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Tuesday, 02 December, 2008 03:28 am
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| Babangida Aliyu: Where Is The “One Nigeria”? |
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| Written by Odimegwu Onwumere | ||||||
| Wednesday, 30 July 2008 | ||||||
     The unedited statement credited to the governors of the 19 northern states declared on the 28th July 2008, stating that the northerners can survive on its own with or without proceeds from oil, calls for probe, as there is undertone signifying danger and nursed aggrieveness in it against the South. They are now maintaining that all they needed was to develop the agricultural sector they relegated to the background for years pursuing no other revenue in Nigeria other than the oil? What a heck! According to reports they governors also debunked claims that the people of the North are parasites on other regions in the country, alleging, however, that the collapse of industries in the region was part of international conspiracy against the North. It was the Chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum (NGF) and governor of Niger State, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, who stated this? Aliyu whose headship of the governors of the 19 northern states is questionable? According to reports, that were made while speaking at the first northern agricultural summit held at the Arewa House, Kaduna, Aliyu added that the north has the capacity to solve its problems and do better through agriculture and education. One may ask, and not Nigeria? Through the Adamawa State Governor, Vice Admiral Murtala Nyako, we heard another abashing statement; it was noticed that the north are lamenting and calling on the federal government to develop the north because of its vast and functional lands. And one wonders were the South were in the development of the Nigerian polity, especially the Niger Delta region. But was it not true that, against the backdrop of complaints from the people of the Niger Delta, that those northerners are parasites who depend on oil from the region to develop their areas at the expense of the oil-producing areas if they could allow the agriculture known of them to wallow the road of Golgotha? Hear Aliyu: "The future of the north lies in our hands, and we should today begin to shape her destiny. As a Nigerian of Northern extraction, I feel very unhappy when someone describes me as a parasite because of oil, when I know I have the capacity to solve my problems, and probably do even better through agriculture and education”. But how true is this statement? Aliyu and co. should have made consultations of Gowon, Buhari, IBB, Abukakar and find out how many trillion dollars that were expended into foreign accounts when they were dictatorial Presidents before the gibbering they have made. And since Aliyu and the North knew that they have arable lands why did they abandon the so-called agriculture that was known for the North if not for the quest for petrodollar? And Aliyu who has recently been shameless in talking loquaciously had the audacity to say: "Most of the plants have been probably sold to Asians who in turn shut them down as a part of international conspiracy to turn the north into dumping grounds for their goods and products while our farmers fold their arms in hapless confusion”. He continued: "We need to examine the issues that led to de-industrialization of the north, whereby many of the northern industries have been closed down with attendant consequences for the social security of our people. For instance, we need to be very clear on why the two tractor assembly plants located at Kano (tractors) and Bauchi (Styre tractors) are today shut down, or why most of our textile factories are out of business. Our fertilizer plants are producing below installed capacity or have been shut down, thus making the commodity expensive and inaccessible. We must continue to find answers to the question: what went wrong?” Against the above equivocal statement, a question could be asked Aliyu to tell Nigerians on what the north were living on since he believed that all they the north had were sold to foreign countries if not oil. And his partner in the “Northern Unification”, Nyako, could not hide his face in shame but said that the time had come for "the North to wake up and correct the erroneous impression that we are seen as economic parasites"? So the North was sleeping before? It is shameful that Vice Admiral Nyako is just understanding the plight of the Nigerian child when he said, "no nation has ever enjoyed lasting peace and stability, or could ever survive when only a few of its citizens wallow in wealth and affluence at par with the rich of other nations, while the rest of its citizens are entrapped in poverty," adding that, "the simple truth is that the above reality obtains more in the North than other parts of the country." Can anybody ask him how he won the re-run election in Adamawa, as PDP candidate during that election? Hear him again: “Available infrastructure is decaying by the day. The scope and quality of education in the North, including acquisition of basic skills are declining with amazing rapidity. Resulting from the above, the levels of poverty in the Northern states are reaching legendary dimensions. The plain reality is that poverty in Nigeria today is almost exclusively a Northern preserve.” Even the Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources, Dr. Sayid Abba Ruma, who does not understand what it meant to be a Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources also said that the federal government would from next year stop the procurement and distribution of fertilizer to farmers? Farmers from the South? But it is saddening that Dr. Aliyu who is a academician once said that he would not abide to the Teachers Salary structure in the Niger State, is today blaming what he calls the foes of the North on education. Wonders shall never end in Nigeria. And one believes that this is not another gang up against the people of the South, because that was the rumour that led to the mutilation of Ndiigbo in the North, before the brewing of the 1967 civil war. Odimegwu Onwumere, poet and author, is the founder, Poet Against Child Abuse (PACA), Rivers State. +2348032552855. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it  Quote this article on your site | Print | E-mail
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