"The Nigerians punished
the Ibo for their uppity behavior by freezing them out of the loot they got
from oil revenues and other graft, the one industry in Nigeria. For 30 years
the Ibo have been watching the oil pumped out of their land to buy more
Mercedes for a bunch of sleazy generals and politicians. They've got a right to
be pissed off -- but the Biafra war showed them that in Africa, right ain't got
much to do with it. Like the greatest Swede of 'em all used to say, 'God is on
the side of the big battalions.' "
The British-Igbo War That
Lasted For 31 years
The Ekumeku Resistance
Written by:
Libertywritersafrica
March 19, 2019
The resolutions of the Berlin
conference of 1884-1885, gave European nations the rights to lay claim to lands
and resources in Africa.
Britain, who had engaged in the
trade with coastal cities before and during the 19th century, made bold their
intentions to covet resources and rule over indigenous nations all over Africa.
They came with guns and
preachers. Many Africans tribes resisted the British invaders, and this led to
protracted wars. Many African tribes put up a great fight against the superior
fire power of the suppressive British.
One of such tribes are the Igbo
people of ancient Biafra, who are now one of the three major tribes in Nigeria.
The Ekuemeku Movement was the
name of Igbo army, that held the British at bay and fought them for 31 years.
The Ekumeku movement consisted
of a great number of attacks and uprising by the Anioma people of Biafra
igboland, against the British, from 1893-1914.
The Ekumeku warriors were bound
by a secrete oath, and meticulously utilized guerrilla tactics to attack the
British Royal company, who were determined to penetrate Igbo land. The Ekumeku
warriors were drawn from thousands of Anioma youth from all parts of Anioma
land.
As the war rages on, the
Ekumeku warriors defended their rights to live peacefully without foreign
interjection, while the British used heavy armaments. They destroyed homes, farms,
and roads, by bombardment.
The British invaded Ndoni in
1870 and bombarded Onicha-Ado (Onicha) on November 2nd, 1897, from River Niger.
This set the tempo for the rest of the war. The Royal Niger Company was
commanded by Major Festing. They engaged the Anioma people of Ibusa in 1898.
The battle was so severe in
0wa/Okwunzu, in 1904, that the commander W.E.B Crawford requested for more arms
from the British headquarters to crush the Western Anioma communities. The
people of Owa again in 1906 engaged the British in a gruesome battle that
consumed the life of the British commander S. O. Crewe and more than five
thousand British occupiers.
Ogwashi-Ukwu faced the British
on the 2nd of November 1909, and dealt a heavy blow to the British, who
sustained many casualties, with the death of H. C. Chapman.
The Ekumeku became a formidable
force in Igbo land and was a great source of nationalism for the Anioma people.
It also served as a uniting cord that held together various towns who were
independent of each other in the past. The Igbo were a republican people and
each town had a leadership that was drawn from its oldest of men and families.
The war would have lasted
longer, and possibly ended in a British defeat, if the Anioma people had
equivalent fire power, and had more allies from other great Igbo kingdoms and
towns. But even at that point, other tribes were facing the British on their
own.
After almost 20 years of
battle, the British decided to strike with great force. And in December of
1902, they sent a powerful expedition to Anioma kingdom. A great number of
towns were destroyed. Civilians and soldiers alike were killed. And their leaders
were arrested and imprisoned.
After this, the British were
sure that they had suppressed the Ekumeku military cult, and that victory was
theirs. The British officers boasted: “the Ekumeku and other secret societies
have been completely broken.”
To their greatest surprise, two
years later, in 1904, the fearless Ekumeku rose again. The Igbo are a proud and
egalitarian people. They don’t go down that easily.
When the Ekumeku started their
renewed campaign, they changed tactics, and abandoned the guerrilla warfare
style of 1889, for individual defense of each town.
The last battle began in 1909.
There was a succession dispute in Ogwashi-ukwu, and the British tried to remove
the rightful king and enthrone someone else. One of the heirs to the throne,
Nzekwe, the son of the last Obi, sensed the plot of the British and went to war
with them to fight for his inheritance.
On November 2nd 1909, the
British sent an expedition to Ogwashi-ukwu to capture him, but they failed. No
amount of fire power at that point could defeat or quench the sympathy and
dedication of the people towards the Ekumeku. In Asaba, the sympathy for the
Ekumeku was so high that the people had a disposition to throw off the already
British government in certain parts.
At the time, the acting Lieutenant-governor
of the Southern provinces sent an agitated telegram to Lagos. It read: “Whole
country is above are… is the state of rebellion.”
After this, reinforcements were
sent from Lokoja, for another confrontation at Akegbe. The war raged on, till
1914, when the Ekumeku movement was defeated. That was the same year, the
Northern and Southern protectorates of Nigeria were joined as one country.
Some of the heroes of that
31-year war included Dunwku Isus of Onicha-Olona, Nwabuzo Iyogolo of Ogwashi-Ukwu,
Awuno Ugbo, Obi of Akumazi, Aggbambu Oshue of Igbuzo, the Idabor of
Issele-Ukwu, Ochei Aghaeze of Onicha-olona, Abuzu of Idumuje-Unor, Idegwu
Otokpoike of Ubulu-Ukwu. These men are remembered in Anioma land till date.
The Ekumeku war remains one of
most bravely fought wars and campaign against British rule and plundering. It
later inspired other rebellions around Africa, such as the Mau Mau of Kenya.
The Ekumeku have long been
defeated, and that kingdom is now part of the greater Igbo land, in today’s
Nigeria. But no matter how far we travel in time, history always remembers that
a brave tribe defended their ancestry, heritage and legacy against the tyranny
of Wilberforce.
Till date, in Nigeria, the Igbo
remains one of the few tribes that still resist British rule over them and
their resources. It can be said that these sentiments were at play when the
British supplied weapons to the Northern and Western part of Nigeria to fight
the Igbo between 1967-1970. The same igbo Biafra indigenous people are still
agitating today through self determination rights to exist out of Nigeria
created by the British.
After 49years of the end of the
genocidal war against #Biafra. It's Time for the world to Support
#BiafraReferendum #BiafraSelfdetermination. If Nigeria can support Sahrawi
freedom; it shows no law stops other countries to Support or
#SaveBiafraChildren.
IGBO POLITICIANS AND NIGERIA
BIAFRA restoration campaign is
a raging combination of tornado and tsunami.The Christian Holy Bible
says"there's a time for everything done under the face of the Earth, it
goes further to say, there is a time to be born and a time to die, a time of peace
and a time of war, a time for sorrow and a time for joy ".
The existence of this Britannic
business empire called Nigeria has naturally come to a halt. All the combined
Britannic cum MAGREB demonic and voodoo forces holding Nigeria from supposed
dissipation have gone sour. The entity is doomed to obey the timelines of her
disintegration into organic boundaries.
People of foresight and
clairvoyance are readying for the awaited ceremony.Soldiers of hindsight are
already prepping for a camaraderie, visionary tycoons are already negotiating
on the basis of international partnership, The world is fast coming to that
very reality that balancing of diplomatic push would mean a lot in furtherance
of relations with the striving Nationalities.
The masses are already agog and
awoke , waiting for that glorious blast of the trumpet of freedom from
institutionalized poverty, nepotism,lies,deceits, failure, bigotry, mercantile
terrorism, frustration, destiny entrapment, institutionalized mediocrity,
FULANISATION, Islamization, undeclared war, banditry and state sponsored
kidnapping and brutal large sale of human organs which Nigeria represents.
Nigeria state is in massive
storm,the boat is shaky and quaky. Nigeria is in a state of double jeopardy at
the moment on the fate of Biafrans. The handlers have realized that a decision
is incumbent, seeing the curiosity of the determination for emancipation by
Biafrans. The recent violations of the principles of fairness in the sharing of
the principal offices of the national Assembly further nailed the conspiracy.
Nigeria cannot afford to keep
living in self-denial over BIAFRA.The northernization of appointments at the
federal level have come to stay. The northern oligarchs have summoned the
courage to go open against Igbo political interests. Igbo Politicians have been
spat in the face, they have been asked to go home and quit the delusion of one
Nigeria, seeing the propensity of determination shown by Biafrans.
Nigeria Politicians of Biafra
origin, instead of embracing earlier enough, the surging campaign for self
emancipation, chose rather to play self. The rate of embarrassment and
humiliation the political class of BIAFRA extraction experienced recently,
after several open confession of support for ONE Nigeria and brazen,brutal and
disgusting betrayal of their kits and kin, is deserving of a place in the
annals of time, for treachery and mischief.
Politicians of Biafra
extraction have been reduced to the level of ridicule that we as a people can
not but speak out. They have become so shamed, reduced to ragtag in Nigeria's
corridors of power. I cannot begin to imagine that someone like Orji Uzor Kalu,
despite working as a lobbying personnel of the ruling APC(ALL PROGRESSIVE
CONGRESS), in the run up to the 2019 general elections, could not be offered a
thing at the Senate!
They are now left as beggers
for political offices! Heard they are begging for an Secretary to Government of
the Federation, what a life? Hear Winston Churchill"An appeaser is one who
feeds a crocodile - hoping it will eat him last.
Could Sigmund Freud's
phylosophical observation be their reason for being far from free? " Most
people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and
most people are frightened of responsibility." : Sigmund Freud
Freedom's just another word for
nothing left to lose.
By : Kris Kristofferson
Atimes, I just begin to wonder
what and why these Politicians of Biafra origin chose crumbs for plenty!
What are their fears of a freed
Nation? Why are they waiting until they are slapped at the chin before they
learn their lessons? It shall be unfair to end this piece without reminding
them that A STITCH IN TIME SAVES NINE!
Written by:
Comr. Chukwuemeka Alex Okeke
For:The Biafra Restoration
Voice - TBRV
Edited by:
Mazi Nwabueze Nwagbo
For: The Biafra Restoration
Voice - TBRV
Published by:
Chibuike Nebeokike
For: The Biafra Restoration
Voice - TBRV
To read more of our articles
and updates:
Like our Facebook Page: The Biafra
Restoration Voice - TBRV
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Restoration Voice (TBRV)
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TBRV | Biafra
We‘ll Resist Fulani Vigilantes In Igboland,
Ohanaeze Tells Miyetti Allah
ON JUNE 21, 20191:52 AMIN HEADLINES,
NEWSBY ADEKUNLECOMMENTS
By Henry Umoru & Dennis
Agbo
•Ohanaeze ‘ll resist Fulani
vigilantes in Igboland —Nwodo.
ENUGU — TO combat insecurity,
the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, MACBAN, has called
for establishment of Fulani Youth Vigilante body in the South-East to
complement those in their host communities’ and other constituted security apparatus
in the State.
The cattle breeders made the
request just as the South-East governors told them that nobody in the zone was
against cattle rearing but that it was paramount for everyone to understand
that there are rules of engagement in every relationship, including that of
herders and farmers.
President-General of apex Igbo
socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief John Nnia Nwodo said the
group would resist Fulani vigilantes in Igboland, while the pan-Yoruba
socio-political organisation, Afenifere, described the proposal as a
provocative agenda.
In the same vein, the Nigeria
Police Service Commission, PSC, lampooned the yearly recruitment of 10,000
policemen, saying the number was a far cry from the number of personnel needed
to police the country.
These came as the 36 state
governors of the federation late Wednesday night raised a committee to hammer
out a common position on the clamour for state police.
MACBAN and security
stakeholders spoke, yesterday, during the South-East Security Summit organized
by the South-East Chambers of Commerce, Mines and Agriculture, SECCIMA, in
collaboration with South-East Governors Forum, SEGF, in
Speaking on how it affects
herdsmen, National President of MACBAN, Alhaji Mohammadu Kirowa, regretted that
once insecurity was mentioned in Nigeria, the first idea that came to mind was
Fulani herdsmen.
Represented by the National
Secretary, Alhaji Baba Usman Ngelzerma, MACBAN noted that South-East is a good
host, which was the reason it condemned all forms of violence and criminality
in the same manner patrons such as the Sultan of Sokoto, the Emir of Kano and
the Lamido of Adamawa did.
The group, however, said it
wanted establishment of Fulani Youth Vigilante group, noting that the youth
body would work with security agencies, the neighbourhood watch or vigilante to
ensure security in all communities, as was done in Enugu State.
“We will solicit your support
and cooperation in adopting dialogue where problems exist as a means of
brokering peace and to report cases against our members to either the Fulani
Youth Vigilante Group, state or local branch of the association,” Kirowa said.
In his remarks, Chairman of
South-East Governors Forum and governor of Ebonyi State, Engr. Dave Umahi,
stated that the region would not engage in policy of exclusion to limit any
farmer or herder, but stressed that rules of engagement should be observed in
every relationship.
Umahi, was represented by his
deputy, Dr. Kelechi Igwe, said: “We will continue to accommodate the Miyetti Allah
but our plea to them is that as we are magnanimous to allow settlers, every
community has a custom that needs not to be violated. It is the violation that
breeds problem.
“I believe that at the end,
resolutions will generate further national dialogue, promote agenda-setting and
a solution to the lingering national insecurity. All we need is the good idea
of one or two men to find direction and I believe this summit will do that.”
The Commissioner in charge of
Human Rights in the Police Service Commission, Mr. Rommy Mom, lamented the
inadequacy of Police personnel, noting that at present, Nigeria could only
boasts of fewer than 350, 000 police officers.
“This translates to 1.6 police
officers to every 100,000 Nigerian, which is a far cry from the world standard
of 225 police officers to every 100,000 people. In some local governments, you
have less than 10 police officers.
“Lack of data is a major
challenge, to the extent that even the Inspector General of Police is not very
sure of the exact number of police officers under his command. Electronic data
is very important,” Mon said.
He also stated that it was high
time Nigeria embraced the use of Information Communication Technology, ICT, and
other equipment to police the country.
Ohanaeze ‘ll resist Fulani
Vigilantes in Igboland – Nwodo
Reacting to MACBAN’s call,
Ohanaeze Ndigbo leader, Chief Nnia Nwodo, said Ndigbo will resist the proposal
for the establishment of Fulani Youths Vigilante in Igboland.
Accusing the herdsmen of
violating Igbo women in their farms, among other crimes, Nwodo noted that if
such request was granted the herdsmen, it will spell doom for Igboland.
Nwodo said: “Ohanaeze
vehemently opposes any attempt by Miyetti Allah to establish any form of
vigilante group in Igboland.
“These are people who have
ravaged our farms, raped our women and slaughtered their husbands. As at today,
they technically enjoy immunity from arrest and prosecution. They freely display
AK-47 rifles not permitted to be used by civilians.
“Extending this measure to them
will turn them into an army of occupation and invite unavoidable confrontations
with our youths. We will resist such a policy with every might available to
us.”
It’s a provocative agenda
—Afenifere
Reacting to the Miyetti Allah
proposal, the pan-Yoruba socio-political orgnisation, Afenifere, described it
as a provocative agenda.
Afenifere’s National Publicity
Secretary, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, who described the call as an insult, said: “It
is a provocative agenda which shows that there is a clear agenda to provoke
war.
“The South East has come under
the siege of marauding herdsmen with authorities in the land shying away from
enforcing law and order.
“The height of it all is now
this insulting call by Miyetti Allah. They should be careful how they poke
their wicked fingers into the eyes of the people. The gentility of a lion is never
a sign of cowardice.”
We’ll make our position on
state police known soon —Govs
Meanwhile, the 36 state
governors, under the aegis of Nigeria Governors Forum, NGF, said they would
make their position on state police known soon, and raised a committee to
discuss the issue and come up with a position.
The governors on Wednesday
night, held its first meeting after the election of the leadership of the
forum, with issues of security topping the agenda
The meeting which started at
past 8pm at its Secretariat, Lake Chad, Maitama, Abuja, ended in the early
hours of yesterday.
At the end of the meeting, the
governors “resolved to set up a security committee at the National Economic
Council level, NEC.”
The NEC, which consists of the
36 state governors, and governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, is the highest
economic advisory body in the land and is presided over by the Vice-President.
Addressing journalists at the
end of the meeting, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, who is chairman of
the NGF, disclosed that the forum will soon make known its stand on the issue
of state police, stressing that security is an issue of concern to citizens and
the governors as well.
According to Fayemi, the Forum
will “retain security as a recurring item on its agenda for the foreseeable
future.”
He said: “We know that state
police is an issue of interest and concern to the citizens and governors
themselves and we will review it and make our position as a forum known soon.”
Fayemi also disclosed that the
Forum resolved to re-launch its flagship State Peer Review Mechanism programme
designed to assist states foster good governance and accelerate the rate of
development through periodic reviews of progress made by state governments.
According to him, the forum has
also agreed to hold a one-day interactive session with the World Bank and Bill
and Melinda Gates Foundation on on-going development engagements across the
states on June 26, 2019.
The governor added that the
forum will also organise an IT retreat with the Joint Tax Board, JTB, and
chairmen of internal revenue services of states.
Also on the agenda was update
on Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU, Guidelines on Local Government
Funds.
It would be recalled that NFIU
had issued a guideline which prevents state governments from making withdrawals
from local governments’ funds.
The new guideline mandates
financial institutions to distribute funds meant for local governments directly
to them for development and not for other purposes, just as the guidelines also
limit cash transactions in the accounts of local governments to a daily maximum
of N500,000.
The meeting commenced at
exactly 8.00pm with 22 states represented.
Present at the meeting were
governors of Kano, Borno, Lagos, Kaduna, Sokoto, Ekiti,Kogi, Ogun, Plateau,
Ondo, Jigawa, Kebbi, Ebonyi, Gombe, Bayelsa, Nasarawa, Niger and Oyo.
Others were deputy governors of
Enugu, Zamfara, Cross River, Imo and Katsina.
FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE NIGERIAN BAR
ASSOCIATION,
NBA, AND HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST, OLISA AGBAKOBA (SAN),
HAS TOLD
PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI
TO DIVIDE THE COUNTRY INTO EIGHT REGIONAL
STRUCTURES.
AGBAKOBA, ONE OF THE GREATEST HEROES OF
DEMOCRACY IN NIGERIA, NOTED THAT THERE ARE SO MANY UNCLEAR ISSUES IN NIGERIA
ABOUT HOW PEOPLE OF THE COUNTRY WANT TO ORGANIZE THEMSELVES AND HOW THEY WANT
TO LIVE TOGETHER.
THE SENIOR LAWYER TOLD REPORTERS AT THE
WEEKEND THAT INSECURITY AND OTHER SERIOUS ISSUES FACING THE COUNTRY “CAN’T [BE]
FULLY ARRESTED,” IF THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT REMAINS SO STRONG AS IT IS NOW.
HE ADDED THAT, “THIS IS BECAUSE COMMUNITY
POLICING OR STATE POLICING IS A TACTICAL TOOL TO DEAL WITH THE PROBLEM, BUT THE
STRATEGIC TOOL IS THE BIGGER QUESTION OF THE NATIONAL QUESTION.
“THERE ARE SO MANY UNCLEAR ISSUES IN NIGERIA
ABOUT HOW WE WANT TO ORGANIZE OURSELVES, HOW WE WANT TO LIVE TOGETHER, THIS IS
WHAT SOME PEOPLE HAVE CALLED THE RESTRUCTURING QUESTION, SOME CALL IT THE
NATIONAL QUESTION, BUT I CALL IT DEVOLUTION OF POWERS QUESTION.
“WHATEVER IT’S CALLED THAT IS THE CENTRAL
ISSUE THAT NEEDS RESOLUTION SO THAT EVEN IF YOU USE TACTICAL TOOLS LIKE
COMMUNITY POLICING, BUT THE BIGGER ISSUE REMAINS THEN I DON’T KNOW IF WE CAN
RESOLVE IT.
“WHAT NIGERIA NEEDS IS SPACE, THERE ARE
DIVERSE ETHNICITIES AND THEY ARE LIVING IN SUCH CLOSE PROXIMITY THAT ONE ETHNIC
COMMUNITY IS IN THE FACE OF THE OTHER WITH COUNTER-CULTURES, COUNTER-RELIGIOUS
BELIEFS AND THAT IS NOT HEALTHY. EVEN IN AMERICA IN SPITE OF ALL THEIR ADVANCED
DEMOCRACY, THEY TAKE CARE OF DIVERSITIES.
“SO, I THINK IF I WERE TO ADVISE THE
PRESIDENT, FOR INSTANCE, THE FIRST THING TO DO IS CREATE SPACE…,IDENTIFY THE
ETHNIC REGIONALITIES, CREATE EIGHT BIG BLOCS, EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE 6 TO MAKE IT
8.
“AND THEN I WILL GIVE THEM THE POWER TO DO
THINGS AT THEIR OWN LOCAL LEVEL, IT’S CALLED THE PRINCIPLE OF SUBSIDIARITY; LET
THEM WORK AT THEIR OWN LOCAL LEVEL. SUBSIDIARITY IS WHERE PEOPLE ENGAGE
THEMSELVES AT THE LOCAL LEVEL SUCH THAT YOU FIND IN WALES, SCOTLAND, IRELAND
AND ENGLAND.
“PART OF THE CHALLENGE THEY HAD WHEN THEY
WERE LIVING CLOSELY WAS TO CREATE AN ACT OF SETTLEMENT OF 1705, THAT WAS WHEN
PEACE BEGAN TO COME AND EACH OF THE REGIONS RECOGNIZED THEMSELVES.
“THEY ALL HAD THEIR OWN PRIME MINISTERS AND
THEY CALL THEM FIRST MINISTERS, SO THE PRIME MINISTER OF THE UK IS THE ONE WE
SEE INTERNATIONALLY, BUT ON LOCAL MATTERS LIKE SCHOOL, REFUSE COLLECTION,
EDUCATION, AGRICULTURE, EMPLOYMENT, HEALTH ISSUES, IT’S LOCAL.
“SO, IMAGINE WHERE EIGHT OF THE REGIONAL
STRUCTURES IN NIGERIA WERE FENDING FOR THEMSELVES AT THEIR LOCAL LEVEL AND NOT
DEPENDING ON FEDERAL ALLOCATION FROM ABUJA, THINGS WILL BE DIFFERENT.
“IMMEDIATELY THEY WILL TAKE CONTROL OF WHAT
IS AROUND THEM, THEY WILL CREATE STATE POLICE, THEY WILL CREATE THE RELEVANT
SECURITY APPARATUS TO DEAL WITH ANY THREAT, THEREFORE, YOU DON’T NEED ONE CHIEF
OF ARMY STAFF, AND THEY DON’T NEED ONE INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE TO BE
RUNNING AROUND ENTIRE NIGERIA.
“FOR INSTANCE…SAY IN THE SOUTH-SOUTH REGION,
THEY WILL HAVE ALL THE RELEVANT APPARATUSES TO DEAL WITH WHATEVER SITUATION
THAT THEY NEED TO SURVIVE AS A REGION.
“THEY COULD HAVE COURTS; THEY MIGHT LIKE TO
HAVE A SUPREME COURT OF THE SOUTH-SOUTH WHERE CASES END IN THE SUPREME COURT OF
THE SOUTH-SOUTH, SO THEY DO NOT HAVE TO GO TO THE SUPREME COURT OF NIGERIA
BECAUSE THE SUPREME COURT OF NIGERIA HAS NO BUSINESS DEALING WITH ISSUES
ARISING FROM THERE.
“THAT IS THE KIND OF SPACE I THINK THAT
SHOULD BE PARAMOUNT IN THE ISSUE CONCERNING WHERE NIGERIA IS HEADING TO.
“BECAUSE THAT DISCUSSION IS NOT ON THE TABLE,
ALL THESE ETHNIC ISSUES FLARE UP AS MAJOR NATIONAL INSECURITY CHALLENGE. SO,
THAT IS WHAT I WILL DO OR SUGGEST IF I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO ADVISE ON IT. THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS TOO STRONG.
“THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS ACTUALLY NOT A
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, OURS IS A UNITARY GOVERNMENT BECAUSE THE STATES HAVE NO
POWER ON THE LEGISLATIVE LIST SO THERE ARE 68 ITEMS ON THE EXCLUSIVE LIST AND
AS THE NAME IMPLIES IN EXCLUSIVE LIST ONLY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HANDLES IT.
“THERE IS 30 ON THE CONCURRENT LIST,
CONCURRENT IS BETWEEN THE FEDERAL AND THE STATE TO LEGISLATE, BUT IF THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT LEGISLATES THEN PURSUANT TO WHAT IS CALLED THE DOCTRINE OF
COVERING THE FIELD THE STATE IS NOT ALLOWED TO DO ANYTHING. IN OTHER WORDS, THE
STATES HAVE NO LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY THAT CREATES A PROBLEM.
“WHY SHOULD THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT BE DEALING
WITH UNIVERSAL BASIC EDUCATION FOR PRIMARY SCHOOLS? WHAT IS THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITY WITH THAT? I DON’T UNDERSTAND.
“WHAT IS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
RESPONSIBILITY WITH SETTING UP A JAMB PROCESS SO THAT YOU EQUALIZE EDUCATIONAL
ACTIVITIES, BUT IF MY GRANDCHILD FROM ANAMBRA SCORES 282, BUT MY FRIEND’S
GRANDSON FROM ZAMFARA SCORES 100, MY FRIEND’S GRANDSON GETS INTO THE UNIVERSITY,
BUT MY OWN DOES NOT GET IN. WHY DON’T YOU SIMPLY SAY ….LOOK EACH REGION CAN
JUST ORGANIZE ITSELF AND TAKE YOUR EXAMINATION?
“SO, IT IS THIS CENTRIFUGAL FEDERALISM THAT
MEANS FEDERALISM THAT HAS A PYRAMID THAT HAS ONLY ONE LEADER THAT IS OUR
PROBLEM.
“WE JUST HAVE TO BLAST THE STRUCTURES AND
ALLOW REGIONAL LEADERS AS WE HAD UNDER THE 1960 CONSTITUTION. SO, WHEN YOU HAVE
REGIONAL LEADERS YOU WILL HAVE PEOPLE WHO WILL LIKE TO PLAY REGIONAL POLITICS
OR REGIONAL LAW.
“THERE IS NO REASON, FOR INSTANCE, IN MY OWN PROFESSION
THE EIGHT REGIONS I PROPOSE SHOULD NOT BE AWARDING SAN TO THEIR BEST LAWYERS.
WHY MUST IT ONLY BE ABUJA? IN THE UK, THE SAN IN ENGLAND IS DIFFERENT FROM THE
SAN IN SCOTLAND.
“SO, THE FORMULA THAT WORKED FOR NIGERIA WAS
TO RECOGNIZE THE DIFFERENCES AND I THINK THE BEST EXAMPLE OF THE AGREEMENTS
THAT WE CAN APPLY IS THE ABURI ACCORD.
“THE ABURI ACCORD RECOGNIZED THAT NIGERIA’S
PROBLEMS WERE AS A RESULT OF OUR DIVERSITY NOT BEING WELL MANAGED. WE NEED TO
MANAGE OUR DIVERSITY THAT IS THE WAY WE CAN MOVE FORWARD