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  • Ahmadu Bello’s Christmas Message

    Ahmadu Bello’s Christmas Message

    Monologue

    This is the month of December, the month of paradoxical trade fair in which lies, fabrications and falsehood are, invariably, the wares displayed for exhibition. This is the month in which ostentation displaces faith and deception replaces conscience. How and why did these become cases of concern especially in Nigeria? Please, read the related story of facts and fictions below.

    Preamble

    An axiomatic Yoruba adage came to mind, recently, when a so-called National Christian Elders’ Forum (NCEF) published a fabricated statement in the media and falsely credited it to the late Premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello some years ago. The statement which was quoted verbatim from a false publication by some Biafra agitators of Igbo extraction, as a justification for their thoughtless secession bid. The adage goes thus:

    “Any slave who is desperate to forcefully usurp an estate bequeathed to an innocent orphan must fabricate a rootless history to justify his/her inordinate desperation to illegally usurp other people’s properties”. For people who can read between the lines, this adage needs no interpretation. It is self-explanatory.

    Record of History

    Here is a season in which recalling certain aspects of Nigerian history, if only to put the records straight, is a sine qua non.

    History is a living phenomenon that is common to all people around the world, in time and in space. No matter what interpretation or misinterpretation is given to it, in certain quarters, the fact remains that history is not anybody’s personal property and can, therefore, not be anybody’s enclave of monopoly.

    Memory lane

    Sir Ahmadu Bello, the first and only Premier of Northern Nigeria was not just one of the foremost political icons in Nigeria’s First Republic. He was also a patriarch of the ruling political party called Northern People’s Congress (NPC). This man of colossal status became the Premier of Northern Nigeria in 1954, the same year in which his political counterparts and arch-rivals, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and Chief Obafemi Awolowo, became Premiers of Eastern and Western regions respectively. The trio assumed office as Premiers, in 1954, through party-based elections. They were later joined by Chief Denis Osadebe as the fourth regional Premier in Nigeria. The latter became the Premier of Midwest region, in 1963, when that region was created. However, barely five years after Nigeria’s independence, Sir Ahmadu Bello was callously killed, as Premier, on Saturday, January 15, 1966, by some Nigerian military coup plotters whose real intent was to obliterate all traces of Islam in Nigeria. Virtually all those coup plotters were of Igbo extraction and no single one of them was a Muslim, an indication that the coup was religiously and tribally motivated.

    That devilish coup was led by one Major Patrick Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, an Igbo man from the present day geographical area of Nigeria, called Delta State.

    Those coup plotters had killed the Muslim leaders in government, including Premier Ahmadu Bello, Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Premier Samuel Ladoke Akintola and several other political leaders from other tribal extractions, in that year’s sacred month of Ramadan, before they started looking for reasons to give as a justification for their heinous termination of those leaders’ lives. The three reasons that they (the coup plotters) gave after killing those leaders were corruption, tribalism and religious bigotry. It was a matter of calling a dog a bad name in order to hang it.

    Analysis of Their Reasons

    Among the four Premiers in Nigeria during the first republic, only Ahmadu Bello, was a Muslim and he could not, in any way, be evidently linked to corruption. Unlike the three other Premiers who lived opulently in expensive affluence, Ahmadu Bello was an ascetic personality who served his people diligently and patriotically without an iota of blemish. At the time of his gruesome murder, that Northern Premier had only a small residential bungalow in his home town of Rabah in Sokoto Province, which he built with a loan and nothing more has been traced to him as property till today. He had not even completed the payment of the loan he obtained for the building of that bungalow before he was murdered.

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    Who else among his peers can be said to have left such a flank behind?

    Sir Ahmadu Bello, the only Premier from the North, at that time, could also not be singularly accused of being tribally inclined because tribalism was the basis of all the existing political parties of the time. No Premier, in Nigeria, from 1954 to 1966 could be exonerated from tribalism directly or indirectly. They were all guilty of it.

    Genesis of tribal politics in Nigeria

    It can be recalled that certain tribal groups such as Ibiobio State Union (IBU), Ibo Federal Union (IFU) Egbe Omo Oduduwa (EOO) and ‘Jam’iyyar Al-Ummar Nigeriya ta Arewa’ translated as Northern Elements Progressive Association (NEPA) which later transformed into Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU) were all tribal socio-cultural organizations that metamorphosed into political parties. All those parties preceded ‘Jam’iyyar Mutane Arewa’ meaning Northern People’s Congress (NPC), to which Ahmadu Bello belonged. Many other ethnic-based political parties later emerged to broaden tribalism in Nigerian politics. If anything, therefore, Ahmadu Bello was the least tribally inclined Premier of his time. If he was actually a tribalist and religious bigot as he has always been maliciously painted in Nigeria’s political history, by the Southern Nigerian media, he would not have appointed Sunday Awoniyi, a Yoruba Christian, from the present day Kogi State, as his Private Secretary. Which other Premier appointed his private secretary from another tribe or from a religion other than Christianity? And, why did his killers link him alone to tribalism and bigotry?

    His 1959 Christmas message

    Among the four Premiers in Nigeria’s first republic, only Ahmadu Bello was bold and sincere enough to allay the fear of the minority groups in his (Northern) region by making a public policy statement about his government’s stand concerning tribalism and religious bigotry. Here is an excerpt from what he said while sending a Christmas message to northern Christians at the time of Christmas in 1959:

    “…We are people of many different races, tribes and religions, who are knit together by common history, common interests and common ideals. Our diversity may be great but the things that unite us are stronger than the things that divide us. On an occasion like this, I always remind people about our firmly rooted policy on religious tolerance. Families of all creeds and colours can rely on these assurances. We have no intention of favouring one religion at the expense of another. Subject to overriding need to preserve law and order, it is our determination that everyone should have absolute liberty to practice his belief. It is befitting on this momentous day, on behalf of my ministers and myself, to send a special word of gratitude to all Christian missions”.

    “Let me conclude this with a personal message. I extend my greetings to all our people who are Christians on this great feast day. Let us forget the difference in our religion and remember the common brotherhood before God, by dedicating ourselves afresh to the great tasks which lie before us….”

    That was the Christmas message that Sir Ahmadu Bello delivered in a radio broadcast on Thursday, December 24, 1959. And, it remained intact in Nigerian historical archive until 2002, when a Yoruba agent of the Lucifer came up with a fabricated statement that is now being devilishly quoted and circulated spirally by mischievous elements in Nigeria, who have been crediting it to Sir Ahmadu Bello.

     The Fabricated version

    Decades after Sir Ahmadu Bello’s unjustifiable assassination, some evil elements in the media, in active conspiracy with certain political demagogues, who were passionately pregnant with morbid hatred for Islam, went to fabricate another ‘Christmas Message’ and credited it to the late Northern Premier as a justification for his murder. The concocted statement was purportedly culled from a non-existing newspaper called ‘The Parrot’. Below is the fabricated Christmas Message:

    “…The new nation called Nigeria should be an estate of our great grandfather Othman Dan Fodio. We must ruthlessly prevent a change of power.

     We use the minorities in the north as willing tools and the south as a conquered territory and never allow them to rule over us and never allow them to have control over their future….”

    Now, should that senselessly fabricated statement said to have been made by Sir Ahmadu Bello on October 12, 1960, be quoted blindly by any sensible individual or group? How can a Christmas message by a Premier of Ahmadu Bello Status, be delivered in October, two months before Christmas? Haba! Is that not a confirmation that liars never think of the implications of their lies before they fabricate them?

    Truth and Falsehood

    “Truth has come and falsehood has vamoosed; surely, falsehood is meant to vamoose in the presence of the truth”.  Q. 17: 81 

    Comparison

    Now, looking at both (genuine and fabricated) statements quoted above very carefully, shouldn’t any sensible person be able to distinguish between truth and falsehood? The Premier’s original Christmas message, earlier quoted above, was made on the eve of Christmas on Thursday, December 24, 1959, through a radio broadcast and it was published by all newspapers in the country including the vociferous ‘West African Pilot’ owned by Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the boisterous ‘Tribune’ owned by Chief Obafemi Awolowo and the clamorous ‘Daily Times’ jointly owned privately by certain prominent Nigerian individuals at that time. That original statement was equally published by many other smaller newspapers in Nigeria. All those newspapers are identifiable in Nigeria’s media history even though most of them are now defunct.

    On the other hand, the place and occasion of the fabricated statement credited to Sir Ahmadu Bello was not indicated and cannot be traced in any Nigeria’s newspaper history.

    Evidence of Fabrication

    The first time any genuinely existing newspaper ever made reference to that fabricated statement was on November 13, 2002 (42 years after it was purportedly made by Sir Ahmadu Bello. And, ‘The Tribune’ newspaper which published it on that date only claimed to have culled it from an online column published on October 24 2002 by a fraudulent Yoruba Journalist (name withheld) who entitled it ‘The Northern Agenda’. The referred online was actually named ‘Nairaland’, and it can still be found on the internet today, if googled.

    It can, therefore, be confirmed that the statement was actually fabricated, not in the 1960s but in October 2002, by the so-called online columnist who credited it to a newspaper that never existed. The objective was to give it an undeserved credibility. What a country! What a people! What a shame! This is a typical case of an obvious mischief by heartless mischief makers just to fetch ephemeral fame and illegal income.

    The belief of such fraudsters was that once such a fabricated article appears on the internet and is ignorantly quoted by some inconsequential mercenary writers, it would automatically become a document of fact. And, true to that assertion, a self-acclaimed Nigerian Christian Elders Forum’ (NCEF) has shamelessly quoted that fabricated falsehood, as usual, to justify its baseless allegation of ‘Islamization’ of Nigeria. That is Nigeria for you.

    The 1966 Coup Episode

    January 15, 1966 was a Saturday like no other one in the history of Nigeria. It was on that day that the bitter political seed which germinated and grew into the thorny political tree that is now feeding Nigerians with bitter political fruits, was planted. The evil planting of that seed marked the beginning of an agonizing voyage of destiny on which Nigerians embarked without a compass. Coming up in the sacred month of Ramadan, the day, (January 15, 1966) actually came to confirm the axiomatic thought of an Arab poet who once asserted in a couplet thus: “Nights are heavily pregnant; they give birth to wonders in the days….”

    The Major Casualties

    The real target of the heartless coup plotters in  military uniform, who struck on January 15, 1966 coup was Islam. Although they (the coupists) killed virtually all the major key players in the then Nigerian politics except those of Igbo extraction, most of the victims of that coup were Muslims and some non-Igbo Christians who were then in prisons. The Prime Minister, Alhaji Sir AbubakarTafawa Balewa and the Minister of Finance, Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh were killed in Lagos. The Premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello, was killed with his wife and some other people in Kaduna, the then Headquarters of Northern Nigeria. The Premier of Western Region, Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola, was killed in Ibadan, the then Headquarters of the South Western Region, while some military top brass of non-Igbo extraction were killed in different military barracks across the country.

    Except for Lt. Col. Arthur Unegbe who was killed for being too close to one Brigadier-General Zakariya’ Maimalari, a top Muslim military officer from the north, and could not be trusted, no other Igbo man of note, civilian or military, was killed in that coup. As a matter of fact, if there was any feeling of the coup in Nigeria’s Eastern Region at all, it was that of victory and heroism. The top military officers who were killed in the senseless coup included: Brig. S. A. Ademulegun (South West); Brig. Zakari Maimalari (North East); Col. Kur Mohammed (North West); Lt. Col. J. Y. Pam (North Central); Col. S. A. Shodeinde (South West); Lt. Col. Largema (North Central); Lt. Col. A. G. Unegbe (South East); S/Lt. James Odu (Mid West) and a host of others.

    The False Allegations

    After the dust had settled, it became evident that virtually all the planners of that coup as well as its executors were soldiers of Igbo extraction and Christians. Thus, other Nigerians whose relatives were severely affected saw the coup not only as tribal but also as religious, the killing of some Christians like Chiefs Akintola and Okotie-Eboh notwithstanding. This was because the then Governor of Eastern Nigeria, Sir Francis Akanu Ibiam was as deeply involved in religious matters as Sir Ahmadu Bello. The one was a Vice-President of the World Council of Churches. The other was the Vice-President of the Muslim World League. If religion was therefore the reason for the coup, the two of them not one ought to have been killed for bigotry. But history entails a variety of interpretations especially in a society where conscience hardly plays any meaningful role.

    Beneficiaries

    It is historically notable that the chief beneficiary of the coup (Major-General Johnson Aguiyi Ironsi) was also of Igbo extraction. Almost all the military appointments after the coup were for men of Igbo extraction. Among those appointees, only Hassan Katsina and Muhammadu Shuwa were Muslims. How else could a coup be tribal and religious? After all, as far back as 1953, a frontline Igbo politician (name withheld) had set such agenda for his tribe’s men when he reportedly said that “Ibos’ domination of Nigeria is a matter of time”.  That statement was allegedly made at a cocktail party in Lagos. If this remains the yardstick for driving democracy in Nigeria, for how long can such democracy last?

  • Ahmadu Bello Foundation donates N20m to Borno flood victims

    Ahmadu Bello Foundation donates N20m to Borno flood victims

    The Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation has donated twenty million Naira (N20,000,000) to assist victims of the recent floods in Maiduguri in Borno State.

    The announcement came during a sympathy visit to the Governor of Borno State, Engr. Babagana Umara Zulum, at the Government House in Maiduguri.

    Leading the delegation, the Director General of the Foundation, Engr. Abubakar Gambo Umar conveyed the organization’s heartfelt condolences to both the government and the people of Borno State.

    Read Also: Jaiz Bank donates N110m to support Borno flood victims

    Umar expressed deep sympathy for the loss of lives and the widespread destruction of properties, highlighting the adverse effects on local businesses. He reaffirmed the Foundation’s commitment to supporting affected communities during this challenging period and offered prayers for a swift recovery.

    “We urge all well-meaning Nigerians and members of the international community to join us in assisting Borno State in its recovery efforts,” Engr. Umar stated. “Together, we can help rebuild lives and restore hope to those affected by this calamity.”

    In response, Governor Zulum expressed his gratitude to the Foundation, assuring that the donated funds would be used judiciously to alleviate the suffering of flood victims.

    The delegation also visited the Shehu of Borno, Dr. Abubakar Ibn Umar Garbai El Kanemi CFR, where prayers were offered for the victims and the state’s recovery.

  • How northern leaders betrayed Ahmadu Bello and the nation

    How northern leaders betrayed Ahmadu Bello and the nation

    Fortuitously, we now have some discordant voices coming from northern political elite, once united only by their opposition to our independence article of faith – “that each federating unit develops at its own pace without interference from others”. This is however coming after over 50 years of our nation’s nightmare, 15 years of Boko Haram’s mindless killings and devastation, nine years of terrorism by immigrant herdsmen and 10 years of banditry by subsistence farmers and cattle herders. 

    For other federating nationalities held down by the conspiracy of the dominant, this was nothing but a betrayal of the ideals of visionary Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto and the first Premier of Northern Nigeria who was assassinated in 1966 by misguided young soldiers.

    First was the hypocrisy of Ango Abdulahi’s Northern Elders Forum who, after serially betraying the aspirations of the northern masses that look up to them for direction, like the proverbial Ostrich that hides its head in the sand, now turns around to find whipping dog in President Tinubu and his less than one year old administration. Speaking on the abduction and release of the Kuriga school children, it declared: “The Northern Elders Forum firmly declares that enough is enough… Unfortunately, just months into the Tinubu administration, there have already been clear signs of failure in providing the vital aspects of security of life and property to citizens.”

    Of course no one should hold brief for President Tinubu. The buck stops at his table. But it is sad that the northern leaders continue to live in denial. Except northern leaders, every discerning person cannot but see the linkage between the self-inflicted crisis in the north and their feudal system which is ideologically opposed to any form of egalitarianism including sending children of the poor that are today on rampage to school.

     But it was just as well that there was the dissenting voice of Dr Shehu Mahdi, President Buhari’s former controversial executive Secretary of NHIS, who chose not to be economical with the truth. For him, northern leaders are the scourge of the north and they alone can find peace for their people. For him, “With northern vice president, northern Speaker, northern head of the military, northern NSC, Northern Secretary etc, it is time for northern leaders to lock themselves up in a room, look at themselves in the mirror and admit they have failed their people and resolve on how to bring peace to our lives”.

    But sadly, it has not always been like this. Ahmadu Bello, the great grandson of Sultan Muhammad Bello, the second Sultan of Sokoto after Usmanu Dan Fodio, was proud of his ancestry. Some even described him as arrogant for referring to the Bantus of Benue trough as his great grandfather’s slaves. But he was a decent and selfless leader. His controversial northernisation policy was designed to protect his people. And it “reflects the cotemporary desires for modernization, struggle over who would direct and benefit from such changes and concern over the cultural and moral scaffolding of independence Nigeria”. (Douglas Anthony, Decolonization, Race and Region in Nigeria, Northernisation revisited (International Journal of African historical studies Vop.51, No.1 (2018)

    Ahmadu Bello’s policies were never designed to impede the development of Nigeria but to make the north more competitive in an emerging Nigerian state where most of the ethnic nationalities wanted their own nation within the greater Nigerian nation state. If Ahmadu Bello and his northern pathfinders had insisted on 50% of membership of the national assembly in 1950, it was a survival strategy in an emerging Nigeria where the less educated north unlike other nationalities did not have their first doctors and lawyers until mid-fifties. 

    He and his group copied what was good from other regions and strived to build a formidable northern bureaucracy and academic institution. We have no evidence that ABU that produced a world-acclaimed intellectual such as the late Professor Ayodele Awojobi, alias ‘the Akoka Giant’, whose PhD thesis from UK University was said to be responsible for off-shore oil mining on the high seas, and the famous architect, Fola Alade, the designer of abandoned Federal Secretariat, Ikoyi could not be said to be inferior to the nation’s other institutions.

     Ahmadu Bello, a man of great vision,  will today be probably troubled in his grave  to discover that beneficiaries of his visionary leadership have become ethnic irredentists collaborating with less endowed military soldiers of fortune who joined the military in order to climb the social ladder (many initial recruits were picked from motor parks in Kaduna while Buhari attested to the magnanimity of Ahmadu Bello who picked him up from his Daura village saving him from remaining a herdsman) to foist disruptive and self-serving policies such as quota system that kills meritocracy and creation of  more LGAs for the north without objective criteria beyond cornering resources of more productive members of the union.

     That the north at the beginning was not as economically endowed as the south, the major incentive for the 1914 British amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates was a settled issue. But there is no evidence that Ahmadu Bello and his northern political elite opposed revenue allocation based on derivation all through the constitutional debate leading to independence. Instead, he went on to supervise the groundnut pyramids, the sources of revenue for building the biggest business conglomerate in Africa as well as other infrastructures including roads, Ahmadu Bello Stadium and Ahmadu Bello University and was still able to provide security for the whole of the north.

    The rain started to beat us after the civil war with the emergence of northern soldiers of fortune and self-serving northern politicians who found Bello’s shoe too big. Murtala Muhammed destroyed the academia and bureaucracy without which a nation decays; Shehu Shagari smoked while his NPN wrecked the economic ship of state despite Awo’s warning it was heading for the rocks. Babangida destroyed our budding industries by opening our nation to importation of goods from Europe and its satellite nations. He manipulated the religion sensibilities of the north by illegally taking the country into OIC. Abacha who according to Alli Mazrui was too unintelligent to know fears, stole the country blind while he waged a five-year war against Nigeria’s pro-democracy groups. Abdulsalami Abubakar authored the 1999 constitution derisively referred re to as ‘Decree 24’ by Nigerians. Finally, Buhari, caged by Fulani ethnic irredentists left the country more divided than he met it.

    Read Also: Remembering Sir Ahmadu Bello

    But it is not getting better with only 33% of Boko Haram infested Bornu in school, 70% of Nigerian out-of-school children from the north and with a large expanse of ungoverned territories spanning over 200 kilometres from Kaduna to Zamfara.

    The question those who care about our country are asking is whether the northern leaders including NEF, Gowon, Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar, herders’ patron such as Lamido Sanusi Lamido, are aware of these ungoverned territories. And if they are, why did they not rein in Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders’ Association before they carried out their threat to make Nigeria ungovernable unless they were given license for open grazing in places like Rivers, Ekiti, Ondo and Oyo?

    Why would they not persuade those who killed and confiscated their victims’ land to relocate to Kano following ex-governor, Abdullahi Ganduje’s undertaking to rehabilitate all herdsmen in Kano?  There was similarly not a whimper from northern elders as the battle line over attempt to export armed killer herdsmen from north’s ungoverned territories to Ondo’s reserved forest over which daggers were drawn between President Buhari’s ‘loyal gate keepers’ and the late Governor Akeredolu of Ondo.

    Northern leaders not only betrayed Ahmadu Bello, their illustrious forbearer, they remain the nation’s cancer.

  • Sir Ahmadu Bello’s Christmas Message

    Sir Ahmadu Bello’s Christmas Message

    His is the month of December, the month of paradoxical trade fair in which lies, fabrications and falsehood are, invariably, the wares displayed for exhibition. This is the month in which ostentation displaces faith and deception replaces conscience. How and why did these become cases of concern especially in Nigeria? Please, read the related story of facts and fictions below.

    Preamble

    An axiomatic Yoruba adage came to mind, recently, when a so-called National Christian Elders’ Forum (NCEF) published a fabricated statement in the media and falsely credited it to the late Premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello some years ago. The statement which was quoted verbatim from a false publication by some Biafra agitators of Igbo extraction, as a justification for their thoughtless secession bid. The adage goes thus:

    “Any slave who is desperate to forcefully usurp an estate bequeathed to an innocent orphan must fabricate a rootless history to justify his/her inordinate desperation to illegally usurp other people’s properties”. For people who can read between the lines, this adage needs no interpretation. It is self-explanatory.

    Record of History

    Here is a season in which recalling certain aspects of Nigerian history, if only to put the records straight, is a sine qua non.

    History is a living phenomenon that is common to all people around the world, in time and in space. No matter what interpretation or misinterpretation is given to it, in certain quarters, the fact remains that history is not anybody’s personal property and can, therefore, not be anybody’s enclave of monopoly.

    Memory Lane

    Sir Ahmadu Bello, the first and only Premier of Northern Nigeria was not just one of the foremost political icons in Nigeria’s First Republic. He was also a patriarch of the ruling political party called Northern People’s Congress (NPC). This man of colossal status became the Premier of Northern Nigeria in 1954, the same year in which his political counterparts and arch-rivals, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and Chief Obafemi Awolowo, became Premiers of Eastern and Western regions respectively. The trio assumed office as Premiers, in 1954, through party-based elections. They were later joined by Chief Denis Osadebe as the fourth regional Premier in Nigeria. The latter became the Premier of Midwest region, in 1963, when that region was created. However, barely five years after Nigeria’s independence, Sir Ahmadu Bello was callously killed, as Premier, on Saturday, January 15, 1966, by some Nigerian military coup plotters whose real intent was to obliterate all traces of Islam in Nigeria. Virtually all those coup plotters were of Igbo extraction and no single one of them was a Muslim, an indication that the coup was religiously and tribally motivated.

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    That devilish coup was led by one Major Patrick Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, an Igbo man from the present day geographical area of Nigeria, called Delta State.

    Those coup plotters had killed the Muslim leaders in government, including Premier Ahmadu Bello, Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Premier Samuel Ladoke Akintola and several other political leaders from other tribal extractions, in that year’s sacred month of Ramadan, before they started looking for reasons to give as a justification for their heinous termination of those leaders’ lives. The three reasons that they (the coup plotters) gave after killing those leaders were corruption, tribalism and religious bigotry. It was a matter of calling a dog a bad name in order to hang it.

    Analysis of Their Reasons

    Among the four Premiers in Nigeria during the first republic, only Ahmadu Bello, was a Muslim and he could not, in any way, be evidently linked to corruption. Unlike the three other Premiers who lived opulently in expensive affluence, Ahmadu Bello was an ascetic personality who served his people diligently and patriotically without an iota of blemish. At the time of his gruesome murder, that Northern Premier had only a small residential bungalow in his home town of Rabah in Sokoto Province, which he built with a loan and nothing more has been traced to him as property till today. He had not even completed the payment of the loan he obtained for the building of that bungalow before he was murdered.

    Who else among his peers can be said to have left such a flank behind?

    Sir Ahmadu Bello, the only Premier from the North, at that time, could also not be singularly accused of being tribally inclined because tribalism was the basis of all the existing political parties of the time. No Premier, in Nigeria, from 1954 to 1966 could be exonerated from tribalism directly or indirectly. They were all guilty of it.

    Genesis of Tribal Politics in Nigeria

    It can be recalled that certain tribal groups such as Ibiobio State Union (IBU), Ibo Federal Union (IFU) Egbe Omo Oduduwa (EOO) and ‘Jam’iyyar Al-Ummar Nigeriya ta Arewa’ translated as Northern Elements Progressive Association (NEPA) which later transformed into Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU) were all tribal socio-cultural organizations that metamorphosed into political parties. All those parties preceded ‘Jam’iyyar Mutane Arewa’ meaning Northern People’s Congress (NPC), to which Ahmadu Bello belonged. Many other ethnic-based political parties later emerged to broaden tribalism in Nigerian politics. If anything, therefore, Ahmadu Bello was the least tribally inclined Premier of his time. If he was actually a tribalist and religious bigot as he has always been maliciously painted in Nigeria’s political history, by the Southern Nigerian media, he would not have appointed Sunday Awoniyi, a Yoruba Christian, from the present day Kogi State, as his Private Secretary. Which other Premier appointed his private secretary from another tribe or from a religion other than Christianity? And, why did his killers link him alone to tribalism and bigotry?

    His 1959 Christmas Message

    Among the four Premiers in Nigeria’s first republic, only Ahmadu Bello was bold and sincere enough to allay the fear of the minority groups in his (Northern) region by making a public policy statement about his government’s stand concerning tribalism and religious bigotry. Here is an excerpt from what he said while sending a Christmas message to northern Christians at the time of Christmas in 1959:

    “…We are people of many different races, tribes and religions, who are knit together by common history, common interests and common ideals. Our diversity may be great but the things that unite us are stronger than the things that divide us. On an occasion like this, I always remind people about our firmly rooted policy on religious tolerance. Families of all creeds and colours can rely on these assurances. We have no intention of favouring one religion at the expense of another. Subject to overriding need to preserve law and order, it is our determination that everyone should have absolute liberty to practice his belief. It is befitting on this momentous day, on behalf of my ministers and myself, to send a special word of gratitude to all Christian missions”.

    “Let me conclude this with a personal message. I extend my greetings to all our people who are Christians on this great feast day. Let us forget the difference in our religion and remember the common brotherhood before God, by dedicating ourselves afresh to the great tasks which lie before us….”

    That was the Christmas message that Sir Ahmadu Bello delivered in a radio broadcast on Thursday, December 24, 1959. And, it remained intact in Nigerian historical archive until 2002, when a Yoruba agent of the Lucifer came up with a fabricated statement that is now being devilishly quoted and circulated spirally by mischievous elements in Nigeria, who have been crediting it to Sir Ahmadu Bello.

    The Fabricated Version

    Decades after Sir Ahmadu Bello’s unjustifiable assassination, some evil elements in the media, in active conspiracy with certain political demagogues, who were passionately pregnant with morbid hatred for Islam, went to fabricate another ‘Christmas Message’ and credited it to the late Northern Premier as a justification for his murder. The concocted statement was purportedly culled from a non-existing newspaper called ‘The Parrot’. Below is the fabricated Christmas Message:

    “…The new nation called Nigeria should be an estate of our great grandfather Othman Dan Fodio. We must ruthlessly prevent a change of power. We use the minorities in the north as willing tools and the south as a conquered territory and never allow them to rule over us and never allow them to have control over their future….”

    Now, should that senselessly fabricated statement said to have been made by Sir Ahmadu Bello on October 12, 1960, be quoted blindly by any sensible individual or group? How can a Christmas message by a Premier of Ahmadu Bello Status, be delivered in October, two months before Christmas? Haba! Is that not a confirmation that liars never think of the implications of their lies before they fabricate them?

    Truth and Falsehood

    “Truth has come and falsehood has vamoosed; surely, falsehood is meant to vamoose in the presence of the truth”.  Q. 17: 81 

    Comparison

    Now, looking at both (genuine and fabricated) statements quoted above very carefully, shouldn’t any sensible person be able to distinguish between truth and falsehood? The Premier’s original Christmas message, earlier quoted above, was made on the eve of Christmas on Thursday, December 24, 1959, through a radio broadcast and it was published by all newspapers in the country including the vociferous ‘West African Pilot’ owned by Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the boisterous ‘Tribune’ owned by Chief Obafemi Awolowo and the clamorous ‘Daily Times’ jointly owned privately by certain prominent Nigerian individuals at that time. That original statement was equally published by many other smaller newspapers in Nigeria. All those newspapers are identifiable in Nigeria’s media history even though most of them are now defunct.

    On the other hand, the place and occasion of the fabricated statement credited to Sir Ahmadu Bello was not indicated and cannot be traced in any Nigeria’s newspaper history.

    Evidence of Fabrication

    The first time any genuinely existing newspaper ever made reference to that fabricated statement was on November 13, 2002 (42 years after it was purportedly made by Sir Ahmadu Bello. And, ‘The Tribune’ newspaper which published it on that date only claimed to have culled it from an online column published on October 24 2002 by a fraudulent Yoruba Journalist (name withheld) who entitled it ‘The Northern Agenda’. The referred online was actually named ‘Nairaland’, and it can still be found on the internet today, if googled.

    It can, therefore, be confirmed that the statement was actually fabricated, not in the 1960s but in October 2002, by the so-called online columnist who credited it to a newspaper that never existed. The objective was to give it an undeserved credibility. What a country! What a people! What a shame! This is a typical case of an obvious mischief by heartless mischief makers just to fetch ephemeral fame and illegal income.

    The belief of such fraudsters was that once such a fabricated article appears on the internet and is ignorantly quoted by some inconsequential mercenary writers, it would automatically become a document of fact. And, true to that assertion, a self-acclaimed Nigerian Christian Elders Forum’ (NCEF) has shamelessly quoted that fabricated falsehood, as usual, to justify its baseless allegation of ‘Islamization’ of Nigeria. That is Nigeria for you.

    The 1966 Coup Episode

    January 15, 1966 was a Saturday like no other one in the history of Nigeria. It was on that day that the bitter political seed which germinated and grew into the thorny political tree that is now feeding Nigerians with bitter political fruits, was planted. The evil planting of that seed marked the beginning of an agonizing voyage of destiny on which Nigerians embarked without a compass. Coming up in the sacred month of Ramadan, the day, (January 15, 1966) actually came to confirm the axiomatic thought of an Arab poet who once asserted in a couplet thus: “Nights are heavily pregnant; they give birth to wonders in the days….”

    The Major Casualties

    The real target of the heartless coup plotters in  military uniform, who struck on January 15, 1966 coup was Islam. Although they (the coupists) killed virtually all the major key players in the then Nigerian politics except those of Igbo extraction, most of the victims of that coup were Muslims and some non-Igbo Christians who were then in prisons. The Prime Minister, Alhaji Sir AbubakarTafawa Balewa and the Minister of Finance, Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh were killed in Lagos. The Premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello, was killed with his wife and some other people in Kaduna, the then Headquarters of Northern Nigeria. The Premier of Western Region, Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola, was killed in Ibadan, the then Headquarters of the South Western Region, while some military top brass of non-Igbo extraction were killed in different military barracks across the country.

    Except for Lt. Col. Arthur Unegbe who was killed for being too close to one Brigadier-General Zakariya’ Maimalari, a top Muslim military officer from the north, and could not be trusted, no other Igbo man of note, civilian or military, was killed in that coup. As a matter of fact, if there was any feeling of the coup in Nigeria’s Eastern Region at all, it was that of victory and heroism. The top military officers who were killed in the senseless coup included: Brig. S. A. Ademulegun (South West); Brig. Zakari Maimalari (North East); Col. Kur Mohammed (North West); Lt. Col. J. Y. Pam (North Central); Col. S. A. Shodeinde (South West); Lt. Col. Largema (North Central); Lt. Col. A. G. Unegbe (South East); S/Lt. James Odu (Mid West) and a host of others.

    The False Allegations

    After the dust had settled, it became evident that virtually all the planners of that coup as well as its executors were soldiers of Igbo extraction and Christians. Thus, other Nigerians whose relatives were severely affected saw the coup not only as tribal but also as religious, the killing of some Christians like Chiefs Akintola and Okotie-Eboh notwithstanding. This was because the then Governor of Eastern Nigeria, Sir Francis Akanu Ibiam was as deeply involved in religious matters as Sir Ahmadu Bello. The one was a Vice-President of the World Council of Churches. The other was the Vice-President of the Muslim World League. If religion was therefore the reason for the coup, the two of them not one ought to have been killed for bigotry. But history entails a variety of interpretations especially in a society where conscience hardly plays any meaningful role.

    Beneficiaries

    It is historically notable that the chief beneficiary of the coup (Major-General Johnson Aguiyi Ironsi) was also of Igbo extraction. Almost all the military appointments after the coup were for men of Igbo extraction. Among those appointees, only Hassan Katsina and Muhammadu Shuwa were Muslims. How else could a coup be tribal and religious? After all, as far back as 1953, a frontline Igbo politician (name withheld) had set such agenda for his tribe’s men when he reportedly said that “Ibos’ domination of Nigeria is a matter of time”.  That statement was allegedly made at a cocktail party in Lagos. If this remains the yardstick for driving democracy in Nigeria, for how long can such democracy last?

  • Sanwo-Olu promises women juicy positions if elected

    Women in Lagos State have been promised a better inclusion and  recognition if the All Progressives Congress (APC) wins the forthcoming governorship election in the state.

    The governorship candidate of the party for the 2019 general elections, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, who made this pledge, added that he had much respect for the women and that this was demonstrated during his tenure as Commissioner for Establishment, Training and Pensions in the state.

    Sanwo-Olu was speaking at an interactive session organised for him to meet with career women by the Office of the State Women Leader of the party under the leadership of Hon. Jumoke Okoya-Thomas.

    The event which held at Harbour Point off Ahmadu Bello Way, Victoria Island, Lagos on Thursday 17, January, 2019, was entitled; “Enabling, Empowering And Promoting Women: Our Pact with the APC Gubernatorial Candidate, Mr. Babatunde Olusola Sanwo-Olu.”

    Sanwo-Olu told the gathering, which included women professionals from the different sectors of the economy, that they were taking charge of their destiny to be at the event, which he said was unique and the first of its kind by any party.

    “I personally know the importance of women. I want to appreciate what the women have done for us. I had an opportunity to work with great women leaders such as the late Mrs. Titi Ayeni, Mrs. Bola Adesola, and others.

    “I remember the contributions of many female professionals. I remember working with Mrs. Sarah Sosan, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope Adefulire, and Senator Oluremi Tinubu.

    “I value how you have nurtured us. I remember the Beijing gathering in China that talked about women rights that has led to a lot of progress for women.

    “We are committed to ensuring that you play active part in our government,” he said.

    The governorship candidate said further that he wished that the Secretary to the State Government as well as commissioners for Finance and Budget were women, when he gets into office.

    Sanwo-Olu reiterated that his government would empower women, and ensure that the girl child enjoy her rights in the nation.

    He promised that his government would deliberately ensure that women did their best, have and ensure that females take half of its political posts.

    Read Also: Group mobilises for Buhari, Sanwo-Olu, others in Lagos

    The politician revealed that he ensured that a lot of women were promoted as permanent secretaries, when he was Commissioner for Establishment in the state, and that he would do what was needed to be done to put the women in the right places.

    Earlier in her welcome address, Hon. Jumoke Okoya-Thomas, said that Lagos of those days worked well, had strong values and that the people lived in peace and harmony.

    Okoya-Thomas recalled that the public and private sectors worked together for the development of Lagos, which she said was home to many Nigerians then.

    According to her; “Let us be the thinker, the intellect, the prayer warriors. Let us influence the decisions of the government. Let us all come together to make our Lagos greater. Our Lagos is our future. “Let us as women leaders leave better legacies for generations yet unborn. I am urging Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu to take the inclusion of women seriously.

    “Let us engage Sanwoolu as he has all it takes to move the state forward.

    In her speech at the event, the Lagos State Deputy Governor, Mrs. idiat Adebule appreciated the Women Leader for the programme.

    Adebule stated that the programme was a good initiative, and that it was bringing the women together “to present our candidates, good brands, brands that we can be sure that by 2019 would be Governor and Deputy Governor.”

    Others at the event were the Chairman of the APC in Lagos State, Alhaji Tunde Balogun, the party’s Deputy Governorship candidate for the 2019 elections, Sanwo’Olu’s running mate, Dr. Obafemi Kadiri Hamzat, chieftains of the party and several others.

     

     

  • Ahmadu Bello Stadium not good enough, says Rohr

    Allnigeriasoccer.com understands that Super Eagles’ coach Gernot Rohr has advised the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) to move the venue of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Libya from the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna.

    Contrary to reports in the local media, the Nigerian Federation have not yet changed the venue of the AFCON qualifier to the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, but Rohr expressed his concerns about the Ahmadu Bello Stadium when he met with the leadership of the Nigerian Federation during The Best FIFA Football Awards 2018 in London on Monday, September 24.

    The German football tactician inspected the ABS last month and told Pinnick and his lieutenants that the field he inspected was too small, not up to standard and his players would not be comfortable playing on the turf.

    Rohr told his employers that he expects the Libyan team to be very defensive when they face the Super Eagles on October 12, pointing out that South Africa was forced to a goalless draw because the North Africans were too defensive conscious.

    He added that it would be very difficult for the Super Eagles to get a win on the small Kaduna pitch and that he would have loved the game to be played in Uyo, where the pitch is bigger and the defensive Libyans can be opened up.

    The former Bayern Munich defender stressed the importance of the Super Eagles picking up three points against the Mediterranean Knights as they have two difficult away matches against Libya and South Africa after matchday three.

  • Police, students clash over protest in Kwara

    KWSG releases N125m as subvention

     

    Students of the Kwara state College of Education, Ilorin and a detachment of the state police command yesterday clashed in the metropolis.

    The students staged a peaceful protest against the disruption of their second semester examination by the staff of institution.

    The staff hinged their grievances on the failure of the state government to pay their four month salaries.

    The placard-carrying students started the protest from their campus around Sawmill area through the popular Ibrahim Taiwo road and were heading for the Government House along Ahmadu Bello way.

    On getting to Challenge area, policemen men allegedly shot teargas canisters into the air to disperse the protesting students. Many of whom scampered for safety, it was gathered.

    Speaking on behalf of the students union Ajamiu Mathew said that “we discovered this morning that they were going on strike. As union leaders we have to make some of our consultations, so that we can be able to confront them.”

    Matthew blamed the state government for not meeting the needs of the institution, urging the state government to fund the school adequately.

    Said he: “We are ready to collaborate to make sure we resume back, but what we are just trying to do is to negotiate with the provost, go out and meet the state government so that this will not last long.

    “Let me just be sincere with you I’m a final year student i was delayed in my year one, year two, even I can tell you vividly when I resumed in year three as newly elected executive, we led a protest like this because our lecturers refused to make things available for us, this is going to affect our younger ones if we refuse to help them before leaving the seat.”

    Justifying the workers decision, Kwara state College of Education Staff Union (COESU) Chairman Balikis O Ajoke said the exam would be boycotted until the state government responds to their needs.

    Read Also: Gunmen kill police corporal in Delta

    She added that: “What happens is that we have not been paid our salaries, last year we were owned two month salaries, and the government promised that when they collected all the money from the Federal government they were going to pay us, we waited we were on strike before coming on board of this new provost.

    “We suspended the strike in honour of the new provost, even it looks like betrayal. We have not been paid June, July and this is August, promises upon promises. We have written series of letters, we have had series of meetings but promises and promises to no avail.

    “We felt this is the high time we showed our grievances so that they will hear us, to also let Kwarans know what is happening in Kwara State college of Education Ilorin, we are being owned four and half months, we are not going on strike we are boycotting the exam we are coming tomorrow but we are not going to conduct the exam, we are boycotting the exam totally.

    Reacting, the Kwara state government said it has released the sum of N125million as June 2018 subvention to all the state-owned tertiary institutions.

    In swift reaction, the state Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Mr Abdullahi Alkinla said that the State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed had approved the release of the funds since last week Wednesday.

    He said that immediately the approval was given, the state Ministry of Finance swung into action to ensure that the institutions get the money before Friday last week.

    He, however, explained that the banks could not process the payment of the money until yesterday morning, adding that the funds had dropped into the accounts of the institutions.

    Alkinla further said that the Provost of the College of Education, Ilorin, Dr. Yusuf Abdulraheem had early this morning confirmed to him the receipt of the institution’s share of the money.

    The commissioner therefore described the students protest as unnecessary as government had made good its pledge to make the money available.

  • Court remands varsity students for death of colleague

    A Minna Magistrates’ Court, has remanded three students in prison custody for allegedly beating and detaining their fellow student on suspicion that he stole an HTC handset, valued N32, 000.

    The accused persons are, Jibrin Attahiru and Idris Usman, both of the Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida University, Lapai and one other student, Shehu Abdullahi from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

    The three students were docked on a two-count charge of criminal conspiracy and culpable homicide, contrary to Sections 97 and 221 of the Penal Code law.

    The Police Prosecutor, Sgt. John Steven, told the court that one Mohammed Aliyu, the Chief Security Officer of IBB University Lapai, reported the matter at the station on July 24.

    Read Also: Banker arraigned for swindling customers of N13.6m

    Steven quoted the complainant as alleging that on July 23, the accused persons suspected one Mubarak Sanusi, a student of the same institution, to have stolen an HTC handset, valued N32, 000 belonging to one of them.

    He said the accused persons picked up Sanusi and took him to their lodge, where they beat him up and detained him inside the toilet.

    According to him, Sanusi was said to have given up the ghost on the way to the General Hospital, Lapai, the following day.

    When the charge was read to them, they all pleaded not guilty.

    The prosecutor, thereafter, prayed the court for adjournment, as investigation into the matter was still ongoing.

    In her ruling, Magistrate Fati Auna, ordered the accused persons to be remanded in prison and adjourned the matter until Sept. 3.

  • Sen. Bukar dies at 63

    Senator Mustapha Bukar, representing Katsina North senatorial district, President Muhammadu Buhari’s constituency, is dead. He was aged 63.

    Alhaji Kanta Bukar, the younger brother of the deceased, confirmed the death and said that Bukar died in the early hours of Wednesday at the Nizamiye Hospital, Abuja.

    He said the deceased was survived by two wives and 12 children, including Dr Ibrahim Bukar of the Nigerian Communications Commission.

    He said the deceased would be buried in Daura today.

    Bukar described the death of his elder brother as an irreplaceable loss to the family, the state and the nation in general, stressing he was a bridge builder.

    Malam Ahmed Abdullahi, the Personal Assistant to the late senator, described him as a hard working lawmaker, who represented his people diligently.

    Abdullahi said the district would remember Bukar as one of the few lawmakers who represented the zone with commitment and dedication.

    Read Also: Efficient utilisation of resources should be govt’s priority – Bukar

    The news men reports that Bukar (APC) returned to Nigeria in March after spending one month in the UK on a medical mission.

    Senator Bukar was the second senator to die in weeks, after Senator Ali Wakili, 58, who represented Bauchi south in the senate.

    According to a biographical sketch published by National Assembly, Bukar finished his primary education in Daura in 1968, and thereafter went to Government Secondary School, Katsina. He graduated in 1973.

    He also attended School of Basic Studies in Zaria (1975), from where he gained admission to read Engineering at Ahmadu Bello University. He graduated with Bachelors in 1978.

    After the National Youth Service, he worked as project manager for the Kaduna State Water Board and later as general manager.

    He retired in 2008 as director of Katsina State Water Board.

    NAN

  • Shekarau warns against playing politics with farmer/herders clash

    Shekarau warns against playing politics with farmer/herders clash

     

    As Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation holds a two-day roundtable on the herdsmen/farmers conflict, former Kano State Governor, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau has warned against playing politics with the crisis.

    Speaking to journalists at the occasion in Kaduna on Monday, Shekarau described the brewing crises between herdsmen and farmers, including other social vices as a matters of life and death which should not be politicized, as valuable property and lives are been lost.

    According to Shekarau, “Part of the guidelines to address this issue is to be non political and non partisan . we will not allow any body to politicize this matter, it is a matter of life and death, people are losing lives and properties are been lost , so which politics are you  playing, even you want to come and govern people , if the people are dying and there properties , their houses are been burnt, who are you coming to govern?  So this issue is very important to resolve.

    Shekarau who is the also the secretary of the board of trustee in the foundation said the crises bedeviling the Nigeria will only increase poverty and crumble economy, as there will be no peaceful buying and selling in the country.

    Read Also: Shekarau calls for policy to back online studies

    According to him, “This will affect the economy, because if there is no peace, there will be no peaceful buying and selling and poverty will increase. So its a very serious matter and we are very much concern here at sir Ahmadu Bello Foundation.

    “It is one of the greatest legacies of Ahmadu Bello, which is to unite people, and he travels far and near. There was no conflict no matter how small that Ahmadu  Bello will not even go there to reconcile the matter. This is exactly what we want to uphold and to encourage,” Shekarau remarked.

    Asked whether the the clashes between farmers and herdsmen is capable of affecting the country’s unity, he said: “If there is suspicion, herdsmen being suspected, farmers being suspected to the point of killing one-another, then what do you expect, as a trained teacher and guidance counselor, I know 90 percent of conflict is as a result of suspicion.

    “When any group or any individual suspect that he is being denied his right, and nothing is being done, people take the laws into their hands, and this is partly the reason government must see this thing as it own business totally and the communities, traditional institution, government local government and various organizations every body must own it up.

    “It is not just the issue of herdsmen -farmers, you can see in some communities it has degenerated into tribal, very soon some people will make it like religious, and therefore it becomes a problem of the country,” the former governor stressed.

    In his own remarks, Chairman of the Advisory Council/Chairman Peace Committee of the foundation, Justice Mamman Nasir called on Nigerians to suggest ways of bringing peace into the nooks and crannies of the country.

    Justice Nasir who noted that not only government has the responsibility of ensuring security said, security is a collective responsibility for all Nigerian’s.

    He further urged the Federal Government to fish out the people against the unity of the country because they are destroying the country for their selfish interest.

    Meanwhile, the roundtable discussion was aimed at finding a lasting solution to the farmers/herders and other similar communal conflicts, and rural banditry across the country, particularly in the north.