Monolithic North? No more! But this still looms large in their queer imagination. They refuse to let go. Very unfortunate! They urgently need help. Who will help their delusion and illusion?
True, dreams, fantasies never die easy. They are not effortlessly subdued. Daydreamers live in a world of their own. It is different completely from ours. They don’t see what we see. Neither do they believe what others believe.
Pity! They are still in a trance, and in stupor they will remain. We keep on hammering it, there’s no more “One North.” This should sink deep into the skull of whoever chooses to listen. They used the same deceitful strategy to the maximum in the past.
It was their most potent weapon in the 1950s and 1960s. Even then, we knew too well it was a ploy. It was employed by a tiny but greedy minority to hold on to power.
They detested being out of power. That has been their greatest fear turned nightmare. So? They constructed that ambiguous coinage, “One North.” It’s a misconstruction and self-deception.
This hallucination would not go away so soon. It would forever haunt and hunt these queer characters. The reason it was recklessly flaunted last weekend.
The so-called One North can no longer be an advantage. It has lost its strength. That was long gone to the dirty dustbin of our ugly history. It’s hideous. And should be left at that.
They have turned their “One North” upside down. They turned it around negatively, making it an albatross. It has become a weakness. So, the earlier we forget that disgusting past of ours, the better for us.
But its proponents would want to permanently hold us to ransom. They insisted it must not be discarded. It is for obvious but wrong reasons. That is where they feed fat. It is more or less their cash cow; a viable sub-sector of our wobbling economy.
They are brazen and ruthless about it. Of course, their lives depend heavily on it. Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed demonstrated that as much last weekend. He displayed anger and annoyance at the same time.
By the way, he is spokesman, Northern Elders Forum (NEF). The stage was set. He had an excellent audience, students wing, Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG). And he exploited them to a fault.
Sure, this was not an auspicious moment. All the same, Baba-Ahmed forged ahead unperturbed. He was up in arms against the rest of us.
He particularly derided southerners. He pointedly aimed his gun at their governors. He was not comfortable with their decisions and resolutions in recent times.
He ranted. The maiden Maitama Sule Leadership Lecture Series was turned to something else. The venue was Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria. He yelled in utter frustration: “Heaven will not fall if another northerner is elected the next President of Nigeria.”
Shocked? He blew up and literally went off: “We will lead Nigeria the way we have led Nigeria before, whether we are President or Vice-President, we will lead Nigeria. We have the majority of the votes and democracy says vote whom you want.”
Baba-Ahmed totally went off the mark. He was going back and forth. He has a narrow and parochial view was his undoing. He was running his tap repulsively. It was nauseating and sickening. You would pity him:
“Why should we accept second class position when we know we can contest for first class and we will win? Why does anybody need to threaten us and intimidate us?”
Well, the option is yours. It’s a free world. You can opt to be threatened, intimidated and/or cajoled. The choice is absolutely yours.
He refused to beat a retreat. Instead, he beat his chest with the ignominious boast: “We will get that power.” He couldn’t even hide the arrogance in him. He couldn’t subdue it either:
“We inherited leadership, being honest is not being stupid.” The rage in him would not abate: “The North is not for sale. Don’t accept second class status because you are a northerner. No northerner is a second-class citizen in this country.”
Then, he opened a slim and suspicious window. He was too selfish not to be exposed. His uncouth utterances gave him out: “If we want to support a southerner, we will support a southerner because that will be in our own interest and we can decide for ourselves.”
Yes, Baba-Ahmed had his say. But he was not given the luxury to have his way. He met his perfect match in the Southern and Middle Belt Alliance (SAMBA). They stood up to NEF.
They wanted to know: Who exactly are the “we” Baba-Ahmed was brandishing? They were taken aback. He did it with all the haughtiness and disdain he could muster.
SAMBA’s spokesperson, Rwang Pam, squared it up with him: “Let Baba-Ahmed be reminded that, without the Middle Belt, such numbers boasted about in the North are mere political posturing.”
SAMBA too was scandalized: “It is disheartening that Baba-Ahmed will make such a reckless and careless statement at a time when we are still battling to keep the country united.”
The imaginary “One North” was nailed. The home truth needed to be told. Pam did not fail in this task: “It’s certain that some liberal-minded people in the North will be shedding secret tears as a result of the statement credited to NEF because it is based on a delusion of a ‘One North’ that has treated the Middle Belt as second-class.”
On Tuesday, Baba-Ahmed attempted a mend-fence in a television appearance. It was clearly an after-thought. He struggled hard to make amends. It was an ineffective recant.
He still could not control and contain himself. He even made matters worse: “The North is one and it is made up of 19 states. When it comes to elections, we know that the North has consistently voted as one.
“When we speak, we speak of one North. We speak for the 19 northern states and we are not guilty of anything.” Really? Great doubt.
Who are these “we”? Are you still counting on the Berom of Plateau? Jukun of Taraba? Tiv, Idoma of Benue? The Zango-Kataf of Southern Kaduna? The Igbomina, Ekiti of Kwara? The Okun of Kogi, et al? You goofed blindly!
These are the very people your Fulani killer herdsmen are destroying their farmlands. They rape their wives and daughters. They slaughter their husbands in thousands consistently.
And what has been your response? You merely look the other way. And you continue to rule, reign and ruin us. You said it all. You have passed the message. And it is not lost on us.
These people know who they are. They can effortlessly identify their own. Certainly not part of this ambiguous “we” contraption. It’s an “arrangee.” They won’t stand to be counted with you this time around.
They won’t be taken for a rude ride again. You have lost them to your greed, selfishness, nepotism, insensitivity, arrogance, neglect and sheer wickedness.
But give it to Baba-Ahmed. He made one valid and profound revelations. We can’t deny this. It has always been in the realm of rumour. He confirmed it:
“Even as we speak, certain southern governors who are saying that we must do this or that are secretly negotiating and jostling for positions for themselves for 2023.”
What an exposé! This is a wake-up call to all southerners. They need to close ranks. The blacklegs and bootlickers should know when to beat a reasonable retreat. It’s now or never.
There may not be a tomorrow for such opportunity. The right time is now when the North is gasping for breath. It is doing it in despair and anguish. Or else, they will be identified, isolated and neutralized.
South has always been the strength of the North. They are the moles among us. The greedy in our midst is the only reason the North holds sway. They work discreetly for the North for a bowl of porridge. That is our greatest weakness. And we need to deal with it even now.
Ignore the show-off. The North is pained. It is in such a desperate situation. Let it feign ignorance of this. But its utterances, body language, action and inaction confirm its fears and the like.
That is why it’s desperately holding on to dried stalks of grain. It wants to retain power by all means. Not minding if other parts of the country are reduced to second and even third class citizens.
For all you care. These people are well prepared for break-up than any other part. Senator Rashidi Ladoja, former governor of Oyo State said it. Let’s assist them. There is no viable alternative.
For the North, the means justifies the end; anyhow, somehow. That’s why they flaunt their jaundiced population advantage indiscriminately. It cares less if it grabs all, leaving nothing for others.
We are forced to ask: How much has the North’s greedy hold on to power benefitted ordinary citizens in their “One North”?
Big question! We keep our fragile fingers crossed.