The Nigerian Challenge & The Future of Minorities (II) – By Dr. Leonard K. Shilgba

Posted by admin Articles, Columnists, Leonard K. Shilgba, PhD, NNP Columnists Monday, September 3rd, 2012

Read Part (I) – http://newnigerianpolitics.com/2012/09/03/the-nigerian-challenge-the-future-of-minorities-i-by-dr-leonard-k-shilgba/

A Basil Chianson Annual Lecture at Benue States University, August 25, 2012

By Dr. Leonard K. Shilgba | Yola, Nigeria | Sept. 3, 2012 – Nigeria was not designed to become a nation; she was designed for mundane materialism. Although some efforts were made in 1963 by Nigerian nationalists to build a nation, this attempt was frustrated just three years after. Since then, Nigeria has only known persistent invasion by greedy people and corporate bodies that only exploit Nigeria for their gain. How many of the people that hold political power in Nigeria truly care about good governance? The sustained policy to corruptly appropriate and sabotage what is for public benefit is a deliberate one that cannot be overcome except through a sovereign national conference whose outcome shall be owned by all Nigerians, whose benefit shall be shared by all Nigerians, and whose liabilities shall be offset by public will.

The British defined the Northern Protectorate as consisting of the “pagans and Mohamedan states”. The Mohamedan states in reference were the Sokoto and Borno Empires. The British referred to non-Muslims in the Northern Protectorate as “Pagans”, whom they subjugated to the Mohamedans (Muslims). According to Omo Omoniyi, the British never conceived of a situation whereby the “beautiful dancers of the pagans” (mainly, the Middle Belt people) would aspire to equal social status with the Mohamedan states. The amalgamation of 1914 was a forced marriage between the “well behaved youth of the North and the Southern lady of means.” The marriage was for the economic benefit and survival of the North (Original Nigerians)

Those facts of history reveal that the unilateral amalgamation of Northern Protectorate (Nigeria) and the Southern Protectorate, which Northern emirs had foreknowledge of, was subjugation of the people of the south to Nigeria. The southerners are adopted Nigerians whose livelihood should be at the mercy and generosity of the true Nigerians. Since the amalgamation was for economic reasons, in favour of the Northern Protectorate, any economic arrangement that seeks to place the resources of the southern Nigerians under their control is and shall be vehemently resisted by the Northerners. To them, whether openly confessed or not, the basis of oneness of Nigeria is vitiated by such arrangements. Accordingly, the unity of Nigeria to a northerner means continued injustice through control of other people’s resources. This attitude frustrates Nigeria’s evolvement into a nation.

The Middle Belt people were supposed to be the slaves of the Mohamedan states (the British-created custodians of political power; and when you have political power, you also wrest economic power). So, although Middle Belters are original Nigerians, in the view of the British, we are nonetheless second-class Nigerians. And the Southern lady of means must service the greed and pleasure of the Master of Nigeria (The princes and princesses of Sokoto and Borno empires). The princes and princesses of the North can settle and claim any place they choose in the presently recognized Nigeria (their gift from the British), and can even create their emirates in those places; neither the Middle Belters nor the Southerners can afford to do same.

The matter becomes a bit confusing to those who do not understand the four major divisions in the North—The Royal North (princes and princesses of the Sokoto Caliphate and Bornu empire, their adopted in-laws, and some who have migrated widely. My father, a historian, wrote his college thesis on Katsina-Ala in Benue state, which was founded by a prince who left Katsina in the North to settle on the banks of River Katsina-Ala); the Talakawas (commoners), who were direct subjects of the princes of the North in their Mohamedan states before the British came (and the British did not tamper with this arrangement); the “beautiful dancers of the pagans” (The Middle Belt people who had successfully resisted the Islamic jihadists); and the present Muslim-Christian divide.

Those opposed to convocation of a sovereign national conference to resolve issues about Nigeria shall avoidably bring doom on the country. Probably, this will be a blessing for the Southern lady of means, who shall then take back control of her resources. But the Royal North shall come out in a terribly bad shape. We must talk; we must discuss Nigeria at a sovereign national conference. Those who claim that the national assembly can resolve contradictions about Nigeria, some of which have been revealed so far, are either unaware of the dangerous situation about Nigeria or are simply disingenuous. The national assembly has not been able to resolve the injustice in local government creation with its attendant fiscal implication for states in Nigeria, talk less of more fundamental issues such as fiscal federalism and elimination of wastes in our finances. Can the national assembly scrap the senate, for instance? Can the national assembly reduce the number of states and make legislation that shall remove all the clogs imposed by the exclusive legislative list in the constitution in order to encourage financial autonomy for the states? Sovereign national conference in a democracy is not a strange phenomenon as some have alleged. Those who are making strange noises against it and calling advocates of the conference mischief makers are only jittery, knowing that the unjust oppression of the majority shall come to an end thereby.

By population, there are two main minority groups in Nigeria—the South-south people and the Middle belt people. The Middle Belt is a thick band between the South and North of Nigeria. By population, the Middle Belt is the largest single group in the North. It is the most educated group in the north. But the Middle belt, unlike the South-south, remains politically attached to the Royal North, with no tangible economic or political benefits accruing from this alliance. The South-south is attached neither to the Igbo nation nor the Yoruba nation—the two majority groups in the south. The South-south Governors forum charts economic agendas for their peoples together. They have carved an identity for themselves. There is massive infrastructural development going on in the south-south. Why are governors of the Middle belt so afraid of leading their peoples out of the subjugating shackles of the past? The south-south have strong mouthpieces in the news media—the AIT, Guardian and This day newspapers, to name a few. The Middle belt cannot boast of something similar. The south-south has industries that can be identified with that region; they have captains of industry that are influential in Nigeria and beyond; the Middle belt has nothing. What then is the gain to the Middle belt people of this obsequious relationship to the North that has lasted for more than a century? It is time for a new kind of leadership in the Middle belt. I challenge Governor Suswam and Governor Jang to initiate a Middle Belt Governors forum; we the technocrats shall support them. It seems to me that Nassarawa state is being primed as a launch base for the Royal north in the event of the unimagined. Abuja is worth more than 400 billion dollars, and it falls within the Middle belt territory. The cordoning off of Abuja from Kaduna to Madalla; Suleija to Lokoja, and Okene to Nassarawa state by unofficial agents of the North appears to go unnoticed by not a few.

There are certain interests that are surreptitiously being guarded by different nation groups in Nigeria. Of all those groups, the Middle belt is the only one that appears to be sleeping. The North would like to see the dredging of the River Niger completed. But it seems there is a deliberate policy by the present Nigerian leadership to delay this or it is just not its priority yet. The River Niger, and by extension, the River Benue are very important in defining ethno-Nigerian relations. The politics of the Niger-Benue divide appears to go unnoticed by many Nigerian scholars. It is in the economic interest of the Middle belt to have the River Benue equally dredged up to Lagdo dam in Cameroon. The national assembly lacks the determination and requisite selflessness required to build a new nation through a just constitution-making process (not amendment of a “constitution”). The on-going constitution-amendment exercise of the national assembly is one in futility. A sovereign national conference is an inevitable national assignment if Nigeria must survive many of you here today.

While the nationalists in Southern Nigeria were eager to see off the colonial leadership, their counterparts in the North were not that eager, fearing what would happen to them with the exit of their protectors and benefactors. Any talk of resource control or convocation of a sovereign national conference in Nigeria sends fear down the spine of nationalists in Northern Nigeria, who sense a position of disadvantage. The fear becomes highly exaggerated when they feel or assume the loss of political power. I believe that failure to hold a sovereign national conference to frankly talk among ourselves and undo the fears induced by Frederick Lugard and his successors and the injustices imposed by post-1966 socio-political arrangements of military decrees, falsely called Constitutions, shall inflict further debilitating blights on our social estate.

I have no doubt that the “Southern lady of means” favours convocation of a sovereign national conference. But I am also aware that some of her children, because of their unfair benefit from the status quo, are against such contemplation. But what I know is that continued denial of the Nigerian presidency shall compel the North to give in to convocation of a sovereign national conference. I think the North shall have a hard time taking the presidency of Nigeria by 2015. This shall willy-nilly force a meeting of nationalities in Nigeria. Some mockers say that if such a conference should hold, it should be on the basis of States. This is baloney! You cannot recognize what you seek to vitiate as a basis of dialogue. We shall meet on the basis of nationalities. For instance, I may attend the conference as a Tiv citizen and not as a delegate from Benue state. The Tiv people have their age-long processes of selecting their representatives. No one should worry about how delegates for a sovereign national conference shall emerge. Each nation in Nigeria should attend to that.

We the Tivs would not accept the continued raid on our lands by Fulani herdsmen. We shall no longer permit the extraction of our huge limestone deposits, with consequential pollution of our environment without derivation benefits accruing to our relevant communities; we would like to have control of our natural resources and lands. Only a man who cannot see the future will proudly call advocates of a sovereign national conference, mischief makers. I think if asking for justice makes me a mischief maker in Nigeria, I boldly accept that title. But I say unreservedly, that Nigerian rulers today are troublers of Nigeria.

I heard about a proposed bill that would create grazing areas for the Fulani cattle all over Nigeria, under a Grazing Commission. This bill was sponsored by Hon. Albert Tsokwa from Taraba (a Middle belt state). The bill has passed second reading in both chambers of the national assembly. This bill, if passed, would lead to the take-over of lands in the Middle belt (through the Land use decree) for grazing of cattle, with no economic benefit to the land owners, but only losses. What is the response of our senators and representatives in Abuja? I must say to my senator, Gemade, that my people would not accept this. The Middle belt leaders have gone to sleep; wake up! In this modern era, the Fulani cattle owners should be able to set up cattle ranches in their lands and adopt modern ways of raising cattle. I warn that the proposed bill shall stoke more violence in Nigeria.

The relevance of population in defining majority or minority status is only traditional, but it is definitely not absolute. The quality of a population such as the level of its empowerment through strategic education, and thereby the weight of its influence in the various productive sectors of the economy, is more important than the bare numbers of people in that population. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, the Jewish population in 2012 stood at 5,931,000. In world and American politics, the Jews cannot be regarded as a minority. Jewish influence is felt both in the Arab world in particular, and the world in general. According to Wikipedia, the population of the Tiv nation is more than 6 million; and that the Tiv nation is the fourth largest in Nigeria, making up 3.5 percent of Nigeria’s population of 170 million by July this year. Comparing the Tiv influence on world’s politics with the influence of the Jews, where does the Tiv nation stand? Coming closer home, what is the influence of the Tiv nation within Nigeria? The Tiv nation is fast becoming a minority even within Benue state. The presence of natural resources can make a nation to gain a majority status provided it controls the productive and marketing processes. Strategic education is the key for such control; and this kind of education is urgently needed today by minorities in Nigeria. The Rivers state government is aggressively educating her people in top-quality universities both in Nigeria and abroad. About 10 years after, that state shall produce highly skilled manpower needed in high-tech industries in Nigeria, with consequential improvement in its influence level in Nigeria’s productive sectors.

Any nation group in Nigeria can change its status. The Yorubas had a visionary leader in Obafemi Awolowo, who gave them quality education by which the Yorubas dominate the productive sectors today. It is not the mere numbers of Yorubas that confer it with such aura of dignity; rather it is the education they have attained. The South-south states are working to improve the quality of education of their people; they organize economic summits and invite their exposed sons and daughters to contribute. Moreover, they have oil money coming in to fund their ambitious economic and educational projects. The Middle belt states remain either trapped in primitive politics of violence and death or in subservient disposition to the Royal north, which has yielded for them nothing better than pogrom in their homelands. The potential of the Middle belt states in agriculture and agriculture-based industrialization is obvious but obviously ignored by her leaders.

The Tiv nation is in a unique position to lead the Middle belt peoples out of their state of subjugation. But this nation has no leader, and therefore, the Middle belt has no leader. We have allowed petty political differences to divide us. I call on Governor Suswam, senators Akume and Gemade to come together. I call on Tor Tiv to become a father of all again. We cannot pretend, and frankly, I don’t know how to pretend. There is division in the land because of politics. Neither the PDP nor ACN shall develop our land and raise the standard of living of our people. But our brothers and sisters with political power can, irrespective of political affiliation. I request for a summit of the Middle belt peoples, which must be preceded by similar summits of individual nations or groups of nations within the region. These summits must examine what our genuine interests are, what our disadvantages are, what are our strengths, and the alliances we must build to achieve our potential. Governors of the Middle belt should sponsor those summits; two or three of governors of the Middle belt can lead the way. We cannot continue to be slaves on our lands. We refuse to die of fear. Let justice rain down, and let the people bath in it. Let internal strength overcome hate. For the sake of our future, predicted by our collective repentance, let us tear down all barriers that have for too long been raised against the hopeful reality that we know is possible. Thank you!wp_posts

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