₦airaland Forum

paule:
“Federal Nigeria has never since her independence shown the distinctive mark of a united nation. It has been impossible for her to silence tribal rivalries –to achieve that mixture of ethnic /cultural blend required to forge National Unity”
---Francois Duvalier, then President of Haiti, March 22, 1969.
The above quotation is a time honoured statement that aptly describes Nigeria since 1947 till date.

If it is from the hearts over-flow that the mouth speaks, I invite the reader to listen to the words of “Our hero’s past” whose labours (we sing), shall never be in vain.

In 1952, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa addressed the Northern House of Assembly thus “The Southern people who are swamping into this region daily in such large numbers are really intruders; we don’t want them and they are not welcome here in the North. Since 1914, the British Government has been trying to make Nigeria into one country. But the people are different in every way, including religion, custom, language and aspirations……, we in the North take it that Nigeria unity is only a British intention for the country they created. IT IS NOT FOR US”.

In the same year, Sir Ahmadu Bello approached the Colonial Secretary and said “If you want us (the North) to be part of this Nigeria you have in mind, then we want 50% of the membership of the National Assembly”.

It was accepted by the British and the 1953 census figures were manipulatedto justify the concession given. With majority in the National Assembly, whatever the North says becomes law---of course the ever vulnerable South-East and South-South people(the only true Nigerians) would always be used(willingly) to ensure the North is happy.

When in 1956 after the Northerners defeated the motion for independence moved by Chief Anthony Enahoro and were jeered by their Southern colleagues, Sir Ahmadu Bello said “ what kind of trouble have we let ourselves in for, by associating with these southern people. Lord Lugard and his amalgamation is not for us. We shall set up our own and cease to have anything more to do with the southern people”.

Two days later trouble broke out in Sabon-Gari, Kano and southerners, mainly Ndigbo, were slaughtered. The Yorubas of the South-West who jeered at them in Lagos oddly enough were out of it.
Papa Awolowo’s reaction to these happenings was in his ever green speech excerpts of which is “Nigeria is only a geographical expression to which life was given by the diabolical amalgamation of 1914, that amalgamation will EVER remain the most painful injury a British Government inflicted on Southern Nigeria”.

What did Zik say? Hear him “Nigeria is now a political reality, let us bury our differences and build it together”.

It is instructive to note that Britain had programmed to grant independence to the “Babel” they created and the North of Nigeria must be appeased by ensuring that they, (the Northerners), control power over the British Babel called Nigeria. So it came to pass on October 1st 1960.

Note that the 'do or die' election of 1959 did not give the North the required majority to form Government until Eastern Nigeria (Today's South-East and South-South) came to the rescue.

Despite that, listen to what Sir Ahmadu Bello had to say on the 12thOctober, 1960 (culled from the PARROT Magazine of the same date-just eleven days after independence) “The new nation called Nigeria should be an estate from our great-grand father Othoman Dan Fodio. We mustRUTHLESSLY prevent a change of power. We must use the minorities of the North as willing tools, and the South as conquered territories and never allow them to have control of their future”

Note that Southerners were not allowed to join the N.P.C. the political party of the North then.
Students of history would recall how in 1964 the Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, wanted to whittle down Chief Awolowo’s influence in the Western Region and found a willing tool in Chief S.L. Akintola. The Prime Minister gave Akintola all the support to recklessly breach the constitution as it pleased him.

That gave birth to the crisis in the Western Region. 'Operation wet eee' followed, leading to the first military coup of January 1966 that was quelled by General Aguyi Ironsi. Then the pogrom of May 29th 1966, then a counter coup in June 1966 in which General Ironsi (an innocent man) was brutally murdered and General Yakubu Gowon took over. Part of hismaiden speech to the nation was to be thus “……. Suffice to say , putting all consideration to test: political, economical as well as social, the basis for unity is not there, or it has been so badly shaken not once, but several times”.

All of these mayhem, killings, secession, and civil war were just because the Fulani leaders of the North were not happy and they must be pleased.

So it was in the beginning and so it is now. Nothing has changed.

On the 15th of September 2010, the same day President Goodluck Jonathan declared his intention to seek the mandate of his party and Nigerians to steer the ship of state for an additional four years, a group described as the Northern Elders Forum/Assembly, took an advertorial in a National daily addressed to the President and Commander-in-Chief, captioned “As you declare”. They proceeded to threaten him. The “Great” Elders who signed that advertorial were mostly National awardees who claimed to be “honest, dispassionate and deeply care about the continued existence of Nigeria as one indivisible, harmonious and peaceful country”.

The “Great” Elders saw President GEJ’s declaration as “ill-conceived, ill-advised and definitely divisive”. That for GEJ to declare on the platform of PDP (a Northern party?) heralds a “clear and present danger that wouldundermine the peace and tranquillity of the nation”. That GEJ’s candidature“would open old wounds of primitive politics where sectional ethnic, religious and other undesirable primordial sentiments will assume center stage with attendant unpleasant consequences”.

The “Great” Elders even saw GEJ’s expression of his intention as illegal and immoral. They said quite a lot and warned the president that “the peace, harmony and progress of the country or OTHERWISE are in his hands and he would be answerable to God and humanity” for his deciding to declare to run for office of President. Hmmmm!!
All they said plus the threats of Lawan Kaita, Adamu Ciroma, Prof. Ango Abdullahi’s interview, the threats of the Director-General of Buhari Campaign Organization before the election, that they would not accept the results of the elections, if CPC loses are all happening exactly and nobody is looking in the direction of these so-called Northern elders-Tanko Yakassai & Co and all those who laid the foundation for the violence we are witnessing today.

Nigeria belongs to the Fulani’s of the North as Ahmadu Bello said. They can say or do anything they please and nothing would happen. Rather we would all be scared not to offend their sensibilities by complaining. Meanwhile not a single Northerner (Fulani’s) was recorded in history as having been part of the true struggle for the independence of the Nigeria they so ardently love to control.
I read the advertorial of the Northern Elders TEN good times and allowed my thoughts to flow towards their instinctive directions. I saw, in the words of Sir Ahmadu Bello, 'THE MISTAKE OF 1914'. I saw Papa Awolowo in Heaven laughing with an “Did I not tell you people" attitude. Because Papa fought so hard to convince Zik and others at the Constitutional Conference of 1957 in London, to stand with him and demand that a SECESSION Clause be inserted in the constitution (for the independence), so any tribe that becomes unhappy with the union could leave. It failed, because Zik refused and the Colonial Secretary ensured that the Northern Delegation refused also.

I remembered how Winike Briggs, J. Umorem and another Niger Delta person rushed to the North in 1966 to plead with them not to break away after Nzeogwu’s coup.

I remember former Gov Kure’s arrogant statement in 2006 about the South-South daring to dream of becoming President of Nigeria. I remembered the political support the Ijaws, the Efiks, Ibibio, Kalabari, Ogoni etc have given to the North since Dec 1959 up until 2007. And whenever there is a deadlock, the Ndigbos are forever ready to compromise and help.

I remembered the arrogance with which Dr Dikko said “Presidency is not for sale" to Abiola in 1983. I remembered the killing of male children above 11yrs of age with their fathers and uncles in Asaba on October 7th1967 under the instructions of Gen Murtala Mohammed who we revere with his picture on our currency.

I remembered the pogrom of May 29th 1966, July 29th 1966 and September 29th 1966. (all Fridays ). First of its type in Africa. I remembered the Genocide-First in Africa long before Rwanda's. I remembered how my friend’s father, Mbonu Maiduguri, was killed by his best friend in 1967.

Thinking of that advertorial, I felt Ralph Uwazurike’s was not silly. I felt the apparent 'treason' of the Niger Delta militants should be commended. Thinking of the Advertorial, I respected the Yorubas, even more as the smart tribe in Nigeria with a focus on development for their land and their people only, I saw the ignorance of the South East and the South South people who, as very forgiving people with enormous liberal hearts, would be prepared to die for a Northerner who they call their friend and brother but who sees them as instruments to be used to acquire power and then killed whenever they feel unhappy.

I saw the liberal minded South East and South-South people, endowed with excessive natural and human resources, but lacking in cohesion to conspire for power like their Northern brothers or the successful South Westerners, until this blessed year of 2011.

Maybe, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was right when he said, ”We are different in too many ways”.

Our sense of Justice is just not the same and may never be reconciled; not with the hopeless unitary constitution 'dashed' to us by Gen Abdusalam Abubakar. No! We would not forget the drama when the late President Yar’dua was ill.

Lest we forget, since 1966 the Ndigbos of the South East have been crying for justice. By 1993 the Yorubas in the South West joined and stared crying. In 1994 and 1995 the South-South people found their voice and started crying also. Today, it seems the North(fulanis) also cry but with the blood of innocent citizens.

These are trying times indeed!
History would record that never has a seat-in Head of State been so embarrassed for tribal reasons. History would record that those who never really fought for the development of Nigeria but have enjoyed her more and held her captive for long, are today in the fore front of the struggle to break up Nigeria.

Oh Lord, I could write a book on this “let’s open old wounds”. Who inflicted the wounds? Who was wounded and still being wounded? Can we count how many times innocent blood (particularly that of Ndigbos) have been shed in the North since 1949? For reasons nobody has explained till today, and nothing happens except panels of inquiry, reports and then silence.

Have we forgotten what happened in Odi, Choba etc when the allegation was that the people there killed members of the Nigerian Armed Forces. Policemen, Youth Corpers and Soldiers are being killed in the North now and nothing would happen. I do not want to hear that it is religious. Lies! That is the opium they use. It is political. If a Fulani like Buhari rigged massively and won, there would be peace.

How come there was no riot when Yar’dua won the hopeless election of 2007 against the same Buhari? In 2003, he planned a mass action and OBJ wrote him a stern letter of warning. He went to court instead.

If the Fulanis wanted a National Conference, it would be held. If they wanted true Federalism, so it shall be. The day they decide that Nigeria would become a Dubai, so it shall be. Until then, we all must wait, be killed whenever they need to appease their knives and now bombs.

We say nothing, do nothing all because Nigeria matters more to us. They killed my nephew (a youth corper) in Bauchi and I will not keep quiet.
At times like this, we must remember the words of our Elders. The Rt. Hon. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, frustrated by the activities of our Northern brothers in 1964, had this to say “ If this embryo republic of ours must disintegrate, then in the name of God, let the operation be a short and painless one”.

And in the words of President Goodluck Jonathan “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH”!


So our founding father didb't believe in the nation unity (one Nigeria)

I guess the above post would have been a good literary work if the phrases were properly directed and facts stated accordingly with hindsight.

In 1953, Anthony Enahoro moved motion for Nigeria’s independence and what followed created history.

The 1956 Sabor Gari, Kano political mayhem was triggered by threats and counter-threats from politicians of that era. Two southern political leaders had promised to bring their political campaign to northern region during 1956 elections. One of the leaders even promised land scorching and educational campaign to enlighten the north and its leaders whom he termed educationally inferior. Northern politicians threatened to set fire on the soil the leader of south will stage such campaign.

It was unfortunate that one of the leaders from the south who made the loudest of the noise about campaigning and educating the northern region chickened out and never showed up as promised. However, the fearless and indomitable lion from the east showed up in the northern region with Igbo warriors and campaigned as he promised with no winded threats of educating anybody.

Northern politicians threatened the business men in the northern region with certain consequences if they provide hotel accommodation to the political entourage of eastern regional politicians. Unfortunately, no Hausa or Fulani or Kanuri person owned a block talk less of owning a hotel in northern region as the campaign entourage from the eastern region was handsomely accommodated.

I think the statement accredited to Zik was made at the dawn of Nigerian independent attainment. In addition, the alleged statement by Francois Duvalier, then President of Haiti was made in support of the recognition given to Biafra by Haiti.

I do not know the intentions of the author of this article especially as it pertains to the continuous existence of Nigeria as one entity. The only threat to the sustenance of Nigeria as one entity came in 1967 and nobody is in doubt where Awolowo and Yoruba hedged their supports.

[quote author=ndu_chucks link=topic=719075.msg8774444#msg8774444 date=1311429201]Would you kindly explain the response of Imolites, sons of Igbo(protesting by the road side instead of battle), to the assault by ordinary herders whose tools of engagement was meerly daggers?[/quote]Ndu, you disappointed me if you remotely believed the junk meant to sell print media. How can you make hay out of unsubstantiated tale of farm hand looking for cheap attention? I guess you did know we read the article too.

It is certain that a section of Umuapu provides holding pen for cows shipped via trailer by business men in Owerri and PH. If you think that two or three herdsmen will terrorize a village in Igbo land, you are entitled to your opinion. Do you think it is a mere coincidence cattle are being shipped through Igbo land by either rail freight or motor trailer?

It is only in cesspit called Nigeria that a caliber of man named Sanusi will hold position of dog catcher. He plots believable prose laden with lies and innuendoes enough to commit him to prison. I have stopped glancing over his write-ups especially when he dabbled onto the issue of "Deputy Prime Minister" when in fact 1963 Nigerian constitution did not have such provision.

[quote author=Negro_Ntns link=topic=719075.msg8774261#msg8774261 date=1311426947]It is better to go by accomplishments of past to judge the potentials for future. If in 2002 fracas Ijaw backpedaled in the face of heat, what makes anyone now think they will not repeat a retreat if a firestorm breaks out? The 2002 bloodshed was so rapid and effective even Igbos fled home; and they were not even the direct target but what they witnessed was too powerful for their "megaphone bravery" to withstand, they abandoned everything and took off. That's action, not all this mouth![/quote]Negative_Ntns,

You have crossed the point of no return with this ill-motivated conjectural crap. I will state unequivocally, baring any sense of arrogance, no single ethnic group in Nigeria will slide onto war path with Ndigbo and be able to tell the tales of the battles. No son of Igbo, trained soldier or not, will scamper across the border on the sight of a drunken private in the army.

@jason123

If I call jason123 a compound fool, I honestly regard such nomenclature as understatement. The junk of a poster has being chasing rat on this forum while his or her ancestral home is on fire. What a dumbasre.

Ijo had seized the land your forbearers left for your generation since 1997-2003 Ijo/Itsekiri fracases yet you have the audacity to grieve more then the bereaved on this forum especially when Yoruba is under siege. I now know what actually is chasing you away from your ancestral home. It is unfortunate Ijo had annexed the land you called home. Anyway, Yoruba can claim you since they accept anything as one of theirs including a sorry arse debilitating loser such as jeson123.

odumchi:
Hello everyone. Id like to discuss the absence of proper "ethnic" recognition of our various ethnic origins in the West. Im sure many of you who live abroad in the USA or Europe may have come across a form like this.

Check your ethnicity:

[ ]White

[ ]Hispanic

[ ]Black/Afrcian American

[ ]Asian

[ ]Native American

[ ]Other please state:______

As for myself forms like this anger me since there is no clear option for my ethnicity. I am not "black" because black is a skin colour not an ethnicity and I am not an "African American" since I am not the descendant of slaves. And most of the time such a form does not even leave the option "other" restricting my ability to properly identify myself. Ive had second thoughts of sueing such organisations for not giving proper respect to my ethnic origin or properly allowing me to identify myself.

I'd like to know how those of us here in Nigeria and and Abroad feel when confronted with such forms and how you go about answering them.

Forms such as the one you posted are used to test intellectual ability or lack thereof of Africans. Most of the times, Africans tend to drop the ball by following the silly trend of being "Black". I always select the “other please state”. You do not need to be angered when such form provides an opportunity to educate the presenter.

If you watch closely, you will see Asian indicating person from the continent of Asia. In the same manner, I have decided to choose “other please state” and stated African indicating I am a person from the continent of Africa.

It is the height of idiocy to describe humans with hue of the skin which is ridiculous because I have not seen a “white or black person” throughout my life. Believe me, I know my color chart.

[quote author=ekt_bear link=topic=718361.msg8765403#msg8765403 date=1311312183]You guys are high as a kite.

I repeat, you were as poor as the North per capita:
https://i54.tinypic.com/20usght.png

21 for North, 21 for East, 34 for West. 61% wealthier per capita than North or East.

Whether you want to blame some "Lagos factor" on this (as if you would have contributed much money to building Lagos before the time, given that your Eastern region had by far the smallest economy ) makes no difference to me.

In any case, in 1952, it is not even clear to me that the city was subsidized by the regions (at least if you subtract off port revenue).

You are entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts.[/quote]The gauge of application of wealth you posted within the regions during the time in question was more academics than substance with respect to cash crop such as cocoa. Timber contributed more to the winded wealth of the western region than cocoa. Remember that Lagos was official British colonial headquarter and housed most of British, European and American economic establishments.

During the same period in the 50s, eastern region was quietly ascending the ladder of wealth. One wonders where the so-called wealth of western region was stored when Shell D’arcy requested capital to continue the exploration of crude oil in southern protectorate about 1951. Ironically western region and Awolowo pleaded poverty to the cause of continuous crude oil exploration in the protectorate. However, when eastern region was declared the most priced estate in the entire British Empire after 1956, Awolowo and western region went to work to destabilize it.

@POST

Any part of Lagos State that was not touched by the benevolence of authorities of federal capital territory through the infusion of crude oil money remains a ghetto. However, loud flying owls would want us to believe the conspicuous and eye-fitting status of Lagos State is due to the political legacy of a novice created on the pages of Tribune, Sketch or Concord.

[quote author=alj_harem link=topic=716755.msg8764485#msg8764485 date=1311291111]arrant nonsense, such a lair. u keep lying under big grammar. stu.pid man/boy

The first region to be divided in Nigeria was the western region thanks to ZIK

afterwards there was a poll which the itsekiri and bini voted against the creation (showing love for the west) but urhobo, ijaw, esan etc voted for and thus the mid-west was created.

even till today the mid west, edwin clark , bini (edo) meet with the western and afernifere leaders to talk of the development of the west

same can not be said of the east. baleysa , akwa ibom, cross river would NEVER do such because of the evil act of your leaders(no names so it would not go tribal)

i stand to be corrected[/quote]This is not the first time that alj harem and his or her ilk are known to have disappointed undiscerning onlookers. Even as a capable farm hand, you will continue to strikeout on rudimental history of Nigeria. Begging you to engage in perusal of recorded events about regional governments in Nigeria is akin to driving herds of cattle to a water hole.

I do not think any person with well coordinated social order above his or her shoulders would want to correct an inherent dullard such as you. I guess you have heard stupidity can not be fixed.

Could empty heads such as Badtooth, Negetive_Nts and ikebe inform us one of the reasons that led to January 15, 1966 coup?

Da Doctor:
A son of Ogoni chieftain Jim Wiwa, Ken was born in Bori, in the Niger Delta.[1] He spent his childhood in an Anglican home and eventually proved himself to be an excellent student,he attended Secondary School at Government College Umuahia and on completion obtained a scholarship to study English at the University of Ibadan and briefly became a teaching assistant at the University of Lagos.[2][3]

However, he soon took up a government post as the Civilian Administrator for the port city of Bonny in the Niger Delta, and during the Nigerian Civil War was a strong supporter of the federal cause against the Biafrans. His best known novel, Sozaboy: A Novel in Rotten English, tells the story of a naive village boy recruited to the army during the Nigerian Civil War of 1967 to 1970, and intimates the political corruption and patronage in Nigeria's military regime of the time. His war diaries, On a Darkling Plain, document Saro-Wiwa's experience during the war. Saro-Wiwa was also a successful businessman and television producer. His satirical television series, Basi & Co., is purported to have been one of the most watched soap operas in Africa, surpassed only by Jab Adu's The Village Headmaster and Claudius Eke's Masqurade.[citation needed]

Nigeria is indeed a funny real estate where every person who can string two English words together automatically becomes the son of a chieftain. I laugh in Ogoni when ignorant onlookers kept writing about the scholarship Ken Saro Wiwa received without mentioning the entity that awarded him the scholarship. Wiley fools will always tempt to bite the finger that fed them.

Ibime:
Fools consolation.

You have proven to us before that Ndigbo has the most on-shore oil blocks in Nigeria. Who owns your oil blocks? 


The fact is this. It is not the prerogative of the majority to claim that minorities get fair treatment under them as NL revisionists would have us believe. The majority has no say in the matter. It is the minority who would tell you if they are being dominated or not.

In the UK, the English have no say in whether the Scottish believe they are fairly represented. The Scots have their own parliaments and can raise referendum on the issue whenever they like. It is entirely their call.

Even Saro-Wiwa said Ogoni was oppressed by Ijaw. He is correct cos that is the nature of African societies.

Meanwhile some bovine-brained NL warriors are trying to force down our throats the lie that they are equitable partners in Eastern Nigeria, whilst still talking down to us as overlords. Some are even making mockery of their education by posting names of Divisonal Governors as proof of "Federalism". 

As for my nuclear family, we are proponents of Biafra, but I cannot blame any minority in the Eastern Region for fighting against Biafra, being that that was the only and immediate Government they had had all their lives, and which they believe was inequitable. One may say they jumped from the Deep Blue Sea into the hands of the Devil, but when someone's life is only affected by his immediate Govt, he is inculpable for fighting the devil he knows.

Sometimes bros, you disappoint me big time. Even the people you termed stolid brain seem to be better tender of historical events than those who are condescendingly disingenuous with issues about eastern region of Nigeria and Biafra.

Granted there were stinking minorities who jumped ship while Biafrans fought Nigeria, there were staunch minorities who fought the war braver than majorities. Ojukwu did not consult with everybody in my province about the war but he consulted with the representatives including those from Degema, Ogoja, Opobo, Yenegoa, Calabar, Eket, Annang and Uyo. It is on record that during those consultative meetings a son of Ijo proposed the name-Biafra for eastern region.  I know a young Major from Sagbama who commanded 53rd Brigade of Biafran army who had the intent to recapture Port Harcourt in 1969 after overrunning Igrinta.

There was no former regional leader who wanted creation of region out of the existing three. Awolowo did everything in the books including ominous threats to certain royalties who supported the creation of Mid-western region. It is rather silly to read about irresponsible rant from loser such as Ken Saro Wiwa praising Awo on creation of states.

The first Nigerian republic was a democratic affair and people of eastern region did not sue to oppose such political ideals. Hence the first Mayor of Enugu was Hausa. Even the first leader of government in eastern region was a minority from Ibibio. In 1954 when some people in certain part of the country were swearing and dancing to certain tune of music about opposing non-son of the soil being leader in a section of the country, Zik appointed a Yoruba as the Press Secretary of eastern regional government. Ijo produced adequate representatives to the government of eastern region as evidenced in every election of the time. According to you, I did not think Melford Okilo would have been elected if Ndigbo were the final arbiter of the electoral process. 

War was fought, lost and won. Aftermath of the war shall always produce saboteurs and decenters who stand to curry favor from the victors. But remember that change, ironically, remains constant.

The pair of jason123 and alj harem is professed and illogical clown on this forum.

Ibime:
Original PH was from Aggrey Road to Nnamdi Azikiwe road. 80% of original PH is Okrika land whilst only Diobu-Rebisi ws Ikwerre land. Contrary to the assertion of fake-PH boy EzeUche, PH never extended into Okrika land. PH extended into Ikwerre land. You cannot expand into water. There is no Ikwerre settlement beyond Diobu, whilst the Colonial buildings on Aggrey Road should tell you that was the administrative hub of old PH.

It is funny you stumbled into truth when you wrote “Contrary to the assertion of fake-PH boy EzeUche, PH never extended into Okrika land. PH extended into Ikwerre land. You cannot expand into water”.  Okirika is water not land. It is what gave rise to Canoe Houses. I remembered my series of Launch travels to what used to be Yenegoa. When in the town, It was a paddling exercise from one canoe house to another.   

Thanks to revisionists. We now have Elelenwo instead of Elelenwa. I use to take train ride to Eke Elelenwa market to buy suger cane in those old days. I used to ride my auto-bike from Obigbo to Umuebele and Iriebe.

@Post

From the winded accolades many contributors lavished on the disgraceful political shenanigan staged in Owerri by Rochas Okorocha, I unequivocally call for an intelligent dictator.

ChinenyeN:
Ileke-Idi, I don't believe anyone said anything like 'only'

You have not realized Ekiti Diva has issues with comprehension