Towards Understanding The Deadly Northern Game

Elochukwu Nicholas Ohagi

For Family Writers Press International.

The greatest undoing of the Eastern leaders is their inability to understand the North and how they play their games, hence they deal with them like they are dealing with progressive minded fellows. Even the great Zik of Africa was a victim too. 

Why did Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto choose to become the Premiere of Northern Nigeria, leaving the more higher seat, which is the Prime Minister of Nigeria to his second, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa? While Nigerians were  seeing Tafawa Balewa as the Number one man in Nigeria, he was actually taking orders from the Sardauna. The North respects their constituted authorities and the greatest of them all is their religious head. This is why the North feels uncomfortable when they are not in charge of the topmost position in Nigeria. 

When Bello was going on with his northernization policy, sacking civil servants and teachers from Eastern Region and replacing them with Northerners and expatriates. Nnamdi Azikiwe was there fighting for a UNITED Nigeria. Meanwhile to achieve his aim, Bello had to delay the Independence, using every means, including violence.

Awolowo too from the start understood Nigeria, not as a nation, but as a mere geographical expression. He then fought to reposition his people. He made education free for his people and many of them he sent abroad for further studies. He didn't waste time to join hands with the Fulani North to annihilate the Eastern region, using starvation. That's why Yoruba people till today worship Awolowo.

Nnamdi Azikiwe went further to team his NCNC up with NPC, a northern party with the resemblance of APC of today. That's when he could have aligned with Awolowo. A huge mistake!

Many of us never knew that both Ahmadu Bello and Tafawa Balewa were actually two corrupt power hungry individuals who used state power to cause problems and divisions in Nigeria. They were killing Tiv protesters who were protesting an attempt by the duo to force them into a united North, which is more like a captivity.

In the West, the North were using Akintola to divide the West. They used both police and army to rig the election in favour of Akintola, so as to shortchange Awolowo. Every move was geared for the dominance of the North. Something the coup of 1966 came to remedy.

Actually, the coup of 1966 took out men that have held Nigeria down and flung her into chaos as of that time. The corrupt elites were doing exactly what President Buhari is doing today. They rig elections, swim in corruption, arrest opposition voices and shoot protesters. They were simply the APC of today.

The game for the North is nothing but a domination of the South. They don't mind using either the West or the East to achieve it. They played this game well and used the West to annihilate the East in 1967/70. It was this same game that they played and got both the middle belt and Yoruba people that were use to kill  and fight against Biafra.

To a very large extent, the quick resurrection of Easterners after the war stopped their planned destruction of the West. 

The North care less about progress and development. They are guru in suppression. Something our present politicians have failed to understand. At a time Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen are killing Nigerians, the Eastern leaders are afraid to call these killers by their name. Senator Ike Ekweremadu while reacting to the gruesome murder of Rev Father Paul Offu addressed his killers as GUNMEN. He completely avoided mentioning Fulani herdsmen. By implication, he is exonerating Fulani herdsmen (his slave masters), while maintaining that the killers might be even the clergies or the locals. The truth is that more than 99% of Eastern political leaders will do exactly what Ekweremadu did. Sad, isn't it?

President Buhari's government northernized every level of Nigeria government. What Ahmadu Bello couldn't achieve, Buhari has achieved. The security chiefs are all northerners. Everything have the North in total control. They have killed IPOB members engaging in  peaceful protests but pamper both  Fulani herdsmen and Boko Haram. Two globally known terrorist groups. Northern leaders are courageous in impunity, while Eastern leaders can't even condemn evil meted on their own people. Every action of President Buhari is in line with the Sokoto caliphate. He can't act against the interest of the North. No northerner will. Not even Atiku. 

The game is on and I can say for sure that the North is comfortably on top of this game. The North doesn't do political correctness. They play religious card and wouldn't mind denying their people education or killing them in numbers so as to achieve their aim. The more than 10million Almajiri illiterate boys in the North is such example. 

Our leaders down East are ready to work with the North against their own people. They are lilly livered entities who can go so low just to support an 'Operation Python Dance' that went house to house to kill their own youths. They are a complete sign of a defeated people. That's exactly why the youths of today must confront their leaders. They speak long grammar thinking everything ends in good use of English language. Whatever you are thinking, you must start with your leaders. No Fulani northerner will support the killing of their own youths, or keep quiet as same people that massacre their youths protect the culprits. And even going to the extent of recruiting them into the country's military. 

I suggest we avoid what I call the mistake of Zik by confronting our today's leaders already making the same mistake. We must force them into accepting the popular opinion. Which is that Nigeria isn't working, has never worked and will never work.

As a matter of fact, Nigeria should be peacefully divided in order to avoid bloodshed. 

Elochukwu Ohagi is a Philosopher, Teacher and a passionate activist writing to awaken the sleeping giants.
Edited By Paul Ihechi Alagba.