One thing about the political landscape of Nigeria that has never ceased to amaze me over the years is the absolute political naivety of the average southerner (pardon my choice of words). The southerner (their opinion leaders as well as the common folk) would time and again take a perfectly legitimate national struggle and convert into a regional or tribal one.

They have this thing (maybe it’s a psychological disorder, or perhaps an addiction of sorts) of always wanting to be a victim of the other…in this case, the Northerner. They would readily play the victimization card even though this has not gained them much political leverage in the past. Take the manner in which the current political brouhaha in the country is being misconstrued by many a southerner to be a grand northern conspiracy to hold on to power at all costs [visit online blogs like saharareporters. com and nigeriavillagesquare.com and read the comments that people make and you’ll know what I mean]. And this is why I classified their behavior as a “psychological disorder” or an “addiction”, because it is only these two that would make one to behave consistently in an irrational manner. Let’s look at the facts….

When Umaru Yar'adua left the country more than three months ago, Abubakar Atiku and Muhammadu Buhari were amongst the first set of prominent Nigerians to call on the National Assembly to take appropriate action over the continued absence of the President. Their call came before that of Prof. Soyinka and that of Olusegun Obasanjo. These two Nigerians, one a former Head of State and the other the immediate past VP, are not only Northerners, but they happen to come from the same ethnic group as Umaru Yaradua. In fact, Buhari comes from the same state as the President.

What about the retired Chief Justices that went to the National assembly to present a report in which they recommended that the VP be empowered to an Acting President status? ARE THEY NOT NORTHERNERS?

What about when past Nigerian leaders led by Gen. Yakubu Gowon and Shehu Shagari went to the national assembly to make the same call? ARE THEY NOT NORTHERNERS? Even the protests organized by Wole Soyinka and Co, if u look at the names of the leaders of the protest, you’ll find quite a number of prominent northerners including women.

Now let’s look on the flip side (at those wanting to maintain the Yar'adua presidency at all costs)…

Let me start with Turai Yar'adua. A lot has been said about her over the last couple of weeks. I really can’t say how much of it is true, but I have very strong doubts that she has what it takes to mastermind and execute all that has been attributed to her. But for the sake of argument, let us assume she did all of those things. On what basis would the actions of Turai (the wife of the President) be equated to a conspiracy by the entire north? Are they saying that if Yar'adua, like Gen Babangida or Atiku Abubakar, had married from the south, that their wives would not have stood staunchly behind their husbands and do what ever it would take to prevent their husbands loosing position? When Ibrahim Babangida was under pressure for annulling the June 12 presidential elections, did Maryam Babangida (from Delta State) join Anthony Enahoro’s   NADECO or did she stand by her embattled husband?

The point I’m trying to make is that, just because Turai is from the North, doesn’t make her actions a northern conspiracy. If she was form anywhere else in the country I believe she would still do the same because that’s what women do…. they stand by their husbands, they fight for their husbands if need be. It comes natural to them. [Just before you go thinking that I am a “Turai boy” or a member of the "Team Turai" I want to state clearly that I do not support any of the things that she’s alleged to do].

Turai aside, lets look at the other members of the “kitchen cabinet”, those that have fought tooth and nail to maintain a Yar'adua presidency and subvert a Goodluck "Acting presidency…."

I’ll just list out the names that have reached us most frequently from the media; Aaondoaka, Ojo Madueke, James Ibori, Abba Ruma, Tanimu Yakubu, and Abdullahi Sarki Mukhtar. Does this in anyway look like a team to conspire for the north? There are six names here, three from the north, and three from the south. It looks to me, like a group of Nigerians trying hard to hold on to their positions and privileges they enjoy from the Yar'adua presidency, period. In fact, if you look at the list closely, you’ll notice that the northerners in the list don’t even represent a wide area of northern Nigeria because they are all from the same state, Katsina. Also, there is one amongst them who clearly fought the fiercest for his boss Yar'adua. He did all he could legally and otherwise to stop Goodluck from becoming acting president. When he failed he left the country because he probably couldn’t stand working under Goodluck. Guess who it was? A northerner? NO! It was Aaondoaka. A man that was not only southern, but was as southern as any southerner can be. SO HOW DARE THEY CALL IT A NORTHERN CONSPIRACY?

But like I said in the beginning, the first reaction an average southerner has for anything is to jump and point accusing fingers to the people of northern Nigeria (even when the average northerner is not any the better than his southern counterpart). They seem to believe that the north is perpetually coming after them with a dagger even when all the facts suggest otherwise. And in that manner, they have succeeded in reducing many issues that have a national appeal into at best, a regional matter or even a tribal brawl. Remember the MKO Abiola presidential mandate? Here was a man who received more votes from the north than from the south. A man whom the people of Kano rejected one of their own (Bashir Tofa), and voted massively for. But when the struggle to actualize the mandate began in earnest, his kinsmen instinctively wrapped the entire issue with an Aso-oke material and thus transformed it from national to tribal. In their rhetoric they accused the north of not wanting to let go of power even though it was the military that didn’t want to let go of power. A northerner one would argue headed the military, but the same military truncated an earlier transition programme even though the two presidential candidates for the only two parties in existence then, were all northerners (Shehu Yaradua and Adamu Chiroma). Or are they saying that the north in that case was conspiring against itself? Isn’t it clear that it was the military that was trying to hold on to power and not the north? Wouldn’t the struggle for MKO been more effective if the north was not alienated? And when the military was finally forced to give up governance, was it the south that achieved it or a collective effort of the Nigerian people? Most of the southerners that were opposed to Abacha were not even in the country, it was the northerners that stayed back to face the wrath of Abacha. Shehu Yaradua was imprisoned until he died even though he had the opportunity choose the easier method of opposition by leaving the country. And at the same time, there were southerners like Ojo Madueke (yes, the same guy) who were shamelessly supporting Abacha’s tazarce.

I think I’ll rest my case at this point because I think I’ve spoken too much already. But before I do, I’ll like to call on all Nigerians form the south that happen to read this, that some issues are national in character and should thus not be trivialized and reduced to a regional or tribal one. All the northern leaders that called for Dr Goodluck to be made acting president didn’t do that because they preferred power to go to the south but rather because they felt a compelling need to call for what is right and best for Nigeria. And until all Nigerians stop viewing things from the very narrow lenses of regional and tribal affiliations, and start to base their judgments strictly on the standards of right and wrong, then the Nigeria that we all dream of will never come to be.

Thank u 4 reading and have a lovely weekend.

http://www.saharareporters.com/letters/your-letters/5305-clarifications-about-wrong-or-misguided-statement-on-north-and-south-regarding-yaradua-and-his-people.html

Nice post

Thank you poster, i wish your write up will change the mind of peeps that are restricting their focal lens of viewing Nigerian politics within the boundries of tribals and regions, to that of what is wrong and what is right.

nw we hav pple thinking wright.

Good job man

wat an articulate piece. thumbs up

funny! the mob has ignored this thread.
or the mob is thinking up the most appropriate 'uprooting' of this well thought out piece.

but I must say it's not only the south that's guilty of this narrow-minded interpretation of every 'drop- of- a hat'.

The greatest problem the North has is that people like, Tanko Yakasai, Turai and her demons etc, claim to be fighting for the "Northern interest".
If the average Northerner does not scream "not in my name", there is little they can say to convince Southerners. There is no Southern decease, it is a genuine discomfort at the behaviour of powerful Northern politicians. Lets not bury our head in the sand.

As I said on another thread, I have never in my life heard of a term like "Southern interest", so why do we continue to hear about "Northern interest"?
Or is the North bigger than Nigeria? Or is it a separate entity?

You can't eat your cake and have it.

Beaf:

The greatest problem the North has is that people like, Tanko Yakasai, Turai and her demons etc, claim to be fighting for the "Northern interest".
If the average Northerner does not scream "not in my name", there is little they can say to convince Southerners. There is no Southern decease, it is a genuine discomfort at the behaviour of powerful Northern politicians. Lets not bury our head in the sand.

As I said on another thread, I have never in my life heard of a term like "Southern interest", so why do we continue to hear about "Northern interest"?
Or is the North bigger than Nigeria? Or is it a separate entity?

You can't eat your cake and have it.

Beaf, You of all people should know that in democratic settings, there exists interest groups that fight for their collective interests.  There is nothing wrong with that and even you are free to form your own interest group.  It should not concern you that certain people including the elite, form interest groups and fight for whatever cause they choose.  Learn from them and do the same - these elite are counting on the fact that you have no guts to form such interest groups, they also hope that your rants are limited to the internet where they remain impotent.

I will remind you once again that the elite who claim to be working for the interest of Northerners, for the most part, work for their own personal interests. Its the same game in every corner of the nation. If it pains you that no interest group exists that fights for "Southern Interests", then form one and stop complaining, olodo.

ndu_chucks:

Beaf, You of all people should know that in democratic settings, there exists interest groups that fight for their collective interests.  There is nothing wrong with that and even you are free to form your own interest group.  It should not concern you that certain people including the elite, form interest groups and fight for whatever cause they choose.  Learn from them and do the same - these elite are counting on the fact that you have no guts to form such interest groups, they also hope that your rants are limited to the internet where they remain impotent.

I will remind you once again that the elite who claim to be working for the interest of Northerners, for the most part, work for their own personal interests. Its the same game in every corner of the nation. If it pains you that "no interest group exists that fights for Southern Interests", then form one and stop complaining, olodo.

Crap.

You are only going round in circles. Guts? Stop sounding like a clown, you can see your brothers crying here from the effects of the actions of criminals who are falsely plying their trade in the name of "Northern interests".

Thank God no id!ots and pack of criminals can jump up and say they are fighting for "Southern interests". Just the thought sounds so weird, crazy and petty. We will close them down immediately. "Southern interests" against who? UFO's or Nigerians? Rubbish!
The problem with the North is the lack of media houses and paucity of education, problems that rest squarely on the necks of those claiming to be fighting for "Northern interests".

It falls on every educated Northerner to disown these people or complain in vain.

. . .
A northerner? NO! It was Aaondoaka. A man that was not only southern, but was as southern as any southerner can be. SO HOW DARE THEY CALL IT A NORTHERN CONSPIRACY?

The writer of the article is so funny. He even went so far to stretch the truth in several places, its a dishonest article by a mischief maker. Imagine calling Aondoakaa a Southerner!!!!!

Damn! When it comes to voting, Benue state will be in the North, but when it comes to Aondoakaa, Benue becomes a Southern state. So funny!
Poor Benue people, they aren't even seen as proper Northerners by the criminals pretending to be fighting for the "Northern interest".

Let me go and take Alagbin jare! I have headache. . . Aondoakaa a Southerner . . .

www.nairaland.com/attachments/180447_ROTFLMAO_gif3d0c775232c7f27cf80592785b9635b6

Beaf:

Crap.

You are only going round in circles. Guts? Stop sounding like a clown, you can see your brothers crying here from the effects of the actions of criminals who are falsely plying their trade in the name of "Northern interests".

Thank God no id!ots and pack of criminals can jump up and say they are fighting for "Southern interests". Just the thought sounds so weird, crazy and petty. We will close them down immediately. "Southern interests" against who? UFO's or Nigerians? Rubbish!
The problem with the North is the lack of media houses and paucity of education, problems that rest squarely on the necks of those claiming to be fighting for "Northern interests".

It falls on every educated Northerner to disown these people or complain in vain.

LOL, you people must learn how to operate in a democratic arena.  If I were you, I'd publish my own rejoinder to the said article. You people will  have to come out of the bush sooner or later. You have been taken out of the bush to overseas, the onus is now on you to remove the bush from within      Now let me put on protective gear.

ndu_chucks:

LOL, you people must learn how to operate in a democratic arena.  If I were you, I'd publish my own rejoinder to the said article. You people will  have to come out of the bush sooner or later. You have been taken out of the bush to overseas, the onus is now on you to remove the bush from within      Now let me put on protective gear.

My friend go and sleep! Have you ever seen the yawning gap in education between North and South? Or maybe you just don't know the meaning of bush (abi it has another definition in "Northern interest"? ).
The sad thing is that the education gap absolutely worsens everyday, so does the gap in poverty as well. Year on year, the North gets worse than the South.
This really makes me wonder, what exactly is this "Northern interest" you are defending here, if not simply an avenue for crime, theft, arson, murder and Boko Haram?

Free yourself, there is nothing like the nebulous "Northern interest". It is a ruse to steal from the poor, loot NNPC and cripple the CBN.

Blame your leaders and change them. Demand more from them. Southerners just observe and record what they see.

Beaf:

My friend go and sleep! Have you ever seen the yawning gap in education between North and South? Or maybe you just don't know the meaning of bush (abi it has another definition in "Northern interest"? ).
The sad thing is that the education gap absolutely worsens everyday, so does the gap in poverty as well. Year on year, the North gets worse than the South.
This really makes me wonder, what exactly is this "Northern interest" you are defending here, if not simply an avenue for crime, theft, arson, murder and Boko Haram?

Free yourself, there is nothing like the nebulous "Northern interest". It is a ruse to steal from the poor, loot NNPC and cripple the CBN.

You have to admit that the so called Northerners you love to castigate have historically out maneuvered you politically. Its time for you to learn from them and form your own interest groups that can operate within a democratic setting. Its time for you people to learn how to do break dancing, twist is out dated; come out of the creeks, polish yourselves, give up on criminal activities and participate in our growing democracy.

You must also learn to get along with your immediate neighbors as well.

ndu_chucks:

You have to admit that the so called Northerners you love to castigate have historically out maneuvered you politically. Its time for you to learn from them and form your own interest groups that can operate within a democratic setting. Its time for you people to learn how to do break dancing, twist is out dated; come out of the creeks, polish yourselves, give up on criminal activities and participate in our growing democracy.

You must also learn to get along with your immediate neighbors as well.

No, they just own the army. Monopoly of violence will never equal intelligence and diplomacy.
I am waiting to see the day any Southerner will say "ranka dede" to the nearest fu'cked up thief, that is ra'ping his wife and stealing his kids clothes in the name of "Southern interest". Ridiculous!

Rakumin dajij.

ndu_chucks:

Beaf, You of all people should know that in democratic settings, there exists interest groups that fight for their collective interests.  There is nothing wrong with that and even you are free to form your own interest group.  It should not concern you that certain people including the elite, form interest groups and fight for whatever cause they choose.  Learn from them and do the same - these elite are counting on the fact that you have no guts to form such interest groups, they also hope that your rants are limited to the internet where they remain impotent.

I will remind you once again that the elite who claim to be working for the interest of Northerners, for the most part, work for their own personal interests. Its the same game in every corner of the nation. If it pains you that no interest group exists that fights for "Southern Interests", then form one and stop complaining, olodo.

This is why I say you're dishonest sometimes. We have been through many threads here on N/L where it's been shown time and time again that there're documented evidence to show that Buhari and Babangida each have sent the armed forces to dispers meeting of southern leaders, former eastern Nigeria leaders, and so on, while the meetings of the northern leaders go on with government assistance. Do you not remember or you just want to pretend?

Back to "northern interest", the point Beaf is making is that while we're aware that some people maybe using that terminology for personal gains, we really don't have a rebuttal from anybody from the north to say, no, not in my name.

So if an alhaji wants an oil block, he screams northen interest, if a graduate fails to find a job, he screams northern interest, and I'm sure when loverboy fails to score a hit with a girl, he would cry northern interest too

@naijaking1 & Beaf, I dey go come, i go edit this post in an hour. make una no gloat yet.

ndu_chucks:

@naijaking1 & Beaf, I dey go come, i go edit this post in an hour. make una no gloat yet.

Sure.
Lunch time?
Go get a hamburger, or some kunu while you're at it.
And for "northern interest", I beg get some rest before coming back

Beaf:

I am waiting to see the day any Southerner will say "ranka dede" to the nearest fu'cked up thief, that is ra'ping his wife and stealing his kids clothes in the name of "Southern interest". Ridiculous!

ranke dede means "May you live long", that is a prayer that is appropriate for your peers and leaders alike. Would you tell us the phrases Southerners of the ND used to worship Ibori and sing the praises of Alams after his escape from British authorities? I bet you those phrases were more like "We worship thee".

naijaking1:

This is why I say you're dishonest sometimes. We have been through many threads here on N/L where it's been shown time and time again that there're documented evidence to show that Buhari and Babangida each have sent the armed forces to dispers meeting of southern leaders, former eastern Nigeria leaders, and so on, while the meetings of the northern leaders go on with government assistance. Do you not remember or you just want to pretend?

Back to "northern interest", the point Beaf is making is that while we're aware that some people maybe using that terminology for personal gains, we really don't have a rebuttal from anybody from the north to say, no, not in my name.

So if an alhaji wants an oil block, he screams northen interest, if a graduate fails to find a job, he screams northern interest, and I'm sure when loverboy fails to score a hit with a girl, he would cry northern interest too

We are no longer under millitary rule and I'm not about to defend the action of any dictator.

Anyone can claim to be fighting for the interest of whatever group he/she desires. The rebuttal you mentioned above is useless and unnecessary as far as the article we are discussing is concerned.

The main point of the article is that there is absolute political naivety of the average southerner and even the educated ones such as naijaking1 and beaf. The southerner (their opinion leaders as well as the common folk) would time and again take a perfectly legitimate national struggle and convert into a regional or tribal one. When are you people going to deal with this issue?

That point remains valid even here on NL.

ndu_chucks:

ranke dede means "May you live long", that is a prayer that is appropriate for your peers and leaders alike. Would you tell us the phrases Southerners of the ND used to worship Ibori and sing the praises of Alams after his escape from British authorities? I bet you those phrases were more like "We worship thee".

. . .

The main point of the article is that there is absolute political naivety of the average southerner and even the educated ones such as naijaking1 and beaf. The southerner (their opinion leaders as well as the common folk) would time and again take a perfectly legitimate national struggle and convert into a regional or tribal one. When are you people going to deal with this issue?

That point remains valid even here on NL.

Thankfully it is evident even to the blind that considerable effort was made by ND people to bring the criminal, Ibori to justice. His arguments about fighting ND causes were dismissed and he no longer makes such airy statements (ND people don't get carried away by crap talk). We fought hard to bring him to account, what was our reward? The FG protected him, now he is with Abba Ruma, fighting for "Northern interests". . . The North is the only section of the country that has people gullible enough to fall for such bull.
Ibori, the brand new Northerner!!!!!!!! I will die off laughter in this country!
http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5464780-146/story.csp

About "political naivety of the average southerner", don't worry, all your criminals (every last one) are going to be roped in by a massively focussed internation effort. After that, you will see that you are the naive one, believing dribblers, rap!sts, fraudsters and madmen are politically suave.

Rakumin dajij. Olodo.

LOL, Wonders shall never end. Ibori is now a Northerner, Alams will also become a northerner, and all our enemies - the elite who hail from North/South/East, and West are all fighting for Northern interests and by your definition are Northerners. You are a very bright Ijaw person, dirimo eweri, rakumin dajij.

ndu_chucks:

LOL, Wonders shall never end. Ibori is now a Northerner, Alams will also become a northerner, and all our enemies - the elite who hail from North/South/East, and West are all fighting for Northern interests and by your definition are Northerners. You are a very bright Ijaw person, dirimo eweri, rakumin dajij.

I assure you, the problem in the North is one of education. Your wicked leaders, despite disproportionately holding the top positions throughout Nigeria's history, have DELIBERATELY kept your people from school. There is no evil greater than keeping a man ignorant so that you can milk away his vitality and he becomes your ready tool when it is time to burn, loot and kill. That is why there are so many riots up North.

Northerners must be informed, educated and liberated from those thieves who claim to be fighting for the "Northern interest", when in reality, they are rap!ng and pillaging the North and the rest of the country.

. . .And yes! Ibori is now a brand new Northerner!!!!!!!! "The North is the only section of the country that has people gullible enough to fall for such bull."
He tried talking crap about how he was fighting for ND issues and was being victimised for that. We shut the fuc'ker down! Now he has joined those claiming to be fighting for "Northern interests".

Free yourself. Your people need intelligent (but grossly misapplied) minds like yours, turn away from trickery and skulduggery. Liberate, empower and EDUCATE YOUR PEOPLE. Stop this unsophisticated and ridiculous "Northern interest" bullsh!t.

Beaf:

I assure you, the problem in the North is one of education. Your wicked leaders, despite disproportionately holding the top positions throughout Nigeria's history, have DELIBERATELY kept your people from school. There is no evil greater than keeping a man ignorant so that you can milk away his vitality a he becomes your ready tool when it is time to burn, loot and kill. That is why there are so many riots up North.

Northerners must be informed, educated and liberated from those thieves who claim to be fighting for the "Northern interest", when in reality, they are rap!ng and pillaging the North and the rest of the country.

. . .And yes! Ibori is now a brand new Northerner!!!!!!!! "The North is the only section of the country that has people gullible enough to fall for such bull."
He tried talking crap about ho he was fighting for ND issues and was being victimised for that. We shut the fuc'ker down! Now he has joined those claiming to be fighting for "Northern interests".

Free yourself. Your people need intelligent (but grossly misapplied) minds like yours, turn away from trickery and skulduggery. Liberate, empower and EDUCATE YOUR PEOPLE. Stop this unsophisticated and ridiculous "Northern interest" bullsh!t.

I've told you countless times that the common enemy is the elite who hail from every region of the country. Additionally I told you that the most marginalized Nigerians are the Almajiris of the North and the people of the ND. We must continue to fight for the liberation of all Nigerians from the stranglehold of this elite who come from North/South/East/and West.

Your internet rants, rascality, and thuggery has not changed the main point of the article presented by the OP wherein it was stated is that there is absolute political naivety of the average southerner and even the educated ones such as yourself. The southerner (their opinion leaders as well as the common folk) would time and again take a perfectly legitimate national struggle and convert into a regional or tribal one.

You can rant all you want and even insult the victims of the said marginalization, the point of the article remains valid as your yaps have also confirmed.

ndu_chucks:

. . .

Your internet rants, rascality, and thuggery has not changed the main point of the article presented by the OP .  . .

[size=14pt]Which is that Aondoakaa is a Southerner![/size]
Anybody who makes such a statement is too low IQ'd and ridiculous to be taken seriously in any sense of the word.
. . .But of course, he did it in "Northern interest" and that is good enough for you. [size=14pt]Olodo![/size]

www.nairaland.com/attachments/180447_ROTFLMAO_gif3d0c775232c7f27cf80592785b9635b6

Every Nigerian criminal and trickster is now claiming "Northern interest".

Beaf:

[size=14pt]Which is that Aondoakaa is a Southerner![/size]
Anybody who makes such a statement is too low IQ'd and ridiculous to be taken seriously in any sense of the word.
. . .But of course, he did it in "Nothern interest" and that is good enough for you. [size=14pt]Olodo![/size]

Everyone who can read knows that you are being disingenuous in this case. You continue to refuse to admit the main point of the article. Keep burying you head in the sand in denial - we already know that your neck is longer than that of an ostrich, Rakumin dajij

ndu_chucks:

We are no longer under millitary rule and I'm not about to defend the action of any dictator.

Anyone can claim to be fighting for the interest of whatever group he/she desires. The rebuttal you mentioned above is useless and unnecessary as far as the article we are discussing is concerned.

The main point of the article is that there is absolute political naivety of the average southerner and even the educated ones such as naijaking1 and beaf. The southerner (their opinion leaders as well as the common folk) would time and again take a perfectly legitimate national struggle and convert into a regional or tribal one. When are you people going to deal with this issue?
That point remains valid even here on NL.

We're no longer under military rule? Does that mean we should forget how the north used military incursions into government to creat the present disequilibrum in the polity?

After Independence, there was a tripod of regions in this country: north, east and west, after the war, the military rulers who have been mostly northerners destroyed the tripod and instead created a simple dichotomy of the north vs disorganized south.

I bring up this issue at this time, because the son of a slave owner who benefitted immensely from the sweat and blood of his father's slaves can't just say, because slavery is over, I have had no advantages over the sons of those slaves from who back he profitted.

In Nigeria, the northern based military apparatus created a constitution that permenently enslaved the southerners, created a lopsided number of states in the north to ensure perpetual northern domination in the federal legislature, and you don't want to talk about the past military rules?

I am Igbo first, before I am Nigerian. What is hard for you people to understand that?

Nigeria was forced onto my people and I am tired of this nation. These yeye people who continue to scream "One Naija" continue to delude themselves and they should have their head examined. The country is not working and Africa is moving into the direction in which ethnic groups are being given political and economic federalism or outright autonomy.

People need to understand how a person's ethnic group plays a role in someones identity. Africa is no different from the world.

The French are an ethnic group with their own country, Germany is filled with Germans who are an ethnic group.

Why should I support a nation that was created at the Berlin Conference?

naijaking1:

We're no longer under military rule? Does that mean we should forget how the north used military incursions into government to creat the present disequilibrum in the polity?

After Independence, there was a tripod of regions in this country: north, east and west, after the war, the military rulers who have been mostly northerners destroyed the tripod and instead created a simple dichotomy of the north vs disorganized south.

I bring up this issue at this time, because the son of a slave owner who benefitted immensely from the sweat and blood of his father's slaves can't just say, because slavery is over, I have had no advantages over the sons of those slaves from who back he profitted.

In Nigeria, the northern based military apparatus created a constitution that permenently enslaved the southerners, created a lopsided number of states in the north to ensure perpetual northern domination in the federal legislature, and you don't want to talk about the past military rules?

Actually the Unity Government was started during Ironsi and so, the military continued along that path.

naijaking1:

We're no longer under military rule? Does that mean we should forget how the north used military incursions into government to creat the present disequilibrum in the polity?

After Independence, there was a tripod of regions in this country: north, east and west, after the war, the military rulers who have been mostly northerners destroyed the tripod and instead created a simple dichotomy of the north vs disorganized south.

I bring up this issue at this time, because the son of a slave owner who benefitted immensely from the sweat and blood of his father's slaves can't just say, because slavery is over, I have had no advantages over the sons of those slaves from who back he profitted.

In Nigeria, the northern based military apparatus created a constitution that permenently enslaved the southerners, created a lopsided number of states in the north to ensure perpetual northern domination in the federal legislature, and you don't want to talk about the past military rules?

Oh boy, you need to start a new thread to address the issues you've raised above. It suffices to say that the proverbial son of the slave owner did not benefit from the said slavery. Almajiris for example, remain one of the most marginalized Nigerians.

The main point of the article presented by the OP is that there is absolute political naivety of the average southerner and even the educated ones such as yourself.  The southerner (their opinion leaders as well as the common folk) would time and again take a perfectly legitimate national struggle and convert into a regional or tribal one.  

You are yet to dispute this point.

EzeUche:

I am Igbo first, before I am Nigerian. What is hard for you people to understand that?

Nigeria was forced onto my people and I am tired of this nation. These yeye people who continue to scream "One Naija" continue to delude themselves and they should have their head examined. The country is not working and Africa is moving into the direction in which ethnic groups are being given political and economic federalism or outright autonomy.

People need to understand how a person's ethnic group plays a role in someones identity. Africa is no different from the world.

The French are an ethnic group with their own country, Germany is filled with Germans who are an ethnic group.

Why should I support a nation that was created at the Berlin Conference?

I want to believe you have grasp of the Nigerian history before the Independence and immediately after the first coup more than I do. Why do you want to skip the fact that at that time, the Northern Nigeria would rather go alone than be part of the Nigerian state? This is a stated fact and everybody knows that. The Western and Eastern Nigeria before independence are the champion of one Nigeria.

Most sensible post ever on this board (as I can at least recall). I like it.

And more-over, I like it more for it helps in portraying bad elements there are up here like . . . don’t have to mention names. Everyone has seen them. Thanks once again for the post.

ndu_chucks:

Oh boy, you need to start a new thread to address the issues you've raised above. It suffices to say that the proverbial son of the slave owner did not benefit from the said slavery. Almajiris for example, remain one of the most marginalized Nigerians.

The main point of the article presented by the OP is that there is absolute political naivety of the average southerner and even the educated ones such as yourself.  The southerner (their opinion leaders as well as the common folk) would time and again take a perfectly legitimate national struggle and convert into a regional or tribal one.  

You are yet to dispute this point.

Why are there 9 million almajiri's in modern day Nigeria? This puts close to half of all core Northern children in the almajiri bracket. Added to this, 45 percent of Northern girls are married by age 15. Both of these issues are things the Northern leaders should be fighting to make into national emergencies, but instead, they are fighting for some nebulous "Northern interest" that only fills their pockets with filthy lucre and impoverishes their people.

Almajiri's are deliberately created by Northern leaders. Uproot them, arrest them, hound them and lock them up. Percieved Southern opinion is by far the last of your problems.

. . .We be watching