Mujtahida: Homogeneity can be the basis of a nation (for example the Nations of Europe but even at that astonishingly there are up to 111secessionist groups and movements scattered all over Europe 18 in Spain alone) and it might not be (India is a nation that has over two thousand ethnic groups even after Pakistan broke away oo China has at least 56, Indonesia has 300). Somalia is homogeneous both in terms of ethnic and religious make up(they are even an ancient Kingdom) yet it fought a long war and is generally regarded as a failed state. So my point is that beyond homogeneity or heterogeneity something more is needed to build a nation. We have lacked that extra something in Nigeria.
As regards the rhetorical question you asked let me turn the converse on you and ask: could those clamouring for their own Republic today have done so in the absence of Northern domination? You are right about the good and bad categories. It's in all people's. It's part of our human condition.
Regarding your first point, I'll offer an analogy. You might have a high IQ and fail to graduate from university, one other hand someone with a lower IQ could be quite successful. However, it will be dishonest to suggest that a high intelligence is not a useful ingredient in academic success but in all cases motivation and focus are the other essential factors determining your success or otherwise. This is also the same with nations and homogeneity.
Homogeneity like so many social issues are relative. Human beings will always find reasons to discriminate between themselves. This reminds me of the Little Enders (who like eating their eggs from the little end) and the Big Enders ( who like eating their eggs from the big end) in Gulliver's Travels. However in some cases the issues become so fundamental that separation is the only option. The ties that bind any union must be stronger than those that separate. Every successful union is built around a core set of values or heritage. India may have a couple of thousand ethnic groups but they are bound by a key Hindu core on which the other identities ( be they Muslim, Buddhist or Sikh) are built around. The US may be diverse but they have a WASP core. 92% of Chinese are Han.
We don't have a core here. Rather than face this basic issue and recognize it as the huge problem it is, our nation builders decided to pretend that it doesn't actually exist. They decided to use empty high sounding words to cover up an obvious reality ("One Nigeria", "Unity in Diversity", "We are all brothers". Because they failed to take a realistic appraisal of the situation, they decided to design a structure that failed to acknowledge the basic mental pictures we all carry in our heads (namely that the country is made up of Yorubaland, Igboland, Ijawland, Igalaland, Nupeland and so on). They decided to create arbitrary constituent units (states) that bear very little relationship to our ethnic reality and then to make things worse ran the whole thing from an over bloated centre because they felt that would enforce unity.
Some other nations (like Switzerland) took a more realistic appraisal of their situation and even though they have 4 official languages, were able to craft an appropriate system to recognize an obvious reality. On the other hand, the Nigerian "patriots" pretend that every thing is okay while chasing symptoms like leadership and corruption. Because they tarried, some people are now fed up and decided to take their own destiny in their own hands.
Regarding the issue of "Northern Domination", you're probably asking the wrong person since I come from an ethnic group that has been accused of either trying to or actually dominating others (right from the pre-independence era). We have apparently done this by "forcing" people to buy our fake goods thereby taking over all their markets or tricking them into selling their lands ( while refusing to sell ours even though we can sell our mothers for raw cash). That is why I am actually against ganging up or trying to isolate particular groups because of perceived domination. The key question you should be asking is if you are actually one nation and if you are why should someone not aspire to leadership in the said nation just because he happens to be Fulani. If you're not actually a nation, you have a more basic problem than the perceived domination by particular ethnic groups or maybe that is why people perceive the said domination.
Mujtahida: We have to be proactive. Even in this space we can generate awareness for other Nigerians to see us how we want to be seen. We have for too long been appendages to the North in an unequal arrangement. I do not seek to propagate hate or division or contempt against anybody or section. I respect the Hausa man and the Fulani. But I realise that to tag us as North Central is to foist a fraud on us for purposes of political gains which do not in the truest sense bring about national development.
We should also use this thread to educate those in the South West, South East and deep South on the ethnic configurations and complexities of the middle belt and even the North so that their understanding can be broadened. Too many of them are shockingly and abysmally bereft of this critical knowledge and their viewing us through the prism of the North only further entrenches the power of the North.
In truth, a sober reflection on the middle belt will show that we are the hands and legs of the North. As unfortunate as it is it was our fathers that formed the bulk of the rank and file that fought the civil war and ever since the war we have been hypnotised by some strange political spell to do the will of the North. We say No to that from henceforth. Our loyalty is to Nigeria because I believe(and I hope I am not wrong) that most of us from the Middlebelt love Nigeria and though we decry the present system we would gladly embrace a Nigeria that embraces all.
Let us create consciousness. Eventually behaviour will align with consciousness. I greet you all.
Fair enough. Thanks for clarifying. I didn't want to prematurely accuse you of intellectual hypocrisy.
However, I doubt if most of us looking to secede from the current federation do so because we are worried about a dominant North. We simply want to build a genuine nation with people that share the same values, vision and history.
There are good people all over the planet (and bad individuals as well) but nations exist out of consent or desire to live together and the will to perpetuate the value of a common heritage in an undivided form. It has nothing to do with whether the other people (outside your nation) are good or bad ( even if you can use such simplistic descriptions on whole ethnicities).
Kyase: Right here on Nairaland I urge all Nairalanders from the South East, South West and deep South to call us what we wish to be called : MIDDLEBELTERS. Jacob changed his name and his destiny changed. We want to change our political destiny and I invite all of you to our political baptism. We are not North Central but Middlebelt. Do not help to consolidate and perpetuate the powers that want to hold this country hostage. This is imperative. Let us unmask once and for all the powers that want this country to go to pieces. We say NO to Northern hegemony We say NO to North Central categorization We say NO to Fulani herdsmen despoiling farms, killing people in the middle belt and everywhere else in Nigeria We say NO to those clamping down on the drive to restructure Nigeria and birth a nation. Let no man think that I hate the North. I don't. I just want a good, just, equitable, developed country. Shikena by Mujtahida Coptic gravas Terkimbi01, Kathmandu, QueenOfNepal, Proudlyngwa
I thought you were against tribalism and division.
If I was from the "core" North or more accurately the shariah belt, I'll think you guys are trying to isolate and weaken us. I'll also remember that Kano was once under the suzerainty of the Jukun which was a core path of the Kwararafa confederacy (and incidentally the nucleus of yourmiddle belt) and become very worried.
pazienza: Finally, Nwodo shows he isn't any different from past Ohanaeze presidents. Ohanaeze is an elitist organization funded by governments of five SE states. Nwodo is scared of the financial loss Election boycott in Anambra will mean for Ohanaeze, seeing as there is no guarantee that the Anambra fund for Ohanaeze would continue flowing post November elections.
Truth is that the likes of Nwodo and his family members, if at all they are still in Nigeria, don't participate in elections, unless they are contesting for posts. The elites and their families were never the ones who stayed under the sun for hours to vote in elections, they don't expose themselves to the dangers of armed rivalry of ballot box snatchers working for rival candidates on election days. Most of these upper middle class and elite class families in Igboland merely stay in their air conditioned homes on election days, watching proceedings on TV from the comfort of their well furnished sitting rooms, far away from danger of the rowdy gunshooting rivalries that happen on the streets on election days .
So when these elites and upper middle class in Igboland speak against election boycott and how they are going to vote, I laugh!
The power always belonged to the people. Nnamdi shouldnt be deterred by those elites.
What this Ohanaeze stance means is that, if by November, IPOB was able to achieve this election boycott in Anambra, they would have totally displaced and rendered Nwodo led Ohanaeze useless, and would have become the strongest power in Igboland that all who want to negotiate with Ndiigbo must negotiate with. It will mark the total emasculation of the current Igbo political elite class that through sheer greed and myopia had rendered themselves mere impostors to leadership and had been rejected by the Igbo mass.
This is an in house war, Charity must begin at home, if IPOB wins the battle, the repercussions will be of enormous proportion and far reaching.
Bro,
Thanks. N'ike Chukwu, we will win. If for nothing, we will succeed in getting rid of the current breed of carpetbaggers who pretend to leadership in our land.
The importance of this move cannot be over emphasized we need to commence intensive evangelism to achieve our objectives. The ignorance from some naysayers is nauseating. Hopefully, it's only ignorance and not stupidity because ignorance can be cured while stupidity is terminal.
I cannot believe that APGA which is quick to trot out images of the Ikemba when it suits their purpose can be against this movement. The question we should ask them is whether Ojukwu would have kept quiet (or possibly acted as an accessory) over the murder of young Igbo men and women as Obianno did with the massacre at Nkpo?
gartamanta: A waste of time. All Igbos with any brain know that the North will never agree to restructuring and have moved on to something more important. Anyone still hoping for restructuring is wasting his or her time.
ItsMeAboki: You may pretend to be ignorant but I am not; anyone with basic knowledge would know that resources are generally categorised as human or material, which not all countries (putative or otherwise) all are well endowed with.
I expected you to make your definition of "human resources" clearer. However, to avoid misunderstanding me, I will elucidate. All countries have human resources, it's only the quality that may vary. The good news is that with very minor investments, focused actions can result in vast improvements in the said quality within very short time frames (Cuba wiped out illiteracy from the island within an impossibly short time).
All resources merely represent potential. You can underperform or still over achieve for reasons other than and more crucial than the resources you started with.
ItsMeAboki: She didn't have to mention oil because it was inferred on her speech; besides I have watched her speak several times in TV on resource control, so I know what I am talking about. BTW, on the contrary there is a correlation between resources and development; Congo with its vast mineral resources would have been far more developed if it is not being exploited by world powers through sponsored proxy wars; your argument was based on the faulty premise which narrowed the definition of resource to only material at the exclusion of humans - pls give me an example of any country which developed without human or material resources.
As for the division of the country, we are on the same page - yes, let us peacefully go our own way.
@ the highlighted. This your question get as ee be.
I don't understand what you mean by human resources. As far as I know all countries (or putative nations, to be more accurate) have human resources. If there are no human beings in the country then it wouldn't be a country, it will just be a figment of our imagination.
ItsMeAboki: I agree with her call for division of this country but for different reasons: her position was unfortunately driven by selfishness from a regional (north vs south) tribal and religious (Christians vs Muslims) rather than from a national perspective - she clearly espoused bigotry in her rhetoric and definitely not a patriotic Nigerian who wishes well for all other Nigerians but only for her tribal/religious/regional enclave.
One of the basic functions of government is to pool and redistribute resources from the haves to the have-nots amongst its ppl; that is why ppl pay different rates of income taxes in most countries, so that there would be reasonably balanced development and opportunities for all irrespective of where a person comes or stays - you will see this principle repeated in many forms of socialism throughout the world as each strives to achieve a more egalitarian society.
This woman's and many like her are clearly against this principle of sharing through redistribution by govt and therefore calling for restructuring or division of the country because they feel their regions/tribes/enclaves are more resource advantaged and are resentful of the others who benefit from a share of it. It is a pity because ppl like her forget that no condition is permanent e.g. the oil which she presently feels gives her ND ppl an advantage to will not last for ever; even today's headline suggest Nigeria's oil reserve would dry up in 30 yrs. I wonder then by the same spirit how others who may have developed their own resources would feel towards her by then resource depleted ppl? - those currently with short sighted selfish agenda should look again at what they are asking for.
As for me, I am just tired of the selfishness and bitterness being propagated by the greed of a few who continue to undermine our unity; I therefore agree that its time for us to peacefully go our separate ways so that we can at least have happiness in our respective new different nations.
I suspect that you're reading things into her statement that are simply not there. She didn't mention oil in her statements.
There is very little correlation between resources and development. Many countries have achieved development even though they were not gifted with massive resources. Similarly, several countries with humongous resources (like CongoDRC) have failed to fly.
She simply made the point that she (as an Ijaw woman) shares very little with some other sections of this country (culture, language, history, religion, philosophy) that it would be impossible to share a common purpose with such people. A lack of common purpose means lack of common vision and a consequent lack of focus resulting in a lack of development. It's that simple.
PS: There is/was no unity to undermine. Let's tell ourself the honest truth.
hornyofife: there is problem in this country,the eariler the South west and those still sitting on the fence as regards IPOB's agitation, begin to wake up. Northerners are not willing to concede to restructuring, yet These yoruba idiots troll every igbo/IPOB/nnamdi kanu thread to run their dirty mouth.
a word is enough for the wish. The South west should take a stand now befroe its too late. They must change their tune to referendum, this is the only sure way to put pressure on the north to concede to restructuring and also no election must hold in the whole of southern if nigeria is not restructured.
Mujtahida: Prison has always given radical minded people time to reflect and reposition themselves. Hitler spent time in prison after the Munich putsch. Even Rawlings. I don't know if you are Igala but you most likely be from the middle belt. If this man embraces Nigeria and calls for an all out attack against the elites I will join hm. But unfortunately the lines have been drawn. I hate how things are in Nigeria but I love my country.
I don't believe in class warfare. It's usually nihilistic and ultimately discriminatory. The elite are but an expression of society. They can't be any different.
Even if you kill all members of the current elite but fail to change the structure and the system that created them, you would ultimately replace one set of venal elite with a new one. Animal farm is a classic illustration.
To remedy something, you must trace the genesis of its ailment, in medicine, this is called pathogenesis.
The problem of Africa started with the partition of Africa into unstable colonial entities in Berlin conference, for the sole aim of exploitation of the indigenous Africans found in those colonial entities. These colonial entities were created naturally not to be stable, to avoid the people uniting against them, and groups considered least rebellious to colonial powers imperialism were entrusted with power and equipped to keep others in check, it was much similar to how slave camps in the Americas were ran. This is the pathogenesis of Africa problems.
Any Pan Africanism that doesn't begin with the dissolution of all colonial estates masquerading as countries and the creation of real Nations united by shared ideals and mutually accepted agreements of the constituent ethnic groups and their representatives at a round table discussion, is a joke and a fraud.
Africa can never form a China, but we can have real Nations formed by conglomerate of neighbouring groups that share similar socio -political and traditional ideologies, and thereafter, we can reposition the AU to be as strong as it should be, free from control of imperialists.
We don't need a China, we need strong organic Nations, and an independent aggressively pro African AU to cover our interests.
eyeview: After a meeting of some south east leaders, a list of names were drawn up for consideration for 2019 presidential bid. While such a move is highly commendable, it is my personal opinion as well as many nigerians that there is the need for the emergence of a new crop of politicians and in line with this, I have drawn up a list of the best presidential materials the entire nation would be proud of.
They include:
Hon Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba Prof Chukwuma Soludo Chief Osita Chidoka Dr Uchechukwu Ogah Ex Gov Sullivan Chime
What do you think?
[/s]
There is nothing like Igbo president. You're either a true country (in which case you will have a NIGERIAN president) or you're not. It's as simple as that.
Let us stop applying band-aid to an ulcerated wound. You get your daft "Igbo" president, four years later, things stay the same or most likely get worse, what would you do? Would you have the courage after that to even propose modest reforms like restructuring this fake federation?
We have gone past this particular landmark, today we just need a complete disintegration of this infernal colonial prison camp. People have paid the ultimate sacrifice for this struggle. They didn't do it for "Igbo President".
Mumuharri isn't suffering from any memory loss. It's just his normal Mumuness.
When he was calling his VP candidate , Osunbade and talking about "West Germany", you people didn't know the Animal has a coconut where his brain is meant to be now you clowns are claiming a phantom memory loss after the elections.
I really respect Femi Aribisala a lot but this article is pure BS. There are over 200 countries and territories on this planet that are doing pretty well without Igbos. A lot of the nations that make up Nigeria did well without us. So please stop with the emotional blackmail, already.
Secondly, instead of talking about an Igbo president, shouldn't we be talking about designing a system where the ethnicity of the president is irrelevant?
For example, in Switzerland, the Swiss Federal Council is a seven-member executive council that heads the federal administration, operating as a combination cabinet and collective presidency. This is an example of people facing the reality of their problems rather than sticking their heads in the sand and denying them.
The truth is that we are sick and tired of this fraud of a federation and we just want out. It's that simple.
Oksman: And i suppose you are also one of the few unintelligent Yorubas on Nairaland. There is no need for the above response because you know the expected outcome > more hate comments that would destroy the essence of the thread! The OP is simply deploying moral persuation on his people. He did not invite you to judge them! He knows them better than you do. Please always be constructive in your submission to douse the tension that is already soaking deep into the foundation of the Nation. Thank you.
Why do you feel the need to censor others? I think the gentleman is entitled to his opinion.
The fact that you admonished him for expressing his opinion doesn't mean that he will stop thinking the thought.
I will rather an individual expresses himself than bottles up these thoughts until they explode into full blown mass murder.
Crayola1: Okay there was a coup. Why didn't the sophisticated fellows of Nigeria rally around and move past that? Igbo people are so powerful they managed to keep the rest of Nigeria firmly in 3rd world stays for 50+ years? Igbo people get power o.
You would think with the other two sophisticated ethnic groups on the case they would have made their respective regions heaven on earth!?
They didnt? SAD.
There was a negotiation it was trashed and the country was then plunged into war for 3 years. And since then there have been calls for restructuring and those various conferences where old men are paid to go take naps under the guise of "restructuring". So there has been plenty of negotiating? Where were you? Being sophisticated so much you forgot...I guess?
So why haven't the sophisticated people made critical decisions at those critical junctions in history?
Like the mindless egging on under Yardua where you guys literally had a corpse for commander in chief?
Or the mindless egging on that allowed OBJ to squander all they goodwill he had to literally make no sustainable impact on Nigeria other than padding his bank account?
On and on and on...
If they are so problematic, why are the two sophisticated regions just as crappy as the rest of Nigeria. You are transferring a lot of power to Igbo people, so much so they have the ability to negate your sophistication.
Which is clearly why super mega city Lagos still thinks open gutters constitute the highest level of sophistication.
Igbo people are the sole reason why Northern Nigeria has an infant/maternal mortality rate on par with Afghanistan (a country in the midst of a decades long insurgency/war).
Clean running water is a pretty basic part of infrastructure and yet the two sophisticated regions can't manage that!? It's the current noise that you should be squawking out of your sophisticated mouth to your sophisticated leaders in your sophisticated region.
But yet you consider political back bitting and cronyism that benefits the .001% of Nigerians as a sign of political savvy and skill. Which is why you brag that your leaders have the choicest positions while driving your car down a potholed road to your house that hasn't seen consistent power in 3 years. But you winning tho!
Will probably die in a hospital because lack of drugs and equipment, but my kinsman has been President 3 times!!!! Winning!!!! Sophistication b1tches!!!
Of course its yeye to you because you are simple man with simple thoughts. Sophistication for you is power, the end.
I don't have time to tag simpletons, go create your own thread to circle jerk and blow yourself over your sophistication.
pazienza: All I could hear from the man was "Landlocked", Landlocked, Landlocked, Landlocked. like he was trying to convince himself of its truthiness.
Better focus on his small Urhobo group, their squabble with Isoko and the possible break away of want away Okpe ethnic nationality.
Kokori or whatever, mind your business, no one asked for your inconsequential minority opinion.
Even though, I have no great love for Mumuharri, this matter is bigger than him. He might have used his mumuish style to accelerate things but all discerning minds were fully aware that the disintegration of this zombie empire was always a matter of when and not if.
Alariwo2: who takes Afenifere seriously? Useless back stabbers that almost sold Yorubas into slavery of GEJ and his Igbo backbones but for timely intervention of Tinubu, APC and other progressives.
The Hausa man knows the structure of Nigeria and they know those stubborn parasites crying secession. They have been asked to leave peacefully now till october 1 so why can't they leave? Why must they lump yorubas into everything they do.
They have history of bloody pogroms against these same Igbos in the North and not Yorubas. The Northerners see Yorubas as best friends which is paining the Igbos so much
Mujtahida: If not for the crude and even stupid way Kanu and his cohorts have gone about the agitation for Biafra, asking for Biafra does not amount to denouncing Nigeria. If he had simply said 'we want our own country based on certain socio-historical and political factors and stuck to that line', I do not think that would have amounted to denouncing Nigeria.
Secessionists movements are known all over the world- the Kurds in Turkey, the Catalans in Spain, Texans and Californians in the US. Infact I didn't know that there's a Secessionist movement in Andalusia(Spain) until Sergio Ramos wrapped himself with their flag at the just concluded champions league final. Just a quick check on Wikipedia revealed that there are 32 countries in Europe with secessionists movements with some having at least three different secessionist movements (18 in Spain alone and 14 in France). Remember that the right to self determination is a universally recognised right enshrined in the United Nations Charter and the African Charter on Human and People's Rights. (I am not for or against Biafra. I am just stating facts and giving my own opinion as per my understanding. What I really desire is a restructuring of this nation, true federalism oo, federal fiscalism oo, resource control, whatever nomenclature we chose.)
Your second paragraph: I did say EXCEPT we change our extant laws. My major point is that these things as it stands now are not so stark as you posit. Yes one can presume that Nigeria will act in ways that safeguards her interest and even get downright punitive and vindictive. However trust me when I tell you that even when the laws are changed there will be a lot of litigation in our courts on these issues. That much I can presume.
Obtaining Governor's consent is not as hard as you make it look. I have done it for foreigners at least twice. But then maybe you speak from your own experience as these things vary. I am however aware that Lagos for example in her bid to become a global player is reforming her land laws because this are factors that go to determine the ease of doing business in a particular place. Cheers
I respect your views but I disagree that Nnamdi has been stupid. This is guerrilla marketing 101. Every publicity is good publicity.
If he had used less aggressive language (especially against theYorubas), it's doubtful if IPOB will be getting as much free publicity (Biafra posts trend here on NL which wasn't always the case) than if he had followed the less bellicose tone favoured by MASSOB and similar groups. Ironically, the people that claimed they were insulted are the ones most responsible for inadvertently publicizing his mission. How is that stupid?
Clearly, we as a species have not evolved to the point where appealing to our heads is as effective As skillfully pushing our emotional triggers.
Furthermore, with the way the country is currently structured there is no feasible scenario where a less acrimonious separation is possible. Therefore, no matter how you look at it, Nigeria (ex-Biafra) would seek to impose punitive measures on the assets of their erstwhile compatriots ( notwithstanding the economic costs). Politics and economics intersect but they are not always the same thing). I will suggest that Biafrans should be mindful of that and take appropriate measures to mitigate that or at least accept it.
Politics › Re: The Middle Belt, Our Core Demands by Curlieweed: 8:36am On Jul 04, 2017
. Because they failed to take a realistic appraisal of the situation, they decided to design a structure that failed to acknowledge the basic mental pictures we all carry in our heads (namely that the country is made up of Yorubaland, Igboland, Ijawland, Igalaland, Nupeland and so on). They decided to create arbitrary constituent units (states) that bear very little relationship to our ethnic reality and then to make things worse ran the whole thing from an over bloated centre because they felt that would enforce unity. 
