“The new nation called Nigeria should be an estate of our great grandfather Othman Dan Fodio. We must ruthlessly prevent a change of power. We use the minorities in the north as willing tools and the south as a conquered territory and never allow them to rule over us and never allow them to have control over their future.” – Sir Ahmadu Bello, Sardaunan Sokoto. Parrot Newspaper October 12, 1960.
Sir Ahmadu Bello, Sardaunan Sokoto and the then Premier of Northern Nigeria was quoted to have made the above state barely eleven days after the Nigerian independence in 1960.
The mind set of an average Hausa/Fulani Muslim is that the Nigerian Federation is still the estate of Usmanu Dan Fodiyo most particularly former Northern Nigeria. That is why they can claim that their ancestors founded all the towns and villages in Northern Nigeria.
Look at the emirate system for example; what is the justification for towns and cities like Kafanchan, Keffi, Jalingo, Lafia, Zuru, Mubi, Biu, Bauchi, Birnin Gwari, Ilorin, Borgu Wase, Askira/Uba and many other towns and cities like having emirs as their traditional rulers?
They even want to have an emir in Jos! ( Jesus Our Saviour)
This is far worse than the apartheid system abolished in South Africa twenty years ago.
My readers may wish to know that the above towns belong to other tribes in the North rather than the Hausa/Fulani
For example, Kafanchan belongs to the Bajju people formerly called Kaje.
Mubi belongs to the Fali and Gude people.
Keffi belongs to the Gwari people.
Lafia belongs to the Eggon people.
Biu belongs to the Burra and Babur people.
Kaduna belongs to the Gbagyi people.
All effort by the above tribes is claim their traditional stools is resisted by the Hausa/Fulani supremacists.
The national conference/dialogue must address the emirate system in Northern Nigeria. Every tribe that desires to have their Chiefs and Kings must have them.
That was the type of injustice Dr Nelson Mandela of blessed fought against in South Africa.
The Hausa/Fulani supremacists like Dr Junaid Mohammed, Major General Mohammadu Buhari, Alhaji Lawal Kaita, and Dr Khalid Aliyu of JNI, Sheik Gumi and many others like them are living in the past.
For the records, Dr Junaid Mohammed should know that blood has been flowing in Nigeria since May 2010 courtesy their armed wing Boko Haram.
It climaxed in May 2011, immediately the INEC announced Dr Goodluck Jonathan as the winner of the 2011 Presidential election. The whole of Northern Nigeria was on fire.
There is nothing new in Dr Junaid Mohammed’s statement. Atiku Abubukar, Adamu Ciroma, Major General Mohammadu Buhair, Lawal Kaita and Kabiru Gaya made similar statememts in 2010.
The follow up has been the persistent attack on Christians, their Churches, police, military and sometimes some few unlucky Muslims.
Boko Haram is being sponsored by some disgruntled Northern Muslim politicians who felt short changed in the power game and now feels that the Sir Ahmadu Bello statement has been terminated abruptly.
That is why not one of them has ever come out openly to condemn Boko Haram atrocity again the innocent people being killed every day.
In fact to cap his support for Boko Haram, Major General Muhammadu Buhari has vehemently rejected the declaration of state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states.
He has actually come out openly to condemn the killing of Boko Haram insurgence by the military.
It was the same Buhari who asked his wayward supporters in 2010/2011 to attack Nigerians if he should lose the 2011 presidential election. Off course the rest now is history as we were all living witness to the catastrophe that befell Nigerians courtesy Buhari supporters.
Unfortunately, there are some few Northern other tribes who have yet to believe that the Ahmadu Bello statement reproduced below for ease of reference can actually be terminated for good.
“The new nation called Nigeria should be an estate of our great grandfather Othman Dan Fodio. We must ruthlessly prevent a change of power. We use the minorities in the north as willing tools and the south as a conquered territory and never allow them to rule over us and never allow them to have control over their future.”
There are still some Southerners who still believe that they a conquered territory of the Hausa/Fulani supremacists.
Top on the list is Liar Mohammed who has taken opposition to a rascality level.
I cannot forget his Godfather Alhaji Ahmed Bola Tinubu and finally Rochas Okorocha.
Great men like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther king Jnr, John Garang, and Mahatma Gandhi liberated their people from bondage and slavery. When cometh the John Garang and Nelson Mandela of Northern Nigeria Christians?
Back home here in Nigeria, Chief Awolowo and Odumegwu Ojukwu were lights to their people.
For those who are too forgetful, no Southerner can be as close to the Northern oligarchy like Chief MKO Abiola. The then Sultan of Sokoto, Emir of Kano and Sarkin Zauzzau all gave him Chieftaincy title. But when it came to power, they showed him ‘pepper’.
Bola Tinubu be warned before it is too late.
Therefore all the noise by Dr Junaid Mohammed and Alhaji Lawal Kaita are all old tunes. We are wiser now and much more educated.
For APC to make any headway in the 2015 Presidential election, they will be wise to present a Northern Christian as their Presidential candidate or better still present a Southern Muslim as a Presidential candidate with a Northern Christian as his running mate.
The following Northern Christians are good presidential materials: George Akume, Audu Ogbeh, Markus Gundiri, Barrister David Umaru, Major General Ishaku Dikko, Yusuf Pam, Bala Takaya, Isaiah Balat, Jerry Gana, James Barka, and even me Ndiameeh Babangida Babreek.
Raji Fashola or Ajimobi can come into the equation either ways.
Those calling for justice and equity and power shift must support the above proposition.
Power shift to the North does belong to one religion or tribe for that matter.
If APC fails to heed the above suggestion, then be assured that Dr Goodluck Jonathan’s victory in 2015 is guaranteed.
All the noise makers like Junaid Mohammed and Lawal Kaita do not even come out to vote on election days. Their children are well safe and hidden in far away Europe and Middle East.
Even as it is now, yes Boko Haram continually attack the villages of Gwoza, Damboa and Yobe, but it is also true that many of their members are killed on daily bases if the newspaper stories are true. Why waste all these lives for nothing because some people want to be in power forever.
The Hausa/Fulani supremacists must remember that even great empires in the time past crumbled. Apartheid had to give way in South Africa.
Here in Nigeria, it is only a matter of time as all the tribes in the North will be liberated from the firm grip of their Fulani overlords.
No amount of war mongering can deter Dr Goodluck Jonathan from winning the 2015 Presidential election.
APC be wiser and heed my advice.
Any blood that will flow in 2015 will start with the blood of Junaid Mohammed and his children.
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Ndiameeh Babangida Babreek.
This piece lacks coherence.Is the author campaigning for Northern Christians or Goodluck? Peak of unobjectivity for one to claim Hausa Fulani did not oppose Boko Haram.