NORTHERN NIGERIA LEACHING ON THE SOUTH (PART 1)
By Peter Omonua
I was talking with a family friend recently. His relative, who is from
one of the South-South states, works with a major federal government
agency. The person has worked with this organization for about 30
years, during which period, he rose to the position of a Deputy
General Manager (DGM).
About 4 years ago, the person received instructions, from “above” to
employ a certain young graduate, and was mandated to bring the new
hire in at the position of an Assistant Manager. Officially, the
expected level for a new graduate should be entry level position.
Within four short years, this new hire was promoted so rapidly that he
attained the same level of DGM, that which took my friend’s relation
30 years to attain. As we speak, I learnt there is a new position that
has just opened up for a General Manager within the organization. This
young, 4-years experience employee is being considered for the General
Manager post. This new hire is Fulani. This is not a made up story, it
is real.
This same person, (my friend’s relative), was recently granted
approval to hire 20 new staff for their team. The final list that
Management approved to hire has 17 Fulanis and 3 Yorubas.
This is what is happening throughout all of the Nigerian Federal
government run institutions and Agencies as we speak.
Reversal of Fortune
Above, is the depicted face of the New Nigeria in the imagination of
the Fulani Oligarch
During the visit of the World Bank’s President to Nigeria not too long
ago, he was specifically instructed by General Buhari to focus his
developmental projects in the northern part of the country. As was
later be reported by The Punch Newspaper’s Oyetunji Abioye. The World
Bank President, Jim Yong Kim was quoted as having said:
“You know, in my very first meeting with President Buhari he said
specifically that he would like us to shift our focus to the northern
region of Nigeria and we’ve done that. Now, it has been very
difficult. The work there has been very difficult”.
Just recently, the Olu of Warri appealed to President Buhari to
approve Seaports for South – South and South – East regions. Buhari
was reported to have responded that he knows how many votes he got
from these regions. Everyone knows Apapa and Tin Can ports are
nightmares for users, owing to the congestion. Additionally, why
should people who live all over Eastern and Mid – Western Nigeria have
to travel to Lagos to manage their shipping business when there are
potentials for similar infrastructure closer to them? Can you imagine
the quantum of economic activities that could be ignited if any of
Sapele, Burutu, Onitsha, Calabar and the newly conceptualized
“Gelegele” Seaport in Benin City, Edo state, were operational?
Scenarios like the ones I highlighted above are not isolated cases.
They have been the standard than the exceptions. There have been
reports that when General Buhari held sway as the head of the
Petroleum Trust Funds (PTF), more than 75% of projects he oversaw
their implementation were situated in the North. That report has never
been controverted.
Successive Nigeria leaders of Northern origin, have ensured that
otherwise laudable developmental initiatives, capable of transitioning
the Southern part of the country to world class and dream habitation,
are frustrated at conception. This is because the Northern leaders
view such initiatives as capable of widening the developmental gaps
between the North and the South.
The anxiety of the north about the developmental gap with the South
has been there from the very beginning. At independence, the South was
already miles ahead of the North in every parameter. The North has
never pretended to like or appreciate that reality. As a consequence,
educational and Social policies that have been implemented by
successive ‘Northern regimes,’ have therefore been aimed to stymied or
regress the growth path for the South while seeking to elevate that of
the North.
Chief Olanihun Ajayi of blessed memory, who himself was a participant
in the affairs of the country Pre- and post-independence, understood
this better. In one of his last televised interviews, Chief Ajayi said
the Northern led Military government, at that time, took over the
administration of the University of Ife because Northern leaders were
threatened by the pace of growth of the Yoruba educational sector and
they needed to stop it. Reproduced below were his exact words:
“It was part of the plan to retard the progress of Yoruba people –
that has been the case during the first Republic. The leaders in the
North said the advance of the West was so much that they would do
their utmost to make sure that, that advance is faulted”
If you mentioned to any of these Northern leaders that there was any
remote possibility of extracting water from a rock somewhere in the
North, the flood-gate of State Resources are usually widely opened at
such prospect. A case in point is the Lake Chad Basin. Without making
any pretenses about it, this current government has expended mind
blowing State Resources with the hope of discovering Oil in the Lake
Chad Basin. They would ensure that no expense is spared in that quest.
In its bid to bridge the very wide gap in the educational levels of
the North and the South, all available State resources are being
diverted Northward, while bending the rule to unimaginable levels to
accommodate the shortcomings of the Northern candidates against their
Southern counterparts. We are all aware of the number of School
Certificates Credit a Northerner requires to gain admission into
institutions of higher learning and the Cut-Off Marks they need to
score in JAMB and other admission requirements.
This is not a new phenomenon. To put it in context, not too long after
the country’s independence, the North needed to catch-up with the
South with respect to the number of Commissioned Military Officers.
History has it that Northern Officers’ training, which for Southern
Officers before them, took about 2+ years to complete, were shortened
to 6 months or less! By so doing, the Nigerian military became awash
with ‘half-baked’ military officers of Northern origin. That was not
all. The mandatory High School graduation result which was required
for Officer Cadre recruitment were waived for these crop of Northern
Officers. That is why no one should be surprised that Buhari ‘cannot
find his secondary school results’ and neither does the military
authority possess it. It was never obtained, because it was never
required for him to join the military. That was how the Northerners
became majority and all other ethnic groups collectively, became
minority. That ratio has been jealously maintained and guarded up to
this day.
Despite the fact that this race to ‘Catch-Up’, has been pursued
vigorously and unabashedly for as far back as after amalgamation,
there is a very slim chance that it can be achieved. The reason is
because there is an increasing hunger for western education in the
average household in the South. It has become more or less a culture.
The reverse is the case with the North. Where the South, for the most
part has a more cohesive, single unit family systems, the North is
replete with homeless, arms seeking vagabonds, children, whom, through
no fault of their own have become victims of a rather warped,
shambolic but acceptable and thriving feudal system. To paraphrase
Femi Fani Kayode, ‘they thrive on a vassal system, where the serfs
worship the nobility and pay him homage’. Even though their calamitous
social situations were self-inflicted, it has bred a mix of envy, bad
blood and concealed annoyance from the Northern leadership.
At another level, the Northern oligarchs believe that they must remain
in power to compensate for their shortfall in educational, industrial
and social development. Whatever they could not achieve through a
manipulated electoral process, they have always achieved through the
barrel of the gun, deploying their advantaged military personnel and
apparatuses when that supremacy is threatened.
It needs be pointed out to the Northern leadership, that competition,
which for all intent is a springboard to excellence, and which is the
engine that propels initiative, is clearly absent in their feudal
system. This has been further exacerbated due to their indolent
over reliance on the biasedly implemented quota system, a system which
in itself promotes mediocrity. It is for the same reasons you will not
see the average northern young man nor woman, occupy positions of
authority in the private sector; safe for organizations with
governmental ownership and for which positions you only need to be
appointed than go through rigorous, competitive process. I was not
surprised when Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark was quoted as saying: “When
you get to Warri Refinery, you start thinking you are in Kaduna” It
needs no telling therefore, why the entire operational systems of the
federal government establishments, infested with these totally
incompetent elements have gone moribund or collapsed altogether.
The average northern youth or young adults have become accustomed to
the comfort zone of civil service or government appointments. They
know they could get into these positions irrespective of their
educational qualification compared to other candidates. This also
explains why, despite the efforts of the average Southerner, who
strives to measure shoulder to shoulder with other nationalities
around the world, the Hausa/Fulani would rather stick around Abuja’s
corridor of power, Ministries, Parastatals or Agencies. In a worst
case scenario, he get approval for concessionary exchange rates, buys
foreign exchange from the Central Bank and opens a kiosk of Bureau De
Change – ventures for which there is little or no application of
intellectual capital.
After decades of leeching on the other regions, one would expect the
few Northern elites to convene an all-stakeholder meeting within their
ranks, with a goal to setting a developmental agenda. An agenda that
would have measurable and specific timelines, within which to see that
reasonable progress is made in lifting their people up educationally
and socially. Because there is a free flow of monthly allocation from
Abuja, for which no efforts are required, such initiatives would never
be contemplated.
To be continued…
THE PART 2 OF THIS ARTICLE, WILL BE PUBLISHED IN THE COMING DAYS ON
THIS BLOG SITE
By Peter Omonua
I was talking with a family friend recently. His relative, who is from
one of the South-South states, works with a major federal government
agency. The person has worked with this organization for about 30
years, during which period, he rose to the position of a Deputy
General Manager (DGM).
About 4 years ago, the person received instructions, from “above” to
employ a certain young graduate, and was mandated to bring the new
hire in at the position of an Assistant Manager. Officially, the
expected level for a new graduate should be entry level position.
Within four short years, this new hire was promoted so rapidly that he
attained the same level of DGM, that which took my friend’s relation
30 years to attain. As we speak, I learnt there is a new position that
has just opened up for a General Manager within the organization. This
young, 4-years experience employee is being considered for the General
Manager post. This new hire is Fulani. This is not a made up story, it
is real.
This same person, (my friend’s relative), was recently granted
approval to hire 20 new staff for their team. The final list that
Management approved to hire has 17 Fulanis and 3 Yorubas.
This is what is happening throughout all of the Nigerian Federal
government run institutions and Agencies as we speak.
Reversal of Fortune
Above, is the depicted face of the New Nigeria in the imagination of
the Fulani Oligarch
During the visit of the World Bank’s President to Nigeria not too long
ago, he was specifically instructed by General Buhari to focus his
developmental projects in the northern part of the country. As was
later be reported by The Punch Newspaper’s Oyetunji Abioye. The World
Bank President, Jim Yong Kim was quoted as having said:
“You know, in my very first meeting with President Buhari he said
specifically that he would like us to shift our focus to the northern
region of Nigeria and we’ve done that. Now, it has been very
difficult. The work there has been very difficult”.
Just recently, the Olu of Warri appealed to President Buhari to
approve Seaports for South – South and South – East regions. Buhari
was reported to have responded that he knows how many votes he got
from these regions. Everyone knows Apapa and Tin Can ports are
nightmares for users, owing to the congestion. Additionally, why
should people who live all over Eastern and Mid – Western Nigeria have
to travel to Lagos to manage their shipping business when there are
potentials for similar infrastructure closer to them? Can you imagine
the quantum of economic activities that could be ignited if any of
Sapele, Burutu, Onitsha, Calabar and the newly conceptualized
“Gelegele” Seaport in Benin City, Edo state, were operational?
Scenarios like the ones I highlighted above are not isolated cases.
They have been the standard than the exceptions. There have been
reports that when General Buhari held sway as the head of the
Petroleum Trust Funds (PTF), more than 75% of projects he oversaw
their implementation were situated in the North. That report has never
been controverted.
Successive Nigeria leaders of Northern origin, have ensured that
otherwise laudable developmental initiatives, capable of transitioning
the Southern part of the country to world class and dream habitation,
are frustrated at conception. This is because the Northern leaders
view such initiatives as capable of widening the developmental gaps
between the North and the South.
The anxiety of the north about the developmental gap with the South
has been there from the very beginning. At independence, the South was
already miles ahead of the North in every parameter. The North has
never pretended to like or appreciate that reality. As a consequence,
educational and Social policies that have been implemented by
successive ‘Northern regimes,’ have therefore been aimed to stymied or
regress the growth path for the South while seeking to elevate that of
the North.
Chief Olanihun Ajayi of blessed memory, who himself was a participant
in the affairs of the country Pre- and post-independence, understood
this better. In one of his last televised interviews, Chief Ajayi said
the Northern led Military government, at that time, took over the
administration of the University of Ife because Northern leaders were
threatened by the pace of growth of the Yoruba educational sector and
they needed to stop it. Reproduced below were his exact words:
“It was part of the plan to retard the progress of Yoruba people –
that has been the case during the first Republic. The leaders in the
North said the advance of the West was so much that they would do
their utmost to make sure that, that advance is faulted”
If you mentioned to any of these Northern leaders that there was any
remote possibility of extracting water from a rock somewhere in the
North, the flood-gate of State Resources are usually widely opened at
such prospect. A case in point is the Lake Chad Basin. Without making
any pretenses about it, this current government has expended mind
blowing State Resources with the hope of discovering Oil in the Lake
Chad Basin. They would ensure that no expense is spared in that quest.
In its bid to bridge the very wide gap in the educational levels of
the North and the South, all available State resources are being
diverted Northward, while bending the rule to unimaginable levels to
accommodate the shortcomings of the Northern candidates against their
Southern counterparts. We are all aware of the number of School
Certificates Credit a Northerner requires to gain admission into
institutions of higher learning and the Cut-Off Marks they need to
score in JAMB and other admission requirements.
This is not a new phenomenon. To put it in context, not too long after
the country’s independence, the North needed to catch-up with the
South with respect to the number of Commissioned Military Officers.
History has it that Northern Officers’ training, which for Southern
Officers before them, took about 2+ years to complete, were shortened
to 6 months or less! By so doing, the Nigerian military became awash
with ‘half-baked’ military officers of Northern origin. That was not
all. The mandatory High School graduation result which was required
for Officer Cadre recruitment were waived for these crop of Northern
Officers. That is why no one should be surprised that Buhari ‘cannot
find his secondary school results’ and neither does the military
authority possess it. It was never obtained, because it was never
required for him to join the military. That was how the Northerners
became majority and all other ethnic groups collectively, became
minority. That ratio has been jealously maintained and guarded up to
this day.
Despite the fact that this race to ‘Catch-Up’, has been pursued
vigorously and unabashedly for as far back as after amalgamation,
there is a very slim chance that it can be achieved. The reason is
because there is an increasing hunger for western education in the
average household in the South. It has become more or less a culture.
The reverse is the case with the North. Where the South, for the most
part has a more cohesive, single unit family systems, the North is
replete with homeless, arms seeking vagabonds, children, whom, through
no fault of their own have become victims of a rather warped,
shambolic but acceptable and thriving feudal system. To paraphrase
Femi Fani Kayode, ‘they thrive on a vassal system, where the serfs
worship the nobility and pay him homage’. Even though their calamitous
social situations were self-inflicted, it has bred a mix of envy, bad
blood and concealed annoyance from the Northern leadership.
At another level, the Northern oligarchs believe that they must remain
in power to compensate for their shortfall in educational, industrial
and social development. Whatever they could not achieve through a
manipulated electoral process, they have always achieved through the
barrel of the gun, deploying their advantaged military personnel and
apparatuses when that supremacy is threatened.
It needs be pointed out to the Northern leadership, that competition,
which for all intent is a springboard to excellence, and which is the
engine that propels initiative, is clearly absent in their feudal
system. This has been further exacerbated due to their indolent
over reliance on the biasedly implemented quota system, a system which
in itself promotes mediocrity. It is for the same reasons you will not
see the average northern young man nor woman, occupy positions of
authority in the private sector; safe for organizations with
governmental ownership and for which positions you only need to be
appointed than go through rigorous, competitive process. I was not
surprised when Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark was quoted as saying: “When
you get to Warri Refinery, you start thinking you are in Kaduna” It
needs no telling therefore, why the entire operational systems of the
federal government establishments, infested with these totally
incompetent elements have gone moribund or collapsed altogether.
The average northern youth or young adults have become accustomed to
the comfort zone of civil service or government appointments. They
know they could get into these positions irrespective of their
educational qualification compared to other candidates. This also
explains why, despite the efforts of the average Southerner, who
strives to measure shoulder to shoulder with other nationalities
around the world, the Hausa/Fulani would rather stick around Abuja’s
corridor of power, Ministries, Parastatals or Agencies. In a worst
case scenario, he get approval for concessionary exchange rates, buys
foreign exchange from the Central Bank and opens a kiosk of Bureau De
Change – ventures for which there is little or no application of
intellectual capital.
After decades of leeching on the other regions, one would expect the
few Northern elites to convene an all-stakeholder meeting within their
ranks, with a goal to setting a developmental agenda. An agenda that
would have measurable and specific timelines, within which to see that
reasonable progress is made in lifting their people up educationally
and socially. Because there is a free flow of monthly allocation from
Abuja, for which no efforts are required, such initiatives would never
be contemplated.
To be continued…
THE PART 2 OF THIS ARTICLE, WILL BE PUBLISHED IN THE COMING DAYS ON
THIS BLOG SITE
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