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| Monday, April 24, 2000 |
| Michael Folorunso |
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"North In Isolation" By Aminu Sa'ad Beli: Please allow me to respond to this article. I can understand Mallam Aminu Sa'ad Beli's frustration. If I were a Muslim, and from northern Nigeria, I probably will share my frustration openly too. It is sad to note that those who have contributed the least to the progress of the Nation, and have had opportunities one after another, both military and constitutionally at ruling and shaping Nigeria are now the one that are complaining. If I were from the north I will feel a great deal of frustration too. The problem here is, his frustration is misdirected. Rather than direct his frustrations to the many leaders they have produced to rule Nigeria, no, he did not. Instead he singles out the Yorubas to bear the brunt of his pains. This man, is really in pain for his people, hence his public search for a scapegoat. Well, the Yorubas, are content and proud of who they are, and have never needed any one or any group to make us feel good. Let me quote a saying from one of the illustrious sons of Oduduwa, " ka ka ki ndo bale fun gambari, ma kunkun ku" Late Chief Obafemi Awolowo is credited with the quote. It translates, I will die first before I bow to a gambari. It can be likened to the famous American quote " Give me liberty or give me death". Looking back now, Awo was correct, at the time a lot of people saw him as very rigid, but at least he was very courageous and harbors no fear of any kind. Nonetheless some selfish Yorubas, colluded with the intellectually unprepared north and taught them the trappings of power, these, unfortunately were, the late Sir Ladoke Akintola, and recently Richard Akinjide and the rest of the coward clans. Chief Akintola may not even be a coward, but he just was willing to give away too much for his own selfish goal. These were Yorubas that put too much faith in working with the tribalistic north who have always had an agenda of their own. Their agenda, as we all know is to spread Islam at all cost without regards for human life. Well, it is all a common knowledge that Chief Awolowo went to jail, more so for what he stood for than for what he was charged with. Awolowo I should say lived well, and died a natural death. When I look at the Yorubas, I see the image of Lt. Col. A. Fajuyi, may his soul rest in perfect peace. I also see a hero of all heros, Brigadier Ben Adekunle. Today, in the Yoruba land, Akintola's name, is not as better remembered as that of Awolowo. Despite that the largely welfare expecting, beggar north will prefer that Awolowo's name be forgotten. The truth is, Awolowo's name is firmly etched in the heart of his fellow Yorubas, he does not need an edifice or monument to be erected in his name. His name stands for boldness and progress. Awo, unfortunately had the least chance at shaping the nation. Awolowo's contributions, hate him or love him, will live on for posterity to measure. Let me remind Mallam Aminu Sa'ad Beli, that it was not the Yorubas who butchered innocent Igbos, pregnant women children and all, in 1966. It was indeed the Hausas, instigated by their Fulani masters. This is just a recent history, if my people committed such a barbaric crime, against pregnant women, children etc., just because they were Igbos, I will conveniently erase it from my memory too. History again repeated itself, two months ago in Nigeria, the targets this time around were southern Christians. God and true God does not need anyone to kill or fight for Him. The truth is, poverty and illiteracy, lack of clear awareness for the individual rights of worship and expression has created an environment where some indolent people can kill at will for religion. Let me say here also, that the southerners recognized the need for mass education. Southern universities often set aside quotas to be filled by the educationally disadvantaged so they can help bring them up to speed. Anyday anytime, an educated customer is a better customer to deal with. We are all black people, so you can not explain away the lack of decent education that is so visible in the north to genetics. Like one of their leaders rightly pointed out to them, late Usman Katsina clearly told them, that their problem is laziness and nothing more. The south as a whole is guilty of only one thing, appeasing mediocrity. I know well that education is not needed for anyone to be innovative, common sense and vision is. A group that will rather take a bowl in their hands and beg alms from their fellow citizens, it seems to me collectively is lacking in creativity and vision. Regarding Yorubas looting the national treasury, there really is no truth to that, outside of Chief Obasanjo, no yoruba has ever ruled Nigeria. So I really do not see where the Yorubas have had uncontrolled access to the nation's treasury. Of course, Gen. Buhari is not a Yoruba, yet there is the question of the missing $2.2 billion. The other Generals who gave the Lebanese unrestricted access to the nations treasury and helped themselves to still many untold billions of US Dollars, Babangida and late Abacha are definitely not Yorubas. When pointing fingers, by God, be right.  Michael Folorunso https://nigeriaworld.com/letters/2000/apr/242.html |
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