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This is no hate speech. It only depicts our repulsive plight. And captures it perfectly. It’s about how we got to where we are today. They are historical facts you can’t fault. This is not a world of make-believe.
They are excerpts. Actualities from a story told by the late Chief Richard Osuolale Abimbola Akinjide, SAN (November 4, 1930 – April 21, 2020). If you don’t remember him, you will be bailed out.
He entered parliament on December 12, 1959. He was Federal Minister of Education. His tenure ended January 15, 1966. The day the First Republic was lost to a bloody military coup.
He came back in the Second Republic to become Minister of Justice in 1983. Like its predecessor. That republic was truncated by another set of “khaki boys.”
Akinjide had a unique identity. Some call it a stigma. He remained the sole author, advocate of the infamous twelve two-thirds (12 2/3). He acquired this sobriquet at the 1979 Presidential Election Tribunal. Chief Obafemi Awolowo of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) had approached the tribunal. He sought the true interpretation of two-thirds of 19 states.
It was the basis upon which Alhaji Shehu Shagari of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) was declared winner. Akinjide represented both his party, NPN and Shagari at the tribunal.
He stoutly rose to the challenge. He did display raw courage in his presentation. He stubbornly insisted; two-thirds of 19 states must be twelve two-thirds (12 2/3). Or Nothing!
It attracted the intervention of the Supreme Court. It was resolved in favour of Shagari. The court agreed, but with a big caveat. It must not be cited in future reference. All the same, instantly, Akinjide earned the label, “Mr. 12 2/3.” And it sticks even in death.
There was almost a repeat performance before his demise. It was an excellent outing by Akinjide at a book launch. Let me confess. The actual date and place of the event I do not know. Not even the title of the book.
Somehow, I happened to come across his speech: “The Amalgamation of Nigeria was a Fraud,” delivered at the book launch. It came with this instruction: “If you are a true patriot, buy a lobe of kolanut or make yourself a mug of coffee and read this.”
His revelation: stunning and astonishing. It was food for thought. It succinctly explained away the awkward and makeshift country called Nigeria.
It brought out to the fore a frightening dimension. The wickedness of our evil ex-British overlords. Britain did not mean well for us. They couldn’t have. They are forever dubious and cruel. Architects and masterminds of our misfortunes. The very enemies of our progress.
Akinjide’s profound pronouncements are worth sharing. Samplers: “In 1898, Lugard formed the West African Frontier Force initially with 2,000 soldiers and that was the beginning of our problems… About 90 per cent of them were from the North, mainly from the Middle Belt.”
That solidly laid the foundation for the lop-sidedness being witnessed. In another breath: “The British needed the railway from the North to the Coast in the interest of British business. Amalgamation of the South (not of the people) became of crucial importance to British business interest. He (Lugard) said the North and the South should be amalgamated.”
See why Lugard made us what we are today: “He said the North is poor and they have no resources to run the protectorate of the North. That they have no access to the sea; that the South has resources and educated people.” For this warped reasoning, we must remain stagnant. And worse still, we must not discuss it, or our future. But wait for the crawling North to walk!
This, however, was a colossal mistake: “But what the British amalgamated was the administration of the South and the North and not the people of the South and the North, that is one of the root causes of the problems of Nigeria and Nigerians.”
It did not end there. The colonialists were exposed by their actions. Their deceit came into the open: “When the amalgamation took effect, the British government sealed off the South from the North. And between 1914 and l960, that’s a period of 46 years, the British allowed minimum contact between the South and the North because it was not in the British interest that the North be allowed to be polluted by the educated South. That was the basis on which we got our independence in 1960.”
It was like building emptiness on nothingness. The ugly result: This contraception dressed as Nigeria. The import was not lost on the North. They got the message correctly. And faster than any other race. And they made the best use of it.
Akinjide testified: “When the North formed a political party, the northern leaders called it Northern Peoples’ Congress (NPC). They didn’t call it Nigeria Peoples’ Congress. That was in accordance with the dictum and policies of Lugard. When Aminu Kano formed his own party, it was called Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU) not Nigerian Progressive Union.
“It was only (Obafemi) Awolowo and (Nnamdi) Zik who were mistaken that there was anything called Nigeria. In fact, the so-called Nigeria created in 1914 was a complete fraud. It was created not in the interest of Nigeria or Nigerians but in the interest of the British.”
And what were the structures created? Quite mind-blowing and startling: “The structures created were as follows: Northern Nigeria was to represent England; Western Nigeria like Wales; Eastern Nigeria was to be like Scotland. In the British structure, England has a permanent majority in the House of Commons. There was no way Wales could ever dominate England, nor could Scotland dominate Britain.
“But they are very shrewd. They would allow a Scottish man to become Prime Minister. They would allow a Welsh man to become Prime Minister in London. But the fact remains that the actual power rested in England. That was what Lugard created in Nigeria, a permanent majority for the North.”
Another monumental fraud uncovered: “The population figure of the North is also a fraud. In fact, a British colonial civil servant who was involved in the fraud was trying to expose it but he was never allowed to publish it.
“The analysis is as follows: If you look at the map of West Africa, starting from Mauritania to Cameroun. Take a population of each country as you move from the Coast to the Savannah, the population decreases. Or conversely, as you come from the desert to the Coast, right from Mauritania to the Cameroun, the population increases.
“The only exception throughout that zone is Nigeria. Nigeria is the only zone whereby you go from Coast to the North, the population increases and you come from the North to the Coast, the population decreases.”
Akinjide should know. And he actually knew. He once “loved” everything North. He did dine and wine with northerners in the first two republics to a fault. He didn’t hide it. Neither did he feign it.
In fact, he did it with uncommon pride. He worked tirelessly with them. Particularly, against his own Western Region. Without looking back or thinking twice. He made it his project when the two republics lasted.
Though he retraced his steps. That was damn too late, at the tail end of his life. It was clearly belated. It had no meaningful meaning to us then and now. The deed had been done. And injuries deeply inflicted.
All the same, his factual disclosure couldn’t have been a hate speech. Neither is it hatred. It is about expediency. It has to be expediently addressed. Squarely too.
Now, who is afraid of restructuring? Who dares say this forced union is not negotiable? Those are our real enemies. They’re our haters in this coerced fusion tagged Nigeria. We detest them like a pandemic. And loathe them with unequalled passion.
Let’s ignore them. Come, let us discuss ourselves with ourselves and by ourselves. And let’s be honest, sincere and faithful. Let’s make genuine attempts to right these glaring wrongs. These oddities, absurdities must not be allowed to stand the next second.
Unless we take the right steps. We may continue to fumble, flounder, grope, flub, et al. Our road may continue to be hectic and harsh. And forever rough, rowdy, windy, stormy and turbulent.
Restructuring is it! It’s no hate speech. It’s the needful we need. Any other is a sign of “unseriousness.”
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More confessions from the North
These emerging voices from the North are rare. The revealing confessions from the North flow seamlessly from Chief Richard Akinjide’s divulgence. They are natural backlashes, fall-outs from the exposures. They’re in perfect synergy with his disclosures as earlier discoursed above. They are in total agreement with every word that comes out from his mouth.
Perhaps, the reason these intently concerned northerners are crying in this profuse manner. They are pained. Restive and restless. They earnestly pray: these irreversible be reversed. At the speed of light.
So? Don’t credit it to them as regrets; but pure, innocent errors. Every human does make it. Only God doesn’t. Oblige them generous space in your heart. They need it so badly.
Allow them to breathe. That is all they want. It’s important for their survival. And the North is desperately in search of it. Wherever they find one, they will grab it and run speedily with it.
The beauty of it all couldn’t have been more showcased. Neither could it have been otherwise. It is well demonstrated. Good intentioned. It reflects their genuine honesty. The sincerity induced isn’t faked. Or even pretended. Farthest from it
This critical time around. The business of their North is crucial to them. They refuse to take things for granted and carelessly. It dawned on them. They need to be ruthless and decisive. It’s a turning point. This crossroads has to be carefully negotiated.
Three of them opt to take the shots for their fellow northerners. Sticking their brittle necks out. They speak in different locations. One after the other. And they damn the damning consequences. With uncanny audacity. That’s how to stand to be counted.
But the essence of their message is clear: The exact opposite of what the ADC Vanguard represents. And demonstrates. They own up, admit fault. ADC Vanguard will not. The group queues behind the old, odd order of “monolithic” North. It relishes in its world of delusion. Unreal with reality. And not actual in actuality.
But these “strange” trio choose to do things differently. They are resolute, steadfast in their resolve. They speak candidly and unequivocally too. With real one voice. Not a Babel of confused voices. No ambiguity in their narratives.
Their different submissions vary in delivery. Yet, the message remains one and the same. And is obvious to anyone who cares to watch and listen. It points to self-guilt. Admission of past errors.
Even at that. They are forthright enough. They chorus with pitiable remorse: The North is the problem of Nigeria. They challenge the very foundation of their own North. And the appalling and subjugating social strata. That pervade the downing region.
None of them was introduced in any format. Yet, they are not faceless! Stranger than fiction! The one that bells the cat? He’s a face of the northern elite. And expectedly shows up first. The ruling class, yes, the politicians in their midst. But with his message, he instantly distances himself.
He doesn’t give in to blame-game. Or passing the buck. No cover-up either. It’s an open business. And he treats it accordingly. He’s from the terrorists-infested North West. He says so himself without mentioning his name.
He blows up: “All of us, all the politicians in Northern Nigeria in the last 15 years, we should be held accountable for the suffering in Northern Nigeria in terms of poverty, unemployment, lack of education, lack of security.
“As of 2016, some of us that live here in Kaduna and North West in particular were not aware of anything called banditry, kidnapping or insurgency. As of 2016, not 2019, there was nothing like kidnapping, even in Birnin Gwari. I can tell you that for a fact. What went wrong?”
He asks into the air. Throwing it to his innocent audience. No response as the video fades away. Then enters this comedian from Borno State, North East. He pours venom on the North for being the huge spanners in our works. He stings, hammers on ceaselessly:
“The major problem of Nigeria is Northern Nigeria. If you want to see conflict, rape, refugees, come to Northern Nigeria. In fact, if you want to see thieves stealing on an industrial scale, come to Northern Nigeria. Thieves fully engaged in primitive accumulation, come to Northern Nigeria.
I am proud to be an indigene of Bornu State. But I tell you, if you want to see hatred, if you want to see conflict, nepotism. It’s in the North. Seventy per cent of the people who govern this country are from the North. But if you want to see hunger, starvation, it is in the North. But our people don’t want us to speak the truth. That’s why we will continue to summersault…”
The final words come from the big masquerade, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed. Once Special Adviser, Political Matters, to President Bola Tinubu. Now, he’s leading the People’s Redemption Party (PDP) to the 2027 polls. He spits fire in his usual elements:
“We have had a northern president from Katsina for eight years. Before he came, we did not have a single IDP, all our local governments were safe. Now in Katsina State, 22 out of 34 LGs, that is, 65 per cent of the state, is under siege. Borno State is secure and safer than Katsina that we have a President who is from there. That is the failing of us northerners.
“Here we are. We have the Vice President, number two, who is from the North. We have the Speaker of the House of Reps, who is number four, from the North. We have the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), who is from the North.
“We have the most senior military officers from the North. We have all the Ministers of Defence from the North. We have the Minister of Police from the North. We have the National Security Adviser (NSA), from the North.
“President Tinubu will look at us and say you people have no excuse not to bring peace to your life. It is up to us to look at ourselves in the mirror, we northerners, especially those in government. And say, how do we take care of the problem? Tinubu from the South West cannot come and bring peace to us. It is us that must bring peace to ourselves.
“And it is not the military that will bring peace. I have said this again and again. Banditry cannot be won on the battlefield. Fifteen years (then) of Boko Haram, nine years (then) of banditry, are we going to continue like this forever?
“My friends in the US called me and said, did you see the primary school where these kids were taken? No roof, nothing there. Well, this is the leadership of the North. And we are looking elsewhere. We are blaming someone else.
“Leaders of the North, those in government and out of government. It’s time for us to look ourselves in the face and say: We have failed our people we need to do better. The military can’t bring peace to us. We must all get involved and stop this nonsense, this Boko Haram, this banditry.”
No sparing the North. The trio lay the blame squarely at the doorsteps of the North. They speak the language only the North understands too well. They are in firm agreement and alignment. They’re sure of their verdict on their own North. And they pronounced it with all boldness and bravery: The North destroyed their North, our Nigeria.
Mark you! The viral video clip isn’t entirely new. In fact, it is a very old one. It first trended, perhaps, early 2024. But the message is one and only one. And it’s refreshing, everlasting and evergreen. Their message: A new dawn in the North.
Isn’t that heart-warming, emotional, rewarding, uplifting enough? Pray, we’re going somewhere at last! Even, if it is with some cautious steps.
