₦airaland Forum

Conflicts During the Colonial Era
The British political ideology of dividing Nigeria during the colonial period into three regions North, West and East exacerbated the already well-developed economic, political, and social competition among Nigeria’s different ethnic groups. For the country was divided in such a way that the North had slightly more population than the other two regions combined. On this basis the Northern Region was allocated a majority of the seats in the Federal Legislature established by the colonial authorities. Within each of the three regions the dominant ethnic groups, the Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba, and Igbo, respectively, formed political parties that were largely regional and tribal in character: the Northern People’s Congress (NPC) in the North; the Action Group in the West (AG): and the National Conference of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC) in the East. Although these parties were not exclusively homogeneous in terms of their ethnic or regional make-up, the later disintegration of Nigeria results largely from the fact that these parties were primarily based in one region and one tribe. To simplify matters, these can be referred to as the Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo-based; or Northern, Western and Eastern parties.

During the 1940s and 1950s the Igbo and Yoruba parties were in the forefront of the fight for independence from Britain. They also wanted an independent Nigeria to be organized into several small states so that the conservative and backward North could not dominate the country. Northern leaders, however, fearful that independence would mean political and economic domination by the more Westernized elites in the South, preferred the perpetuation of British rule. As a condition for accepting independence, they demanded that the country continue to be divided into three regions with the North having a clear majority. Igbo and Yoruba leaders, anxious to obtain an independent country at all cost accepted the Northern demands.

The conflict was the result of economic, ethnic, cultural and religious tensions among the various peoples of Nigeria. Like many other African nations, Nigeria was an artificial structure initiated by the British which had neglected to consider religious, linguistic, and ethnic differences. When Nigeria won independence from Britain in 1960, the population of 60 million people consisted of nearly 300 differing ethnic and cultural groups.

The causes of the Nigerian civil war were exceedingly complex. More than fifty years ago, Great Britain carved an area out of West Africa containing hundreds of different groups and unified it, calling it Nigeria. Although the area contained many different groups, three were predominant: the Igbo, which formed between 60-70 percent of the population in the southeast, the Hausa-Fulani, which formed about 65 percent of the peoples in the northern part of the territory; and, the Yoruba, which formed about 75 percent of the population in the southwestern part.

The semi-feudal and Islamic Hausa-Fulani in the North were traditionally ruled by an autocratic, conservative Islamic hierarchy consisting of some 30-odd Emirs who, in turn, owed their allegiance to a supreme Sultan. This Sultan was regarded as the source of all political power and religious authority.

The Yoruba political system in the southwest, like that of the Hausa-Fulani, also consisted of a series of monarchs (Obas). The Yoruba monarchs, however, were less autocratic than those in the North, and the political and social system of the Yoruba accordingly allowed for greater upward mobility based on acquired rather than inherited wealth and title.

The Igbo in the southeast, in contrast to the two other groups, lived in some six hundred autonomous, democratically-organized villages. Although there were monarchs in these villages (whether hereditary or elected), they were largely little more than figureheads. Unlike the other two regions, decisions among the Igbo were made by a general assembly in which every man could participate.

The different political systems among these three peoples produced highly divergent sets of customs and values. The Hausa-Fulani commoners, having contact with the political system only through their village head who was designated by the Emir or one of his subordinates, did not view political leaders as amenable to influence. Political decisions were to be obeyed without question. This highly centralized and authoritarian political system elevated to positions of leadership persons willing to be subservient and loyal to superiors, the same virtues required by Islam for eternal salvation. One of the chief functions of the traditional political system was to maintain the Islamic religion. Hostility to economic and social innovation was therefore deeply rooted.

In contrast to the Hausa-Fulani, the Igbo often participated directly in the decisions which affected their lives. They had a lively awareness of the political system and regarded it as an instrument for achieving their own personal goals. Status was acquired through the ability to arbitrate disputes that might arise in the village, and through acquiring rather than inheriting wealth. With their emphasis upon achievement, individual choice, and democratic decision-making, the challenges of modernization for the Igbo entailed responding to new opportunities in traditional ways.

These tradition-derived differences were perpetuated and, perhaps, even enhanced by the British system of colonial rule in Nigeria. In the North, the British found it convenient to rule indirectly through the Emirs, thus perpetuating rather than changing the indigenous authoritarian political system. As a concomitant of this system, Christian missionaries were excluded from the North, and the area thus remained virtually closed to Western education and influence, in contrast to the Igbo, the richest of whom sent many of their sons to British universities. During the ensuing years, the Northern Emirs, thus were able to maintain traditional political and religious institutions, while limiting social change. As a result, the North, at the time of independence in 1960, was by far the most underdeveloped area in Nigeria with a literacy rate of 2 percent as compared to 19.2 percent in the East (literacy in Arabic script, learned in connection with religious education, was higher). The West enjoyed a much higher literacy level being the first part of the country to have contact with Western education in addition to the free primary education program of the pre-independence Western Regional Government.

In the South, the missionaries rapidly introduced Western forms of education. Consequently, the Yoruba were the first group in Nigeria to become significantly modernized and they provided the first African civil servants, doctors, lawyers, and other technicians and professionals.

In Igbo areas, missionaries were introduced at a later date because of British difficulty in establishing firm control over the highly autonomous Igbo villages. However, the Igbo people took to Western education zealously. Furthermore, most Igbo eventually adopted the religion of the Christian colonialists. By the 1940s they had transformed themselves into one of the most educated, wealthiest, and politically unified groups in Nigeria and presented a serious challenge to Yoruba predominance in the civil service and the professions. Moreover, severe population pressure in the Igbo homeland combined with an intense desire for economic improvement drove thousands of Igbo to other parts of Nigeria in search of wor

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/
Nigerian_Civil_WarThe Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Biafran War, 6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970, was a war fought to counter the secession of Biafra from Nigeria. Biafra represented nationalist aspirations of the Igbo people, whose leadership felt they could no longer coexist with the Northern-dominated federal government. The conflict resulted from political, economic, ethnic, cultural and religious tensions which preceded Britain's formal decolonization of Nigeria from 1960–1963. Immediate causes of the war in 1966 included a military coup, a counter-coup, and persecution of Igbo living in Northern Nigeria. Control over oil production in the Niger Delta played a vital strategic role.

Within a year, the Federal Military Government surrounded Biafra, capturing coastal oil facilities and the city of Port Harcourt. The blockade imposed during the ensuing stalemate led to severe famine—accomplished deliberately as a war strategy and described by some as a genocide. Over the two and half years of the war, two million civilians died from forced famine and fighting.

This famine entered world awareness in mid-1968, when images of malnourished and starving children suddenly saturated the mass media of Western countries. The plight of the starving Biafrans became a cause célèbre in foreign countries, enabling a significant rise in the funding and prominence of international non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Britain and the Soviet Union were the main backers of the Federal Military Government in Lagos, while France and some independent elements supported Biafra. France and Israel provided weapons to both combatants.

This is a distorted news! I read his speech he didnt say octomber ist

Seriously you guys should declear your assets

Fabrolistic:
yes i am not trained, unlike you who's a well trained rapist.
...and don't dare to quote me anymore, else....

You need boy friend sweetie,you sound like a lonely bitchh

misssclassy:
[color=#000050]Mtcheeew!

Bloody pretentious hypocritical deceivers. They loot the money the SUG generates yearly, which should be used to better the standard of living all the OAU students( over 100,000 students) and decide to use a small amount to "help" pay the fees of 85 students.

Now, next time they need to request money from external bodies, they would have a better CV.

Absolute Rubbish![/color]

They have less than 30.000 if you remove local government and diploma students

Fabrolistic:
can you imagine the b@st@¥d son of a slow poke trying to justify rape over robbery.

You were not trained,you seriously need home training,i'll not call you names

Excuzeme:
Oloshi, Oloriburuku!
What has his kids got to do with his actions or is that how your own mother used to cook your father's severed body parts for you to eat?

Sadistic bastard!


BTW: Serves the back-stabbing r@pist right (though its a horrible thing to do to another humanbeing, ..... just like r@pe is), who wants that kind of "friend"?

Are you really cursing people online?

misspicy:
You must be a rapist,dnt worry,yoi are next in line

You dont get it,i dont support rape but cutting off his dick is too harsssh

teeowl:
love is not by force... violent rap.e can attract as much 20 years in some countries. it was a struggle, he tried to ra.pe but she stopped him - self defense. her conscience is as free as a bird.... it was not revenge where he raped her then she went back to cut his d.ick as a punishment... love is not by force.... she did not ask for his love.

20years jail term is better than cutting off his joy stick,its totally wrong

teeowl:
police would not arrest her... police would arrest the man for attempted rape. if an armed robber comes to your house to rob you and rape your wife but you blast his leg with your licensed shot gun, police would not arrest you.... it is the armed robber tha would face charges of armed robbery. if he did not want his di.ck cut off then he should have not forced himself on a married woman.

and you say you dont think he was there to kill her... are you reading his mind? or can you predict the future?

Robbers are differ from rappist,robbers invade to steal and kill while rapist could be somebody who love you but you refused to love back,i know she will not be arrested but as a normal human being,her conscience will never allow her to rest if she has one

QueenEdna:
so what would you have her do ? Sit calm nd watch herself get raped ? Its called 'Self Defence' n i commend her for d effort.

she suppose to aim his leg or arm or any other place,its called self defence but too harsh

ijustdey:
so, she should allow him have his way

Not really but she should have opted for another thing rather than cutting off his joy-stick,if i were to be a judge i'd send both of them to jail

teeowl:
so what if he had raped her then killed her.... is that right? it is called self defense, he was using force. he could have seduced her.... but he just wanted to take it by force.

I dont think he was there to kill her,i know what he did what totally wrong and i do not support rape but cutting off his joy-stick is too bad

Wike is an arsernal fan
A gonner lol

QueenEdna:
Serves him right!!

It's totally wrong,cut off a man's joystick because he wanted to rape you

drey076:
Nyson Wike would have won the election landslide under an atmosphere of free and fair but he deliberately wants to punish APC because his party was in power. A lot of APC members was killed by thugs because of hatred.
Justice shall prevail

He made a very huge mistake,he should have won without stress

She's pretty!

Do you guys notice peace is gradually returning back after the demise of barcanista moniker? No more hate campaign and people are more sensible than ever

Bevista:
Not looking good for Wike and PDP.

My personal opinion is that Wike/PDP would have easily won a free & fair election, but then they were so desperate that they couldn't take such risk. Anyway, the worst the Tribunal can do is to order a fresh election, for which Wike is still most likely to win.

The only little problem there would be that he will need to vacate office and loose his immunity while waiting for the elections. This is where the EFCC & DSS will come in handy. Suddenly, this little problem might become a disaster.

Enough of Thuggery and Rigging. Nigerians must have the freedom and right to elect whoever they want. This is the only way politicians will feel accountable and indebted to the people and not to some godfathers.

A free & fair election in Rivers State is likely not to have more than 700k voter turnout (especially with the kind of election violence we were hearing). Where the hell did they manufacture 1.4m votes from? A state that has less than half the number of registered voters in Lagos suddenly had more votes cast than Lagos. PDP Magic!

You are so on point,Wike will not have the chance to contest again,and am sure APC will fast track this tribunal because of Amaechi's probe

Mother even look prettier than the daughter

BabyDaddy20:
The traffic is only caused by the Yoruba area boys collecting egunje.
Kill them all & you will see the traffic moving smoothly.

I dont think you own a car

Why are they telling us if they know where the money is?

klem93:
Inhumanity sha but at first what is chasing this guys away from their country?

Laziness,greediness and lack of home training

SeverusSnape:
Whether military or police or presidency, It doesn't matter, all I know is this - Rivers people chose Wike as their governor and there's nothing anybody will do about it.

Please they should conduct another election, this time, the margin will be wider.

And you think INEC will approve Wike again?I dont think so,EFCC will finish his career

buzquet:
A letter from an hungry man

I'm waiting for them to block my LINE

Elvis295:
One big mistake this APC government will make is to fuel the nullification of River State election. I say this with facts. The last election was very bloody. Both the PDP and APC had a gun battle in the election. In Buguma, some APC thugs set ablaze INEC office which led to the death of one corp member. No one is talking about this. There were lots of killings from both sides of the camp. Imagine that the election was nullified. The people in Rivers are mainly pro-PDP. I know APC would want to get power at all cost. This is where the battle line will be drawn. If you people think I am just blabbing wait until the end of the tribunal. Buhari should steer clear of Rivers else it will be the beginning of the fall of his government. Rivers people are not push-overs. Rivers people are resilient people that will never accept tyranny.

We heard the same before GEJ lost the election

phantom:
This is exactly what the PDP was afraid of when they accussed the APC/DSS of manipulating security personnel to give testimonies favouring the APC....

......But Lets face it. Did elections hołd in Rivers State?
The answer is a big,fat NO!

It was bloody election but Wike will continue to win if re-run is held 10 times,i dont think Wike will have chance to contest again tho as APC will send EFcc after him and INEC will not approve him

I said it few days ago,WIKE is fast digging his own grave by probing Ameachi
He is doing wonder in Rivers state tho