₦airaland Forum

how this did happen.

why would anyone even think , they can have kwara state or kogi state. are you from kwara or kogi

abuja should have a governor and should be a state on its own

Don’t Drag Us Into Break-up Debate, Kogi, Kwara Leaders Tell North
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The controversy stirred by Dr. Junaid Mohammed on possible break up of Nigeria is yet to die down. Leaders of Kogi and Kwara, two Middle Belt states the Second Republic legislator threatened to drag along with the North have reacted. Group Political Editor BOLADE OMONIJO, EMMANUEL OLADESU and ADEKUNLE JIMOH present their angry responses:

THE political and social elite of Kogi and Kwara states are angry that a section of the North is threatening to hold them as bargain in the event that Nigeria disintegrates. Perhaps taking a cue from Karl Meier’s contention that “this house has fallen” and the foreign prediction that the country can only last a few years given the current sociological pressure, Junaid Mohammed told a Sunday newspaper that the North was not afraid of a break up. He, however, added that this would only be allowed if Kogi and Kwara states were ceded to the North.

But, furious at the sheer thought, David Jemibewon, a retired Major General, fired three questions in one minute: “On whose mandate is he talking? Whose interest is he representing? Who authorised him?”

Jemibewon, a founding member and leader of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) hails from Kogi State. He found it insulting that Mohammed could conceivably be speaking for the people of Kogi and Kwara states.

The former military governor of the defunct Western State who reacted on the phone, said Mohammed lacked the mandate of his people in Kogi to speak on such a sensitive issue.

He added: “If it’s his personal view, which I cannot query, there is no problem. But if he claims to be speaking on behalf of the North, who gave him the mandate?

“I don’t think he represents my interest until he gets my mandate. If he has been authorised, I don’t have the right to query him. But who authorised him?”

Jemibewon was too angry to continue with the interview. But Rotimi Obadofin, another Kogi politician would not want to contemplate such a development. He said Mohammed was wallowing in self-deception and self-delusion, pointing out that the two states would not go with the North, if there is a break-up.

He said: “If the country should disintegrate at the end of the day, which is most likely, Kwara and Kogi are returning to the West, and this is not negotiable. It is inconceivable that Yoruba of Kwara and Kogi will be part of the North. The boundary is clear. We are Yoruba. There is no boundary between Yoruba of Kogi and Kwara. The contiguity is there.

“We have the same culture, language and environment. We till the same land and drink water from the same source. We have the same blood. So, on the contrary, our location is far apart from Hausa/Fulaniland; thousands of miles apart. We don’t speak the same language. We don’t have the same culture. We don’t share the same boundary. In  fact, we have absolutely nothing in common. It is easier to integrate Europeans with the Hausa/Fulani than to integrate Kwara and Kogi with them.”

The deputy governorship candidate of Action Congress of Nigeria in the state, Hon. Henry Ojuola, would not speak for the whole state. He said: “I am a Yoruba man from Kogi West. I got the mandate to represent my people in the House of Assembly, so I know what my people want. I know their interests, culture, political culture, behaviour and aspiration. I do not pray that Nigeria breaks and I don’t think that any patriot should work for the disintegration of his country.

“However, should we get to that point, certainly my people in the five local government areas in Kogi West will go with our kith and kin in the West. We share the same language and culture and would feel more comfortable with them. Junaid Mohammed cannot speak for us. Who is he to decide for our people? How can he from Kano do that?”

On the other two senatorial districts of the state, Ojuola said he was not in position to speak for them. His words: “I cannot speak for the Ebira and Igala. But, I know that we share a lot with the Ebira. Remember that we share affinity in old Kwara State. We understand one another.”

There were indications yesterday that leaders of various groups in the state who felt stung by the Junaid Mohammed interview held a meeting during the week to consider how to officially react to the statement. While some of the leaders dismissed it as a non-issue and the opinion of one man, others said he could be speaking for an entrenched Northern interest group and should, therefore, elicit appropriate responses.

A former House of Representatives member from Ebiraland said, “Junaid should not be dignified with response. I have followed his outbursts since the Second Republic and he derives pleasure in avoidable and unnecessary controversy. I will not want to speak on the issue. I am an Ebira from Kogi State. Beyond that, I am a Nigerian. That’s all. No more. I do not know if there is a North today. The only one that I know died many years ago.” He, however, refused to be identified.

Kwara people are no less outraged. Justice Mustapha Akanbi, a retired President of the Court of Appeal, who hails from Ilorin, would not contemplate the break-up of Nigeria. He described whoever is thinking of Nigeria’s disintegration as an enemy of the people and the African continent.

“Those talking about the division of Nigeria are pessimists and enemies of the country”, said the pioneer Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC),

Justice Akanbi told The Nation that, “speaking for myself, I don’t want the break-up of the country. I want a united country. I have struggled for pan-Africanism all my life. I have struggled all my life talking of one great Nigeria which all African countries can look up to as a role model. Although we have not been able to give them that satisfaction, I will, till the end of my life, struggle for a united Nigeria.

“I can’t contemplate a situation where Nigeria will be divided into pieces. It is forward ever, backward never. I think those who talk about dividing Nigeria are pessimists. I am an optimist.

Referring to his orientation early in life, Justice Akanbi, who was introduced to pan-Africanism as an admirer of the late Dr. Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana, said: “Now getting to about 80 years, how can I start talking about the division of Nigeria? I hope it does not happen during my time and I pray that it does not happen in the time of my own children. Throughout my stay in Nigeria, I have seen any Nigerian as a Nigerian, as I have seen him as an African and that is my basic philosophy and that of my family. I daily pray for the greatness of Nigeria and Africa. When Europeans are having the European Union and other countries are united, how can we be talking about Nigeria in small pieces? Once you start that, you are running into deep waters and I hope the whirlwind will not consume us.

“So the question of whether Kwara, Kogi or any of the states will belong to one area, as far as I am concerned, is a non-issue. As a matter of fact, I prefer to be known as Akanbi, the pan-Africanist.”

The Kwara State governorship candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in last year’s poll, Alhaji Mohammed Dele Belgore (SAN), was optimistic that Nigeria would not be balkanised.

In Belgore’s words: “We don’t think that Nigeria will break up; we certainly hope it will not break up. Our strength as a nation lies in the different peoples working together for a common purpose of development and economic empowerment.

“Poverty and unemployment do not discriminate between north and south. These are ills that are common to both and these are matters that should call for our attention. Rather than talk about break- up, we should not be talking about Nigeria breaking up. instead we should be talking about building a strong and virile nation.”

The possibility of disintegration of Nigeria has come up in debates in recent times, following communal disputes in different parts of the country, the Niger Delta struggle, the campaign for a Sovereign State of Biafra in the South East and the devastating strikes by Boko Haram nihilists in the North.

There are now more strident calls for sovereign national conference, greater autonomy to the federating units and need for regional control of resources as was the case in the First Republic.

This has reportedly and understandably led to unease in the North that believes that it could be at the receiving end if the centre is weakened, leading to the recent call by chairman of the Northern States Governors Forum for a revisit to the derivation formula designed to pacify and placate a devastated Niger Delta.

http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/news/39301-don%E2%80%99t-drag-us-into-break-up-debate%2C-kogi%2C-kwara-leaders-tell-north.html

jonathan why is there no Governor for abuja

yes

chineke

eGuerrilla where did you get the picture from

for fashola to win. he needs someone who can win the middlebelt , which I dont know anyone that can that comes to mind. because during the military. There is no cut clear leader from the middlebelt I know that comes to mind. this is the problem , it is an area where there are many group. And another problem is fashola have to get rid of Tinubu , tinubu have to many files in the EFCC.

Amaechie, Akpabio & Liyel Imoke Started School As Biafran, ijaw hate biafran

it is not good to steal your people money.

Godswill Obot Akpabio  and Liyel Imoke started primary school as a Biafran

do you have picture

well said

Good picture

who did. they did not find tinubu blameless. they only push forward is problem for another day.

but jonathan was in the ruling party. It will work against him.  it will be hard for him to win the middle belt christian area and east. Only a yoruba christian can win against Jonathan Goodluck.  that way, they will not vote for jonathan in the middle belt and east. if there was no problem in the middle belt , it will work. but there is problem there.

Alam case was a state issue, but Oil subsidy problem is a national issue.  EFCC is another problem with nigeria politician have.  Jonathan Goodluck will use the EFCC to dig into every contract lagos state have ever awarded.

Chibuike Amaechi celebrated his One year old birthday as a Biafran, he is what you will call a true biafran. he grown up first knowing what it means to be a biafran.

So people calling themself niger delta are fooling themself.   

Godswill Obot Akpabio  and Liyel Imoke started school as a Biafran

is association with Bola tinubu will be what Jonathan Goodluck will use against him. Oil subsidy remember who got the most Tinubu. Jonathan Goodluck will use it and the fact that he worked for Tinubu would worked against him. And Jonathan and PDP will use that against him,

You can see how nigeria reacted to the Oil subsidy , Oando is own by Tinubu which got the largest subsidy.

power belong to the people, the people will kill anybody that oppose,

see

her father was a brigadier of the biafra army

Why lawyers back calls for National Conference
By JOHN AUSTIN UNACHUKWU 28/02/2012 00:00:00
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The calls for a National Conference to discuss the challenges facing the Nigerian State received a boost last weekend when the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), which met in Akure, Ondo State, supported the idea to resolve the problems plaguing the country. Legal Editor JOHN AUSTIN UNACHUKWU was there.
The state of the nation is always a permanent item on the NBA NEC meeting agenda.
Under it, the Bar always takes a critical appraisal and stock of events in the country.
At its Akure NEC meeting, which ended at the weekend, the lawyer’s association noted that there is an urgent and imperative need for a conference of all ethnic nationalities to discuss the multiple problems, issues and challenges confronting the Nigerian State.
The Bar noted that such issues, if not carefully and properly addressed at a conference of all ethnic nationalities, are capable of undermining the unity, security, safety of lives and property in the country.
In a chat with The Nation, the NBA President, Joseph Bodunrin Daudu (SAN), said: "Yes, I support the NEC decision and I am bound by it. The country appears to be confused about its future direction, and there is the need to straighten out some vital issues such as the basis of our relationship."
Daudu added: "A situation where some Nigerians seem not to be welcome in other parts of the country must be sorted out because we want every Nigerian to feel at home wherever he is and the rules must be made clear."
"We must come together to discuss such simple things as the issue of security, the issue of sharing the national revenue, the sharing formular has to be agreed on; the issue of eradicating corruption, the issue of the geographical boundaries in the country, to know whether we are going to operate on regional basis or a confederation or, incidentally, merge some of the states together, because it is obvious that the cost of governance is too strenuous on the resources of this country.
"We have 36 states, 774 Local Government Areas, that is just too many and it is making the execution of capital projects virtually impossible.
"If the National Assembly cannot sit and address these issues, let’s get Nigerians who want to address it to do so. The National Assembly appears unwilling to discuss these issues because of course, they are comfortable with the arrangement, it suits them, they want the status quo to be maintained, but the majority of Nigerians do not want the status quo to remain and therefore we don’t want to wait until there is anarchy, because now there is some form of gorilla tactics, it has degenerated into terrorism, we don’t want it to go beyond that.

"Let us sit down and make simple readjustment to the basis of our coexistence and we move from there."

The First Vice-President of the NBA, Mr Blessing Enumona Ukiri, said: "The conference is long overdue. First and foremost, we all agree that the Nigerian project is sick, that all is not well with the nation called Nigeria. Why are we afraid to sit down and talk about it?
"Let us sit down, discuss, agree and disagree, take everybody’s views, whatever you have in mind, come let us hear it.
"Everything, from the nature of the Federal system we are practising to the revenue allocation formular, to even our interpersonal relationships. In some states of the Federation, non-indigens are not safe, at the slightest provocation they are easily molested, attacked and in some cases killed.
"They are daily made uncomfortable and reminded that they are strangers, that they are not from that part of the country. They should not own property, they should not prosper. So, you see them living in agony in their own country. Their prosperity is limited because it is determined by how receptive the indigenes are to them.
"There is an urgent and imperative need for a conference, whether you call it a Sovereign National Conference, National Conference or extended Town Hall Meeting. Let us come together, let us reason together, you hear many own side and I hear your own side of the story, and we adopt the superior argument. It would be better for us rather than everybody sstomaching dissent and grumble. You stomach it and then transfer that anger into criminality and various forms of social ills. This cannot move the country forward, so let us sit down and talk," Ukiri stated.

The Chairman, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Prof Chidi Odinkalu, said: "I am a member of NEC and I am bound by the decisions of NEC. I will not depart from what NEC has decided.
"Nigerians have a right to talk and, in my view, in certain circumstances they have an obligation to talk.
"I am not so sure that calling it a sovereign conference is of much importance because you cannot split sovereignty and a sovereign conference under our current constitutional process is a constitution and legal impossibility. Because those who have office can resign, but they cannot abdicate the constitution and no one person embodies the constitution. So, because of that, I don’t think it is legally possible to have a Sovereign National Conference.
"But should Nigerians talk and enjoy the benefit of talking, yes. Will it be easy to decide how participation and representation at such a meeting would be? No! I don’t think it will be easy but I think that there is going to be a mechanism for Nigerians to talk while co-existing with the institutions of government and seeing the outcome of such conference would then go into decision making and a voluntary process of decision making.
"One more thing is that I don’t think that it is going to be a one-off thing. I don’t think it is going to be a one-off process of talking. The talking should be a time device. We should continue talking and have a mechanism by which the things we haven’t resolved, which are a national problem, shall continue to be a subject of dialogue among all the stakeholders in Nigeria. Hopefully, over time, with the benefit of experience, we can find solutions to them."

Lagos lawyer and civil society activist, Femi Falana said: "This is a highly commendable decision on the part of the NBA. As lawyers, we must support the fundamental right of Nigerians to assemble peacefully and discuss all matters, engage issues of national importance and no moment is more timely for this than now, when the ship of state is drifting, when insecurity is the order of the day, when poverty is assuming a disturbing dimension.
"Going by the figures just released by the National Bureau of Statistics, about 112 million citizens have fallen into the poverty level in Nigeria. This is the class of people who live on less than N300 a day.
"When a nation gets to such a critical stage, we must come together and look at the structure of the federation, the nature of our system of governance, examine the presidential system of government and find out whether it is suitable for a developing country like ours. We must find out who gets what, from where? That is what the national conference is all about.
"For the national question to be resolved, it is not about which ethnic group should control power for the members of the bourgeoise, it is how to ensure that power is exercised to address the problems of underdevelopment, of poverty, of injustice, of security in our country. For those reasons, I support the national conference.

Hajiya Fatima Kwaku
said: "To be honest with you, when they started the agitation, men, women, North, South etc, I was not happy. But let us give them a chance. The NEC has decided, so, anybody opposing it will look like he or she has a hidden agenda. Let it be, let the conference hold, whatever will happen, will definitely happen. But personally, I have my own reservations, however, I am bound by NEC decisions.

"There is a lot of outcry for it so, let it be."
M. U. Ibrahim. Jam Jam said: "I advocated that we should go confederal or to put it properly, that everyone should go his own way. We love this country very well. I can only then live in Lagos as an alien, but the people will welcome me there. Why are we afraid of this? If need be, let us break up."

President, Muslim Lawyer Association of Nigeria (MULAN) and Bencher, Alhaji Tajudeen Oladoja, said: "As a member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), particularly a senior one for that matter, being a member of the Body of Benchers, I am bound by the resolution of the NBA.
"There is need for Nigerians to sit down and discuss the future. Therefore, what we are saying in essence is that the existing federation of Nigeria is lopsided, is corrupt in every sense of it and that is why see divergent problems, issues and problems arising from different parts of the country. So sitting down to discuss our points of disagreement, is noble, it means that we don’t want to fight, we don’t want the country to break into pieces, Nigerians should consider the call as a genuine one’
‘If we want the country to break into pieces. There would not be a call for dialogue, a call for a conference of all the nationalities to resolve our differences’
"The call for a national conference is akin to arbitration, which the legal profession is embracing. Let every person from different parts of the country come to the conference table and let us chart a way forward.
"Look at the issue of state police. I am in support of the creation of state police. Is there any state in Nigeria today that does not give one form of assistance to the Nigeria police force or the other, by way of creating one security organisation or another. ‘In Kaduna State where I practice Law, there is Operation Yarki, which is a security outfit manned by the police and other security agencies funded by the Kaduna State government. We have a similar one in Lagos State, the Rapid Response Squad (RRS); there is one in Plateau State and all over the country’.
"State governments now buy patrol, armoured vehicles for the police. That is real. It shows that security is no longer a thing which the Federal Government can handle alone. Let states have their police, though there may be abuses, the abuses may be checkmated through appropriate legal frame works. Let us sit down and discuss all these things.’’
‘’ We should not wait for so long for these issues to be resolved. Let us meet and resolve them now.
"I am in support of the conference, give it any name you like, but allow the people meet, discuss and chart the way forward’’.

‘’We want to have a resolution on how the country is governed. Let us have frank discussions so that we can save ourselves and future general from destruction.’’
Chief Linus M. E. Ezeofor, a Bencher
said: "I strongly believe that there is a need for us to hold a conference to know how we really stand because you see, the way things are happening in Nigeria now do not portend good for us as a country. Let us really decide how the country would be governed, who gets what, is confederation the best option for us, or what. It is obvious that the current presidential system is not helping us to move forward at all.

"Look at the issue of insecurity across the country. You hear of Boko Haram bombing people here and there. That is not the best for us.
He stated: "See how the Igbo are slaughtered everyday by Boko Haram. Are we really part of the Federation called Nigeria. It is high time we organised a roundtable discussion on how to ensure and secure the safety of lives and property in Nigeria, whether it is called a sovereign National Conference or a national conference does not really matter.
"I know that members of the National Assembly will not support it because they feel that we are taking their jobs from them. But, unfortunately, they are not representing the interest of their people. The governors are also like that. How many of them care for the welfare of the masses? Look at them, when they get sick, they travel overseas for treatment, but how Nigerians can afford to travel like that? We really need to sit down and talk."

he will go to church and give testimony. and pastor will now make assist pastor.

eee

what jonathan is doing to rccg in nigeria.  yorubas are leaving en masse. that picture have been creating problem for rccg in nigeria.

[img]http://2.bp..com/-Jozgc7OgFJc/TzbGBsRr-tI/AAAAAAAABJM/Sd3C70rbXM0/s1600/empty_church.jpg[/img]

Why did National Conscience Party and Labour organized OCUPPYNIGERIA

So if tinubu can not attract people to program, then who is popular to attract people? since tinubu have failed to attract people.

even tinubu present does not attract crowd to the program, why is that? So are you saying tinubu too is not popular now? why?, na wa o.

ae