What maketh a northerner?
This is the story of my life. I am a black man and those that share my skin color know what a burden than can be. It is the shame of centuries of slavery for which even a decent apology is too much to expect and the pain of knowing that of all the races, you are arguably the most undeveloped (or the closest to the natural state of man). When you read statistics like ‘one in ten black men in America are in prison’, or that while ‘blacks constitutes 13% of America, half of Americans prison inmates are black’ you shudder. I recently started reading African American history (Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison and Zora Neale Hurston are my top picks) and subsequently engaged my American friends on this topic. I am just beginning to understand the damage to the psyche of the African American male. My ignorance of the peculiar state of the ‘non immigrant black’ in America became glaring after my first hand encounter with some of these people.
Then again, I am African. Black, proud and straight back (MLK Jnr., my back is straight- nobody is riding this back). The poorest continent on earth with 3.5% of global trade in 2008, a place where a quarter of the countries are involved in war or experiencing post war conflict, where millions are murdered each decade for daring to speak a different language or practice a different religion and millions more die yearly from preventable diseases. In my continent, the leaders live a life of luxury in palatial homes, travel in private jets, receive medical care in the best hospitals in the world while the rest (80 %?) live on less than a dollar a day. I come from Africa, humbled and shamed.
In Africa, we have bright spots, economies that have shown signs of sustainable growth, societies that seem capable of governing themselves. We have South Africa, Seychelles, Mauritius, Botswana and Namibia but I am none of these. I am sub Saharan African where share of global trade declined from 6% in 1980 to 2.6% in 2007, where some of the most gruesome mass murders, rapes and heartless mutilation occur daily, from Liberia to Sierra Leone, Uganda to Zimbabwe. Yes, I am a black sub Saharan African and I get very sympathetic looks when I travel, from the Arab cab driver in Sharjah to the discerning Australian doorman in Melbourne- it is the same look of pity.
And then I am Nigerian. I am the kingpin of fraud, a carrier of hard drugs, a murderer of gifted writers and environmental activist, a thief! I am single handedly the world’s most corrupt nation; I am Africa’s largest producer of a most valuable resource and her greatest waste of human talent. I am a quarter of the black race and half her problems. I am a Nobel and a Pulitzer Prize winner and yet half of me cannot read. I am a thousand doctors in exile and a million perishing patients at home. I am Nigeria, the giant of Africa and a shame to behold.
And yet again, I am a northerner! A ‘hausa-fulani’, a ‘northern apologist’ and a ‘mallam’. I am a dozen failed presidents and a thousand crooked ministers. I am a murderer of Igbo traders, a street urchin and a beggar. I carry the burden of the ruling elite, the military junta, the feudal lords and the religious cults. Yes, they call me a northerner and they say I am the problem of the nation. I am the one who built Abuja with stolen wealth, I refuse my people immunization and silently decreed illiteracy so that people will not read and understand. I am the man that counts my cattle and adds it to the population of my people, the same man that collects the ‘soft earned’ oil money from the Delta to buy luxury homes in Dubai. It is I that is renovating petroleum institute with more than $100 million dollars so that the ninety percent of my people who till the land can get better produce. I am the northerner, the unschooled, the corrupted, the lazy and the most ‘stupid’ and yet I am the ruler of a quarter of black humanity.
A Negro and an African, a Nigerian and a Northerner and, yes most definitely a Muslim. I carry the burden of the world on my shoulder yet I stand straight. I stand with my head held high because I am truly all that I have been called but I am far more than that. I am a man. I have my principles and a clear objective. I seek to live an ethical life, a life of impact. I am hard-working, I read, I listen and I talk. I think. I think Ngozi is good (brilliant) and Ndidi is bad (disastrous), I hold Bode Agusto as exemplary and Bode George a shame, I know Sanusi to be straight and Shamsudeen a sham. You see, I am beyond the north, I am more than the nation, I am better than the continent and black is merely the color of my skin.
Next time you talk about the northerner, I want you to know that you are talking about me and that I am more than the sum of failed leaders with ethnic agendas (How an agenda can be considered ethnic when it subjugates 99% of the same tribe beats me). Next time you call on the north to step aside, remember you are asking 99% of my people who are nowhere near Aso Rock to step aside- from their desert encroached farmland and their dry muddy wells, from the tree shades where their children are taught the alphabets and the irrigation canal that has found a home in a luxury estate in south Africa. You are asking for my silence in the face of tyranny, a tyranny that killed my children before it gave your offspring dysentery but I shall not be silenced. What you are asking is that Nigerians should be made to shut up because Nigerians are fraudulent- we will not be silenced even if a million Nigerians are fraudsters and drug barons. Even as my sister from Edo is walking the ‘street’ of Rome, so shall my brother from Benin be crowned an Archbishop at the Vatican. As you seek to crucify UMYA, so you shall seek to enthrone Ribadu (these are difficult times so we must lower our standards). The north produced Buhari & Babangida; we are also responsible for Major Abubakar Umar and Major Al-Mustapha. This system produced Ken Nnamani and Andy Uba. Africa is responsible for Mandela and Mugabe; and both Mobutu and MLK Jnr. are black. You see, I am a northerner but not that ‘northerner’, no! I am not the northerner who engages in ‘nocturnal meetings’ to take complete control of my country. I am not the northerner on whose behalf these meetings are held and in whose interest these crimes are committed. I am that other northerner, the one whose uncle cannot afford fertilizer; whose niece has no school to go to. I am the northerner that Nigeria needs because I am half the nation and none of its problem. I am more than seventy million men and women waiting to be unleashed, raising my voice and voting for change.
 posted on 06-13-2009, 12:38:27 PM Abdulmumin Re: What Maketh A Northerner?Such a fine wordsmith you are, Abubakar.
Thank you.  posted on 06-13-2009, 14:06:11 PM Kay Soyemi (Esq.)Re: What Maketh A Northerner?Many thanks, Abubakar.
Tell them 
If only younger generations of Nigerians can remove the log from their eyes. posted on 06-13-2009, 15:31:09 PM KelechiRe: What Maketh A Northerner?A very impressive and beautiful piece that is not done a whole lot of justice by its rather mundane title! It is however a powerful individual statement and a laudable term of engagement which every Nigerian ought to personalise.
You are welcome, Abubakar Suleiman. posted on 06-13-2009, 15:33:04 PM PatchoRe: What Maketh A Northerner?Thanks Abubakar. Can you translate in Arabic and distribute to school children? posted on 06-13-2009, 15:36:11 PM YankariRe: What Maketh A Northerner?speechless! posted on 06-13-2009, 15:39:42 PM ExxcuzmeRe: What Maketh A Northerner?QUOTE:
When was the last time we read anything like this on NVS from our Northern brother? All we get is Gwobe's irredentism. posted on 06-13-2009, 15:59:04 PM KatampeNot as clear cut!The idea that blacks, American, should be ceded some slack to allow them catch up with the rest of the races in America, or specifically the white race, was based on the notion of past injustices to the blacks. Each member of the white race, even when not in agreement with the historical tragedies visited on the black race by its community, or a few select criminals amongst them, passed a majority vote to allow blacks some room to catch up using policies such as affirmative action. It is not for nothing that you have such phrases as white guilt, and unusual accommodation of black interests like representative black businesses and magazines against unacceptable white representative businesses.Like the white have majority in America, so also the northerners have majority in Nigeria (even when it is contestable).Democracy is a game of numbers, Nigeria is no exception and the north has come to power based on its supposed numbers.If being a member of the white race made each member culpable because benefits accrued to members in large measures, why not in Nigeria. At least we know benefits are not only material, they are equally psychological. Yet, historical texts have it that the courage of a few within the white race, through moral conviction and the search for ideal decided to end the historical tragedies visited on the black man. So, in a sense, it was an intra -racial decision to end the centuries of injustice to the black man. If we examine your essay based on this perspective, your appeal to individual culpability does not wash because you derive your definition and your humanity from the values and attitudes of your ethnic group and you can't claim its benefits and reject its detriments.I think it is being clever by half.If within your ethnicity, you have world billionaires who made rich,when they are interpreted within the Nigerian space, they are regarded as Hausa-Fulani world billionaire, so also if you have within your ethnicity past rulers of the country, they are regarded as Hausa-Fulani head of states. So there must be obvious psychological benefits, something akin to goodwill that cannot be classified. For example, and until recently an African American kid could not aspire or dream to be president of America.In that sense, he made life choices early in life that had a far reaching impact on his career and his life outcome. In the same sense, he was psychologically sired by environment and reality to lower his expectations.Not sure the white kid had to go through a torturing psychological journey to make good.They aspired to be presidents while blacks aspired to be rap artists. In Nigeria, we know southerners can hardly aspire to be presidents in their own country.It is our reality. Yes, someone comes along and bucks the trend. Yet, it never came with ease. It came with damaged psyches and countless body bags.When street urchins are killing southerners in the north, it was not a few criminal elements carrying out the killings, it is a dominant but hardly spoken bias and hate that emanates from a culture, something that acquired its own social institution of hate. Not only that foreigners are discriminated against and kept on the fringes of the northern towns and cities, and resisted from mixing/living amongst northern natives. Do we explain this away too to a few criminal elements? So, Abubakar while you wrote a piece that might sound appealing, it makes for superficial treatment for discerning observers. You must confront the negative attributes within your culture that has made other Nigerians hateful of products from the north. If you must come to equity then you must come with cleans , chikena! If you can write a persuasive piece as this, then you owe your southern brothers the idea that charity begins at home. You are more positioned within your culture to start making change than a frustrated outsider that has very little understanding of the nuances of your culture. Call it ethnic introspection, fair is game! posted on 06-13-2009, 16:11:34 PM EmjRe: What Maketh A Northerner?QUOTE:
Thanks Abubakar for a very refreshing article. QUOTE:
We shall yet witness the change...and the time to start is right and now  posted on 06-13-2009, 16:13:53 PM CarrygoRe: What Maketh A Northerner?QUOTE:
Katampe, this is brilliant.  posted on 06-13-2009, 17:47:16 PM SimbiliIs The Pope Black?Quote of the thread:
QUOTE:
*****BAAAAAAAAAAAAAM*****
All this "Ribudu" or "El-Rufai" syndrome does not even scratch the surface by the writer of the article. @topic I think you should be asking ALL the leaders of Nigeria who happened to come from the Northern parts of Nigeria and the roles they have played while you enjoy all this good education. Yes, you are still my brother. But even in the good books we are told how Joseph was sold by his brothers and how Esau had his birthright stolen by Jacob even with the help of God Almighty. Next time you think of writing such a wonderful article, also plan to have sequels to this fantastic piece that would prove endlessly entertaining as well as useful to you, us and Wikipedia. I will give you a hint. (1) What makes a westerner? (2) What makes a southerner? (3) what makes an easterner? (4) What makes a middle-belter? You can even break it down further in case you are interested: (1) What makes a Hausan? (2) What makes a Fulanian? (3) What makes an Iboan? (4) What makes an Ibibian? (5) What makes an Ishan? (6) What makes an Ijebun? . . . . . I am sure you get my drift. . . there are like about 400 individual groups to be studied if you are interested with peculiar traits and idiosyncrasies. I just read a fantastic piece on the internet this morning as I logged on and found this: http://www.saharareporters.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2991:qnigeria-is-ripe-for-a-revolutionq-solomon-adun-asemota-san&catid=71:interview-political&Itemid=167 What makes a Northerner? Not rocket science at all sir! Is the Pope "black"? 
To answer your questions: QUOTE:
I could list more, but will only give you the best 7. When you introduce a thread with the title "what makes a yorubaner" or "what makes an Iboner", I will gladly oblige you. There is more than enough to go round trust me. So, you remove the log in your eyes before you start crying fowl. Yes, your leaders are a representation of what YOU are! Just as mine are to me. QUOTE:
You have only presented "the major" problem Nigeria has, which is "The Northerner" There are many more problems like the Easterner, the Southerner or the Westerner of course. But the "Northerner" is the major headache of all Nigerian migraines. You do not want to know what I think about the other tribes in Nigeria trust me. So don't feel too isolated. I repeat, there is more than enough to go round. So, please get over yourself. It is really not about you Mr. Abu, but Nigeria. The Northerner is an ongoing "burden" to all Nigerians being an epitome of 'the enemy of progress' for the past 50 years almost. Until I am proven wrong, your sentiments are of no use to me. posted on 06-13-2009, 17:57:18 PM KelechiRe: Not as clear cut!QUOTE:
Katampe, the dilemma that is Nigeria does not absolve any person or any ethnic group of complicity and blame. All Nigerians are immersed in the evil canker-worm that is our bane. Abubakar has made it clear that he and majority of ordinary northerners do not benefit (at least economically) from the political and economic domination of Nigeria by the feudalistic North. This is not contestable. It is fact. Any benefit by northerners is delusional, deception and deliberate as it serves their politicians well to drip-feed the unsuspecting masses with ephemeral psychological advantage. This they do through religion, propaganda and blatant falsehood. It takes guts and discernment, as displayed by Abubakar to distance himself from the allure of his 'inheritance'. What he needs is support and a hand of welcome. He doesn't need to be coerced to speak or fight the status quo that is supposed to benefit him; he already denounced it in his article. It is time we all stop playing the ostrich. Besides when you point a finger at others the rest of your fingers point back at you.  posted on 06-13-2009, 18:40:51 PM ChiagozieRe: What Maketh A Northerner?Carry go brother Abu. no bi you cause am na greediness wey done chop our so-called leaders mind finish. you own no get part two. posted on 06-13-2009, 19:02:52 PM RAHIMRe: Not as clear cut!QUOTE:
I think you will find the first statement ''The Story of my Life'' meaning that he can't write the '' The Story Of Your Life''. I don't understand why you expect the writer to write about being a Westerner or a South-easterner clearly of which he is not and if he were to attempt to write about that, it will be summarily rejected because of course he is not but a Northerner. For some us Nigerians, i guess the story will be the same and the divergence will become evident within the Nigerian context. That was a well-written piece about his personal experience in an increasingly globalised society. If I were to write mine I would go further than he has and talk about being a minority from the north but my point is, people's experience differs and to expect one to write about everyone just don't cut water. In this situation, you did'nt question his being Black, African or Nigerian ( I assume because you are most likely all of the three), but as a Northerner and Muslim, he had to answer for actions of Northern leaders actions even though at no point in the piece did he seek to absolve the northern leaders of any blame for the misrule of Nigeria so concentrate on the message and give the messenger a break. posted on 06-13-2009, 19:22:41 PM Auspicious--> Nothing is Ever as Clear-Cut; IT'S ALL ABOUT BALANCE+ Mr. Suleiman's piece is a deadly smooth rebuke (or shall one call it badly needed enlightenment) that only a wordsmith can unleash upon certain individuals here and elsewhere who for obvious reasons are forever wont to speak in that sweepingly bigoted manner of \"Northerners\". I congratulate him for finding the time and intellect to put this out here and I hope we all learn from what he has shared with us with that piece. Still, comments like Katampe's below cannot be ignored for some of the truths (or facts) therein. Reading him, one is reminded all-too-closely about innocent nursing mothers who are chased down and hacked to death, all for daring to enforce the rules for students in the middle of a teaching job she had travelled up North to offer for a paltry sum, compared to what she could have earned in her home state down South. As stated by the aforementioned commentator, it wasn't just a few street urchins who descended upon that woman to murder her, and it won't be the first time such would happen up there either. Rather, it was about the umpteeth time that a multitude of blood-thirsty street urchins would murder others like that. They sought to kill her and her infant child while chanting \"Allahu Akbar!\", and succeded - albeit without the child. Such is the harrowing realities that the black man is faced with, having been poisoned in the mind by foreigners who initially set us against ourselves. Yet, we know two wrongs can never make a right; the only people who benefit from this are the Dark Overlords who continue to engineer and feed these disaffections and animosities to maintain the status-quo through divide-and-rule. So has it been since man learnt the trick. In a way, those street urchins are victims, too, if we can afford to be honest with ourselves. They are no different from Sierra-Leonan kids sent out to war-fronts witch machetes and AK-47s after being juiced-up on hard-drugs with the order to maim, kill and destroy - only that their 'drug' or 'weapon' here is the Opium of Religion. As Barack Obama preached on his road to power, it is impossible to ignore the pains of either side when it comes to these things. A time must come when we should find it in us to stop playing right into the hands of our detractors within or without. It is my opinion that the debate begins to be shaped for the better through the approach of people like Mr. Suleiman, because there are Southerners out there who have conditioned themselves to hate the Northerners as a group, and are therefore in need of the kind of enlightenment that comes with piece that the author presented us. Hate is a terrible thing if left to grow unteethered - or if kept alive at all. And it is not just the perpetrator of hatred who is often afflicted by the disease of hatred, but the victim, too, is often consumed by it as well, such that not only would the problem caused by hate continue to manifest through bully or the original perpetrator, but it often keeps the victim stunted through reverse-hatred. It is NEVER right to finger whole peoples negatively. That, in my opinion, is the moral of Abubakar's piece - and that is fair enough. Auspicious. QUOTE:
posted on 06-13-2009, 19:29:28 PM EmeraldRe: What Maketh A Northerner?What a true confession, it will be good for individuals and the country at large if we can accept our limitation and wrong doing in order to move Nigeria forward. Thanks Abubakar for that insightful write-up posted on 06-13-2009, 19:38:42 PM SimbiliRe: Not as clear cut!QUOTE:
RAHIM my brother, we are not quarreling. When we agree, we will agree. In the meantime, Mr, Abu asked me a question and I answered. I want you to disprove the 7 cardinal points that make up the "Northerner" in Nigeria. Not the neo-colonial kind you find living in Oxford or Harvard, with a re-branded 'ayoka' conscience. . .simple. Do you see what I see in the Northerner? Who told you he is the 'typical' Northerner? Just the Ribadu or El-Rufai version of "The Northerner". The most dangerous type with too much education. I ask again, do you see what I see in 'The Northerner'? So, why in the world do you think I would share his sentiments when he is not a representative of the true "Northerner"? Go to Northern Nigeria and see the real 'Northerner'. Leave all these Ribadu and El-Rufai kinds. Is Yaradua not a Northerner? Is IBB not a Northerner? Was Abacha not a Northerner? Those are the Northerners I know as the real Nigerians. The ones who have impacted my life and those of unborn generations not the Mr. Abu kind, the internet warrior like my very self. That is my primary concern. Not his being black or muslim. I have to answer questions about such general concepts like terrorism, militancy, ritualism, 419, kidnappings and prostitution as a southerner too, all the time. No problems, according to the famous post by Katampe. Time for ethnic introspection. We can either be honest with ourselves or play the usual harmonious, grama-phonic "KUMBAYA" song NVS, other websites and Nigeria as a whole are so notorious for, without much progress as latter day saints and 'progressives'. This is a time for everyone to do a thorough sweep-search of their "Waziri", "Ayoka", "Turai", or "Akunyili" conscience. Frankly, not interested in all that jazz! Not my agenda. posted on 06-13-2009, 19:44:29 PM Auspicious--> Who's More Guilty?QUOTE:
And I thank you too, Kelechi. Auspicious. posted on 06-13-2009, 19:44:56 PM TigerRe: What Maketh A Northerner?Abubakar Suleiman, I doff my hat.
Your type of "Northerness" is unibiased and unique. In its uniqueness lies the similarity with the "Southerness" of the Ibos, Edos, Yorubas, etc. In it lies the future of Nigeria. It is great and touching when a son of Dan Fodio can rise above ethnic limitations and express total affiliation with the "Nigerian spirit", a spirit that should naturally have eveolved after decades of co-existence. In your forthright disposition lies humility. And with this, I owe you a confession. My confession is that the problems of our great nation goes beyond those "Northerners", the killers of a gifted writer and the perpetual lords that keep their people in bondage. The Yorubas, Ibos, Ijaws, Itshekiris, all of us are partly responsible for this Nigerian problem. It is erroneous to thump the chest in jubilation at the confession of a northern son. The solution is to accept that we have all collectively made a mess of the Nigerian dream. The solution is now to sit down as one and seek for a way out of the mess we have created. This is the sincere truth. Brother Suleiman, I share in your pains. The Nigeria we dreamt of has evaporated, never to be realised in our life time. But we could still try. Try and make it a better place for our children's children. This is a task that must be done. I love Nigeria and I believe that there is still hope. posted on 06-13-2009, 19:49:36 PM Auspicious--> Northerners Everywhere!QUOTE:
Yeah, is Obasanjo not a Northerner? Is Tafa Balogun not a Northerner? Tom Ikimi nko? How about the Northerner called Arthur Nzeribe? And we haven't mentioned Northerners like Diepreye Alamieyesheigha and Peter Odili o.. These Northerners...THESE NORTHERNERS!!!!  Auspicious. posted on 06-13-2009, 19:52:41 PM RAHIMRe: Not as clear cut!QUOTE:
It would have been very desireable if you had gone ahead and gave examples of the benefits if any, to a person like me (an individual), you feel the need to mention psycological benefits but refuse to define and classify advantages that are to be derived from such associations. We have so many millionaires in Nigeria but then I can't see how it benefits individuals because they all come from the same place. For example, can you connect the wealth or ''psycological benefit'' of IBB to an individual farmer in Gboko or the same between Olabode George and and a fisherman in Ilaje. We can take it up a notch and relate Andy Uba to a lecturer in Abia. If you can do that then we are all guilty by association in Nigeria as a whole and not just the Northern bit because these looters are scattered all over the country. QUOTE:
It may suprise you to find out that riots and killing of the innocent in the North is not of any advantage to most people in the North and I mean both Christians and Muslims. I am Fulani and Christian but even though we have been victims of these crisis so many times, the perpetuators of this crime come from both sides and in some cases in places like Kaduna and Jos, the muslims were actually attacked by indigenous Christians and suffed huge casualties too. My point is that these crisis starts between the indigenous christians and muslim ( i emphasise most cases but not all) and in a free for all like that, even southern muslims are attacked by northern christians and vice-versa. My point here is that these crises sometimes just start as a culture war between indigenous northern tribes and then spreads out to become religous crises so ti may not really be a calculated war against the south but sometimes against both muslims and christians residing in the North. QUOTE:
The author did not seek to absolve anyone of responsibilties for their actions but is simply narrating from personal experience. You mention ''other nigerians hateful of product from the north'' but I advise you to speak for yourself because you can speak for all ''other nigerians'' nor can you speak for my friends from all over that I've grown up with and now consider to be family irrespective of our different culture and religous orientation. posted on 06-13-2009, 19:58:07 PM SimbiliRe: --> Northerners Everywhere!QUOTE:
You are deviating from the main topic of this thread. I already made a disclaimer to that effect. Yes, every tribe is guilty of the disenfranchisement of Nigerians as a whole. But, the Northerner is the ring leader when it comes to the retro-progressive nature in the course of Nigeria's history. Without IBB and Abacha, Nigeria would have taken a better turn. OBJ, Ikimi, Odili, Nzeribe or Alamayesiegha have no choice really. Remember who is carrying the guns in the so-called JTF? Do you see any southerners within? Where is the Nigerian military school located? Why is Mr. Abu not complaining about that in his article? Now, look at Yaradua? I have stated my angle to the whole matter. So over to your guys. I pray you get another 'Nzeogwu' real soon. Hopefully, he would not make the same mistake twice in a lifetime in eradicating all these corrupt entities around Nigeria. We just have to make sure there are no 'drunkards' in our midst this time. posted on 06-13-2009, 20:10:14 PM Tsohon SojaRe: What Maketh A Northerner?Allah-hu-Akbar!
And the Lord said - 'Let there be light, and there was light'. There can never be more profound words than those founded on simplicity. No words are as un-impeachable as those spoken from a depth of truth and humility. Abubakar, I congratulate you. Jazakallah! posted on 06-13-2009, 20:11:24 PM Yashuaib1Re: What Maketh A Northerner?Abubakar.
Weldone and thank you for this brilliant piece. Auspicious has said it all like other responsible and matured contributors that reply to your message which blatantly restates my belief that an individual should not be judge by his ethnic group especially on misdemenour.... YAshuaib posted on 06-13-2009, 20:19:02 PM RAHIMRe: What Maketh A Northerner?QUOTE:
Ok Simbili, we are not quarrelling as usual and will attempt to answer you so called 7 cardinal points if can do two things for me. 1. Define what a 'Northerner' is since you mentioned that certain cadre of people do not apply? 2. Your 7 cardinal points are derived from where exactly and if possible some references i could read and educate myself further about your points because honestly, i was'nt aware of their existence. QUOTE:
But you are still in a better position than me because as a northerner, I have to deal with so many other labels like Mallam, and Taleban by my best friends from the South (though i never found that offensive) even though i am not even a muslim. Once i was travelling to Netherlands and my name clashed with a known terrorist and i was'nt allowed to board and it took the intervention of the home office before I could travel for an official engagement, but the point here is that because of my name, the assumption was made immediately. posted on 06-13-2009, 20:30:31 PM SimbiliRe: What Maketh A Northerner?QUOTE:
7 cardinal issues defined 'a Northerner' in my previous posts. I did not have to do any research concerning that. I used my life education and my experience as a Nigerian who has witnessed just about it all. I don't need to educate you further. I have educated myself with both experience and education. I will only point you to 2 pieces of literature. One written by a Northerner and the other written by a Southerner. I am sure you are familiar with them. Here are my references: http://www.saharareporters.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2991:qnigeria-is-ripe-for-a-revolutionq-solomon-adun-asemota-san&catid=71:interview-political&Itemid=167 http://www.waado.org/nigerdelta/Essays/BalaUsman/Sanusi_Restructuring.html I really do not spend most of my time reading stuff from NVS. I would like you to spend more time on this blog spot or web page. http://maxsiollun.wordpress.com/ http://en.wordpress.com/tag/nzeogwu/ You would learn a lot like I have, even if you do not agree with some or most of the information presented as unverifiable. You would have some idea and at least make the most informed opinion instead of the best uneducated guesses. posted on 06-13-2009, 20:51:10 PM AuspiciousRe: --> Northerners Everywhere!QUOTE:
HEAR HEAR: \"Nyes, ALL of us, we be RAPISTS...bet dose wans, dem get Rong Ricks, and are diafor bigger Rapists than us. So diafor, by the powers conferred upon me as the Simbili of disey Virrage, I declare dem MORE GUIRY dan us, who by di way are herewith acquitted, for without dem Rong Ricks, we for never know wetin 'e be to Rape. End of Story\". Simbili. posted on 06-13-2009, 20:58:24 PM SimbiliRe: --> Northerners Everywhere!QUOTE:
Now, you understand the power of the "Northerner" even in "Ekiti" politics. From the training IBB gave OBJ, small wonder Fayemi and Oni can never get along even as brothers from the same home state. Yaradua did not even have to slap 'aunty ayoka' before she saw the light. All it took from 'Germany', was a text message from Yaradua to Iwu and Akunyili to 'frisk' her for like some disappearing 6 hours before she stood at attention. YouTube - Confused Woman of the YEAR Olusola Adebayo! You see the evil power of the 'Northerner' in action? Even a 74 year old woman forgot her 'conscience' not to talk of her 'religion'. Who born am? Even OBJ had to give us a half-dead "Northerner" in the form of Yaradua, than the healthiest Southerner. Who born am? Khaki boys get level ke! The fia of the "Northerner" is always the beginning of wisdom in Nigeria. The second prize goes to the 'Westerner' of course, the reason they make so much semantically meaningless, and highly irritaationg noise with their fingers on NVS and all other Nigerian websites, with all those London owanmbe jamborees and chop-chop progressive politics.  Carry on jare. Igbos have 3rd place. Enter Niger Delta for 4th prize. Middlebelt 5th prize(siddon look first to see where we shall belong "all things being equal") Sanusi tok am! Not to me. Next topic: "What Maketh a Westerner" by Pius Ogunlami. Next topic: "What Maketh an Easterner" by Paul Ajuju. Next topic: "What Maketh a Middle Belter" by Ochi Gambari. Next topic: "What Maketh a Niger Deltan" by R. M. D. Who will be next is anyone's guess. But we know the ringleaders and the abundantly able 'enablers'. Let no one be deceived. posted on 06-13-2009, 21:04:39 PM OnariRe: What Maketh A Northerner?Suleiman,
Assalamu alaikum my bro.... posted on 06-13-2009, 21:31:14 PM RAHIMRe: What Maketh A Northerner?QUOTE:
To be honest, some of your questions are outrightly ridiculous and i am not trying to demean you and i asked for references because most of these are wild allegations. to answer or try to answer your questions, i think eveidence is what is lacking in all you said but i will try... There is no evidence of trying to islamize Nigeria and you haven't supplied any. I think the problem is intolerance which applies to both religion and other facets like tribe in Nigeria. The north as a region has not even been islamized not to mention Nigeria as a whole, according to CAN statistics, about 32 per cent of the population of the north is christian. You could mention IBB joining OIC in 1986 but that has had no impact on the christian population in Nigeria but if you have ANY evidence of anyone being forced to change religion, you are free to forward such. Can you mention names, dates and evidence of any killings that have occured. Now i'll give you some names Gen Victor Malu (Chief of Army staff under Obj), Gen Martin Luther Agwai (Chief of defence staff and COAS under Obj, Gen Luka Yusuf (COAS under Yar Adua, actually died of cancer in the UK and buried on friday), Vice Admiral Ibrahim Ogohi (CNS under Obj), Vice Admiral Ibrahim( Chief of Naval Staff currently). There could be more but all these men are from the middle belt and all but one of them (Ibrahim Ogohi)are Christians and have held or are holding the biggest office in their careers so i think i've proven that they haven't been killed so far. You complain about lack of motivation for education yet you criticise some as too educated. So in your opinion too what level is it acceptable for a Northerner to be educated. It is important to me because even though i haven't gone to Harvard like El- Rufai, I have had the beest of British education but i don't want to blow my horn in claiming to be either a phd holder or a prof so i'll let it lie. QUOTE:
I can go on and on but since you imagined most of these situations and its 3.30 am here, i have to pass but hope there is something to gain from what i wrote... posted on 06-13-2009, 21:51:47 PM SimbiliRe: What Maketh A Northerner?QUOTE:
The same old gargoyles! The "Arogundades" assisting the Northern government as criminal elements in society. No wonder Miss Uzoma Okeke was stripped naked in front of the whole world to see. Give me names of any 30 something young man in the army, navy, air force who is not either dead with and buried with all the 'bones' interred with their good deeds? You remember only recently 27 soldiers were sent to jail for life imprisonment just for 'protesting' unruly against being owed for 6 months and after serving their country in Liberia? How many young southerners do you see in the JTF? http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0geu6AbmjRKYlcBt6vkRqF4?p=27+nigerian+soldiers+sentenced+to+life+imprisonment&iscqry=&fr=ond_moz_off&fr2= Is this not a the true concept as the Northerner as a symbol of injustice and unpatriotism?Of course there were some young Northerners jailed for serving their country too, but the fact still remains that there are so many things wrong with the "Northerner", especially when you have crooks like IBB sitting pretty in Minna with all the money stolen, but poor young soldiers from all over Nigeria are incarcerated for protesting the withholding of their hard earned incomes. From what you have written so far on this thread, it is very obvious you have no idea what a 'Northerner' really stands for inside or outside Nigeria. Even the British can figure it out till date. "The gate keeper" of the hell called Nigeria="The Northerner". I provided you with 4 references to share some information and you did not look them up. Now, you want me to dig them up and spoon feed them to you? See why I stated earlier that the aje-butter "Northerner" with the best British education does not have a clue? Such a Northerner like yourself would never feel at home with the real 'gworos' of course. Why do you think Ribadu and El-Rufai are feeling some 'heat'? An aje-butter Northerner can never out-wit the likes of IBB, Abacha and Yaradua. No wonder Mr. Abu is feeling somewhat disenfranchised. Welcome to what majority of Nigerians are feeling then. It only takes an opportunity to step out of your comfort zone to understand the gravity of the "Northern" menace over Nigerians. More Northerners would be forced to be exiled out of Nigeria like Ribadu in the UK and El-Rufai in the USA to become real Nigerians. The bad news is that it never happens prior to experiencing such discomfort. I suspect Lamido Sanusi Lamido will be the next to be exiled to Saudi Arabia if not careful. Nothing wrong with being an educated Northerner, I just think they are more dangerous. . . . they often come up with the most liberal and agreeable facade, but maintain the same culture of religious intolerance and the most poisonous form of ethnic bigotry because they can never feel really comfortable amongst other ethnic groups as advised by their 'British' mentors. So the distrust accorded to other ethnic groups has assumed the never ending cascading/domino-effect as a result of some unfortunate occurrences in the Nigerian history. Some evidence your requested:At least we now know that the "Muslim" Northerners have been killing Igbos/Christians prior to the Nzeogwu coup. QUOTE:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200804140924.html QUOTE:
http://odili.net/news/source/2008/mar/31/426.html QUOTE:
If you do not even realize this, I do not think you are a Northerner/Nigerian. That means trying to share certain things with you for mutually exclusive benefits presents a daunting up-hill and richly unrewarding task. I rest my case. I will not force my ideas on you since you think they are wildly unfounded. If enrolling Nigeria in the OIC with some grossly erroneous census results(according to Forshow  ) does not constitute the Islamization of Nigeria for starters, I don't know what is. IBB did not just join OIC, Nigeria is a member of the OIC. It has no impact on christians in Nigeria? Tell that to other countries who at one time or the other put Nigeria on the 'terror-watch' list of nations.QUOTE:
I found this on another thread: http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/articles-comments/32747-muslims-internet-what-manner-messengers-2.html QUOTE:
http://www.onlinenigeria.com/benue2.asp 2001/2002?---Kano riots/Middle belt riots. Churches burnt by Northerners. http://allafrica.com/stories/200812110246.html 2008--Religious unrest in Jos and more killings of Christian Southerners by Northerners over ethnic/religious differences. The Northerner has to learn how to forgive, trust and move on. The Nzeogwu coup was never meant to be an anti-Northern affair, so it became quite detestable that unscrupulous Northerners went on a rampage killing innocent Igbo people all over Nigeria in the name of justice. Kill the coup-plotters if aggrieved by their failures by the dictates of the law, but by God not innocent citizens that have no business with the coup-plotting. Guess who became the master of all real and imaginary coup plotting? The Northerner of course. Now Mr. Abu wants us to forget the Northern agenda, when the "Northerner" cannot forget the so-called "Igbo agenda to kill all "Northerners". Now, we have the same thing happening in the Niger-Delta. All in the name of apprehending 'militants', innocent Ijaw citizens are now hounded and displaced all to protect 'kidnapped FOREIGN expatriates'. Very convenient! When does this "zombie" mentality ever end? You will gladly kill your own Nigerian brothers and sisters just to protect the "oyinbo" people working to keep the oil flowing? Very brotherly I would say, very brotherly. Who will the Northerners kill next? The funny thing is that Nigerians are being kidnapped all over Nigeria and no one seems to care. But as soon as the "militants" feature a few yellow-skinned Phillipinos on the news as 'captives', the "Nigerian Northern" government feels aggrieved and embarrassed. How many expatriates have the militants killed? |
, it is a dominant but hardly spoken bias and hate that emanates from a culture, something that acquired its own social institution of hate. Not only that foreigners are discriminated against and kept on the fringes of the northern towns and cities, and resisted from mixing/living amongst northern natives. Do we explain this away too to a few criminal elements?| < Prev | Next > |
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