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Tag: North

  • National confab: North to take common position on issues- Aliyu

    Baring any last minute change the 19 states of Northern Nigeria are set to present a common position at the forth coming National Conference, Chairman of Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF) and Niger State governor, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu has disclosed.

    He said the governors from the region last Monday at its meeting in Kaduna resolved  to take a common position on issues to be raised at the National conference  slated for next month.

    Aliyu who made this disclosure Wednesday  at an interactive session on National Conference with major stakeholders from his state in Minna said that the northern governors also decided to send their best to the Conference.

    According to him, “At our last meeting in Kaduna, we took some positions as northern governors and as states. We have some paramount issues that we want to stand on and we will present it during the National Conference.

    “We also resolved to send in our best to the conference with lots of experience to discuss without fear or favor at the conference and the state delegates will be briefed from time to time in the course of the conference which would start next month”, Aliyu said.

    He argued that the decision of the governors would strengthen the unity and development of the nation.

    The governor saddled the stakeholders with the responsibility of determining the three delegates that will represent the state at the Conference, “We have to send our most intelligent and brilliant delegates. Two men and one woman who will not be afraid to defend the state and the North.”

    He then gave some of the issues to be discussed by the stakeholders which include the structure of government in Nigeria, creation of the office of the Controller of the Federation Account as against the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, State Police, devolution of power, residency and indigenization, onshore and offshore dichotomy, resource control amongst others.

    Aliyu used the meeting to intimate stakeholders of the decision of the state government to institute a State Commonwealth Fund, a prototype of the National Sovereign Fund with a view to preventing the state from going under by making a mandatory monthly saving no matter the state of the nation’s economy.

    “A committee have been set up to look at issues and come up  with decisions on how to make sure that Niger state does not find itself in financial straitjacket.”

    Journalists were excused as the  stakeholders went into a closed door session as Governor Aliyu promised that the newsmen would be briefed after the meeting.

  • North remains home of power in Nigeria – Aruwa

    North remains home of power in Nigeria – Aruwa

    Senator Mohammed Ahmed Aruwa represented Kaduna Central while in the upper legislative chamber and also contested the governorship of the state on the platform of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). In this interview with Tony Akowe, Aruwa, who is now a chieftain of People’s Democratic Party (PDP), gives reasons why President Goodluck Jonathan should contest the 2015 elections. Excerpts

    Alhaji Bamanga Tukur has become a former chairman of PDP, having resigned his position due to pressure.  The PDP, particularly in the north, has lost four governors to the opposition APC, while the party has lost some of its lawmakers to the opposition. Do you think the departure of Bamanga Tukur will bring back peace to the PDP and place the party in a good position to win elections in 2015?

    If we are talking about governors and members of the House of Representatives defecting, I want to say that they are not doing this for Tukur nor the PDP, but they are inviting chaos to the nation and it will affect every one of us. It is only in a country where there is no rule of law that you can take a mandate from party ‘A’ and transfer it to party ‘B’ without regard to the electorate and you expect democracy to succeed. So, when you talk about defection, you expect a ruling party to be in the minority through the whims and caprices of its own members and not the electorate. I don’t think anyone of you should even give credence or support to such act, unless you all resolve that the military should come back. Act, can declare all those seats vacant.

    Let us be honest and look at the problem of internal party democracy within the PDP vis-à-vis the leadership imposition by the same party.  Don’t you think this is enough to encourage defection from the party?

    No, I don’t think so. I thought we are being honest ab initio. So, the point of let us be honest doesn’t arise. Ab initio, we should be honest with ourselves. You will agree with me that internal democracy in all the political parties in Nigeria is lacking.

    Yes, interest groups abound in all political parties. But no matter the problem, at the end of the day, you should sit as a family and resolve it. But where some insist that there will be no resolution, where do you go from there? This is the situation in the PDP at the moment. Yes, there are lapses on the part of the management of the PDP. But two wrongs cannot make a right.

    The situation democracy finds itself in Nigeria, do you think it is proper and right for democracy?

    You answer that. Here is a country that is yearning for democracy and the gladiators are not willing to resolve issues. Who will suffer for that? It is democracy that will suffer. Even with the fanfare in the media, there is a lopsided reportage about all issues. Leaders are bound to make mistakes, and followers are bound to read between the lines and see which is genuine, or deliberate.  Nobody has the monopoly of knowledge, PDP inclusive. But that is not to say that 27 members of a 30-man state assembly will decide to change camp, leaving three of them on the platform that brought them into the house. Is there any sense in that democratically? Whoever the leader is ought to have stopped that because they are challenging democracy. Democracy doesn’t talk, but we should speak and talk on behalf of democracy. When we see anything wrong, we beat the drum and dance about it and the resultant consequences will spare no one of us. It is wrong for any leader to think that people should defect to his side, remove 27 out of 30 members from a state assembly, expect not to be hacking on the fabric of democracy. I don’t think it’s right.

    We were there when you were received into the PDP with a lot fanfare and high expectations. Yakowa, who received you into the party, is no longer alive. Today, we have a new governor and there are lots of complaints by critical stakeholders within the party in the state that they have been edged out. Do you still feel very welcome in the PDP under this government?

    First of all, I must tell you that I didn’t go to the PDP for compromise. It is out of shear volition and the need to unit and not divide. The proliferation of political parties in the country is an instrument of division. So, I felt like belonging to the majority party that is ruling in the north and by extension Nigeria. I looked at the political set up in Nigeria and only in the north, we have pockets of political parties.  I know for sure in the South-West there is only one party; other parties only poach wherever they are. But in the north we are divided not only by political differences, but also by religious differences and tribes. This is my number one reason for going to the PDP. I did not go there as an archeologist or an auditor to audit qualities and proprieties of the personalities that are already in that office.  I cannot tell you that I’m evaluating the qualities of Namadi or anybody else. But as a party, I can tell you where I believe that the PDP needs to make amends in order to satisfy some of its members. I belong to the PDP now and I will be there forever, even if I’ll be the only one. I can assure you that unless you bring angels from heaven, the PDP will still rule come 2015.  I’m very much welcome in the party. When I said the PDP needs to make amends, I was talking frankly because some of the office holders in the party have distanced themselves from the electorate.

    Many northern elders and some members of the PDP from the north are disappointed with the PDP government in Nigeria and want the presidential seat to come back to the north. If the PDP gives the ticket to President Goodluck Jonathan and another party gives its ticket to a northern candidate, what will be the fate of the northern candidate?

    That scenario has happened before, and on two or three occasions, the non-northerner won. I don’t believe that the north should go out of its way and fight because they want to govern this country.  I will say it without any regret and will say it again that the home of power in Nigeria remains in the north. There is no question about it because democracy is about numbers and election is about numbers.  Whoever is ruling today, even Jonathan, I don’t think he got to where he is without at least 25% of votes both from the north and south. Make no mistake, no southerner can be president without northerners and no northerner can become president without southerners. So, I don’t support the idea that any northerner should go over his head fighting that power should come here.  We have a country that belongs to all of us.  We have a non-northerner ruling today and it’s likely that next time, it will be a northerner. It should be allowed that natural movement.  But to force your way just because you are a majority is not part of democracy because democracy still requests that you protect the interest of the minority.  So, now a southerner is ruling and eventually, it will come to the north and at that time, you can now block it from going out. But don’t say you will force your way and that it must be now. If the northerners believe that is the way to run the government or democracy, constitutional democracy for that matter, then goodluck to you.  But that is not the fight we should embark on.  We should work towards reuniting the nation, working together. That’s what democracy is all about. It’s not about you because you have the number.

    What is your take on the position of northerners based on what they said concerning the so-called gentleman agreement on rotational presidency vis-à-vis their perception that the president wants to renege on what they agreed upon in 2011 for him to run for a single term?

    Democratically, it is wrong for them to go into such an agreement. If they are guided by the constitution, they need not talk about that so-called agreement which as far as I’m concerned, is verbal and you’re not a witness to it and the electorate did not witness it.  All those northern elders, I don’t care if they escort the earth to the world, none of them can present a copy of that agreement. They only talk about a non-existent agreement. Even if it exists, it is not democratic. The constitution provides for two terms and the Electoral Act also provides for two terms.  So, the electorate are the only one that can deny you two terms and give you one term or even recall you if need be. So, who gave those elders the mandate to negotiate this non-existing agreement? I don’t know if you have seen it.  You are a journalist and I don’t know if anybody has shown you that agreement. Let me draw your attention to the fact that, sometimes, you members of the press are the problems of our polity. Jonathan inherited two years from Umaru Yar’adua of blessed memory. Jonathan agitated for a six-year single term. The term he was referring to is the two years he finished for Yar’adua and the four years he is serving now.  But we said no.  Can you recall the time he was agitating for a six-year single term? Where was our head at that time?  Were our heads over our shoulders or were they somewhere else?  But now we have said no to a six-year single term and seem to have forgotten that he has a constitutional right to re-contest.  There is nowhere in the constitution that the law bans him from contesting, and he saw it fit to give it a trial. It is your votes that will decide whether Jonathan becomes president or not.

    You spoke confidently about the PDP winning the 2015 elections despite the crisis it is going through right now. What is your justification for this?

    As a member of the PDP, it is good for me to see my party win the 2015 election and I don’t think there is anything wrong in that. In 2011,

  • ‘Delta North has the right to rule after Uduaghan’

    ‘Delta North has the right to rule after Uduaghan’

    Clement Ofuani, a former presidential aide, former Delta State Economic Adviser and Commissioner, Economic Planning, spoke with OKUNGBOWA AIWERIE on the ambition of the Anioma people and sundry national issues.

    What is the purpose of the Lagos platform with Prof. Ephiphany Azinge and other politicians from Delta North extraction with regard to their suspected nursing of governorship ambition come 2015?

    I will repeat what I said that day when it was my time to speak. I told them that this was a coup that they had executed because they called me up and said Prof. Ephiphany Azinge the Director-General, Nigeria Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) will be giving a keynote speech at its seminar on “Political Participation as Vehicle for Economic Development of Delta State” and they would like me to be one of the co-speakers to discourse the keynote speech. I said that if Prof. Azinge is involved in an event like that, I will definitely be there because I respect his intellect and he is my friend. I think he is also friends of eventually all the participants that came and we probably just came there on the strength of that friendship and respect for his intellect. It turned out that they had invited people perceived to have certain political interest to be co- speakers. So, just looking around with our sort of political sensibility, one could eventually presume that they were attempting to organise a mini- debate before a debate. They tried to modify some of the things to say. It is about the stakeholders not about aspir-ants or candidates, which was fair because I do not know anybody who has declared his real political intentions and they made the platform open for us to share our views and perspectives on how to drive economic development in our state. Each of the stakeholders or participants provided their perspectives and their viewpoints. It was left for the audience to take away something from just listening to each and every one of us either in terms of how you spoke, the marshaling of arguments, the sense you were making and your confidence level. There was no scoresheet to determine who came first or second. That, in a nutshell, was what happened.

    But could you relate your views on your strategies to drive the economy of Delta State through the focal theme of that day?

    First of all political participation is about your voices being heard and your voices are heard when you are able to be involved in the process of selecting the policy-makers and lawmakers in your direct relationship with them so that you can influence their day-to-day thinking in terms of economic development strategy. We all know that our economy is a largely agrarian one. In terms of physical structure, we are dependent on oil. So, we needed to discuss how we can move the fiscal revenues of the state away from over-dependence on oil sales to other contributors. I pointed out to them that contrary to what many people seem to think, agriculture today contributes 42 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Unfortunately, it contributes very insignificantly to government’s revenue. The reason these things happen is that the people practising agriculture are doing so at very subsistence level. So, they end up with annual net losses on which they cannot pay taxes. Two, they suffer from post-harvest losses which again, reduces their farming revenue. Then they lack access to market. By market, we mean processing industries; a linkage between agro and agro-processing and the reason there is not enough investment in agro-processing is the infrastructural deficit; which means that if we really have to untangle these economic conundrum, we need to deal with the infrastructure deficit that will drop the cost of doing business and make our industries more profitable. The industries will, in turn, create jobs and also draw along with it the higher demand for agric produce. Therefore, the demand will lead to higher prices and higher revenues for the farmers.

    The point I am trying to make is that there is not a single silver bullet that you will say once I do this it does this. It is a whole network of inter-related policies and legal developments that a leader and policy-maker should be able to envisage; linkage that exists between the policies you are pursuing and various outcome to be able to say this is the policy that will lead to a more perfect outcome for us. It is that capacity to think through the inter-relationships of outcomes and policies that we require.

    If you are saddled with the responsibility of leading the state, what strategy will you adopt as an economic blue- print to industrialise the state?

    Judged from what I have said, it would focus on giving agriculture the premium attention it requires. But it will not come by way of increased spending on fertilisers and farm inputs and small loan to small farmers. It is going to be something that will revolve around prioritising our infrastructural development in such a way that those critical infrastructure that will make our environment more business competitive will be targeted first. They will become the growth tools that will drive every other thing that we are going to be doing. First is setting appropriate priorities and I think that I have proved that I can do that in the past. So, it is now for the people to examine whether this is the kind of future they envisaged. The greatest challenge is power. Now that power is been repositioned through the power sector road map which the Federal Government has faithfully implemented. We expect that the new challenge would be in terms of attracting much power to each state. Now it is no longer a state responsibility to provide power; it is private sector-driven. So, you have to find the appropriate incentives to drive more investment from the private sector into the power sector for your particular sector. Luckily, for us as a state, we have what it takes to attract power providers in terms of power generation and power distribution in our state and we should expect that we can drop the cost of power in our state against other competing states like Lagos. There is no reason the cost of power should be the same around the country because some people are closer to where it is produced and these are some of the things that we must do.

    Then, we also look at the strategies of concentrated industrial development that will significantly drop the cost of doing business because you have common infrastructure for them. These are just policies that you will not directly think that link to agriculture. The truth of the matter is that these things boost industrial capacity and industrial capacity drives agricultural production and that raises farming income.

    The gubernatorial position in 2015 appears to have been ceded to the Anioma Delta North people, going by the comments from the leading lights of the party in the state. Do the Anioma people have a clear strategy for clinching power?

    I will say yes they do and if you look at the choices we have made in the past that would inform that kind of answer or response. First of all, the one political party that has provided us a road map to archieving that aspiration as Anioma people is the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). This is because power rotation is written into its constitution and so it enforces it. You observe that in 2011 election, there was no aspirant from Anioma area that ran for governor because it was expected that Delta South, having started its four-year term, will complete another four- year term under the platform of PDP and in 2015 the Anioma area will take a shot.

    Now the preponderance of view is that this is an equitable expectation of something that ought to happen for the stability of the state and for rapid economic development. This is because it will create a peaceful environment for that to take place. Now the issue will be how do you pick a particular candidate because it has got to be one person from the Anioma area to fly that flag and win the general election. Everything that is being done now is what needs to be done politically to achieve that. There is no time when a senatorial district in the last 14 years has come together to say we are presenting a consensus aspirant. Individuals will indicate interest, some will be convinced by other people that they have the potential. All of these are evaluated through a process that we have all been going through. At the end of the day, some sense will emerge of where the likely pendulum will swing and then one person will emerge. I have often heard that there will be so many aspirants of Delta North extraction as a result. It shows a lack of preparedness and ability to co-operate and co-ordinate. I will simply ask can you find out how many vied for the bye-election into the Senate in Delta Central Senatorial District on the platform of the PDP? It is the same everywhere. Individuals will have ambitions but one person will emerge from the plethora of aspirants. So, it is nothing peculiar to Delta North.

    The PDP has often been criticised for allegedly imposing unpopular candidates during its primaries. Do you share the concern that the best candidates may not emerge through this process?

    I think it will be quite wrong to accuse only the PDP of imposing candidates at any level. It is a phenomenon of a developing political system. The defunct ACN hardly even did primaries and now that they emerged into the APC, you can check what happened in the Delta Central Senatorial District bye-elections. APC did not have party, local government and ward structures and yet they produced a candidate. It is nothing peculiar. What we should seek to do is how to strengthen the workings of the internal democracies of political parties in such a way that they will produce viable candidates for the people to make their choices. First is to ensure that the general elections are largely free and fair because when this is so, any political party that imposes the wrong candidate would lose the election. So, political parties that do not want to lose an election will pick only candidates who they think will help them win an election. This decision can be taken by the party in general, by a caucus and by some leaders. This is how it will always work . Whatever process that is used to select candidates must ensure it produces visionary, viable and quality leadership at all levels.

    In the First Republic, Dennis Osadebay, an Anioma person rose to position of prominence and was Premier of that region. Do you think the present crop of Anioma have what it takes to come close to his achievements in Delta politics today?

    I thinks comparing apples to apples, it will be fair or fairer to ask do we have human capital or leaders or potential leaders in Anioma area that will provide quality leadership that would better what we have received from the other senatorial district in the present time? Osadebay was a product of a different era, a different politics, a different demography and face a different set of challenges. But as for whether we have people of the same intellectual development, with the same level of humane appeal, I think we do. We have several of them who can match him. I would urge people of Delta State to taste or to feel that we can do it. We can provide the same type of quality leadership that will drive Delta State in a direction that would make every Deltan proud.

     

  • Fall of the North

    Fall of the North

    The caliphate and the emirates have declined. Their spiritual fountain is drained. Their political influence has withered. Their command structure is stunted. The foundation of “One North,One People” has crumbled. The Abubakar Saddiq III legacy has been imperiled. All his 50-year efforts to have one formidable north are going down the drains. The House of Sardauna has cracked. The winds are torturing the troubled souls of the mullahs. The people of the North are in disarray. The elite have scattered. The politicians are fighting. The peasants are grieving. The almajiris are grumbling. The haramists are in the trenches running helter skelter. The picture is real and the message is clear: the North has fallen. Its ancestors are crest-fallen wondering if a region whose present is in jeopardy can boast of a future that is politically worthy. The power of the North has gone awry and the Arewa has lost its aura.

    Sir Ahmadu Bello and Sir Abubakar Saddiq III were great visionary leaders of the North whose pertinacious astuteness and political ingenuity were aimed at the consolidation of the Northern hegemony and unity within the complex polity of the Nigerian state. Leveraging on the Uthman Dan Fodio’s enigmatic persona, both men inspired in their followership the imperativeness of protecting and sustaining the vision of dominance. Some people always confuse dominance with domination. Dominance is about relevance and influence while domination is about subjugation and conquest. The intention of these two great leaders, as evident in their populist sentiments and philosophy, was not for the North to dominate other components of the Nigerian state, but to carve a solid political influence for themselves to be able to protect the interests of the North. More fundamentally, these two great leaders were mindful of the incursion of Christianity into their territory. They wanted a North that will remain compact as to guarantee the immutability of their religious character and cultural identity.

    This Northern dominance agenda was sometime encapsulated in the terms of reference of the Constitution Consultative Committee set up by the Northern Elders in February 15, 1986 immediately after the Babangida administration inaugurated the Political Bureau . One of the objectives of the committee among others “was to get the North to generally and in a concerted manner, articulate the form of constitution that would provide stability and project the interest of the North as well as Nigeria. It also identified “the need for the North, as far as possible, to speak with one voice” moreso “in view of the “disadvantageous” position the North has been pushed into”. I do not understand what the Northern Elders meant by “…the disadvantageous” position the North has been pushed into” but I can assert that there was some insincerity in this statement because the only one that should complain of being pushed into a “disadvantageous” position during the military era was the South.

    However, I admit that in the present dispensation, the North appears to be in a “disadvantageous” position politically. But whose fault is it? The North became a victim of its own scheme. One of the members of the military (elite) corps that it trained to protect the hegemony of the north was the one that planted the seed of decline in all that is glorious about the North. The moment Sanni Abacha demystified the mystique of the Sultanate, the entire North became stripped of the myth of inviolability surrounding it. It was clear that the violation of the Caliphate, which for the North was a symbol of spiritual and political authorities, rubbished the personality-cult of the Caliphate and the emirates.

    The cracks presaging the fall of the North were there all along but regrettably, nobody considered them ominous. First was the query issued by Alhaji Abubakar Rimi, the then governor of Kano State, to the Emir of Kano, His eminence, Alhaji Ado Bayero, on July 9, 1981. Next was the dissolution of the Muri emirate, headed by Alhaji Umaru Abba Tukur, by the then governor of Gongola State, Col. Yohanna Madaki in July, 1986 and the climax of these institutional desecrations was the dethronement of the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki by Sanni Abacha on April 20, 1996 after reigning for 8 years. All these were portentous actions signposting the decline of the oneness of the North. But they were discountenanced because circumstances took care of them. The Kano riots, which followed the Rimi’s disrespectful query, the unceremonial removal and retirement of Yohanna Madaki by the Babangida administration and the celebrated death of Sanni Abacha.

    Until the Abacha-Dasuki debacle in 1996, the military overwhelmingly defended and fortified the political interest of the North. It showed massive respect to its institutions and its spiritual leadership and also provided the resources for the training and capacity-building of its civil personnel in a bid to consolidate its grip on political power in all facets. This relationship was not strange. Instead, it reinforces the belief that the leadership of the North, anticipating the future role of the military in Nigerian politics, enlisted their sons into the Armed Forces during the colonial era to ensure that the elite corps of the Army was not only dominated by the North but well positioned to play a crucial role in the political future of the North in particular and Nigeria in general. Unfortunately, while this was going on in the North, the leadership of the South was more interested in the dignity of university education for their own sons whom they were preparing for post-independence political administration.

    Both regions seemed to have achieved the objectives of their strategic planning. Between 1966 and 1999 when the military finally returned to the barracks, the North dominated more than 90 percent of the military tenures, leaving the South with just a 3 year interventionist leadership after Olusegun Obasanjo succeeded Murtala Mohammed in 1976. This was even at the instance of General Theophilus Danjuma, who declined to take over as the Head of State on personal grounds. Otherwise, all the military regimes would have been headed by officers from the North.

    During its many years in power, the military, substantially led by the Northerners as earlier noted, made sure that most of the administrative and civil structures, including the civil service, federal parastatals and agencies were firmly controlled by Northerners, some of whom are still there today or had replaced themselves with those they mentored. Conversely, the south too seems to be dominating the new democratic dispensation since 1999 with the North credited with only 3 years out of the 14 years of the democratic project. And very likely, going by GEJ’s ruthless adventurism and desperation for a second term, the North may have to wait till 2019. Even this contemplation is still in the realm of speculation. Anything can happen to prevent the return of the North to the Centre after Jonathan’s tenure, for instance, the personality crisis brewing among the political class.

    Most states in the North are controlled by the PDP, yet there is intense antagonism and deep-seated animosity among them-a situation that has paralysed the operations of the Northern Governors’ Forum (NGF). The sudden emergence of the New PDP, comprising mostly northern governors and prominent northern politicians, is another sign that all is not well with the North.

    The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) inspired by people like Alhaji Mahmoud Atta to act as a mechanism for political control and continuity is now a symbol of political cacophony. The Forum is gradually sinking into depravities. Disturbed and rattled by the Forum’s present degeneracy, prominent and influential Northerners, who did not want to be part of this mess, have stopped attending its meetings. Some are engaged in shaddy and dirty deals that the government is aware of but keeps as secret for as long as such unscrupulous elders keep undermining the interest of the North to Jonathan’s advantage. Some so-called northern elders have also compromised their principles by flirting with the Jonathan administration at the expense of the collective interest of the entire North.

    The Northern Elders Forum may never regain the sanctity of its past in view of the action of some of its “elders” who have openly sold out their region and its people to the man in power. A rough count of elders from the North belonging to Goodluck Support Group Elders Advisory Council, a new chop-chop outfit put together by Jonathan’s sycophants, showed 30 out of 58 members that make up the Council. What is more, the Goodluck’s Council is headed by a prominent Northerner, Senator Ibrahim Mantu CFR. Lord have mercy!!

    Like the Ohaneze Ndigbo and Afenifere, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has recently been embroiled in credibility deficit, especially when its positions and views on national issues are trailed by inconsistencies and palliative commercialism – a development which can slide it into institutional paralysis. The once credible and unbending forum seems to have been infiltrated by men with “Ghana-must-go” known as political negotiators. For instance, ACF’s earlier stance on Jonathan’s talk show (national conference) was that the North would not participate. The forum had consistently said that since it was not party to those who called for the national conference/national dialogue, it had no suggestion to give the committee headed by Senator Femi Okurounmu. In a dramatic twist, or after some dramatic negotiations, the forum had now urged northerners to participate in the national conference in the interest of “national solidarity”. I hear you.

    It is no secret that there is no love-lost between the political class and the military elite of the North. The political class is evidently not in favour of overlapping functionality and opportunistic professional migration. The politicians are unwilling to admit into their group the military boys whom they believe, and rightly so, had had their own opportunity. This is the problem Ibrahim Babangida and Muhammed Buhari are facing. Though, the masses in the north admire Buhari and have nothing against him, the political elite who determine who gets what do not believe in the choice of the talakawas whom they regard as political nitwits lacking the feudal orientation to determine quality leadership.

    The Boko Haram had exposed the obvious decline in the spiritual authority of the Caliphate and the emirates. The helplessness, inability and failure of the Northern traditional rulers to end the siege of horror by the Boko Haram is an indication of the collapse and ignominy the northern traditional institutions had suffered lately. It is unimaginable that a time would come that the Sultan and the Emirs who had a god-like image in not-too-distant past would be reduced to their present siddon look figures. The Sultan, the emirs and their durbars were impeccable delight for local and international tourists who came from far and wide to watch the sovereigns of the North display the beauty of their power and culture. Aside from the emirs, the Sultan until the fall of Dasuki, was a ruler of adorable imperial grandeur. Such was the majestic aura of the Sultanate that Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki, who ostensibly was the candidate of the North for the presidency after Ibrahim Babangida, had to sacrifice his presidential ambition to become the Sultan of Sokoto in 1988.

    I sympathise with the present Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Dr. Muhammed Sa’ad Abubakar who is occupying the position at a difficult time like this. He needs to be pragmatic. His response is not to wallow in self-pity but to rise to the challenge of restoring the declining grandeur of the Sultanate.

    It was a strategic blunder and miscalculation on the part of whoever imbued the caliphate with both spiritual and political authorities obvious of the fact that a time like this will come when the dynamics of politics will attenuate the influence of the Sultanate in national politics. The myth of power around the Sultanate has been debunked. The political creed of “One North, One People” has been rubbished. Those who thought this political idealism would endure till eternity are living witnesses to its calamitous brevity.

    The fall of the North has nothing to do with their losing power at the centre. It is about political opportunism, mistrust, greed, betrayal and conspiracy of its elite that have been unfaithful to the founding fathers’ creed which binds them together. I am not surprised, these days, the legacy and vision of the dead is immaterial for as long as the living have their own vision especially one with strong commercial viability and potential. It does not matter if such vision is capable of causing the political mutism of the whole North.

    The North needs an inspirational and credible leader with imposing and intimidating profiles in politics and business. A leader who is philosophically and emotionally committed to the Northern cause and will do everything within his capability to revivify the dying vision of their founding fathers. I am in no position to suggest who. Period.

  • Aliyu alleges plot to divide North

    Aliyu alleges plot to divide North

    Niger State Governor, Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu, has alleged that there was a grand design to disunite the north and ensure the zone does not present a common and united front on national issues.

    He stated this yesterday at the formal commissioning of Liberty Radio in Kaduna.

    The governor said that unless the north and northerners wake up, the zone will soon go extinct. He further expressed worry that Northerners were being used by external forces to divide the zone.

    The governor said, “Today, I will disappoint many of you. Having come from this part of the world (the North), we honour and respect agreements and because of that, on September 15, the G7 governors and Mr. President agreed on a ceasefire; that no more public discussions of the problems that are at stake and I am not going to talk about them, because I have to honour the agreement.

    “We have to respect the office of Mr. President; we have to respect the President. But I must say that the struggle of the G7 governors is noble. We have opened the door; the struggle is now for Nigerians.

    “We must go beyond rhetorics and mobilise our people to understand the predicaments that we are in. We must go out to tell our people who are poor, who are waiting for any manna from heaven and waiting for people who have amassed wealth for the campaigns. If we don’t mobilise our people, they will be bought over. So, we must go back to our villages and hamlets to ensure that people appreciate and understand the role they have to play.

    “If we (the North) don’t change our condition, we will become extinct. There is already an attempt to make sure that the north does not present a united cause and the unfortunate thing is that it is not outsiders that are being used to do that, it is the people within.

    “When I received a delegation to withdraw what we are doing and that there is no North, then I said if there is no North, then there is no Niger State. If there is no Niger state, then there is no Minna and if there is no Minna, then there is no Babangida Aliyu.”

    The governor called for the unity of the region, adding that if the North is not united, it will run into a bigger problem, stressing, “We need peace and unity in Nigeria especially in the northern states; we need honest, committed and dedicated leaders in Nigeria, especially in the northern states. Even though we had one Accidental Public servant who did very well, we don’t want accidental leaders. We need leaders who have been prepared and ready for the mantle of leadership.

    “The Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation has been encouraged to set up a committee on behalf of Northern Governors to look and collate all issues and arguments that may come up for discussion at the National Conference. I believe each state will set up similar committees so that we can adopt some positions that may guide our delegates.”

    Meanwhile, the governor also said an agreement has been reached between President Goodluck Jonathan and the G7 governors over the crisis rocking the ruling PDP.

    Aliyu stated that central issue in the agreement is for both parties to cease from making public statements on the PDP crisis.

     

  • North will survive if Nigeria breaks up, says Aliyu

    North will survive if Nigeria breaks up, says Aliyu

    Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu said yesterday that the North will survive in case of a breakup of the country.

    The region, he declared, is not afraid of being on its own as he warned against statements that suggest that the country is heading for a breakup.

    “If Nigeria splits, the north can still survive on its own contrary to the belief of some people in other regions that the north cannot survive if the nation disintegrates,” the Chairman of the Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF), stated yesterday.

    He spoke during a meeting in Minna with members of the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) in his office.

    Aliyu cited some countries in Africa that had disintegrated in recent past, noting that such countries have not gone into extinction rather they have survived and are waxing stronger.

    “No community in Nigeria should be afraid of separation. If some people want to go, they should go, we will survive. We are not scared of separation,” he said

    “The same was said of Niger Republic. Niger was the poorest country in the world but today, if you see oil in Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto and Maiduguri, it would have come from Niger Republic.

    “There is no way Niger and Chad can have oil and improve their economy and the north will not be able to do the same”, Aliyu boasted.

    Although he did not say so, it was believed that Aliyu was responding to threats by ex-militant and Southsouth leader, Alhaji Asari Dokubo that the nation would disintegrate in 2015 if President Goodluck Jonathan is not re-elected.

  • Children urge Fed Govt to stop killings in North

    The National Children Parliament yesterday urged the Federal Government to halt further killings in the North.

    The children spoke yesterday in Abuja at a special sitting of their parliament on Nigeria’s Independence Day anniversary.

    They decried the high level of insecurity in the country and suggested life imprisonment against rapists.

    The Speaker of the parliament, Thompson Idara, who led the sitting yesterday, said the Federal Government need to stop further killings.

    Idara said: “The Federal Government should rise up and address the various challenges facing the children so that they can live to see the future that they have laboured for.

    “The present administration should ensure that the persistent killing of youths should be stopped to safeguard their future.”

    The Minister of Women Affairs, Hajia Zainab Maina, received the parliament’s resolution, which would be forwarded to President Goodluck Jonathan.

    She said no one understood the problems faced by the children better than the children.

    Mrs Maina said: “I have listened with rapt attention to your deliberations and I’m making a commitment to forward your resolutions from this sitting to Mr President for his consideration.”

    The minister urged states that have not passed the Child’s Right Act to do so in the interest of Nigerian children.

  • 17 years after, NRC resumes haulage to North

    SEVENTEEN years after it suspended container haulage from Lagos to the north, the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) has returned to the tracks.

    The event launched in Lagos by the Minister of Transport, Senator Idria Umar represented by NRC Board Chairman, Alhaji Kawu Baraje.

    The first train left APM Terminal Apapa and Inland Container Nigeria Limited for Kaduna and Kano.

    Baraje said this is a landmark by President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.

    He said with development, there would not be congestion on the roads, especially the port access road.

    Also, the corporation is part-nering with the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) to leverage on the activities of the rail sector to create jobs for youths.

    SURE-P Railway Convener, Mr Chike Okogu, said the agency started partnering with the NRC when its rehabilitation of the West-north railway corridor was 75 percent completed.

    He said: “We are definitely not where we were yesterday. We are moving forward.”

    Bareje said President Jonathan’s vision in making transport affordable for Nigerians is working, saying he is confident that the NRC would grow and regain its pre-eminent position as a catalyst in development.

    Managing Director of NRC, Mr Adeseyi Suuwade said the acquisition of the equipment was part of the Federal Government’s continued and sustained drive in transforming socio-economic landscape through a strong rail system.

    “We are demonstrating our ability in expanding our haulage and service level with the flag-off of this train-load of 20 forty foot container wagons from Apapa Wharf to Kaduna/Kano for the Inland Container Nigeria Limited (ICNL),” he added.

     

  • Sule: Failure to uphold Sardauna’s legacy has polarised North

    Nigeria’s former Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN), Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule, has said the neglect of the legacies of the late Premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello (Sardauna of Sokoto) was the major cause of the divisions threatening the unity of the region.

    Sule spoke at a youth parley, under the auspices of Arewa Citizens Action for Change.

    He noted that the unity of the North makes it a formidable force in the country’s political arena.

    Sule said: “I vividly remember that while the Sardauna was championing the activities of the region as the Premier, he was instrumental to the establishment of Northern Association of Christians of Nigeria, before it was generally adopted and transformed into the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). Against this backdrop, it shows that he was a disciple and blood descendant of the late Usman Danfodio and the leader of the Nigerian Congress of Muslims.

    “That was how the North was built, regardless of religious and or ethnic leanings. This ensures that nobody identifies himself or herself with his religion or tribe, instead people were proud to associate themselves with the northern region”

    Also stressed that unless the current crop of leaders in the north are just and fair to all, the disunity in the region will continue to linger.

    He hinted that the dream of leaders, like Sardauna was that Nigeria should be in the rank of developed nations after 20 years, but that dream has since been shattered by the current leaders, whom he described as looters.

    The Danmasinin Kano noted that unless the philosophy of Sardauna is emulated, the country will continue to slide backwards, pointing out that if such anomalies are not urgently addressed, then the nation would be doomed.

    He said Sardauna died as a pauper without an account anywhere or share in any company, but today, the story is different ball game as people are busy treasury looting the treasury by building mansions and palatial palaces abroad, and houses in Dubai without recourse to the poor.

    “We have leaders today as a result of the oil discovery who buy luxury cars for their girlfriends, they imbibe the culture of stealing large amount of monies, who have the habit of building mansions where there is no road network, that is why today Nigeria is still yearning for leaders who are generous, kind and patriotic”.

    The National Secretary of the Citizens Action for Change, Comrade Sani M Daura, assured that his organization is not a political party umbrella, adding that it will resist any attempt by any political gladiator to hijack it.

     

     

  • ‘Middle Belt ‘ll not support power shift to North’

    ‘Middle Belt ‘ll not support power shift to North’

    Former Plateau State Military Governor Major-General Lawrence Onoja is the Chairman, Strategic Mobilisation Committee of the Arewa Consultative Forum(ACF) and chieftain the Congress for Equality and Change. He told reporters in Lagos that the Middle Belt will not support the agitation for power shift to the North in 2015. EMMANUEL OLADESU reports.

     

    What is your reaction to the crises rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)?

    I am one of the original founders of the PDP. I started with the activities in the G34. I was sympathetic to their cause that time, even when I was in uniform and later, it became the PDP. So, I can comfortably say I am an original member of the party. What is happening in the PDP today is not new. It has happened to many political parties. But I believe that the party has got very eminent personalities and respected Nigerians that are willing to ensure that the mechanism provided in the party is effective to settle all the crises in the party. I am particularly glad to hear that somebody like our former respected President Olusegun Obasanjo, who was my General Officer Commanding in 1969 in Port-Harcourt, when I was a Second Lieutenant, is now trying to reconcile the governors. That approach is what I have been waiting for, that such an eminent person would come into the PDP crisis for the benefit of ensuring that there is peace in Nigeria and also for the benefit of assisting the President to ensure that we get what we have always wanted, which is good governance in the country. So, the reconciliatory efforts by the former President are really appreciated by me. And I believe that is what other elders like Obasanjo should do. We all should ensure peace and tranquility. A situation where the President can function effectively and give us the required good governance that we deserve is what is important.

    Do you think the APC, ahead of 2015, can give PDP a run for its money?

    I think that a couple of Nigerians were happy that we are having what is looking like an opposition because, in democracy, you cannot enjoy it without a true opposition. There has to be an opposition for the game to be interesting. What the APC now represents in the eyes of many Nigerians is that, at least, an opposition that may likely be formidable is being formed in Nigeria to compete with the PDP. Whether it would match the might of the PDP as a viable political opposition, that is too early to predict. And I think it probably could in the future, if it does certain things right. The party should present itself as a viable opposition to Nigerians, by saying that it can do better in education, economy. That is what Nigerians want to hear. So, I believe what they should do is let Nigerians know their manifesto; what they would do in Nigeria, in terms of poverty alleviation, what they intend to do with the security situation. Do they intend to do better than what Mr. President has done, the amnesty program, the emergency rule declared to combat the menace of Boko Haram in some parts of the country? Do they have better suggestions? That is what Nigerians want to hear. Even if you are going to criticise the President, let it not be like a personal insult.

    One other issue in the PDP is power shift to the North. Don’t you think it is ripe time to return power to that zone?

    Every group has a right to ask for power, but I believe power is not given that way. You work for it. I want to let you know categorically here that it is not yet time for power to shift to the North. Mr. President has not done his second term. All the other Presidents were given opportunity to do their second term and Mr. President, by virtue of the fact that he is a minority like me, it would be unfair and injustice to stop him from doing his second term. If he finishes his second term in 2019, then, other areas or blocks can now begin to agitate for power shift. I think it is only fair to allow Mr. President do his second term.

    But we understand that the power shift is a Northern agenda and you are from the North

    There is a misconception. The North of the sixties when Sarduana was alive is no long the same North today. Let me correct that misconception. I am from the Middle Belt, which is a geographical reality today. I am an active member of the Congress for Equality and Change, which is a non-political association. I am also a member of the Middle Belt Forum. So, if you say I am from the North, and you are referring to the old North yes, I am from the North. But now, the Middle Belt is a geographical reality and I am a member of the Biddle Belt. I am not from the core North.

    When did the demarcation start?

    The demarcation has been there all along. It is just that the leaders that we had before, had the responsibility of making sure that we work together as the same North. But yesterday is not the same as today. People have been educated, exposed. So, if yesterday some group of persons were dictating to us, today, people will not accept the dictation of anybody again. We, in the Middle Belt are strong enough to go on our own in any situation.

    You said the President should be allowed to go for second term, but people will ask whether it is a question of second term or performance?

    I believe Mr. President is doing well. This is my own opinion. Anybody has right to express his or her own opinion. I believe Mr. President is doing well. Look at the situation, those who have been there before what is extra ordinary in their performance that Mr. President has not done. The President is rehabilitating the railway system which everybody is yearning for and they are very grateful. If he can complete it in a couple of months. The power situation has improved. Look at the steps he took to restore security in some parts of the North. Those steps are welcomed by me and they are very adequate now. While the military are doing what they are trained for, there is a committee on amnesty trying to appeal to those who are belligerent in the North. With time I am sure these things will yield peace and peace is already coming back to the North. We will still have pockets of these militants who will be resisting but after some time with the appeals being made by many Nigerians, and the amnesty committee working, day and night to ensure they attract them. The governor of Borno is already rehabilitating the children of the militants. The military there in Borno are even trying to embark on winning of hearts and minds of the people through pamphlets, through propaganda. So with time what Mr. President has put in place will yield results.

    The agitators for power shift to the North are insisting that there is an agreement that the President would do one term and that the President also confirmed it in Ethiopia.

    I am not privy to any agreement. I do not know, if any agreement was signed. And I don’t think Mr. President signed any agreement with anybody. This is politics. Why there is unpredictability in political events always is because you have the mind as an individual to change your mind, if you do anything depending on the situation. All I am saying is that he should be allowed to do his second term before any group can lay claims to power. I am not privy to any agreement he had with anybody.

    What are your thoughts on the five Northern governors who are not yielding to calls by the party to seek reconciliation using party mechanisms?

    It is unfortunate, if it is true that the five governors are insisting on having their way. I am not in the Governors Forum, but from what we read in the papers, the five northern governors went to Alhaji Bamanga Tukur’s house, which is a show of the fact that peace is returning, maybe because of the efforts being made by our leader, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, to bring peace among the governors. The visit they made to Rivers State is unfortunate. I would not endorse that kind of visit. We believe that, with time, the mechanisms provided by the PDP will solve these issues. Everybody is supporting Mr. President. So, he must be allowed to do his second term. Those governors with time will come back to the fold. It is like a few people who are getting lost in the bush. They will come back to the town.

    Still on the North, will there ever be one North again?

    You cannot precisely give an answer to a political situation. It is difficult to say there will be one North again because in the sixties, due to the leadership provided by Sarduana of Sokoto, from what I was told, because I was in primary school then, I woke up one day to see light and water in my home, Otukpo. Then, we had ministers from our place, but our people say these things were provided by Sarduana. And most of the people working around Sarduana, the Sunday Awoniyi’s and a number of people, were Christians. So, the picture I had as a young man then, was this man is a detribalised leader. This is the kind of leaders we are looking for. Then, the North had the concept of the North. But the times have changed and the, elders we have in the North today are not the same with Sarduana. So, I have my doubts, if the North will be one North again because of events that have occurred between 1960 and now.

    Are you saying that Prof. Ango Abdullahi and northern elders are not speaking for the generality of the people in that zone, in view of perceived anger against President Jonathan in the area?

    There could be anger in certain parts of the North. But there is no anger against Jonathan in my own Middle Belt part of the North. We support Jonathan for his second term. Every group has the fundamental right to agitate for power. The groups that are talking, the Northern Elders, Arewa, they are not political parties. They are socio-political cum cultural associations. So they probably cannot install a President. At best they are talking of supporting a candidate from the North. You don’t blame me for saying that my own people support Jonathan. This is because assuming the power comes to the North today would you tell them to concede power to the Idoma people where I come from because I am a minority in the North and Jonathan is a minority form South South. Why don’t you allow him finish his second term then after that any other group can now begin to agitate for power.

    The argument of some other groups in the North is that the North Central is not marginaliSed as alleged. They say Gowon ruled for nine years and Babangida ruled for eight years and they are from Middle Belt, whereas Yar’ Adua did two years and Shagari did four years plus three months. As such, they believe that the core North still has deficit in the power ratio.

    What about the people that were politically elected from the Northeast in the sixties?Add their own. You mentioned Gowon and Babangida, those were military Presidents. I am talking of democratically elected situation. That is what I am talking about. Gowon was there to serve the country, there was war. I fought the war as a young officer. The Idea was that we wanted the country to be united. So, if he stayed for nine years, it was because of the exigency of the situation that made him to stay there. And in Babangida’s case, it was a military time. I am talking about democratically elected President. Jonathan, having served four years, should be allowed to serve another four years. It is a very simple thing. In 2019, any group in the North can now try towards capturing power. Like you said, if it would come to the Middle Belt, by that time it would be decided by Nigerians and the political parties that are working for the good of this country. It cannot be decided by me and you. But everybody has a right to agitate, even the Northern elders, but we from the Middle Belt support Jonathan and we are saying he must do his second term. I am from the minority. With strict elections in this country, Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo, they keep winning because of numbers. God has brought us somebody from the minority who is now our President. After four years, you are asking him to go and that power should return to another place. I am saying I don’t support it as an individual. I support him doing a second term. And then, after that the power can now go to any where. Then, if we in the Middle Belt want power, we fight for it, campaign for it by telling Nigerians why power must come to us. And, if the core Northern elders want it, they have to convince Nigerians with all the available statistics as to why they want it.