11052021 - Insecurity: Bandits attack Katsina mosque, abduct 10

16 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, MAY 11, 2021
TRIBUTE
It’s a year since my earthly
angel answered the call
Southern Governors’ Forum:
A welcome development
By SOLA EBISENI
THE news came so subtly and
quite unusual with stories associated
with such giant news makers:
that Governors of Southern Nigeria
met on May 4 on the State of
the Nation. Fifteen of the 17 Governors
were said to have attended, while
two were represented by their deputies,
with the promise of a follow-up
meeting this week. Notwithstanding
that it was a virtual meeting, which
starved it of the usual fanfare, its
proponents deserve commendation
by all lovers of peace in the continued
threatened corporate existence
of this nebulous federation.
Following the Resolution at the
Berlin Conference, on February 26,
1884, partitioning Africa on the Principle
of Effective Occupation by European
powers, a British Protectorate
Administration was, on June 5,
1885, proclaimed on the territory
from the Lagos boundary in the West
to the right bank of the Rio del Rey
now in the Cameroon. The British
Crown resorted to signing new treaties
or validating existing Trade
Agreements with recognised traditional
institutions in the name of Treaty
of Friendship and Protection. By
1861, Lagos was annexed by Britain
which declared colonial administration
thereat in 1862 and by November
29,1895, the colonial Legislative
Council extended its authority eastwards
through the coastal territory
of the present Ondo State to the
junction of Okutimakoro and Adabrassa
creeks and the Benin River in
the present Edo and Delta states.
By 1900, British colonial administration
was proclaimed on the whole
of Nigeria, with the territory divided
into the Colony of Lagos, Southern
and Northern Protectorates. According
to Chief Obafemi Awolowo, in
his book, The People’s Republic, on
January 1, 1900,when the Protectorate
of Northern Nigeria was inaugurated,
slave raids, slave trade and slavery
were prevalent in most parts and
internecine wars continued to be
waged. The territory is large and
posed great difficulty in finance and
personnel in administration. The
British also had local Fulani imperialism,
which had been in control
of the larger part of the territory for
about a century to contend with. Lord
Frederick Lugard, an Army Captain
and appointed British High Commissioner,
was able to bring the situation
under control within six years
with a combination of military force,
diplomacy and pacifist administrative
strategy of the Indirect Rule system.
The Southern part of Nigeria, was
made more easily accessible through
the Bights
of Benin and Biafra, and great lagoons
and rivers that criss-cross the
territories. By 1900, Christian missionaries,
which started operations
in many parts of the South since
1840s, have entrenched themselves,
opened schools, hospitals, dispensaries
and produced elites among whom
were adherents of both Christianity
and Islam. Relative infrastructural
development had taken place such
that by 1898, the streets of Lagos had
been electrically lit and by 1900, a
number of roads have been constructed:
Ebute Metta to Ibadan railway
completed, Carter and Denton
bridges across Lagos lagoon to the
Mainland at Iddo also delivered.
The two administrative structures of
Lagos Colony and the Protectorate
of Southern Nigeria were merged in
1906.
Captain Lugard who had resigned
as High Commissioner of Northern
Nigeria in 1906 to take up appointment
as Governor of Hong Kong in
1907, was drafted back to Nigeria
in 1912, now a Brigadier General
and appointed Governor of Northern
and Southern Nigeria. For economic
reasons of subsidising the deficit
budget of Northern Nigeria with
the surplus of the South, Lugard was
said to have decided to conduct the
involuntary marriage between the
“rich wife of substance and means”
and the “poor husband” resulting in
the amalgamation of Southern and
Northern Protectoratesin 1914.
In spite of its relatively greater diversity
in terms of ethnic composition
and religion, the far bigger
North was kept as one but the union
of the smaller South was soon broken
by the British into Eastern and
The salvation and unity
of Nigeria lie in the
unity of the South which
tribes are, by far, more at
peace with one another;
the oppressed minority
of the North should look
up to the South for their
own salvation
Western regions and kept perpetually
apart for Northern domination
into Independence in 1960 and ever
since. In other words, the monogamous
North/ South marriage of 1914
became polygamous of North/ East-
West,with the two new wives in such
internecine rivalry for easier domination
of their oppressive husband
they both struggle to impress or eke
a token from.
The political leaders of the Fulani
to whom the British shrewdly handed
over Nigeria at Independence
were also skilled political craftsmen,
scheming to weave together the more
ethnically diverse Northern region.
A non-existent Hausa/Fulani tribe
was coined to give the conquered
Hausa majority a false sense of power
and influence. The ruling tribe
craftily held on to real power while
conceding attractive but bogus positions
to other groups, also controlled
invariably by the
oligarchy,thereby sitting on the North
while making the South the foot
stool. Thus, Sir Ahmadu Bello was
content with the Premiership of the
North in furtherance of the vision
and mission of Uthman Dan Fodio,
donating Prime Minister of the uncertain
contraption of the Nigerian
federation to Tafawa Balewa of the
minority. From Borno to Borgu, Katsina
to Igala, including the Yoruba
enclaves of Ilorin and Kabba Provinces,
Sardauna held sway.
The hegemony was so effective
that the likes of Joseph Tarka of the
Middle Belt, Josiah Olawoyin of the
Kwara/Kogi region who were allies
of Awolowo were seen only as rebels.
By 1953, when Enahoro moved the
motion for Nigeria’s Independence
in 1956, the North, in one accord,
said it was not prepared and that the
British should only lower its Union
Jack flag as soon as practicable. In
reaction to the molestation of their
members in the House of Representatives,
on that score, by people on
the streets of Lagos, the North
declared Araba, to secede from
Nigeria,even if that meant suicide
for the landlocked region provided
it was secured for the caliphate. Only
the counsel of Britain to the contrary
pulled back the North.
The coup of July 1966 was in reaction
to that led by Chukwuma
Nzeogwu of January in which the
enigmatic Northern Premier was
assassinated. The masterminds and
executors of the vengeful Northern
coup were mainly of minority
groups which dominated the military.
Even subsequently as military
Governors and Heads of State,
these minority elements joyfully
served the interests of one North
and invariably the Caliphate.
Evidently incompetent and lacking
the political dexterity of his ancestors,
President Buhari has not
only exposed the diversity of the
north, putting a spanner to the carefully
knitted northern architectural
design, in his lacklustre handling
of kidnapping, rape, mass killings
and untold criminality against all
which are unabashedly traceable
to men of his Fulani tribe. From
Zamfara, Kebbi, Katsina, Kaduna,
Taraba, Plateau, Nasarawa, Benue,
Kogi, etc, it is your land for the Fulani
herdsmen or your life withthe
activeacquiescence of the Presidency
and unbridled celebration
by the President’s spokespersons.
In spite of all of these, the Governors
of the 19 Northern States still
meet in a Northern Governors Forum,
while their Southern counterparts
still fragment themselves in
geopolitical arrangements of
South West, South East and South-
South. It is often very convenient
for the President to meet with Governors
of the North while only sparingly
and reluctantly meeting
Southern Governors on geopolitical
basis.
The salvation and unity of Nigeria
lie in the unity of the South
which tribes are, by far, more at
peace with one another. The oppressed
minority of the North
which, pulled together, are in clear
majority, look up to the unity of the
South for their own salvation. No
tribe in the South has territorial
contest with the Middle Belt, or
desirous of their conquest for traditional
hegemony. At the 2014
National Conference where I was
a Delegate, the resolutions reached
on major issues were predicated on
the unity of the South which gave
the Middle Belt delegates the confidence
to team up for national
consensus.
The now effective Southern Leaders/
Middle Belt Forum was borne
out of the necessity for national
consensus for the inevitable restructuring
and re-negotiation of
the Nigerian federation and its corporate
existence. The emergence of
the Southern Governors Forum
and of its legislators at the national
and states levels is the reinvention
of the reality of the entities that
birthed the Nigerian union in
1914. Incidentally, the entire South
and the Middle Belt, which constitutes
over 70 percent of the federation,
agree on the inevitability and
imperative of the restructuring and
re-negotiation of the terms of the
Nigerian federation.
BY ANDREW OKELEKE
HOW time flies!
My dear wife, it is already one
year since you exited this wicked
world through the reckless driver
of BRT bus No. 314 at a spot near
Agric Bus-stop, Ikorodu Road, Lagos.
We spoke last at 7.14pm on that
fateful day. And ten minutes later,
you had been knocked down while
attempting to cross over to the other
side of the road to wait for me.
Since that day, life has never been
the same. The occurrence momentarily
brought my world to a close.
Darkness took over my space. For
days, I was unable to comprehend
what hit me that less than 10 minutes
after we spoke, you were gone.
We were going to meet at a hospital
across the road to run a medical
check on a new house help. Then
suddenly you were no more.
Even when I drove past the accident
scene to meet you at the hospital
as scheduled, little did I know
that the gathering I saw around the
accident scene was about you. I got
to the hospital to ask after you, but
no one seemed to give me an answer
about your presence at the
hospital. But when I called our
daughter to confirm whether you
changed your mind and returned
home, she broke the saddest news
ever to me.
I found it difficult to believe that
you were the victim, just 10 minutes
after we spoke. I raced to the
scene only to see your lifeless
body in a pool of your own blood.
BRT bus driver had murdered my
dear wife!
I must confess that my life without
you in the last one year has
been thorny. To say the least, it
was a mystery that I could survive
the spate of incidents that
happened to my existence as a
widower. The vacuum your absence
created in the home is real.
The thoughts that you will forever
be missing from the home kept going
through our minds - your children
and I. But it is stronger on me
as the relationship of over 30 years
cannot be wished away easily.
What about the love we shared together;
the good times we had even
when the resources were scarce?
What about the strong support you
gave me to climb from the zero rung
of the ladder to the point where we
would have settled for a glorious
evening?
What about the peace, love and
joy you brought to the entire family,
and by extension, to our acquaintances
and church members? What
about your major role of ensuring
smooth running of the home to the
delight and progress of the family?
That you were in charge of the home,
like any other virtuous woman, was
not in doubt. You conceptualised; you
directed; you executed plans that
stimulated our progress within the
over 30 years we lived together.
Talking about spate of occurrences
after your death, they came in a
staccato form, to the extent that I likened
my life to that of a man born
without luck. Worse still, the events
seemed to be happening on the
same date of 11 of subsequent
months.
Since you have been gone, I have
become particularly suspicious of the
11th of every month. It is for good
reason. You left this world on that
date; every other month since then,
some unsalutary events tried to arrange
themselves for that date. It is
as if I should “beware of the ides” of
11 of any month. But God has reasons
for the occurrences. He is the
One that controls the time and our
lives.
I must confess that my life
without you in the last one
year has been thorny; my
dear Nkem, as we fondly
called each other, your untimely
exit is difficult to forget
even when people
around encouraged me to
do so
*The late Mrs Grace Okeleke
Indeed, my trip home on Thursday,
the first since your departure,
was dry, just as our country home
we built together was empty. It was
devoid of the bustling of my kinsmen
and your relations as well as
old friends within the village who
hitherto would troop into the house
for the usual felicitations. It used to
be rendezvous of some sort. You
would cook almost endlessly to ensure
our guests were entertained.
We would have them come at different
times; sometimes late.
But none of these happened this
time round. It was as if they held a
meeting to promulgate an unwritten
rule that none should visit simply
because the “chief entertainer”
is gone. They may have imagined
who would warmly welcome them
with that wifely disposition. I sat in
the large living room alone with a
reflection of how your gregarious
presence attracted them. I recall the
financial and material support that
we pass on to all.
With a feeling of nostalgia, I reminisced
on how the warmth of your
presence in the village attracted our
acquaintances. Only then did I realise
that your presence at home
was like the honey-comb that constantly
attracted the bees.
My dear Nkem, as we fondly
called each other, your untimely exit
is difficult to forget even when people
around encouraged me to do
so. As the legendary reggae musician,
late Bob Marley sang, “he
who feels it knows it much”. I feel
it; I know how it pains; but only God,
the Owner of the whole earth will
help the family to cope. Driving past
the spot of the tragic accident, constantly
throws up some chilling feelings
in me. It reminds me of that
terrible moment when I felt my
world was finished and completely
collapsed.
We had our evening full of hope;
hope of retiring into a quiet life of
full-time ministry; hope of helping
our children to nurture our grand
children; hope of working for humanity.
Indeed, the hope of enjoying
the home we built together.
But that hope was dashed by a careless,
reckless and wicked BRT driver
exactly one year ago.
As I mark the first year of your
exit, I pray the Almighty God to
grant you eternal rest in His bosom.
I pray and believe that we
shall be together some day, to part
no more.
Adieu, my Love!
*Okeleke is Head, PR, Globacom