Frontline socio-political groups, the Afenifere, Ohanaeze, the Conference of Ethnic Nationalities (CEN), the Pan Niger Delta Elders Forum (PANDEF) and the Middle Belt Forum, yesterday, flayed the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), the umbrella body for northern non-governmental organisations, over its claim that Nigeria cannot survive without the North.
Chairman of ACF and a former Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Ahmadu Coomassie, while addressing the leadership of the foremost northern women socio-cultural organisation, Jam’iyya Matan Arewa (JMA) who visited the forum’s National Working Committee (NWC) to discuss how to protect children and women in the region from incessant attacks, said the North could not continue to be on the negative footage at all times as it was the case since return of democracy in 1999.
This was even as the Forum called on the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government to end killing and kidnapping of women and children in the region.
According to Coomassie, “we all know that without the North, Nigeria can never survive. We still stand by it. But now is the time to walk the talk in the interest of our people.
“Chibok girls are still missing. Now it has gone to Dapchi in Yobe State, what happened? Are we always going to be the victims? Boko Haram, see what they did to the North-east. They have spread over to the North-central and even to the southern part of the country.
“Should we continue to be regarded in the negative side? No. We are leaders in our own right and we must exercise this responsibility for our people.”
He continued, “whenever there is crisis, women and children are always the major victims. Enough is enough. We are proud that you have come forward to meet us to discuss this issue.
But reacting to the ACF’s claim, the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organization, the Afenifere said no section of Nigeria was more important than the other, even as the Middle Belt Forum and PANDEF said every region can survive independently just as the Ohanaeze restated its call for restructuring of the polity.
Speaking to Daily Sun, the Afenifere spokesman, Yinka Odumakin said no section of the country should assume that other sections cannot be independent of each other. He also described the ACF’s statement as reckless, insensitive and warned that such utterances were capable of pushing the country to the brink.
“Are the herdsmen and Boko Haram terrorists who are killing people from the South? Why can’t they face reality? Why can’t they condemn the activities of these terrorists? It shows the insensitivity on their part. No section of the country should think that other sections cannot leave. Every section of Nigeria is important but no section is more important than the other. They should not task the patience of the rest of Nigeria and they should not push Nigeria to the extreme.
“The comment is very reckless and it is like adding insult to injury. It is a sense of entitlement of a section of the country overrating themselves that has put Nigeria where it is.”
Also reacting, the President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Enugu State chapter, Alex Ogbonnia said: “Ohanaeze Ndigbo has always emphasised the need to restructure the country so that all of us can co-exist peacefully.That is our philosophy and that has been our position. We are not talking about division for now because that does not come within the framework of Ohanaeze Ndigbo. We want a peaceful Nigeria where there is equity, fairness and justice. We want a country where the standard of education is equal and the same for all pupils in primary schools irrespective of the state the person comes from. We want a competence-based society, where justice reigns supreme and not divisions.”
For the Middle Belt Forum (MBF), the concept of one North is an illusion.
According to the forum’s Public Relations Officer, Dr. Isuwa Dogo, “In the first place, there is no monolithic north as it used to be; that does not exist anymore. There is no part of this country that cannot exist as a separate entity. Every part of the country can survive independently of each other. The Middle Belt can even survive better than all other. If we are made a separate country today, all other countries would look forward to coming to the Middle Belt because we have good weather, land, food, mineral and human resources. The Middle Belt is made up of over 14 states including Kogi, Kwara, Niger, Plateau, Taraba, Benue, Gombe, Bauchi, the largest part of Kaduna, Adamawa and Borno are fully in the Middle Belt. There is a difference between the Middle Belt, North Central, North West or North East. The whole of North Central is Middle Belt but you also have parts of North East and North West that constitute the Middle Belt.
“I am not sure that every part of the country ascribes every act of insecurity to the north but as it is, it is very obvious when we say that there is a conspiracy of silence with respect to the insecurity that is going on in the north. In my personal view, I believe these killer herdsmen are not the ordinary herdsmen that have existed with us in ages. These are sponsored jihadists, terrorists and murderers who are killing and I am sure that the sponsors of these people know themselves. A typical Fulani herdsman does not have the resources to buy AK-47 and he cannot train on how to use it. It is not also about the issue of grazing reserves because the killing in a place like Southern Kaduna started in 2011 and we have suffered more causalities than any part of the country and this is still going on till tomorrow.
“If they say the herdsmen are killing because their grazing routes and reserves have been blocked, I ask, do you have grazing reserves in Kogi where herdsmen just killed many people? Are there grazing reserves in Niger, Enugu, Edo, Delta and even Cross Rivers where these herdsmen kill people? There is bloodbath in the country and the authorities cannot claim ignorance of what is happening. I am almost certain that it is the general view of the Middle Belt that these people are terrorists.”
Similarly, the Conference of Ethnic Nationalities (CEN) and the Pan Niger Delta Elders Forum (PANDEF) dismissed the notion that Nigeria cannot survive without the North.
President of CEN, Prof Kimse Okoko and the spokesman of PANDEF, Air Commodore Idongesit Nkanga said Nigerians should not take the statement serious.
According to them, Nigeria should work hard to towards a genuine restructuring along the lines of true federalism for it to survive.
Hear Okoko: “Can the North survive without the South? Personally, I have held the view that for the black race, Nigeria has to stay together. As I have always said, Nigeria has the greatest potential. I have always believe in Nigeria being one. I think it is preposterous for anybody to say without the North, Nigeria cannot survive. We can easily turn the table and say Nigeria cannot survive without the South and where do that lead us? That is not the issue. What we are saying is that unless Nigeria is restructured along the true lines of federal system, we cannot survive as a great nation and that is the most important. It is not possible. That is the most important thing. It does not make sense to me for anybody to say without one part, Nigeria cannot survive. It is not a helpful statement. I can say we should just not take that type of statement seriously. For me, the major interest is to see how we can restructure this. Without restructuring this country is doomed”
Nkanga added: “It is very clear that Nigeria can survive without the North or South. It is just that we look better if we are together, we look strong. We should not bother our head with this kind of statement. If the statement is made in the context of the calls for restructuring, any part can survive without the other.”
-Sun