₦airaland Forum

houvest:
The Answer to  Ops question is that th North wants to grasp back power at all costs
Let me use this quote to show a bit the mindset of Northerners towards the SE and SS:




Re: Where Was The South South In 1914, 1945, 1960?
« #119 on: October 01, 2010, 04:08 AM »

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Quote from: ndu_chucks on September 29, 2010, 01:40 AM
Unbelievable!! This is the kind of misdirected understanding that continues to make you people subservient to your Igbo lords, you will ultimately be ruled by them. Mark my word.

I hereby continue with excerps from a recent interview of Professor Ango Abdullahi, former Vice-Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria:

What is your opinion on Edwin Clark and others who have been clamouring for Jonathan to vie in 2011?

This is why I wrote him a letter to remind him. I wrote him a letter personally on why he should tread with caution. We visited Warri a number of times. We had several meetings with the South-South people–mainly Ijaws–in Abuja, and that is how we agreed that they will support a northern presidential aspiration. But they will also want a South-southerner to be the vice-president, specifically, in the words of Edwin Clark, an ‘Ijaw man’. There are several tribes in South-South but he insisted on an Ijaw man. It worked out in the end. I Hope Clark will remember all these. He is not guiding Jonathan along the path of this agreement or understanding that it would get to them, after the North would have run its eight years. [b]And if things work out the way we plan, the South-South will take its turn in 2015. And by that time it is the vice-president from that zone that will perhaps, depending on how he performs, emerge as the president. That was our agreement. [/b]But now, they want to disown that agreement and still want the North to support Jonathan to continue as president. Something must be wrong with the way they think.


Integrity is not a word that comes to mind whenever the name Edwin Clark is mentioned !!

[b]The conspiracy was between the North and SS. If the North was so much in love with the SE and felt  that as one of the big three, the Igbos should be the  next group to share power, why did they start a conspiracy with Clarke. Obviously they wanted to use the Ijaws to oust the Igbos and it is now backfiring against them and they are rushing back to the Igbos. [/b]These are acts of desperation to hold unto power and why because the more they stay out of power, the more the lies they used to hold the Nation by the jugular are revealed, the more the Nation is able to be restructured, the more a level playing ground is set for all the zones and the more fairness and justice is enthroned in Nigeria

The bolded is the very reason why I switched to Jonathan's camp. I call it beating the enemy in his own game.
Most of my Igbo folks supporting the north haven't thought that far or are completely unaware of this conspiracy.
If Nigeria's VP is a separately elected office not existing at the mercy of the president, we could go for it on that basis. But we all know that the VP is the president's "boy boy". And for an entrenched conspiracy by the north against Ndigbo, it becomes even more dangerous to accept their baits.

I asked this question earlier; do we want to form our own political destiny or do we allow the north to form it for us?
Who says we can't build our own base and go for it ourselves?
I thought we are known for our CAN DO spirit?
Since when did we start to slack so badly, hanging our political hat on an untrustworthy schemer?

C'mon! This is a no-brainer folks!

igbobuigbo:
Onlytruth the Anambra guru, have you read this?

Great move by the Reps! This is the type of partnership necessary to transform Nigerian manufacturing and employment space.

Other allied companies will benefit as well.

Andre Uweh:
Do not be surprised that one day if there is a collapsed building in Onitsha, they will demand for an explanation from Ohanaeze.

hahaha! lmao!

Believe me, sometimes I deeply suspect the level of education of some of our brothers here. I've seen them blame Ohanaeze for things that only sitting governments do, and they do so with FIERCE conviction that they are right!

Andre Uweh:
Because people expect the unexpected from Ohanaeze. One Idiott here on Nairaland even suggested that Ohanaeze has not done anything to make his kids speak Igbo.

LOL.

^^ And I say QED.

[size=16pt]‘Only Jonathan presidency good for Igbo’[/size]

From FRANCIS AWOWOLE-BROWNE, Abuja
Monday, November 29, 2010

Igbo Redemption Group (IRG) is a non-political group but committed to the emancipation of the Igbo race. It aims at redeeming the ethnic nationality from marginalization and relegation to the background in the scheme of things in Nigeria.

Faced with which direction the Igbo should go in 2011, where its interest will be served best in the emerging political scenario, the group, headed by the renowned lawyer, Chief Chimezie Ikeazor (SAN) has pitched its tent with the umbrella body of the Igbo, Ohaneze Ndigbo, in the decision to support President Goodluck Jonathan for the 2011 presidential election. Of course the position of the two bodies is at variance with the views of the Igbo Political Leaders Forum (IPLF), headed by Chief Simon Okeke.

The forum which claimed to be negotiating the Presidency for the Igbo for 2015 had seen its prominent members aligning with some of the presidential aspirants from the North, a development that the IRG said had given them away as to where they are driving to. National publicity secretary of the IRG, Delly Ajufo, said any Igbo leader who could not read in between the lines to see that only the Jonathan Presidency in 2011 offers a ray hopes for the actualization of the Igbo agenda politically is not a genuine leader:

“They are being driven by personal ambition and not necessarily the desire to have an Igbo Presidency. In any event, we have since discovered that those who are saying Igbo should not support Jonathan are preparing themselves for a Vice-President position with a candidate from the North, which they know Jonathan Presidency cannot offer them for now.” Ajufo explained that the IRP was out mainly to advance the cause of the Ndigbo and in doing this they found that the situation on ground favours Jonathan and from whose Presidency he believed Igbo could have a better bargain for the nearest future.

The redemption group, he said, has no interest in any political arrangement other than the one that will benefit Igbo in the unfolding political calculations. Ajufo noted that the Igbo though have endured colossal injustice and marginalization and have paid the supreme price for the indivisibility and prosperity of Nigeria, the present clamour for the number one position in Nigeria could not be achieved by coercion or bullying by any group:

“We didn’t just wake up and say Jonathan should be the Igbo choice. We believe very strongly that any consideration for a President by the Redemption Group must be based on the Igbo core issues which are premised on; the doctrine of true federalism made up of the centre, six geo-political zones and states as the federating units should be the political compass for a peaceful and united Nigeria.
“Fiscal federalism based on the principle of derivation and equality of the zones which is the essence of democratic Nigeria.

Equal number of states among the six geo-political zones to guarantee fairness and justice in the allocation of our God given resources as well as fair and equal distribution of infrastructures, perquisites and privileges to ensure even development and level playing field. “Rotational presidency among the six geo-political zones in a manner that will address previous injustices and lopsidedness should be the final bastion of good faith.”

Atiku as a PDP northern consensus presidential aspirant “I don’t think his emergence will change anything. This is because Nigerians are unanimous in the determination to do away with the past leaders and inject new blood into the governance. It is even a misuse of word to say one aspirant is a consensus aspirant for the North. No he is a consensus aspirant for Mallam Adamu Ciroma Committee. There are other credible Nigerians in the North who are not members of the PDP and we have some of them who are nursing ambition to contest the presidency.

“I am not a PDP man and neither is our group a political one. All we are saying is that it is the Jonathan Presidency that can guarantee the maximum chance needed for an Igbo man to have a shot at the presidency. We have to realize this and our position is not motivated by any personal political interest unlike those who called themselves Igbo political leaders.

They have one after the other aligned with each of the aspirants and in another breath they are saying Igbo has no candidate yet. Is until one of them is nominated as Vice-President? We have passed that stage of hide and seek, we have to be frank with ourselves. Ohaneze has hit the nail on the head. Igbo are for Jonathan for reasons they know are in the best interest of future of an Igbo man in Nigeria.

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/abujareports/2010/nov/29/abujareports-29-11-2010-002.htm

jason12345:
. . . . . . and you want positive change in nigeria .lol

Positive change does not happen in the air. It must happen on the ground.
In the case of Utomi and Duke, Jonathan is sitting on their ground already. In Ribadu's case, he needs to grow up first; wait for his turn. In the case of Fashola, he needs to wait for his zone's turn.

Katsumoto:
Correct so who would you suggest to lead Nigeria? I know that Nigeria has a few good heads but the politics of tribalism, assasination, and follow-follow precludes such individuals from running. I am not too convinced about GEJ but I would prefer him to Atiku, IBB, Saraki, Gusua. That being said, my preferred list will include[b] Ribadu, Fashola, Utomi or maybe even Duke.[/b]

All these guys are political "mosquito-weights". They cannot smell power in Nigeria in near future. There are more formidable folks in the north and south.

GEJ is just fine by me.

You cannot get anything better from current Nigerian structure. If anybody wants something better, they should restructure Nigeria. Jonathan is even better than OBJ. Yes he is!
He at least understands that Nigerian laws are meant to apply to everyone not only his political enemies. He basically stays away from EFCC activities, something OBJ couldn't do. That alone is enough to win my vote.

ndu_chucks:
The responses on this thread show very clearly that GEJ's candidacy as the PDP flagbearer will not be the cake walk he has always assumed it would be. A rude awakening may await GEJ if he continues to underestimate Atiku, or the likes of Ciroma and IBB.  

Northern politicians have historically out maneuvered, out foxed, out strategized, out witted, the Southern politicians since before independence. To think that the inexperienced, naive, and basically silly GEJ will demistify the Northern ruling class would be foolhardy.

This election is Jonathan's to lose. I will be SHOCKED if he loses the PDP primaries or the elections proper.

That guy is sitting on RAW POWER designed by the north for the north and their political allies. I want him to dismantle that northern construct and build a Nigerian one.

He may not be garrulous and articulate, but never underestimate reticent folks.

ezeagu:
I have the answer, and it's short:

No one in Nigeria likes the Igbo people, even among many of the minority groups in the South East.

End of answer.

The Igbo need to start thinking about their own survival instead of useless chieftancy titles.

That is at the CORE of my earlier concern post. The question is whether the situation is salvageable. If not, then we have to go after our own interest DIRECTLY no matter how. Something tells me that the situation is salvageable hence the Ohanaeze endorsement of Jonathan. I hope they are right. I am against any forced love. If you don't love me, well, tough luck I cannot help that! I've gat to survive anyway I know.

Our history with the north is more predictable though. They never supported us, and they have always been in a powerful position to give us meaningful support but never did.
Believe me, the eastern minority support isn't that much valuable since they aren't that populous, which is why I used the term "reasonable". Are they reasonable enough to understand our sacrifice?

Not matter what happens, it would be good to have a plan B, that is only reasonable. But something again tells me that we won't need that plan B.

ezeagu:
No one answered my question. I am against the wasted energy by Igbo people for presidency. Presidency in the hands of a member of your ethnic group ensures nothing and there are far more effective ways of developing your community. All this talk of Igbo presidency is a distraction from what people know that they have to do.

lol @ ezeagu

I also noticed that they were not in a hurry to answer your question.  

Frankly I don't understand this mad rush for presidency, especially through a familiar promise that never materialized before. These folks are talking as if Nigeria just began this year. We have been here since 1960!

By the way, why didn't the Yoruba second fiddle (Obasanjo and idiagbo) never end like ours? Why did they end up ruling Nigeria and we didn't?

I am more interested in the answer to these questions than the mad rush to a dodgy promise.

Okay, here is my solid pitch.

Can any of my Igbo brothers tell me how we have never produced a Nigerian president, why we have always played a second fiddle and never been on top of a winning presidential ticket?

Why is it that Ekwueme never become president?  

Why was Ebitu Ukiwe replaced with Augustus Aikhomu?

Why did Ekwueme not enjoy northern support at the PDP conventions in 1998 which produced Obasanjo inspite of being the arrowhead of a movement that became PDP?  

We have a rich history of repeated "dissing" of Ndigbo by the north at each 11th hour of every political transition period in Nigeria.
Now, permit me to feel some strong cynicism when the same North wants us to play second fiddle again, with a bait that is very similar to the one they gave Ekwueme for 1987 NPN presidential ticket.

I am really concerned that we may be placing so much hope on that promise and in the process risk reaping the same result.

But for me, the most compelling reason why it may not be a better deal for us is that our region is in tatters. It is OUR RESPONSIBILITY (since we are the major tribe of the East) to rebuild our region and base. The minority elements of the south have hitherto played a very deleterious role voting for northern candidates over Igbo candidates and Igbo based parties.
The question is whether that anti-Igbo vote by these minorities are remediable.

Are Eastern minorities reasonable enough to understand our sacrifice this time?  

Would our sacrifice work towards a more united East or will it lead to more suspicion?  

I would like to believe that Igbo leadership under Ohanaeze must have done the research to ascertain the answers to these questions, hence their endorsement of Jonathan.

My support of Jonathan is also based on that understanding that we need a united East to be taken seriously by the rest of Nigeria in the contest for power at the center. That is my ideal scenario. I would like to believe that my brothers who are rooting for the North have information to support their position that we should allow the north to define and shape our relationship with our Eastern neighbors and kin.

Should we allow the north to dictate and shape our political future? Isn't is better to try shaping it ourselves together with our neighbors?

Nigeria is not running away. We will still get our turn at the presidency, and with OUR CHOICE candidate if we play this game well. Let us build OUR BASE if that is possible at all. If it is not possible to rebuild Eastern political base, then let the chips fall where they may, and let the "fattest dirtiest pig win" (borrowed from Blazay ).

For some reason I think that Omenani [/b]is actually bros [b]Ezeuche!  

alj harem:
igbos,,,,,,,,,,, pls vote for us!!!!!!!

i am tellin u
why not,,,,,we northerners were going to put igbos in chief of army staff and so vp for 2011----2018 and the igbo for president in 2019 also create ngwa and anoma states for the igbos so they will be superior to the yorubas and ijaw both in states and votes

also we will divide lagos state into 2 states
1    lagos yorubas
2.   nnewi state for the igbos and make an eze nigbo of that state

if any yoruba gets angry we will just join forces with the igbo  and stop them   they just make lagos look dirty in looks but the igbos will surlly do better,,,,,this is what ojukwu have seen,

also we will give kogi state to them while us we take kwara


my igbo brothers what do u think    

Dis guy is such a comic relief but he is quite incisive sometimes.  

This topic is so full of comical statements!  

DapoBear:
1) Again, X happening in region Y doesn't mean that X must also happen in region Z.
2) So this to you suggests that the minority groups had zero infuence, and thus should not have been strong enough for mid-west state to have been created?
3) I am not the one who has made this about competition. Your reasoning here is not particularly logical, this is why I have a problem with it. You are making too many unsupported assumptions.

I think that what he is really saying is that the Igbo dominated NCNC, with its power sharing agreement with the NPC at the center, was in a position powerful enough to ensure that Midwest was created. If AG was in similar position, the midwest would not have been created. The East may even have been balkanized. So, I still maintain that Midwest was a compromise  of sort because NCNC would have even cut Igboland from Western region and joined it to East if they were not compromising. The minority agitations in Midwest was only a convenient support to the original goal -cut Igboland out of Yoruba control.

OP, you are playing games with this thread. Who is on top of the ticket, and why did you flip it in the survey?

Faeb:
How about visting places like waado.org to educate yourself on such issues, that is the sort of place you should head for? It is annoying when people launch into ethnocentric guesswork. The reason Midwest was created is because the minorities didn't want to be lorded over by any majority group, we battled hard for our independence, we won it and we will preserve it.

You may be right to some extent, but your response never explained why the Igbos ended up in the midwest in the first place. As for the creation of midwest, I would not rule out strong agitation on the part of midwestern Igbos against being thrown into western Nigeria, and midwest being a kind of compromise. That may be part of why they were suspected by fellow midwesterners during the 1966 crisis, and why they were brutally massacred by the advancing Nigerian army.

Abagworo:
The reason is because our grandfathers did not realise the importance of southern unity.The north remained intact while the South was divided into three just because of ethnic sentiments.The inclusion of Igbos in Western region was as a result of the natural boundary created by River Niger.It is thesame as what we have today in Rivers and Abia states where a family could be from both states just because Imo river was used as a convenient boundary.

Africans have demonstrated unparalleled laziness in dealing with very important matters. To simply split a nation almost straight down the middle for whatever reason is very irresponsible. One of Nigeria's biggest failures is the fact that we never improved much on what the white man left for us. We had to bring in the UN experts to demarcate the boundary between Nigeria and Cameroun. That boundary has been there since the plebiscite of early 60s.

Obiagu1:
You completely misunderstood me. There’s no problem between Delta Igbo and non-Yoruba West so Osadebe becoming premier when Midwest was created should not be a line of argument you should use.

In the beginning there was South. East and West was created to separate the two major groups, the Igbo and Yoruba only to cut Igboland in two with one going west and the other east. I remember former governor of Anambra State, C.C. Onoh telling my dad how he and his group protested vehemently against Delta Igbo going West all to no avail.

Except you tell me why Midwest was created in a democratic government out of the then West, I can’t seem to find a reason for its creation while the other regions, East and North remained intact.

Interesting stuff. I have also wondered why that happened, especially since NCNC had so much influence nationally then.
Waiting for Mr. PhysicsQED . . .

Blazay:
We know.
I think Nigeria is ready.
Tell them to bring it on.

Why should he be 'jittery'?
GEJ, if you have something to offer Nigeria, show us.
Fight like a man.

We are watching Jega.

Politics is a dirty game all over the world.

[size=16pt]May the fattest, dirtiest pig win.[/size]

lmao! hehehe!

This guy is killing me! He is spot on though.  

hedoyad:
Ofcourse you mean folks like Raymon Dokpesi which is not suprising considering his gripe with obj. And btw do you mean the same south east which was courting IBB's idea and is still dealing cards with Atiku ?


Haha, you make me laugh. Do you know anything about those coups ? Look at the ethnic make up of the officers who executed the Dimka coup and get back to me. The Orkar coup wasn't much different save for the inclusion of officers from the south south region of the country.

I'd also like u to understand that, like i said earlier on page one, that the divisions are a not only based on ethnicity but also religious affiliations(ethno-religous). As a result predominantly christian middle belt tribes like the beroms or jaba would naturally align with Jonathan, though it's more complex than that.

I don't think Jonathan will get more votes from any other part of Nigeria than he will get from the East. FACT.

As for the Dimka and Orka coups, I believe they were simply rebelling against the old ruling feudal class in Northern Nigeria, nothing more.

It is also important to point out that the idea is not an exclusive preserve of officers from Benue/Plateau axis. Far northern elements like Abubakar Umar also support it. It originated with Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu (an Igbo boy who was born and raised in the north) who failed in his first attempt at the same goal in January 1966. That Igbo officers didn't take part in Dimka and Orkar coups in full swing is a product of the Nzeogwu coup and the civil war.

The minority tribes felt safe to try. They would not be ganged up against as in the case of Igbo officers. The idea has survived even till today -kill all northern feudal class and save the nation. I don't think Nigeria's problem is that simple though. You get to know Nigeria more when it comes to peaceful national politics.

Obiagu1:
I really don't think that there is Midwest as well. My guess is that the Midwest was created because of the error of given Delta Igbo to the West. As a result, the remaining smaller groups in the west together with Delta Igbo were grouped together as Midwest. Ideally, Edo, Urhobo, Itsekiri are West leaning. This is the main reason the South South is fake - amalgamation of West and East leaning groups. In the same vein, there is nothing like Middlebelt, Amingafar is an example.

Exactly! I forgot the first bolded.

hedoyad:
Using your curious yard stick we could as well say there's no south-south [/b]since  Augustus Aikhomu was in power with IBB and Mike in power Abacha ?
And looking at the history of coup d'etats , [b]where were Gideon Orkar and Dimka from and who were their bitter, bloody Coups directed at ? You're not even making any sense  with what you're saying.

In PRACTICAL AND REALISTIC terms, not in lies and schemings, YES there is no South south. What we have is really East and Midwest. Notice that Jonathan returned to his true base -East, when he decided to contest next year's elections. The East remains his true base (because I have seen folks from Edo and even part of Delta mounting serious challenge to his candidacy ). The PDP primaries will show this more clearly.

As for Gideon Orka and Dimka, they were northerners who felt that the northern elite was cheating them. They belong to the same radical school of the Abubakar Umar and co. They wanted to rattle that northern ruling class and force them to change for the good of the nation as a whole.
They were actually trying to complete the Kaduna Nzeogwu coup which was bungled. It has nothing to do with being from "middlebelt".

DapoBear:
Not sure that the common sentiment of the the middle belt man should be make to coincide with that of elites. Atiku sef is a Fulani from Adamawa, but from what I read the predominant ethnic group there is the predominantly Christian Bachama, who have a Yoruba female senator. As a result, I'm not sure it is fair to lump them in with the North, especially for such a weak reason as speaking Hausa as their 2nd or 3rd language. Any crookedness of Atiku clearly doesn't reflect on the people of Adamawa.

Birom in Plateau for example obviously do not see themselves as "North."

My argument is that in terms of political power in Nigeria, there is no middlebelt. There is the north. With the exception of Murtala Muhammed, Sani Abacha and Tafawa Balewa, the rest of Nigeria's leaders from the north are middle belters.
The so called middlebelt would not have tasted power if not for the support of the so called core north. Murtala Muhammed led the counter coup of July 1966 and chose Gowon to lead Nigeria, and he did so for 9 years. Ibrahim Babangida - a so called middlebelter took part in Muhammeds' coup that toppled Gowon in 1975. If you follow the history of northern dominance in Nigeria, you would see that the core and middlenorth worked as ONE to dominate and rule Nigeria for 38 years. That is all I am saying.

kcjazz:
I respect everyone and more so elders. When I think of Ohanaeze, I expect a group of respectable and incorruptible leaders fighting for the good of their community. I replied to this thread because the actions at endorsing a primary candidate at this time is not the right action. When we talk about our individualism or republicanism, we make it sound as if its a disadvantage. I don't believe that. My take is that we need reputable leaders. Was it not someone that mobilised the Aba Womens Riot?, even in a bus there is only one driver.

There is a serious leadership issue I see, the problems are rooted in a lack of integrity and consistency. Lets talk about Onitsha-Owerri road, there are 5 SE states and out of those 3 of them have this road as a major road, that to me is a priority. Yes the government failed but we can't give up. There is the issue of erosion affecting areas of Imo, is the FGs programme working and if not what is Ohanaeze doing? People are losing land assets.

Do the governors respect Ohanaeze? If so, lets talk about Innoson motors it won't be a bad idea if all 5 governors adopt Innoson for at least 40% of their fleets, it is only a leadership focused Ohanaeze can pull that off. (another reason to fix Owerri- Onitsha road). We can do the same thing for Zinox computers creating employments for people who want to work as well as creating business.

On the national level, we have many Igbos as business men, lets talk about issues that affect them like corporate taxes which I think is high now, let our elders lobby to reduce this tax for small business men. All this help our base, only a focused and respected organisation can pull this off. Our people can relate, there is no need to use other groups as a model for us we can achieve much if only we can fix ourselves.

I'm beginning to like the direction of this discussion. We should be making suggestions as to what Ohanaeze can do for us as Ndigbo in Nigeria. Thank you for at least making suggestions! 

However, please note that we can never have a reputable leadership whether Ohanaeze or others if we simply call them thieves and end the story there.

I would restate my belief that current Ohanaeze leadership is better than the ones before it because it is trying to BUILD a single voice for Ndigbo, without which none of the suggestions you make can ever see the light of day.

Current Ohanaeze is also working on a program to save the Igbo language. Frankly, most of us are underestimating this problem of poor followership. The problem is so big that I cannot think of any Igbo leader that has commanded enough followership, except perhaps Ojukwu; but even he is getting tired now from folks CONSTANTLY calling him all sorts of names just because he goes to bed thinking about how to save us in Nigeria.

Show me ONE Igbo leader or Icon and I will show you 10 others opposing him in front of other Nigerians. The pattern has endured until now that the Uwechue -led Ohanaeze is trying to tackle it. Ndigbo has been the losers from this unbridled attack on Igbo leadership. No human being is a saint. You can only make do with what you have.

If we somehow manage to speak with one voice, the marginalizations WILL END, ALL OF IT ,  because the rest of Nigeria will start taking us seriously.

Ohanaeze's strength and legitimacy can only come from you and me. If we undermine it and question every decision it takes, even if a saint takes over its leadership tomorrow, we will still question his motives and end up losing a good leader.

Tsiya:
You should also understand that states population is not ethnic population. There have always being large number Igbo population in the North, and if they are counted during cencus, they are counted as Nigerians not Hausa or Fulani or Igbo. Nigerians have mingled and resettled beyond what people in Nairaland want us to believe.

Anyway Jonathan is not contesting because he thinks he the population in the North is small, I think he is contesting because he thinks he can arm twist/cajole/bribe Governors and Nationals Assembly members to get PDP ticket for him. He is sure with a PDP ticket, then certainly he is a President. They know votes doesn't count. It is how many influential people you have that matters.

I think you don't understand the polotics in the North. Gwari, Fulani, Kanuri, means little in the larger context of Northern politics. Military Dictators are not elected leaders and they mean little

The flaw in your statement is that Nigeria's power is shared along ethnic and sectional lines. Today, you have a tribe that could possibly be the single biggest in Nigeria holding a 4th position in the pecking order. How long do you think such lie can endure before we have another major problem in Nigeria?

It is a simple fact that without justice there can be no peace.
Igbo are far less represented at the federal level than some minute tribe from the north. You think that is sustainable? Peace-wise?
I strongly doubt it.

Developed countries of the world count ethnic and national origin backgrounds in census. If Nigeria wants to stay together in peace, we must count ethnic nationalities.

jason12345:
then pls why do you want them in your country 40 yrs ago? i have seen it on NL were you claim this but i do not have time to search for it. i would be pointless

as for you,
you need to go to yaba left,

Dude, do you know that there was a region called EASTERN NIGERIA which included all the current south east states plus River, Cross rivers, Akwa Ibom, and Bayelsa states? You do know that, don't you?

Are you so lazy that you cannot even study the history of YOUR OWN COUNTRY?

Why do you insist on disgracing yourself here? 

So because they became Biafra with the rest of Easterners, how does that make them Igbo? Do you know that Biafra had Ijaw and Ibibio as part of the leadership?

Let's be real dude, I don't believe for once that you are Itshekiri (Itshekiri folks aren't this dumb! ).

The other dumb fellow I have seen on nairaland is from farther west -Blue~t something. So I believe you must be his cousin. 

One question from me:

Is Itshekiri a minority tribe in Delta state or not?

I need answers from those in the know.

DapoBear:
You are probably right, the Kanuri man isn't really that close to the Hausa-Fulani oligarchs. But they are probably closer interest-wise than any of the other groups, I suspect.

My guess also is that the population of the Igbo states is massively under-counted. It would explain a lot about Nigeria if this were true.

So I wonder, is the 150 million figure they bandy about as the total population of Nigeria accurate, but they are just shifting around population #s? Or is Nigeria much less populated than commonly believed?

Really hard to know the truth without accurate figures, unfortunately.

I came to the conclusion that Igbo population is uncounted in Nigeria during the last census under Obasanjo. I remember vividly that Ohanaeze Ndigbo tried its best to have ethnic information included in the census forms, Obasanjo stood his ground and rejected it! That was when I knew that Nigeria has something to hide about population distribution.

Personally, I don't believe Nigeria's population is up to 150 million. I think it would be around 100 million, and they are concentrated in major cities of southern Nigeria, and a few like Kano and Kaduna in the north. Abuja is populated by ALL Nigerians.

I also suspect that Jonathan must know something about Nigeria's real population, and that is why he is going forward with his plans to contest for presidency. If he thinks that northern Nigeria is as populated as we've been told, he would not have declared interest.

One of these days, the truth will come out.

Tsiya:
Middle belt means different things to different people. However, it is good to say that generally it refers to political aspiration of people who fairly identifiy themselves differently from the general Hausa people and have different culture and history. However, over the years it has metamophose to means Christain dominated areas. It is not about ethnic minorities or hausa or fulbe(fulani). In reality, other than Kano, Katsina, Zamfara and Sokoto, almost all northern states have ethnic minoraties. Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa, Taraba, Nassarawa, Jigawa, Yobe, Niger, Kebbi, Borno, all have large chunk of small small ethnic group, either bonded by Islam, or Hausa as a common language of communication.

Recently, I read somewhere where some people are trying to claim that some part of Borno should be Middle Belt. I mean how far North can the middle belt reach, untill it reach Niger.

Middle Belt ideology will remain an illusion in the mind of academics, politicians and few elites, but to the larger population, political boundaries within Nigeria will mean little to them, Middlebelt or no middle belt, the people will do business together, inter marry and most importantly, will all speak HAUSA

I have always maintained that there is nothing like "Middlebelt" in terms of real Nigerian politics. There is a christian north though, and they are concentrated more to these "middlebelt" areas. However, they share a bond with other Northerners through HAUSA language. You cannot find anything like that in southern Nigeria.

To me, the most convenient lie has been to blame a so called "core north" for all the crimes Northern Nigeria has committed against the rest of Nigeria. Having jointly enjoyed the political power over the years (in fact these middlebelters have ruled Nigeria more than the Hausa sef! ), they must therefore take a proportional blame for Nigeria's failures through the years.

Middlebelt is a convenient lie to escape blame and mask history.

Classic!

So now that north is minority, why not go "bully" them into letting you join Neverland?
Abi you de fear minority people again? lmao!