of the protectorate was accomplished largely by diplomatic means, although military force was employed to bring Ijebu, Oyo, and Benin into compliance with dictated treaty obligations. The conquest of Benin in 1897 completed the British occupation of southwestern Nigeria. The incident that sparked the expedition was the massacre of a British consul and his party, which was on its way to investigate reports of ritual human sacrifice in the city of Benin. In reprisal a marine detachment promptly stormed the city and destroyed the oba's palace. The reigning oba was sent into exile, and Benin was administered indirectly under the protectorate through a council of chiefs.

Although treaties were signed with rulers as far north as Sokoto by 1885, actual British control was confined to the coastal area and the immediate vicinity of Lokoja until 1900. The Royal Niger Company had access to the territory from Lokoja extending along the Niger and Benue rivers above their confluence, but there was no effective control, even after punitive expeditions against Bida and Ilorin in 1897. The clear intent was to occupy the Sokoto Caliphate, but for that purpose the Royal Niger Company was not deemed to be a sufficient instrument of imperialism. Consequently, on December 31, 1899, Britain terminated the charter of the company, providing compensation and retention of valuable mineral rights.

just to forestall any whitewashing of the missionaries

@Oyb
Tanx. I attended CMS Grammar School and i'm quite familiar with the history of the Church in Nigeria. However Sanusi's distortion of history and attempt to stand logic on its head has to be highlighted.
I've been following his comments and i'm not convinced that he's not doing a hatchet job for the Hausa-Fulani oligarchy after all he is a Kano Prince and a potential Emir. I don't see anything bad in rising up to the defence of one's ethno-religious group but issues must be put in the right perspectives. Some of our write-ups and speeches (even comments on Nairaland) are veritable sources of information.

seems like the guy who you are quoting is guilty of what you are accusing sanusi of - distortion of history and attempting to stand logic on its head.

according to him the missionary schools were set up ' several years' before the colonialists established themselves - it is clear than cms was established only two years before colonial rule commenced.

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?action=post;topic=360161.0;num_replies=12

what pattern was long established by the missionaries that the colonials followed ? prejudice? those who fought for independence did not become so minded because of the schools, rather in spite of them. if the schools were responsible for nationalism, as the writer claims, they would have produced scores of activists.

It is on record that the first West African to obtain a university degree was Prince Domingo of Itsekiri in 1610.

Historically, the ltsekiri have a monarchy, over 500 years old, and which, as a rallying point in their society, remains its supreme government. From 1480 to now, there have reigned 19 Olu of Warri: five Olus of the pre-Christian era; 1480 - 1597: eight Roman Catholic Olus from 1597-1735, and six Olus of the post-Roman Catholic Christian era.

Atuwatse I, baptized as Dom Domingo reigned between 1625 and 1643, having studied in Coimbra University in Portugal for eleven years where he obtained a degree.

The first-ever church monastery built in what today is Nigeria was erected in Big Warri (Ode-ltsekiri) before 1700 and was christened Saint Anthony (today, the site is known as Satone). As an ethnic nationality, the Itsekiri people are a micro-minority in Delta State. Estimated at over 450,000, Itsekiri is one of the five distinct ethnic nationalities in Delta State, Nigeria.

considering the fact that this guy was the heir apparent. . .seems more like he was being prepared as a Portuguese vassal - did he establish any schools or was he only interested in building church monasteries?

Sanusi has good oratory prowess, is aware of it and deliberately uses it in conjunction with concocted historical data 2bamboozle any listening audience 2garner public applause and sympathy.
@least some Nigerians are starting 2consult this so called historical data and reading in-between the lines of his numerous speeches and using it 2analyse the persona cal'd Sanusi.

pcicero:

It is on record that the first West African to obtain a university degree was Prince Domingo of Itsekiri in 1610. Instructively, he graduated in Theology. If the whole of the North could have only four university graduates as at 1960, while the Ijaw of Rivers State had its first university graduate in 1856 from the University of London in the person of John Jumbo, that should make Sanusi to seek a more convenient forum to rephrase his unhistorical thesis.

I keep telling ignorant Nigerians to put a sock in it when they talk bollocks about Niger Delta being backward. If I had to recall family history here, most will be shocked to learn that when our great-great grandfathers were going to school, their parents were busy patrolling the villa dressed in loincloth.   .


@ topic,

It is an open secret that the British had a policy of non-interference in muslim areas of Africa. It can also be argued that the British viewed their education as a challenge to Islamic education and were wary of causing any conflict. In other muslim countries like Gambia, you would be surprised at the high level of illiteracy. Infact it was a shock to find out that most of the students in Gambia had to travel to Banjul for secondary education until the mid-to-late 1990's. In Gambia today, the same scenario is playing itself out with (Christian-educated) Sierra Leoneans controlling a large portion of the economy whilst most Gambians are reduced to serfdom.

puskin:

Sanusi has good oratory prowess, is aware of it and deliberately uses it in conjunction with concocted historical data 2bamboozle any listening audience 2garner public applause and sympathy.
@least some Nigerians are starting 2consult this so called historical data and reading in-between the lines of his numerous speeches and using it 2analyse the persona cal'd Sanusi.

Sanusi is a Kano prince, so why is it a surprise he got an education that was denied the other down-trodden Hausa people? Also, Sanusi is used to making these "official proclaimations" and never really been challanged in a interactive session where someone vehemently disagrees with him in his face.
As he comes out of his shell, begins to read from his closely guarded philosophy of northern superiority, mixes with a little national politics; it would become obvious that the emperor prince has no clothes.

So most, if not all, of the education in Nigeria took place post-colonialism?
If so pcicero should apologies for his statement perpetrating that Sanusi is a history twister

You talk about Babangida and the economy. Who were the people in charge of the economy during Babangida era? Olu Falae, Kalu Idika Kalu. What state are they from in the North?
“We started the banking reform; the first thing I heard was that in Urobo land, that there will be a course of the ancestors. I said they (ancestors) would not answer. They said why? I said how many factories did Ibru build in Urobo land? So, why will the ancestors of the Urobo people support her?

This is white-washed history from Sanusi. He is blaming southeners for a junta that suspended the laws of the land and ruled by decrees. maybe Pius Okigbo should also be blamed for first gulf war oil windfall that went missing or IBB's appointed  IG. Maybe Humphrey Nwosu of NEDECO should be blamed why election results were not announced. Revisionist of history by Sanusi. I'm yet to see him give any major speech on micro and macro economic issues in the midst of central bankers.

@pcicero

The fact is that OK what were we before you were Niger delta western (yoruba) south east(igbo) Northern(hausa)? Why have we not become Nigerians is the question that Mr Sanusi seeks to answer.

It suites the Elites to speak from different sides of there mouths. IS IT NOT AMAZING THAT WE BLAME THE "NORTH" FOR OUR WOES WITH VERY LITTLE EDUCATION WHEN THE REAL PEOPLE RULING LIKE HE MENTIONED WERE NOT NORTHERNERS?

Tell me, how many governors has South West produced after Awolowo that are role models of leadership? How many governors has the East produced like Nnamdi Azikiwe that can be role models of leadership? How Many governors in the Niger Delta are role models of leadership? Tell me. There is no evidence statistically that any past of this country has produced good leaders.

^^^^^^^^^^
Is this the fault of the northerners?

We are so foolish, we the lead and some of the elite pray that we remain fools for ever. That must stop now we are nigerians first. I dont care if you live in a house made of pareparts or you drink soup or you are a cow chasing man can you do the job can we trust you. Our eyes should not see people through the tribal glass.

Some Nigerians have very low expectation of what the leaders should do WE MAKE A DIRECTORY OF EXCUSES FOR OUR LEADERS. IT IS IN OUR SCHOOLS, IN OUR FILMS AND EVEN ON NAIRALAND THIS MUST STOP NOW. The elite are getting away easily with this no expectation from the citizen.

THIS EXPECT NOTHING NEW MUST STOP
WE ARE CONDEMN TO IMAGINE GOOD OR WE ARE DOOMED

WE MUSTSTART WRITING WHAT WE WANT OUR LEADERS TO DO IF NOT THEY WILL GET AWAY WITH IT

adconline:

[size=8pt]You talk about Babangida and the economy. Who were the people in charge of the economy during Babangida era? Olu Falae, Kalu Idika Kalu. What state are they from in the North?
[b]“We started the banking reform; the first thing I heard was that in Urobo land, that there will be a course of the ancestors. I said they (ancestors) would not answer. They said why? I said how many factories did Ibru build in Urobo land? So, why will the ancestors of the Urobo people support her?[/[/b]size]

This is white-washed history from Sanusi. He is blaming southeners for a junta that suspended the laws of the land and ruled by decrees. maybe Pius Okigbo should also be blamed for first gulf war oil windfall that went missing or IBB's appointed IG. Maybe Humphrey Nwosu of NEDECO should be blamed why election results were not announced. Revisionist of history by Sanusi. I'm yet to see him give any major speech on micro and macro economic issues in the midst of central bankers.

Old boy country hard-o!
It's bad enough for him to claim to read the mind of Urobo ancestors, it's even worse to show his obsession with that beautiful Ibru woman at every oppotunity has to speak about Nigeria's financial future,
Maybe, he should just ask her out directly, I'm sure they can work something out if she boarders his dreams that much.

rethink:

@pcicero

The fact is that OK what were we before you were Niger delta western (yoruba) south east(igbo) Northern(hausa)? Why have we not become Nigerians is the question that Mr Sanusi seeks to answer.

It suites the Elites to speak from different sides of there mouths. IS IT NOT AMAZING THAT WE BLAME THE "NORTH" FOR OUR WOES WITH VERY LITTLE EDUCATION WHEN THE REAL PEOPLE RULING LIKE HE MENTIONED WERE NOT NORTHERNERS?

^^^^^^^^^^
Is this the fault of the northerners?

We are so foolish, we the lead and some of the elite pray that we remain fools for ever. That must stop now we are nigerians first. I dont care if you live in a house made of pareparts or you drink soup or you are a cow chasing man can you do the job can we trust you. Our eyes should not see people through the tribal glass.

Some Nigerians have very low expectation of what the leaders should do WE MAKE A DIRECTORY OF EXCUSES FOR OUR LEADERS. IT IS IN OUR SCHOOLS, IN OUR FILMS AND EVEN ON NAIRALAND THIS MUST STOP NOW. The elite are getting away easily with this no expectation from the citizen.

THIS EXPECT NOTHING NEW MUST STOP
WE ARE CONDEMN TO IMAGINE GOOD OR WE ARE DOOMED

WE MUSTSTART WRITING WHAT WE WANT OUR LEADERS TO DO IF NOT THEY WILL GET AWAY WITH IT

Those who fail to learn from history will repeat the mistakes of history. I am only asking you to read in between the lines before making conclusions. The argument of which tribe has contributed more to our under-development is neither here nor there. But, just consider Sanusi's subtle attempts to lay it on other people's footsteps while exonerating the Fulani cabal.

[b]“Let me start by saying that I am Fulani (laughter). My grandfather was an Emir and therefore I represent all that has been talked about this afternoon. Sir Ajayi has written a book. And like all Nigerians of his generation, he has written in the language of his generation.
“My grandfather was a Northerner, I am a Nigerian. The problem with this country is that in 2009, we speak in the language of 1953. Sir Olaniwun can be forgiven for the way he spoke, but I can not forgive people of my generation speaking in that language.

“Let us go into this issue because there are so many myths that are being bandied around.
Before colonialism, there was nothing like Northern Nigeria. Before the Sokoto Jihad, there was nothing like the Sokoto caliphate. The man from Kano regard himself as Abakani. The man from Zaria was Abazasage. The man from Katsina was Abakani. The kingdoms were at war with each other. They were Hausas, they were Muslims, they were killing each other.

“The Yoruba were Ijebu, Owo, Ijesha, Akoko, Egba. When did they become one? When did the North become one? You have the Sokoto Caliphate that brought every person from Adamawa to Sokoto and said it is one kingdom. They now said it was a Muslim North.
“The Colonialists came, put that together and said it is now called the Northern Nigeria. Do you know what happened? Our grand fathers were able to transform to being Northerners. We have not been able to transform to being Nigerians. The fault is ours.[/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/b]


For me, this is the main point of Sanusi's speach. We may disagree with his examples to butress his points, but we should not be carried away that successfully we are not making progress to seeing the big pictures. By now, we should be talking as a Nigerian and demand from our leaders at any level what is our due. Not pointing accussing fingers"

Sanusi is defending the North because the Olaniwun Ajayi was pointing the accusing finger in that direction.

http://thenationonlineng.net/web2/articles/26912/1/The-alliance-Nigeria-badly-needs-1/Page1.html

JosBoy4Lif:

So most, if not all, of the education in Nigeria took place post-colonialism?
If so pcicero should apologies for his statement perpetrating that Sanusi is a history twister

I don't know where you got that from. However, the pattern of incursion of the Westerners was first through trade, then missionary activities and finally colonialism. If the schools were established before colonialism and later existed during and post colonialism, then which education are you referring to?
There were Islamic mission schools like Ahmaddiya, founded and funded by Islamic missioners. We should all endeavour to learn more.

http://www.onlinenigeria.com/education/?blurb=534

OVERVIEW OF EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: PRE-COLONIAL TO PRESENT DAY
Today:Wednesday, December 02, 2009


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By M. A. Mkpa


INTRODUCTION



Three main educational traditions, the Indigenous, Islamic and the Western, are known to have flourished at various times in Nigeria. Each type of education served its purpose for its consumers but also had its problems.



Even in these days of western-type education, and at this dawn of the new millennium, our educational system is still beset with numerous problems in spite of the progress so far made. This paper examines the trend in the educational development of Nigeria from pre-colonial times to the present, with a view to highlighting the progress made and problems encountered on the way.



More specifically, we present an overview of the indigenous, Quranic and the western-type education before and after independence. We also examine some problems in Nigerian education, especially access, discipline and funding and indi cate desirable direction for the future.





NATURE OF INDIGENOUS EDUCATION



Indigenous education represents the type of education offered in the pre-literate era, within the community, by community members who possessed specialised skills or abilities in various fields of human endeavour. In most communities, prior to the introduction of formal education, boys were brought up to take to whatever occupation their fathers engaged in. In some other cases, the boys were sent to other masters as apprentices to learn various vocations and life etiquette.



Although occupations varied accord ing to the geographical areas in Nigeria, the major ones were farming, trading, craft work, fishing, cat tle rearing, wine tapping, traditional medicine and black-smithing. The boys also engaged in such other training activities as archery, tree climbing and wrestling. Intellectual training for them consisted of their sitting quietly beside their fathers at meetings and listening attentively to learn the process of such tasks and skills as arbitration of cases, oratory, wise sayings and use of proverbs.



All these stimulated their sense of rationality. Girls were often expected to stay back at home to learn domestic and other chores such as cook ing, sweeping, weeding the farmlands, hair weav ing, decorations of the body, dye production; and the like from their mothers. As in the case of the boys, the girls did almost exactly what their mothers trained them to do. Generally, therefore, in spite of geo-political variations, traditional or indigenous education in most parts of Nigeria trained individu als to fit usefully into their society by learning and practising economic skills for self-sustenance; adapting to their role expectations and contributing to the development of their society.



Although the traditional education offered by the community was comprehensive such that it provided training in physical, character, intellectual, social and voca tional development, it however had its limitations. For one thing, in the absence of writing, people depended on the power of their memories to facilitate the retention and transmission of all learned ideas to future generations. But memory could fail, and in the event of the death of a custodian of some useful information or skill, all was lost. There were, however, little or no cases of unemployment.



Islamic Education In Nigeria:

Records show that Islam was first accepted by a Kanern ruler, Umme Jilmi (1085 - 1097). Subsequent rulers, Dunama 1 (1097-1150) and Dunama II (1221 - 59), continued the tradition of Islamic learning such that by the end of the 13th Century, Kanern had become a centre of Islamic learning (Fafunwa, 1974:53).



In the early 14th Century, Islam was brought into Hausa land by traders and scholars who came from Wangarawa to Kano in the reign of Ali Yaji (1349 1385). Before long, most of what later became the Northern Nigeria was islamised. Islamic education brought along with it Arabic learning since Arabic is the language of the Quran and was therefore perceived as having great spiritual value. Arabic and Islam were taught simulta neously in primary schools. As a result of the polit ical and social influence which Islam and Quranic learning conferred on those who possessed it, many rulers employed Islamic scholars as administrators.



The Jihad by Uthman Dan Fodio helped to revive, spread and consolidate Islamic studies and extend access to education also to women. Thus, before the arrival in Nigeria of the Western type education in the 19th Century, Islamic learning had been established. Islamic studies had also pene trated the Western parts of Nigeria before the arrival of the Jihadists; but the Jihad strengthened the religion where it was weak. Support for Islamic education came from some Northern Nigerian lead ers, especially Abdullahi Bayero, (Emir of Kano), who, on his return from Mecca in 1934, introduced new ideas by building a Law School for training teachers of Islamic subjects and Arabic as well as English and Arithmetic.



The school continued to grow and expand in scope such that before long, and with the support of the then Northern Region Ministry of Education, it had grown into the popular Bayero College, Kano, which became a part of Ahmadu Bello University and later the present Bayero University, Kano. The institution helped to expand the scope of Islamic studies in Nigeria. Many institutions have sprung up over the years, in many parts of the country, for the purpose of teaching Islamic ideas and practices. However, one major problem of this educational tradition is the focus on Arabic which, in many parts of Nigeria, is not the language of literature, instruction and cor respondence.



The Western-Type Education. This educa tional tradition, began seriously in Nigeria with the arrival of the Wesleyan Christian Missionaries at Badagry in 1842. It has obviously been the most successful in meeting the overall formal education al needs of the consumers for the present and the future. Between 1842and 1914, abouttendifferent Christian missions had arrived and begun intensive missionary and educational work in Nigeria. Schools were built and the missions struggled for pupils/members such that there was a proliferation of primary schools established by different mis sions. Although literary educationin in the 4Rs (reading, writing, arithmetic and religion) was predominant, this new missionary education prepared the recipients for new job opportunities, as teachers, church evangelists or pastors, clerks and inter preters. Emphasis was also on character training. Most of the missions established primary schools and, initially, little emphasis was laid on secondary and higher education.



But following agitations by influential church members, rich merchants and emigrants living in Lagos, the CMS Grammar School Lagos, for example, was established in 1857. The .western-type education developed faster in the South than in the North of Nigeria because of the scepticism of the Muslims about the impact of Christian missionary education. By 1914, it was estimated that about 25,000 Quranic schools were already in existence all over Northern Nigeria. Thus, the arrival of Christian Western education met stiff opposition. However, in some parts of Northern Nigeria, the Christian missionaries did succeed to establish schools, at times, in collabora tion with Government.



Much of the educational work in Southern Nigerian, prior to 1882, was done by the missionar ies almost without government assistance. However, from 1882, the Government began a bold intervention by promulgating codes and regulations, guidelines and policies on organisation and man agement of schools. Government also began to appoint inspectors and to make grants to schools to ensure quality. Thus, between 1882 and 1950, many codes and regulations were issued by Government to regulate the quality of education in various parts of the country. Between 1952 and 1960, each of the then three regions enacted and operated new education laws (the West in 1955, both the East and North in 1956). The initial exper iment at Universal Primary Education Programme was started in the West and East in 1955 and 1957 respectively.



The West African Examination Council, (WAEC) was set up in 1952 as a corporate body charged with the responsibility of conducting examinations in the public interest in West Africa. Such examination were to qualify candidates for certificates which were equivalent to those from similar examining authorities in the United Kingdom (Adeyogbe, 1992).



Furthermore, in 1959, the Federal Government set up the Sir Eric Ashby Commission to identify the high-level manpower needs of the country for the future. The Ashby Report prescribed that education was indeed the tool for achieving national econom ic expansion and the social emancipation of the individual (Aliu, 1997).



It recommended the establishment of four Federal Universities in the country, and presented some vital courses for them. Five universities, instead of four, were subsequently opened as follows: University of Nigeria, Nsukka (1960), Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (1962), University of lfe, lle-ife (1962), University of Lagos, Lagos (1962), and University of lbadan, first established as University College, lbadan in 1948. University of Benin was later established (1972). As of 1999, Nigeria had forty-one universities made up of twenty-five Federal, twelve State and four Private-owned. Among them are specialised universities, including three Universities of Agriculture, seven Universities of Technology, as well as a military university, the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna.



These have been established in the bid to address specific areas of national needs. Other ter tiary educational institutions such as Colleges of Education, Polytechnics and Colleges of Techno logy were also set up during the years. The National Universities Commission (NUC), established in 1962, has the task of co-ordinating the orderly development of the Nigerian university system and maintaining its academic standards. In 1977, the Joint Admission and Matriculations Board (JAMB) was created to regulate the admission of students into the universities, taking cognisance of available spaces and federal character. Student enrolment in universities has risen froin a mere 1,395 in 1960 to over 250,000 by 1998/9 session.

Brilliant yong man. Let the lossers sit there and keep on playing the blame(North this North that). Lazy suckers!

All the woes of Nigeria were created by northerners.

Sanusi has some points, yes we keep complaining that the North is getting more of the country resources but the fact remains that the 'little' we claim to be getting were never put to any good use by our greedy leaders. The same leaders cry tribalism to divert people's attention from their corrupt practices. No region in Nigeria can claim to have good leaders who genuinely have the interest of their people.

SANUSI sure had some points in that write up; some of which include

1. There was some sort of civilization before the British came.

2. Corruption is not limited to any particular tribe

otokx:

SANUSI sure had some points in that write up; some of which include

1. There was some sort of civilization before the British came.

2. Corruption is not limited to any particular tribe

I don't think anyone has faulted that

Sanusi was part of it all along,
Nigeria must sweet again, even Wole Soyinka sing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a73wSaXE3VM
Tunji Oyelana & His Benders - I Love My Country / Chairman