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Tag: Ango Abdullahi

  • Don’t deny Nigerians credible poll -Ango Abdullahi

    Spokesman of the Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF), Prof. Ango Abdullahi has warned denying Nigerians free, fair and credible election will be dangerous in 2019.

    The former vice-chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Kaduna called on the authorities concerned to ensure credible polls.

    He warned that anything short of that would be an invitation to avoidable crisis.

    “To deny the possibility of fair and credible elections in 2019 will be dangerous for the country,” he warned.

    Abdullahi while briefing newsmen at the weekend in Zaria, Kaduna State as part of activities to mark his 80th birthday, also said the North contrary to insinuations was not averse to restructuring as being perceived in some quarters, noting that the region stood to benefit more.

    He also advocated for parliamentary system of government, stressing the system was more accountable than the presidential system.

    This was just as he added that the presidential system was not only “corruption ridden buy full of impunity”

    The Professor of Agronomy said lack of funding was the major problem militating against university education in the country today.

    The former VC said: “I believe in restructuring of this country. I have always argued that our first big mistake is to throw away parliamentary system of government in favour of the presidential system.

    “Presidential system we know is not for poor countries. It is a sophisticated capitalist based political system that gives special privileges and advantages to the strong against the weak.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • It’s political opportunism- Ango Abdullahi

    PROFESSOR Ango Abdullahi, a prominent voice from the North and one time Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, in his reaction said Buhari’s action is a political opportunism, saying that, the honour was belated.

    Professor Ango Abdullahi said “If the President’s declaration is intended to honour Chief MKO Abiola, I think, it is belated.

    “So, I consider it to be a political opportunism. If there is any democracy day Nigerians should worry about, it should be 1st of October, which marks our Independence Day.

    “So, I think it is political opportunism because it is belated. If not, why didn’t Obasanjo do it, why didn’t Yar’adua do it or even Jonathan?

    “We have had three regimes since MKO’s death and nobody had the right thinking cap to remember the man or to honour him or remember the circumstances of his death until now? That is why I said it is first of all belated and in my own thinking a political opportunism.” He said.

    He also said, even May 29 ought not to be Nigeria’s democracy day.

    According to him, “why was May 29 Democracy Day in the first place? It was creation of Obasanjo. Because that was the day power was handed over to him. But, must that be Democracy Day, when we already have October 1st? But, because Nigerians always like to go on holiday, that is why they accepted Obasanjo’s May 29, which as far as I am concerned is the marking of his own history in the political development of Nigeria.”

  • Herdsmen attacks: Be proactive, Ango tells FG

    Herdsmen attacks: Be proactive, Ango tells FG

    ….urges citizens to be vigilant

     

    Spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) Professor Ango Abdullahi has called on federal and state governments to be more proactive in protection of lives and property of citizens across the country.

    Professor Abdullahi who is also a one time Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria said there was the need for the authorities to take more decisive steps to restore the security of lives and property of citizens especially those that were currently involved in herdsmen/farmer clashes in Benue, Taraba, Adamawa, Kaduna, Zamfara and other parts of the country.

    He also advised the federal security agencies to step up their statutory responsibility of protection of national integrity.

    While he condoled all families and communities that have lost members and property, the Northern Elder urged the citizens themselves to be more vigilant.

    The Professor said, “Our forum recently met to review critical national developments, particularly as they relate to tensions around national security punctuated by killings in many parts of the country, and we condemned it and called for seriousness on the part of the security agencies in tackling the matter.

    “We condoling all the families and communities that have lost members and assets, and we demand the federal and state authorities to take more decisive steps to restore the security of lives and property of citizens.

    “Also all leaders must observe restraint and responsibility in the manner they exercise their powers to shape opinion and determine the responses of the citizens.

    “All communities must maintain vigilance over their relations with each other, and seek solutions that do not involve conflicts which in the end, leave all of us as losers.

    “We at the Northern Elders Forum will continue to seek all opportunities and avenues to engage leaders, governments and all stakeholders in the search for peace and security in the North and Nigeria”, he said.

  • Blame Ohanaeze for violent agitation in South East, says Ango Abdullahi

    Blame Ohanaeze for violent agitation in South East, says Ango Abdullahi

    The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) yesterday said that apex Igbo organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo,should be held responsible for the escalation of violent agitation in the South Eastern part of the country.

     NEF spokesperson, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, stated this in Abuja at a press briefing on the deployment of soldiers in the South East.

     The NEF spokesman also justified the deployment of soldiers in the area, saying it is the responsibility of the security agencies to respond to any challenge threatening the country.

     He said that the soldiers mobilised for Operation Python Dance in parts of Abia State must have been properly briefed by the military high command before they were drafted for the operation.

     The soldiers, he said, must have been told what to do according to the situation on the ground.

     He insisted that Ohanaeze had exposed its tacit support for the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra by criticising and asking the Federal Government to withdraw soldiers sent to the South East to keep the peace.

     He said that by seeking the immediate withdrawal of soldiers from the South East, Ohanaeze has vindicated the action of the Coalition of Northern Youths who gave October 1st deadline for the Igbo in the North to leave the area.

     He noted that even before the escalation of the crisis, they had indicator that showed that Ohanaeze was behind IPOB and the activities of the group.

     He said:“My take is that it is the duty of the security agencies to take on any challenges threatening the peace of the country in whole or in part.”

     The NEF spokesperson said that every right thinking person in the country expected Ohanaeze to come hard on the agitators to stop what could elicit reaction.

    “It is the responsibility of one of the security agents in the country and they have a system of taking command in terms of where they go and where they don’t go, what they do when they get there and so on and so forth.

     “So I take it that the military are where they are now for obvious reasons.

     “I believe the military are there in the North East; they are dealing with issues of insurgency and Boko Haram.

     “I believe we have military personnel in the Niger Delta for various reasons and this particular engagement of the military where the exercise of the dance of the python.

    “Initially, from the information I had,they have always had this. It’s a training endeavour which they sometimes undertake in different parts of the country, depending on the terrain. The few terrains are supposed to test the military competence in whatever reason.

     “My understanding is that while they have gone for that purpose, their presence may not have been welcomed by some sections of society there to the extent that there is a lot of argument and debate as to why they are there.

     “We have not had a lot of details on the physical engagement between the army and some people, so I am not in the position. What I read scantily in the newspapers that there is some clash between the military and some agitators, that has been going on there for quite a while, and I think the military have had instructions as to what to do in terms of what is on the ground there.

     “I remember when our kids and children here, the northern coalition group some weeks back now, getting to two months, reacted to what they considered continuous barrage of misinformation or sometimes insults and abuses and so on, coming from a source that has been doing this for the past two to three years, and they reacted that this should stop and they were hoping that somebody somewhere, who is held in position of respect by those engaged in this endeavour, would tell them to try and stay away from things that would agitate reaction from somewhere.

     “But apparently, this didn’t happen. And now Ohanaeze, which is supposed to be an umbrella body of Ndigbo, have come out with open criticism about what is happening on the ground, particularly criticising the federal government and in extension the army for doing what they are supposed to do in terms of keeping the peace in the country.

     “I understand from what I have read in the papers that they have demanded that the military personnel be withdrawn from their areas. So, to me, their reaction is now a vindication of what our boys have complained about some months ago. It is a vindication because when the boys reacted and here in the north, maybe by virtue of our own tradition and culture, some of our leaders and elders came out in open condemnation of these young people.

     “I was one of those people who do not and in fact I said I supported them because of the apparent lack of concern shown by somebody who is supposed to be in the position of leadership to control some of these excesses.

     “It was later when this quit notice was given that some people started talking that they are not part of this, that they didn’t support or encourage this.

     “Now that Ohanaeze is coming out to say that on the side of this, in fact against the government and the military operations that is supposed to be official, it suggest to me that all along,that they have been behind or encouraged these agitations.

     “Even before now, we had indicators to believe that the elders we thought will restrain some of this.

     “Even before now we had indicators to believe that the elders we thought will restrain some of these things have always been behind them because we saw what happened when Kanu got his bail.

     “We knew who were behind the struggle for his bail and the convoy that escorted him home. People in the highest position have always been behind them because we saw what happened when Kanu got his bail. We knew who were behind the struggle for his bail and the convoy that escorted him home with people in the highest position, some of them with the highest position of responsibility in the country.

     “That was enough to say all along, this young man must have had the support of his people, including the elders among his people.

     “This is the conclusion that you can only draw from the reaction of Ohaneze. Because if the Northern Elders Forum for whom I spoke at the time, my leader was quite angry with me when I declared support for the boys.

     “Paul Unongo, who was deputy to Maitama Sule before his death, came out to say I did wrong by declaring support for these boys.

     “This is an indication that since we have a system of people who are elders and leaders, there are certain things that perhaps you will do, somebody older or ahead of you in whatever organisation you operate will say no, no.

    “And I can tell you this several times when some of these things would arise and the late Maitama Sule would call us in and say this is not the way to it; even if you are angry, just go and cool down; just let it pass. And this is what we expect to be happening all around the country, and this is the respon

  • Ango Abdullahi’s patrician airs

    Ango Abdullahi’s patrician airs

    LAST week, Ango Abdullahi, a professor, former vice chancellor, and chairman of the Northern Elders Forum, met with the unprepossessing Oil and Solid Mineral Producing Communities Landlord Association of Nigeria (OMPALAN) in Zaria where he talked down to the Igbo, lecturing them on the unrequited love of decades past. The professor had openly endorsed the June 6 three-month ultimatum given by a coalition of some northern youth groups to the Igbo in the North to quit the region before October. The public had thought the youths were a coalition of grandstanding and self-appointed northern representatives who had not thought the ultimatum through. But Prof Abdullahi, who was the most notable name and face to endorse the youths, and drew flak for that political rashness, disabused the minds of sceptics.

    Why OMPALAN saw in the genial but outspoken professor a man to, in a manner of speaking, negotiate with over the controversial Kaduna ultimatum is hard to say. But he not only gave audience to the group led by a certain Bishop Udo Azogu, he also put on his best patrician airs to lecture his guests on how the Igbo must requite the love shown them by northerners during the civil war. By speaking almost wholly about the Igbo, it seems the professor assumed that OMPALAN must be made up mainly of that ethnic group. Not only that, while talking of the gratuitous help given the Igbo between 1967 and 1970, especially in contrast to what befell the Igbo in the South-South during the same period, he said nothing about the equally gory and counterbalancing fate that befell the people of the Southeast during the pogrom that preceded the war. But perhaps that was of small matter.

    Judging from Prof Abdullahi’s serpentine remarks, the northern youths had the full backing of their elders to speak harshly to the Igbo, assuming and presuming powers neither the constitution nor the laws of the land conferred on them, to wit, expelling any Nigerian from any part of Nigeria. One of the leaders of the youth coalition even indicated in multiple interviews that they had the backing of their elders. From Prof Abdullahi’s remarks, it is not hard to see why. According to the former vice chancellor, the grouse of the youths, and obviously of the elders too, is that Igbo leaders failed to check restive Igbo youths in both the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) pursuing separatist agenda. To the professor, it was unacceptable, almost as if the Southeast’s self-determination campaign was targeted at the North exclusively.

    ”I am particularly worried that notable political leaders in the Southeast like Dr. Elex Ekwueme, Emeka Anyaoku, Jim Nwobodo and Mbazulike Amaechi, among others failed to speak out when the ovation was highest, but kept mute while the new Biafra agitation spread like wildfire and raged on,” growled Prof Abdullahi. Alluding to previous political alliances between the North and the Igbo, but in the process misreading and misinterpreting history, the professor moaned: “In the Second Republic, Dr. Alex Ekwueme was supported by the North to become Vice President to Shehu Shagari. This is the kind of relationship the North always wanted to resuscitate despite the setbacks it suffered from the three years of civil war. We felt that Zik made the first political sacrifice in this country by conceding the position of Prime Minister to Tafawa Balewa. He fought for independence, floated the Pilot Newspaper to fight the British and was well experienced and qualified to be the Prime Minister. But he sacrificed for a united Nigeria.”

    Snivelling at the apparent indifference of Igbo elders to the separatist campaigns of IPOB and MASSOB, and in the same breath justifying the support given northern youths by northern elders, Prof Abdullahi summed up: “…So we felt the Igbo elders were behind the Igbo youths. When Kanu was released, a convoy of Igbo political class accompanied him. During the Civil War… part of our grouse against the Igbo was their failure to appreciate the love shown to them by the North after the Civil War by returning all their abandoned properties to them in addition to rents collected on their behalf by various caretakers assigned to supervise the affected properties. This is a favour they (Igbo) could not get from their South-South neighbours, who confiscated their (abandoned) properties in Port Harcourt and other Southern cities. The Igbo should reciprocate the gesture of the North by supporting them politically rather than turning their back against them when they need them.”

    No one is now surprised that the law enforcement agencies failed to question, not to talk of arrest, the northern youths for giving the Igbo an ultimatum to quit the North. Indeed, from all indications, the matter seems to have assumed a certain quirkiness that has led to many southern leaders abjuring self-determination in order to curry the rescindment of the northern ultimatum. This is partly because, somehow, the narrative has been shaped in such a way that the campaign for self-determination, which the constitution is not averse to in principle, has been equated with the ultimatum proclaimed in Kaduna in clear breach of the law. The IPOB/MASSOB self-determination campaigns may be badly framed and badly led, but it is nothing compared to the sheer patrician display by northern youths with the open endorsement of many northern elders.

    Prof Abdullahi and some other northern elders in fact detected that the new narrative had tilted the balance of opinion against the Igbo. Consequently, they have stood their ground, and even gone on to exploit the advantage it conferred to the hilt. No one talks of the indiscretion of the northern youths anymore; and no one talks of the failure of the law enforcement agencies to interrogate the proponents of the Kaduna ultimatum. Everything, it seems, is about IPOB/MASSOB leaders and their objectionable style and tactics, both of which have been checkmated by adverse public opinion and the condescending speeches from the North designed to show the Igbo what they stood to lose in the event of separation.

  • Quit notice: Northern youths urge FG to arrest sponsor promptly

    Quit notice: Northern youths urge FG to arrest sponsor promptly

    •He’ll fly out if war breaks out

    A group of youth from the north is up in arms with Professor Ango Abdullahi, spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) for supporting the quit order against the Igbo residing in the north.

    The Northern Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) wants him arrested by the federal government for what it called his reckless and inciting statement.

    The group, at a press conference in Kaduna yesterday, said that Abdullahi would jump into the next available plane out of the country should there be violence caused by the quit order.

    President of NYCN Isah Abubakar said  the ‘Kaduna Declaration’ did not in any way represent the collective voice or decision of any legitimate coalition of youth groups from the region as the council remains the apex youth organization that has  right to announce any resolution of youths from the region.

    Isah was shocked that some people could be working to cause crisis in the country at a time when government is working hard to restore its fortunes.

    He dissociated NYCN from “anti-Nigeria agenda’’ and  said government should order Abdullahi’s arrest and other people who are issuing inciting statements capable of throwing  the country into another civil unrest.

  • Ango Abdullahi spoke for himself—Northern Elders

    Ango Abdullahi spoke for himself—Northern Elders

    The Deputy Leader of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Elder Paul Unongo, has said that Prof. Ango Abdullahi is on his own in backing ignorant youths.

    Unongo said the Northern Elders Forum could not have adopted the position of ignorant youths who were not there when Nigeria lost three million of its citizens to the civil war they fought to keep the country as one united nation.

    Unongo said: “I am the Deputy Leader of the Northern Elders Forum and Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Sule is the leader. So, only the two of us can speak for the forum on sensitive matter like this.

    “Therefore, if Professor Ango Abdullahi is backing those ignorant youths, then he is speaking for himself.

    “We cannot support the nonsense those boys said. We fought civil war with our blood to keep Nigeria one. So, any Nigerian can live in any part of the country he feels like. Igbos are welcome in the North. They are welcome in Yoruba land and my own village in Tiv land, and they have the right to pursue their daily bread and own property.

    “We couldn’t have killed three million people to keep Nigeria one and come back and allow these kids (the Northern Youth Groups) to insult our intelligence. We knew why we fought the war. We knew why we killed the people we loved. We knew why we made the sacrifice of three million men dead. So, Northern Elders Forum cannot take same position as those young men, if at all they took a position.

    “So, if the young men cannot build a nation, they should not destroyed the one we put our lives on the line to build for them. We cannot allow young men who did not fight the civil war with us to destroy our country, because Nigeria cannot afford another civil war,” he said

  • … as Ango Abdullahi backs Arewa youths, lambasts northern govs

    … as Ango Abdullahi backs Arewa youths, lambasts northern govs

    Northern youth organisations, who issued a three-month ultimatum to Igbo resident in the North to quit, yesterday got the backing of former presidential adviser, Prof. Ango Abdullahi.

    Abdullahi, a former vice chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), also lashed out at northern governors for disowning the northern youths who issued the threat.

    The Senate, on its part, cautioned against the wave of separatist agitations in the country, declaring the country’s unity non-negotiable, just as the Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Abdulmumin Kabir, said he was prepared to shed his blood to protect all the Igbo and other non-natives residing in his domain.

    The emir branded those who asked the Igbo to quit the North as enemies of peace and should be ignored.

    In Katsina State, Governor Aminu Masari assured the Igbo of their safety in the state.

    They have nothing to fear, he told them yesterday, just as the Igbo apex socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze, said the Igbo have “no reason to go to war unless they are irreversibly pushed into it.”

    Deputy Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze, Comrade Chuks Ibegbu, said in a terse statement that Nigeria does not need another civil war.

    Prof. Abdullahi, who addressed reporters in Zaria, said he saw nothing bad in the quit notice issued by the northern youths to the Igbo residing in the region.

    His words: “Recently, people from the eastern part of this country, specifically the Igbo, were busy calling for the Sovereign State of Biafra, and from all indications, their leaders, including governors, are behind them.

    “Whoever feels Nigeria is not conducive for him or her, let him quit. So, to me, what the northern youth groups did was not a sin.

    “Nnamdi Kanu was released on bail recently. Over 100 vehicles escorted him to his residence, including big personalities from the Southwest and Southeast.

    “This is somebody who has been agitating for the breakup of Nigeria, but his people are behind him.

    “Therefore, I am behind the youths. This is because the Northern youths have been pushed to the wall. We have been calming them down in any event similar to this.”

    He said it was hypocritical for the Igbo to continue to enjoy the hospitality of other Nigerians while watching their kinsmen agitate for the breakup of the country.

    He expressed anger at the statement issued by northern governors disowning “these young, agile and progressive youth groups.”

    He added: “Let me ask these northern governors: who are they representing? Are they representing spirits, ghost or people of the North?”

    Abdullahi said the South should stop believing  that the North is cheating the rest of the country, saying: “Please, look for a book written by Adamu Fika, the Waziri of Fika, on Nigeria’s budget before and after independence.

    “Each year, up to the time Nigeria gained its independence, none of the two regions was able to provide for itself. I mean none of the western and eastern regions had the money to effectively run the affairs of its region until they got financial support from the northern region.

    “The tradition remained during the colonial masters and nothing changed after they left the country. The same money from the North was used to construct Nigerian Railways, refineries and other facilities.

    “The first oil exploration was conducted with money from the groundnut pyramid, cotton, hide and skin among other cash crops from northern Nigeria. But these people tend to forget all these goodies provided by the North towards ensuring the unity and corporate existence of Nigeria.

    “They always look down on us, feeling that Northerners are parasites in this country.”

     

    North-based Igbo unperturbed

    Meanwhile, the Igbo leaders in the North have said they are unperturbed by the quit notice, particularly because northern governors have disowned the youths.

    A swift response came from the President General of the Igbo Community in Kaduna, Mr. Chris Nnoli, a lawyer, who said “some boys cannot threaten us out of the North.”

    Nnoli said although the quit notice initially caused tension among the Igbo community, “we became relieved by the wide condemnation that trailed the youths’ declaration.”

    He added: “Governors and other leaders from the North have assured us of the safety of our lives and property, and that has doused the tension.

    “We have told our members to continue with their legitimate businesses without fear, but at the same time to be vigilant.

    “Majority of us have stayed in the North all our lives, and we have more friends here than at home. In fact,there are some Igbo who don’t know their villages. So, where do you want such people to go?

    “We have inter-married with northerners and we enjoy cordial relationship. So, some boys cannot threaten us out the North.”

    Kaduna State Commissioner of Police, Agyole Abeh, said the youth leaders who signed the Kaduna Declaration had gone into hiding.

    But he said his men were making effort to fish them out and bring them to book, as directed by the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris.

     

    Nigeria’s unity not negotiable – Senate

    Senate President  Bukola Saraki, who yesterday used the occasion of the second anniversary of the inauguration of the Eighth Session of the Senate to speak on the wave of separatist agitations in the country, said  the unity of Nigeria was not negotiable and warned the agitators to stop forthwith.

    Senator after Senator had at the special sitting asked the Red Chamber of the National Assembly to take a position on the matter.

    While commending the lawmakers for their cooperation in ensuring that the challenges faced at the outset were overcome, he added that the Senate would in the same unity ensure that Nigeria was not divided.

    He said: “The Senate must stand clearly to defend one Nigeria. There is no room for division and we must live by example. The next two years will be more challenging, but we must stand together.”

    The Chairman Committee on Army, George Akume, said the Senate must rise up to make a statement condemning the various agitations in parts of the country.

    He said if the Senate kept quiet in the face of the agitations, it would be failing as a major part of the legislative arm of government.

    “We must rise up to make a statement on what is happening. We will be failing if we do not do something that will reassure the people on the need for one Nigeria.

    “We are greater being together than going our separate ways,” he said.

    Chairman, Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debt, Shehu Sani, said it was time the Senate spoke vehemently against the agitations engulfing some parts of the country.

    According to him, the next two years would be a challenging one and the Senate must not be seen to be indifferent to the challenges confronting the nation, particularly calls for secession.

    “It is not what we say about ourselves that matters but what history has to say about us.

    The Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio, asked Nigerians to unite against forces that are out  to cause disunity in the country.

    He said Nigerians were looking forward to the leaders at all arms to deliver the dividends of democracy, adding that leaders should look beyond party affiliation.

    “I remind you that after an election, there are people to govern. The Federal Government should avail itself to all Nigerians so that we do not create insecurity in some parts of the country,” he said.

    He congratulated the security agencies for stemming the tide of violence in the country and urged them to do more to ensure the security of lives and property.

    Akpabio further commended the leadership of the Senate, particularly Saraki, for leading the upper chamber through all the challenges it faced in the last two years.

     

    Emir of Katsina: I’m ready to shed my blood to protect you

    The Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Abdulmumini Kabir, said yesterday that he was ready to shed his blood for the purpose of protecting all Igbo and other non-natives resident in his domain.

    He branded the Northerners asking Igbo people residing in that part of the country to quit as enemies of peace.

    The Emir asked the Igbo and other Nigerians residing in Katsina to ignore the threat and continue to live in harmony with their neighbours.

    He said Nigeria would continue to remain one in spite of its multi-ethnic diversity.

    Kabir spoke while receiving a delegation of Igbo leaders and other Nigerians resident in Katsina in his palace.

    He said: “I am responding to the quit notice given to some Nigerians residing in the North by some group of people who are enemies of peace.

    “Here in Katsina, I am ready to sacrifice my last drop of blood to ensure peace and protect all Nigerians residing in the state.”

    The emir urged the different communities residing in the state not to panic as the Emirate Council and state government would take all necessary measures to ensure peaceful coexistence.

    He said: “You are Nigerians, because some of you were born here and you don’t have better place than Katsina.

    “So, continue to conduct your lawful business activities. We are behind you.

    “You are my sons and daughters like any other person. Katsina is your home, so, feel free do not go anywhere.”

    The emir also urged them to continue to pray for peace and unity in the country, to ensure sustainable development.

     

    War not part of our agenda —Ohanaeze

    The apex Igbo cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, said the Igbo, for now, have no intention of going to war.

    The Deputy Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze, Comrade Chuks Ibegbu, said in a terse statement  that “there will be no war”.

    “They (Igbo) have no reason to go to war unless they are irreversibly pushed into it.

    “But we hope it does not get to that level. Social justice, equity and fair play is what they need. War is an aberration.”

    The Eastern Consultative Assembly (ECA) said it is idiotic for anyone to talk of war in this age.

    Secretary of the group, Evangelist Elliot Ukoh, said: “It is very idiotic to talk of war. Those who want war will see it, and let them prepare to face it.

    “Although Nigeria is hell fire for the Igbo, all the Igbo want is peaceful referendum on how to partition Nigeria so that every part will develop at its own pace.

    “The way the military structured the country is not working. The situation put in place by the military is unworkable. We need a peaceful referendum and not war.”

  • Northern elders to Osinbajo: Be wary of mischief makers

    Northern elders to Osinbajo: Be wary of mischief makers

    The Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF) on Thursday in Kano urged Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to be wary of mischievous elements plotting to overheat the polity by taking advantage of President Muhammadu Buhari’s absence to achieve dubious political goals.

    NEF, in a communiqué issued at the end of its two-day emergency meeting in Kano, also warned those seeking undeserved political advantage to desist from such moves.

    The Forum said the North is conscious of its obligations and rights and will not hesitate to discharge and defend them without reservations.

    The communiqué signed by NEF Deputy Leader, Chief Wantaregh Paul Unongo and its Spokesman, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, said the group is  aware that attempts are being made to exploit the absence of President Buhari to achieve dubious political goals.

    It, however, advised Osinbajo to “exercise responsibilities as he did in the past with commitment, sensitivity and respect for the constitution.”

    “We urge him to ignore mischief makers which seek to pitch him against the President or the Nigerian people whose mandates they both exercise.”

    “The task of governing the nation will continue uninterrupted until the return of President Buhari. We therefore appeal to all persons with responsibility to cooperate fully to sustain a united, focused and committed administration.

    “While commending the sterling contributions of Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, in providing the necessary leadership to stabilize the polity, we appeal to the executive and legislative arms of government to work together to pass the 2017 budget without further delay,” the Forum stated.

    NEF aligned itself with the ongoing campaign against corruption in the country, saying “we also expect that the war against corruption will not suffer a setback and current investigations and activities will not be stalled due to the absence of President Buhari.”

     

  • Ango Abdullahi on zoning

    SIR: Nigerians should be grateful for the life of someone like Prof Ango Abdullahi, an elderly man who is interested in Nigeria’s political order and decorum for peace and progress. He recalls in an interview with Daily Sun, recently, how “the PDP had agreed that the presidency should be rotated between the north and south”, and he “thought that everybody should be happy with that.”

    I was extremely happy, because lack of political order led to the Civil War and the annulment of the 1993 free and fair presidential election, thereby retrogressing Nigeria politically and otherwise. But, as Abdullahi said in the interview, “Obasanjo tried to side-line it when he was seeking a third term in office”, but thanks to all the forces that mobilized against him, the move was frustrated.

    Even then, as the Prof recalls, after Obasanjo’s eight years when it was to be the turn of the North, rather than allow the region to decide who to choose, Obasanjo “came and picked Umaru Yar’Adua” who “was not elected by us”, and “some of us initially kicked against it, but we were told by our elders to keep our cool and since Umaru is there, a northerner, so be it.”

    The worst came after Yar’Adua died, and Obasanjo “argued vehemently that Jonathan should continue as president against the zoning arrangement”, Jonathan “came out denying knowledge of this zoning arrangement.” The elderly statesman was pained that “Even Obasanjo did deny that there was zoning. So there is this complete break-down of trust.”

    This is my plea to northern elders and Nigeria’s leaders of thought, generally. Let’s go back to the drawing board of rotational arrangement. As the Professor admits, the earlier arrangement was that of a political party, namely, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). This time, we should not leave the matter to only the All Progressives Congress (APC), but mobilize all who believe that a nation like Nigeria cannot survive on the basis of survival of the fittest, without an established order, rooted in the nation’s constitution.

    Denial and truncation were possible because it was not in the constitution. The south felt marginalized by the north. That was why the north conceded the first shot to the south, and Obasanjo from the South-west got it, while he worked against the North-west’s second term that the South-west enjoyed. Key political offices should rotate zone-to-zone, north-south, vice versa, and not just north-south, in a confused manner. In 2019, we should start with South-east, and then Northeast after eight years only. Opportunism and survival of the fittest exploited by Jonathan should be blocked. Ordinarily, that isn’t done in traditional Africa!

     

    • Prof Oyeniran Abioje, PhD,

    University of Ilorin.