EXAMINING THE OUTRAGEOUS LIES/CLAIMS BY AWWAL ABDULLAHI ALIYU-LED NCM GROUP AND PUTTING THE RECORDS STRAIGHT – AND THE NEED FOR NORTHERN LEADERS/PRESIDENCY TO CALL THE NCM MEMBERS TO ORDER, AND LET THEM BE GUIDED BY THEIR PUBLIC STATEMENTS THAT HAVE AGGRAVATED, DIVISIVE PROPENSITY
June 24, 2021 | News
Let me reiterate again that I have always been the one who believe in a United Nigeria, regardless of its troubles and diversities that are daily trying to break it apart. This is basically because a United Nigeria - where ‘Good Governance’ is seen to be entrenched in all ramifications, is more beneficial to all and sundry,
-By Zik Gbemre
EXAMINING THE OUTRAGEOUS LIES/CLAIMS BY AWWAL ABDULLAHI ALIYU-LED NCM GROUP AND PUTTING THE RECORDS STRAIGHT – AND THE NEED FOR NORTHERN LEADERS/PRESIDENCY TO CALL THE NCM MEMBERS TO ORDER, AND LET THEM BE GUIDED BY THEIR PUBLIC STATEMENTS THAT HAVE AGGRAVATED, DIVISIVE PROPENSITY
The trending viral video by Awwal Abdullahi Aliyu of the NCM, does not only breed tension, apprehension, disunity, distrust and discord within the polity and amongst the Nigerian people, but most importantly, was filled with ridiculous lies and claims that are very misleading, and does not represent the true picture of Nigeria’s history…
The said Awwal Abdullahi Aliyu and his NCM members should be reminded and given a lesson of Nigeria’s history of Regionalism and the Parliamentary system of Government in the early 60s, and how the economies of the various regions thrived then…
It is not the fault of the then Regional Government of the Western Nigeria that prioritized the education of their people, more than those in the then Eastern and Northern Nigeria…
If everyone would start issuing threats and demanding for compensations with ultimatums for their losses over the insecurity in the country in the last ten years, then who would compensate who?…
Let me reiterate again that I have always been the one who believe in a United Nigeria, regardless of its troubles and diversities that are daily trying to break it apart. This is basically because a United Nigeria - where ‘Good Governance’ is seen to be entrenched in all ramifications, is more beneficial to all and sundry, considering the fact that a whole lot of Nigerians have settled and invested in places other than their original ancestral lands/home states. And I believe that if we must restructure the country, based on popular opinion, then it must be done to reflect the referendum wishes of the Nigerian people.
However, I do not subscribe to having politically exposed persons, leaders and elders – be they in, or outside the Government; coming out publicly to make statements that are best described as provocative, aggravative and divisive. And in this case, the trending viral video online statement made by the President of the so-called Northern Consensus Movement (NCM), Awwal Abdullahi Aliyu, which does not only breed tension, apprehension, disunity, distrust and discord within the polity and amongst the Nigerian people, but most importantly, was filled with outrageous lies and claims that are very misleading, and does not represent the true picture of Nigeria’s history. That is where those at the Presidency, the Northern Leaders and National Assembly, should come in to call the members of the so-called NCM and its President, to Order.
According to the said statements by Awwal Abdullahi Aliyu: “the Northerners are the economic heart of Nigeria, and nobody can address us as parasites. The oil that is so being boasted of today was discovered, harnessed, and the refineries constructed with the Northern Nigerian sweat, the Northern Nigerian economy, and the Northern Nigerian money. The money from the groundnut pyramids and cotton, was what was used to research, discover and build the refineries which some other parts of Nigeria are claiming to be their own personal property. If that is the case, we also deserve, just like NDDC and Niger Delta Ministry; there should be a Northern Development Ministry that should also be given the same amount of money that is given to NDDC. Because our money was the money that was used to develop oil. That’s number…”
While I do not support the name calling, or labelling any particular ethnic group in the country as ‘parasite’, however, the statement regarding the Northern Nigerian being the economic heart of Nigeria, and it was its money and sweat that was used to develop the oil industry in the Niger Delta areas of Southern Nigeria; is nothing but false and very untrue.
Perhaps, the said Awwal Abdullahi Aliyu and his NCM members should be reminded and given a lesson of Nigeria’s history of Regionalism and the Parliamentary system of Government in the early 60s, and how the economies of the various regions thrived then.
Firstly, it was the Shell BP that came into the country’s oil sector scene as a Nigerian registered International Oil Company (IOC), which is 100% owned by Shell BP, and they were the ones that built the first refinery in the country, which is the old Port-Harcourt refinery that was commissioned in 1965. And during the Regional Government days, it was the regions that controlled their resources, while they pay royalties to the then Central Government. The Northern Nigeria had the groundnut pyramids then, and the money was used by the Northern Regional government to develop parts of the North. The Eastern Regional government used their coal and palm oil to build and develop the then East. While the Western Regional government used their cocoa, rubber and palm oil to build the Western regional areas that comprised of the West and Midwest regions. At no time did they use the groundnut pyramid revenues to build the West or the Eastern and the other Southern areas of today. Even the Sea Ports are all located in the Southern Nigeria, particularly Lagos, Warri, Koko, Sapele, Burutu and the old Okwagbe wharf, plus the Calabar and Port-Harcourt Ports.
Some of these facts of the history of Nigeria have been repeated and reiterated on several occasions by various stakeholders in the country. So, I really do not understand what the Awwal Abdullahi Aliyu and his NCM group are talking about.
A former National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Senator Victor Umeh, few years ago, had said NIGERIA WAS A LOT BETTER UNDER THE REGIONAL SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT, WHERE EACH REGION WAS ALLOWED TO CONTROL RESOURCES FOUND IN ITS DOMAIN, BUT ONLY HAD TO PAY ROYALTY TO THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT.
Umeh, who represented the people of Anambra Central Senatorial district for 17 months in the 8th Senate, lamented the current situation where too much power is being vested at the centre, thereby giving the Federal government the leeway to run the country as a unitary system. The former lawmaker noted that the 1966 coup d'état which disrupted Nigeria's democracy at that time was the beginning of the country's problem.
In his words: "If that coup hadn't taken place, our problem may not have been this bad today. Even though there were challenges in the country before the coup, but Nigeria was running a regional system of government - a parliamentary system of government - and the regions were pursuing development aggressively devoid of any problem. We had Eastern, Western and Northern regions. We also had the Mid-western region which was later created. And all these regions were developing at their own pace with the resources available to them. They were contributing royalties to the federal government. You could see that the speed of development was quite high. People controlled the resources available to them in their various regions. But that coup d'etat that came in January 1966 overthrew the democratic government in place and brought in a military government headed by Aguiyi Ironsi. Military officers were appointed to head the regional governments as governors. Aguiyi Ironsi was assassinated in the counter-coup of July 1966, and Yakubu Gowon took over as the leader of the Nigeria military government. Gowon further created 12 states in Nigeria. With that, the regional governments were scrapped! There was nothing like regional government any more. The federal military government started controlling the states," Umeh explained.
The APGA chieftain added: "There is the clamour for us today to return to regional government. This is because there would be a minimum interference in the activities and governments of the regions by the federal government. Today, everything is centralized. It wasn't so under the regional government. For instance, apart from the police and the military at the federal level, we had regional police that were under the control of the regional government at that time. The whole clamour for restructuring today and the fair call for return to regional arrangement were because the arrangement we have now has not helped the country. You could see that without that coup the northern region would have done better than what the states in the north are doing today. The Northern Region, under the visionary leadership of the then Sardauna of Sokoto, Alhaji Sir Ahmadu Bello witnessed tremendous development.
"The Western Region did very well under Obafemi Awolowo. Under Michael Okpara, so much development was recorded in the Eastern Region. Most of these regional governments' achievements were based on agricultural revolution. They relied on Agric produce as the major source of income at that time. NIGERIA WAS MAINLY AN AGRARIAN ECONOMY IN THE NORTHERN, EASTERN AND WESTERN REGIONS. The Western Region had cocoa, rubber, cassava and palm produce. The North had groundnut, cotton, maize, tomatoes and other Agric products, including cattle rearing. The Eastern Region had palm produce, cassava and other Agric produce. So, the economy then revolved around agriculture. Things were a lot better. At least, those of us who were young before the war can tell you that life was better at that time than now."
Tunde Bakare, who has been described as being one of the most politically influential pastors in Nigeria, also reiterated this point in a short video online while expressing the need and importance for Nigeria to be restructured by the present Muhammadu Buhari administration. He said: “I have consistently maintained this position to the President (referring to Buhari), that this is the future. This is the way to go. I have asked him, what’s your position on the restructuring of Nigeria, and he said: Well, there are too many voices, we don’t know what they are saying. I said who? At the first month of your administration, I brought you a compendium of what I called the legacy of Muhammadu Buhari, containing the restructuring of Nigeria, along through federal systems that we agreed upon, when I chose to run with you in 2011. I brought it the second time to you. Who are they?’
“If you don’t understand, or know what restructuring is, just look back in history and see THE GROUNDNUT PYRAMIDS IN THE NORTH, THAT WAS WHAT FINANCED AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY AND ALL THE GREAT THINGS THAT AHMADU BELL DID IN HIS DAY. If you don’t understand restructuring, consider the GOLDEN ERA OF THE REGIONS, and look at what Cocoa did - FREE EDUCATION, FIRST TELEVISION, FIRST STADIUM AND ALL THE HIGH-RISE BUILDINGS, AND EVERYTHING THAT AWOLOWO DID; CAME FROM COCOA FROM THE WEST.
“If you don’t understand restructuring, look back in THE EAST, AND SEE WHAT THEY DID WITH PALM OIL…AND COAL FROM UDI HILLS. A LOT WAS ACHIEVED, INCLUDING THE UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKA. And anyone who does not understand restructuring, go back to the 1963 Republican Constitution, and understand ‘devolution of powers.’ If you don’t understand, take the document in your hand, that Nasir El-Rufai committee put together…. And the twelve things they stated; if you don’t do it fast, you’ll have yourself to blame…. There’s going to be restructuring in this land. There will be fairness, there will be equity, there will be justice, there will be security, there will be increase. Every Nigerian will be proud to call himself or herself a Nigerian. But it’s going to be God first, nation second and you last. We’re going to prioritize God, and prioritize our nation. And we would get tangible results. There’s nothing anyone can do about it. It’s an idea whose time has come.”
Though, the said Awwal Abdullahi Aliyu said quiet a lot in his viral video online, however, I wish to focus more on the above issue. But his other statements that are worth commenting on, are: “…that those who got education from the South-South, South-West and South-East, got those education from the Northern economy…” That again, is absolute falsehood because from the explanation of how the regional governments functioned, and used the wealth from their region’s resources to develop and educate their people, it counters this false statement. It is not the fault of the then Regional Government of the West that prioritized the education of their people, more than those in the then Eastern and Northern Nigeria. It is also not the fault of the Yorubas and Igbos, who, as a result of rural to urban migration, decided to settle and heavily invested in places like Kano and Kaduna, which is different from the Northerners who only preferred to settle in the South West, South-South and South-East as either cobbler, guards, food sellers, wheelbarrow pushers, tricycle/motorcycle operators, etc. In life, you have the right and freedom to choose what you want to do and pursue to create wealth. But every profession, no matter how menial, is very important to everyone one of us and for societal growth and development.
Abdullahi Aliyu's statement that: “You don’t have any Northerner who owns a house in the South-South, South-West and South-East,” is also false because we know that in most of the States in the Southern parts of Nigeria, the Northerners have their private houses and investments as well. Even some States have places designated as HAUSA QUARTERS, where the Northerners have their Houses, Businesses, and religious places like Mosques built there as their own. All that talk that “the North is ready to be separated from the Southern parts because they have enough to take care of themselves and to make Northern Nigeria greater”, is far from the truth because we all know even the President, Muhammadu Buhari, does not like the idea of restructuring the country for each region/zone to go their ways.
I also find the last statement made by Abdullahi Aliyu rather offensive and an invitation for trouble and confusion amongst the people. When he said that they are “passing this message to the Federal Government, to the Eastern and Western State Governors, that every Northerner that has been killed, every property of any Northerner that has been destroyed, we are saying that the government of those states where these incidents happen must pay our people. You must pay compensation … We will no longer tolerate the killings of our people and the destruction of our property in those areas. If not, we have done it in the past. We will do it again; we don’t want to do it. So, we are passing a note of warning… if they don’t pay compensation for any loss by a Northerner, they should not blame us for whatever action we will take. We are passing this word of warning, and we are giving a 30 days ultimatum, from today, to the State Governors, in which we are expecting them to act.”
The truth is, if the political leaders of the Southern areas should also start issuing threats and warnings, and demanding for compensations over the killings (including raping of our women) and destruction of property/farm lands in the Southern parts by killer Fulani Herdsmen, Bandits and the Boko Haram sect in the last decade, the Northern Governors would have a whole lot more to pay. If everyone would start demanding for compensations for their losses in the insecurity in the country in the last ten years, then who would compensate who? What one would have expected the said NCM group to be advocating for, is for the Federal Government to address the insecurity situation in the country headlong, and not all these unnecessary and unreasonable threats and warnings and demand for compensation.
The only reasonable thing that was said by Awwal Abdullahi Aliyu, was that: “If we would continue to coexist as Nigeria, and as Nigerians, the Northerners are ready to do that, that was why we have been accommodating.”
The bottom line is that, such Careless and unbridled Public Statements by Northern leaders, in this case the NCM led by Awwal Abdullahi Aliyu, which are seen to be divisive and aggravating, should be discouraged amongst all, especially by the Federal Government of the day. This also includes some of the actions of the Federal Government that only breeds disunity and division in the country. Such statements and actions are not good for the image of the country amongst the international community. We therefore ask that the Federal Government of Nigeria should call itself, and the Northern Leaders of the NCM to Order, to desist from making such carless statements, issuing senseless warnings and ultimatums, and taking actions that only seeks to divide us, and not unite us.
Zik Gbemre.
June 24, 2021
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes
-By Zik Gbemre
EXAMINING THE OUTRAGEOUS LIES/CLAIMS BY AWWAL ABDULLAHI ALIYU-LED NCM GROUP AND PUTTING THE RECORDS STRAIGHT – AND THE NEED FOR NORTHERN LEADERS/PRESIDENCY TO CALL THE NCM MEMBERS TO ORDER, AND LET THEM BE GUIDED BY THEIR PUBLIC STATEMENTS THAT HAVE AGGRAVATED, DIVISIVE PROPENSITY
The trending viral video by Awwal Abdullahi Aliyu of the NCM, does not only breed tension, apprehension, disunity, distrust and discord within the polity and amongst the Nigerian people, but most importantly, was filled with ridiculous lies and claims that are very misleading, and does not represent the true picture of Nigeria’s history…
The said Awwal Abdullahi Aliyu and his NCM members should be reminded and given a lesson of Nigeria’s history of Regionalism and the Parliamentary system of Government in the early 60s, and how the economies of the various regions thrived then…
It is not the fault of the then Regional Government of the Western Nigeria that prioritized the education of their people, more than those in the then Eastern and Northern Nigeria…
If everyone would start issuing threats and demanding for compensations with ultimatums for their losses over the insecurity in the country in the last ten years, then who would compensate who?…
Let me reiterate again that I have always been the one who believe in a United Nigeria, regardless of its troubles and diversities that are daily trying to break it apart. This is basically because a United Nigeria - where ‘Good Governance’ is seen to be entrenched in all ramifications, is more beneficial to all and sundry, considering the fact that a whole lot of Nigerians have settled and invested in places other than their original ancestral lands/home states. And I believe that if we must restructure the country, based on popular opinion, then it must be done to reflect the referendum wishes of the Nigerian people.
However, I do not subscribe to having politically exposed persons, leaders and elders – be they in, or outside the Government; coming out publicly to make statements that are best described as provocative, aggravative and divisive. And in this case, the trending viral video online statement made by the President of the so-called Northern Consensus Movement (NCM), Awwal Abdullahi Aliyu, which does not only breed tension, apprehension, disunity, distrust and discord within the polity and amongst the Nigerian people, but most importantly, was filled with outrageous lies and claims that are very misleading, and does not represent the true picture of Nigeria’s history. That is where those at the Presidency, the Northern Leaders and National Assembly, should come in to call the members of the so-called NCM and its President, to Order.
According to the said statements by Awwal Abdullahi Aliyu: “the Northerners are the economic heart of Nigeria, and nobody can address us as parasites. The oil that is so being boasted of today was discovered, harnessed, and the refineries constructed with the Northern Nigerian sweat, the Northern Nigerian economy, and the Northern Nigerian money. The money from the groundnut pyramids and cotton, was what was used to research, discover and build the refineries which some other parts of Nigeria are claiming to be their own personal property. If that is the case, we also deserve, just like NDDC and Niger Delta Ministry; there should be a Northern Development Ministry that should also be given the same amount of money that is given to NDDC. Because our money was the money that was used to develop oil. That’s number…”
While I do not support the name calling, or labelling any particular ethnic group in the country as ‘parasite’, however, the statement regarding the Northern Nigerian being the economic heart of Nigeria, and it was its money and sweat that was used to develop the oil industry in the Niger Delta areas of Southern Nigeria; is nothing but false and very untrue.
Perhaps, the said Awwal Abdullahi Aliyu and his NCM members should be reminded and given a lesson of Nigeria’s history of Regionalism and the Parliamentary system of Government in the early 60s, and how the economies of the various regions thrived then.
Firstly, it was the Shell BP that came into the country’s oil sector scene as a Nigerian registered International Oil Company (IOC), which is 100% owned by Shell BP, and they were the ones that built the first refinery in the country, which is the old Port-Harcourt refinery that was commissioned in 1965. And during the Regional Government days, it was the regions that controlled their resources, while they pay royalties to the then Central Government. The Northern Nigeria had the groundnut pyramids then, and the money was used by the Northern Regional government to develop parts of the North. The Eastern Regional government used their coal and palm oil to build and develop the then East. While the Western Regional government used their cocoa, rubber and palm oil to build the Western regional areas that comprised of the West and Midwest regions. At no time did they use the groundnut pyramid revenues to build the West or the Eastern and the other Southern areas of today. Even the Sea Ports are all located in the Southern Nigeria, particularly Lagos, Warri, Koko, Sapele, Burutu and the old Okwagbe wharf, plus the Calabar and Port-Harcourt Ports.
Some of these facts of the history of Nigeria have been repeated and reiterated on several occasions by various stakeholders in the country. So, I really do not understand what the Awwal Abdullahi Aliyu and his NCM group are talking about.
A former National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Senator Victor Umeh, few years ago, had said NIGERIA WAS A LOT BETTER UNDER THE REGIONAL SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT, WHERE EACH REGION WAS ALLOWED TO CONTROL RESOURCES FOUND IN ITS DOMAIN, BUT ONLY HAD TO PAY ROYALTY TO THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT.
Umeh, who represented the people of Anambra Central Senatorial district for 17 months in the 8th Senate, lamented the current situation where too much power is being vested at the centre, thereby giving the Federal government the leeway to run the country as a unitary system. The former lawmaker noted that the 1966 coup d'état which disrupted Nigeria's democracy at that time was the beginning of the country's problem.
In his words: "If that coup hadn't taken place, our problem may not have been this bad today. Even though there were challenges in the country before the coup, but Nigeria was running a regional system of government - a parliamentary system of government - and the regions were pursuing development aggressively devoid of any problem. We had Eastern, Western and Northern regions. We also had the Mid-western region which was later created. And all these regions were developing at their own pace with the resources available to them. They were contributing royalties to the federal government. You could see that the speed of development was quite high. People controlled the resources available to them in their various regions. But that coup d'etat that came in January 1966 overthrew the democratic government in place and brought in a military government headed by Aguiyi Ironsi. Military officers were appointed to head the regional governments as governors. Aguiyi Ironsi was assassinated in the counter-coup of July 1966, and Yakubu Gowon took over as the leader of the Nigeria military government. Gowon further created 12 states in Nigeria. With that, the regional governments were scrapped! There was nothing like regional government any more. The federal military government started controlling the states," Umeh explained.
The APGA chieftain added: "There is the clamour for us today to return to regional government. This is because there would be a minimum interference in the activities and governments of the regions by the federal government. Today, everything is centralized. It wasn't so under the regional government. For instance, apart from the police and the military at the federal level, we had regional police that were under the control of the regional government at that time. The whole clamour for restructuring today and the fair call for return to regional arrangement were because the arrangement we have now has not helped the country. You could see that without that coup the northern region would have done better than what the states in the north are doing today. The Northern Region, under the visionary leadership of the then Sardauna of Sokoto, Alhaji Sir Ahmadu Bello witnessed tremendous development.
"The Western Region did very well under Obafemi Awolowo. Under Michael Okpara, so much development was recorded in the Eastern Region. Most of these regional governments' achievements were based on agricultural revolution. They relied on Agric produce as the major source of income at that time. NIGERIA WAS MAINLY AN AGRARIAN ECONOMY IN THE NORTHERN, EASTERN AND WESTERN REGIONS. The Western Region had cocoa, rubber, cassava and palm produce. The North had groundnut, cotton, maize, tomatoes and other Agric products, including cattle rearing. The Eastern Region had palm produce, cassava and other Agric produce. So, the economy then revolved around agriculture. Things were a lot better. At least, those of us who were young before the war can tell you that life was better at that time than now."
Tunde Bakare, who has been described as being one of the most politically influential pastors in Nigeria, also reiterated this point in a short video online while expressing the need and importance for Nigeria to be restructured by the present Muhammadu Buhari administration. He said: “I have consistently maintained this position to the President (referring to Buhari), that this is the future. This is the way to go. I have asked him, what’s your position on the restructuring of Nigeria, and he said: Well, there are too many voices, we don’t know what they are saying. I said who? At the first month of your administration, I brought you a compendium of what I called the legacy of Muhammadu Buhari, containing the restructuring of Nigeria, along through federal systems that we agreed upon, when I chose to run with you in 2011. I brought it the second time to you. Who are they?’
“If you don’t understand, or know what restructuring is, just look back in history and see THE GROUNDNUT PYRAMIDS IN THE NORTH, THAT WAS WHAT FINANCED AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY AND ALL THE GREAT THINGS THAT AHMADU BELL DID IN HIS DAY. If you don’t understand restructuring, consider the GOLDEN ERA OF THE REGIONS, and look at what Cocoa did - FREE EDUCATION, FIRST TELEVISION, FIRST STADIUM AND ALL THE HIGH-RISE BUILDINGS, AND EVERYTHING THAT AWOLOWO DID; CAME FROM COCOA FROM THE WEST.
“If you don’t understand restructuring, look back in THE EAST, AND SEE WHAT THEY DID WITH PALM OIL…AND COAL FROM UDI HILLS. A LOT WAS ACHIEVED, INCLUDING THE UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKA. And anyone who does not understand restructuring, go back to the 1963 Republican Constitution, and understand ‘devolution of powers.’ If you don’t understand, take the document in your hand, that Nasir El-Rufai committee put together…. And the twelve things they stated; if you don’t do it fast, you’ll have yourself to blame…. There’s going to be restructuring in this land. There will be fairness, there will be equity, there will be justice, there will be security, there will be increase. Every Nigerian will be proud to call himself or herself a Nigerian. But it’s going to be God first, nation second and you last. We’re going to prioritize God, and prioritize our nation. And we would get tangible results. There’s nothing anyone can do about it. It’s an idea whose time has come.”
Though, the said Awwal Abdullahi Aliyu said quiet a lot in his viral video online, however, I wish to focus more on the above issue. But his other statements that are worth commenting on, are: “…that those who got education from the South-South, South-West and South-East, got those education from the Northern economy…” That again, is absolute falsehood because from the explanation of how the regional governments functioned, and used the wealth from their region’s resources to develop and educate their people, it counters this false statement. It is not the fault of the then Regional Government of the West that prioritized the education of their people, more than those in the then Eastern and Northern Nigeria. It is also not the fault of the Yorubas and Igbos, who, as a result of rural to urban migration, decided to settle and heavily invested in places like Kano and Kaduna, which is different from the Northerners who only preferred to settle in the South West, South-South and South-East as either cobbler, guards, food sellers, wheelbarrow pushers, tricycle/motorcycle operators, etc. In life, you have the right and freedom to choose what you want to do and pursue to create wealth. But every profession, no matter how menial, is very important to everyone one of us and for societal growth and development.
Abdullahi Aliyu's statement that: “You don’t have any Northerner who owns a house in the South-South, South-West and South-East,” is also false because we know that in most of the States in the Southern parts of Nigeria, the Northerners have their private houses and investments as well. Even some States have places designated as HAUSA QUARTERS, where the Northerners have their Houses, Businesses, and religious places like Mosques built there as their own. All that talk that “the North is ready to be separated from the Southern parts because they have enough to take care of themselves and to make Northern Nigeria greater”, is far from the truth because we all know even the President, Muhammadu Buhari, does not like the idea of restructuring the country for each region/zone to go their ways.
I also find the last statement made by Abdullahi Aliyu rather offensive and an invitation for trouble and confusion amongst the people. When he said that they are “passing this message to the Federal Government, to the Eastern and Western State Governors, that every Northerner that has been killed, every property of any Northerner that has been destroyed, we are saying that the government of those states where these incidents happen must pay our people. You must pay compensation … We will no longer tolerate the killings of our people and the destruction of our property in those areas. If not, we have done it in the past. We will do it again; we don’t want to do it. So, we are passing a note of warning… if they don’t pay compensation for any loss by a Northerner, they should not blame us for whatever action we will take. We are passing this word of warning, and we are giving a 30 days ultimatum, from today, to the State Governors, in which we are expecting them to act.”
The truth is, if the political leaders of the Southern areas should also start issuing threats and warnings, and demanding for compensations over the killings (including raping of our women) and destruction of property/farm lands in the Southern parts by killer Fulani Herdsmen, Bandits and the Boko Haram sect in the last decade, the Northern Governors would have a whole lot more to pay. If everyone would start demanding for compensations for their losses in the insecurity in the country in the last ten years, then who would compensate who? What one would have expected the said NCM group to be advocating for, is for the Federal Government to address the insecurity situation in the country headlong, and not all these unnecessary and unreasonable threats and warnings and demand for compensation.
The only reasonable thing that was said by Awwal Abdullahi Aliyu, was that: “If we would continue to coexist as Nigeria, and as Nigerians, the Northerners are ready to do that, that was why we have been accommodating.”
The bottom line is that, such Careless and unbridled Public Statements by Northern leaders, in this case the NCM led by Awwal Abdullahi Aliyu, which are seen to be divisive and aggravating, should be discouraged amongst all, especially by the Federal Government of the day. This also includes some of the actions of the Federal Government that only breeds disunity and division in the country. Such statements and actions are not good for the image of the country amongst the international community. We therefore ask that the Federal Government of Nigeria should call itself, and the Northern Leaders of the NCM to Order, to desist from making such carless statements, issuing senseless warnings and ultimatums, and taking actions that only seeks to divide us, and not unite us.
Zik Gbemre.
June 24, 2021
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes