A MEMO TO JUNAID MOHAMMED

Source: the armed political robbery, including an almost 2/3 gerrymandered electoral jurisdictions accorded his region, and must live with its consequences.

nerPostTitle">A MEMO TO JUNAID MOHAMMED Written by Prince General http://www.nigerianbestforum.com/blog/?author=1 http://www.nigerianbestforum.com/blog/?cat=356 Mar 1, 2010

A memo to Junaid Mohammed
BY JIMANZE EGO-ALOWES
Monday , March 01, 2010


•Mohammed

How time passes and the world refuses to come to an end or shape up to the expectations of votaries. I was once a great admirer of folks like Dr. Janaidu Mohammed and Alhaji Abubakar Rimi. They were in my then eyes innocent princes of power…and in time would become our own Kennedies, Roosevelts etc.

They had charisma, metropolitan education, etc. But they were also Northerners. This mattered a bit. The civil war had barely ended…and here were we experimenting with civilian rule and governance, even if not democracy. And they were a welcome dismissal of the idea of the Northern political operator as a crude soldier whose only logic and sense of purpose are in a loaded gun. But Dr. Mohammed, a physician with a brilliant grip on social analysis could stand his own ground and argue it right. Thus the idea of the Southern man as the thinking box was mercifully done with.

Yet a series of realities and absurdities intervened and no one heard of the Junaidu Mohammeds and Rimis of this world any more, which is quite a shame on us all and a tragedy unto the nation. But what happened? With the passage of time, sheer memory loss and gathering of dust on historical evidence it may be difficult to isolate, what these men…princes of power did or forgot to do. It is difficult but not impossible. Granted they are not soldiers (the Colonel Umars, Brigadier Marks and Shagayas of this world out-foxed and supplanted them) but they tragically put up with the acts, nation destructive acts of these soldiers.

What are these acts? They are a series of post 1970 Gowon (especially) coups, counter coups and step aside coups. And what about? It is that is so happened that all these coups were plotted, perpetuated by Northerners, with the exception of one or two that incidentally that failed.

Then there are these questions;
(1) if Nigerians can go to war to stop secession, why can't they go to war to stop coups, which in the Nigerian experience also ends up redrawing the political cum electoral map of the nation, by the will and maddened delusions of a few?

(2) Why was it that it so happened, it was only Northerners who planned and executed all coups that turned successful? (e.g. see Tribune cover story, 19/02/10, on the studied nepotism of the Nigerian army)

(3) These series of coups run by Northerners who won a civil war, with genocide as a tool, can it ever be nationalistic? If a General Danjuma 40 cold long years after he and his army allegedly won a civil war can be full of bile against a people he allegedly defeated, could he have ever been fair and or nationalistic in his and his groups administration of the country?

The answers are obvious…and they are that some tribal or sectional soldiers who cornered power are pretending or pretended, to be nationalists. This is at the core of our national problem and malaise. And except these people and their deeds are de-constructed and the truths told and reparations and apologies made to parties who have been robbed or raped…simply put, we have lost it.

This assumption and conscription of other peoples' right, which the Gowon to Abubakar line of Northern origin dictators, is the explanation why the political map and terrain of Nigeria has been deliberately- I repeat deliberately - skewed by these Northerners to favour them. The North almost on their own gave themselves more local government than they need and more states than others. They gave compensatory numbers to the Southwest who apparently were their junior partners in the civil war and denied the Southeast, the defeated faction, any meaningful representation.

No wonder Sanusi Lamido Sanusi an under-boss of the ruling northern mafia boasted, yes we have taught the Ibos a lesson. When you put this together with Danjuma's outburst which IBB and other Northern generals okayed…it is clear these things are deliberate.

Now the errors of the great princes like Junaidu is that they kept quiet. Apparently the armed political robbery by Generals of Northern origin, of which their civilian politicians were the receivers of stolen goods, favoured them. But did it? This was their first fatal mistake and tragedy. Suddenly the soldiers put off their uniforms and came into bid for electoral power. In this, princes of promises lost out.

So when I read him in 11/02/10 The Sun and The Guardian, 18/02/10 I shuddered as he spoke thus, you are still hooked to the idea that zoning and rotation is the only way to govern this country! Please go to history. Go to what happened to Yugoslavia, this nonsense about zoning and rotation among the different groups, Serbs, Macedonians and others was what led to the collapse of the Yugoslavian federation.

If you want to continue along these lines you should also know that there would be a collapse of the Nigeria federation. But it would also be a collapse through war. It will not be going to be a simple peaceful going apart of the country. There is no way you can divide Nigeria peacefully. If you want to have another civil war on this nonsense principle of zoning and rotation, go and have your war. But there are many of us who will refuse to participate in it because we don't believe in it. I don't believe in it. But if you want to continue along the lines you are going, good luck to you. Because the media has contributed to the lack of education, contributed to the lack of historical and political education, which brought us to mess we are in today, especially the Lagos media.

It doesn't work, it cannot work but you insist that we stick to it simply because you have made up your mind that it is the only way to govern the country.How many of your editors have won elections? And how many of them can win election. Please let us not deceive ourselves. Zoning has failed.

But has it? It perhaps has, because it has not even been practiced. But beyond the failure or otherwise of zoning are issues and tendencies Dr. Jinaidu prefers to over look. He spoke about lack of historical and political education, ostensibly for others, now we can assume he has it. But questions of the contrived injustices of our recent history, designed and executed, it so happened by a string of Northern origin coup makers, what about?

If he asked how many editors have won elections and how many can win elections he is on target. Now a corollary question is: How many of the Gowons, Abachas IBBs, Abubakars, Buharis who ruled, ruined and misruled this country won elections?

And why must we allow their false, sectional and nation killer decisions to last when they had no mandates in the first place? Why and how dare Northern inspired and dominated armed gangs like the AFRC, SMC, etc un-representative of Nigeria, create states all over the country and it be allowed to stand or decide on revenue allocation? And some are canvassing a studiedly and sectionally skewed army and command, are suddenly nationalistic.

These are questions many ask with masks on their faces, but I consider myself a living man, and I speak with my name and face to it. So the mess we are in is indicated and a direct outcome of Northern Military misadventures. Except we clean up that…and its ramifications, all ways and means will lead Nigeria to a hell hole.

In fact it is not only that Nigeria may break up, but it should, except we deconstruct the gerrymandering and nepotism, direct, indirect, studied or gratuitous, of these generals of Northern extraction.

The best a Northern intellectual should then do is to discuss, address these matters and not mourn the mess we are in, because this is yet our paradise. He Junaidu is also an inheritor and receiver, not objector to stolen assets from the armed political robbery, including an almost 2/3 gerrymandered electoral jurisdictions accorded his region, and must live with its consequences.

Now it so happened it is Dr. Junaidu who on a health ward round forgot to take simple historical pulse readings of the nation, his patient…and joyfully accuses others.

If he did, he would perhaps have come to knowledge that zoning is an emergency procedure to contain or perhaps stabilize the trauma that Northern extraction generals have serially visited upon this hapless nation…before and as we await major corrective surgeries to restore the National health and stability.

Junaidu's unstated assumption is that every successful coup maker and his actions are moral, righteous, high-minded, wise, all knowing, nationalistic etc, which is nonsense.

Now the only way to stop this monster from being is for us to repudiate and make reparations for and on the disruptive, sectional, partisan effects and ramifications of all coups.

If we don't then OBJ third term bid is moral and justifiable, so also is President's bid to rule from an offshore sick bay, all coups, counter-coups, step-aside coups, in the past and in the future, etc. In fact in the words of a Nigerian General, it is an army, the Nigerian army, and indeed a country of anything goes.

This is why from 1966 Nzeogwu's mindless and sectional coup to Abubakar's forged constitution, Nigeria has not produced one single great man, especially from the North and the West, who ostensibly were the coalition that won the war. What happened? They were too cunning…and in robbing others, didn't know they were robbing themselves, and killing the nation.

To summarise if generals of Northern extraction did not mess up this country, taking a cue from Nzeogwu and co…princes of power like Jinaidu and Rimi would have turned up our Kennedies and Lincolns. What to do then? I have said it before and I repeat, the North especially, and the Southwest, hold the negative powers. That is the powers without which not much - especially no good can be done. This is perhaps their 'seized' inheritance for winning the civil war.

It is now in their own interest to call and fight for an all inclusive imperium. Our only option is the dialogue of equals, without coups or gun bearing soldiers whether or not they are from paradise or have heavenly intentions. Nigerians and Nigeria are in protest. Let us refashion a new country on logic - not on my gun is bigger than yours. I assure you dear Jinaid, otherwise it won't work. And shouldn't.