Permit me to begin by asking a fundamental question; what if the crude oil where to be located in the North, would they have allowed the South any stake in it, and would they have remained in Nigeria? While you ponder these questions, I will leave it here for now to return later.

It took a while for me to realise that education does not equate to common sense. Nothing proves that more than the slavery and tragedy in which Southern Nigeria is trapped as Yar’Adua reconstitutes with urgent fervour, the Apartheid system of Northern domination. In spite of the abundance of educated egg-heads in Southern Nigeria, they have never historically succeeded in articulating and adopting a common platform for the strategic interests of the South. As I attempt to trace the many mistakes of the South, the historical lessons must not be lost as we seek alternatives to the jungle of injustice and slavery Nigeria has become.

On the 15^th of January 1966, five majors were prompted to strike in what became Nigeria’s first military coup as a direct result of the crisis in the Western region (wetie) that saw to the deaths of thousands of people, while a nonchalant Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa looked on with no effort or initiative to stop the carnage. While I personally disagree with the coup and the unnecessary bloodletting, there is no doubt that the coup in its immediate aims sought to replace a vacuum of insecurity and misrule that characterized Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa’s administration.

By July 1966 there had been a counter secessionist-coup (Araba), and waves of premeditated pogroms against Easterners, targeted mostly at innocent civilians where organised by the Northern military, political and religious class. Attempts such as the Aburi accord which sought to create a constitutional framework capable of ushering in some peace was agreed in Ghana but sabotaged in Lagos by British diplomats and opportunist civilian and military figures from both the North and South.

No doubt, the most important fundamental ingredient of any constitution the world over is the protection of lives and property. It is the social contract between the subjects and the state on which nations are founded. Once these fundamental protections of life and property are lost or cannot be provided by a state, the social contract is rendered invalid and the subjects are free to exist or to seek to exist in a separate state or entity where it is deemed that such protections can be guaranteed.

In the face of total insecurity to lives and property, the East exercised their fundamental right to self determination by declaring a separate state. The basis for Nigerian unity as Gowon had earlier proclaimed no longer existed, but hawks from both the North and South not satisfied with the pogrom were baying for more blood. The drums of war had begun to beat as Southern collaborators joined General Yakubu Gowon in preparing for war against a sister Southern region.

By the time the war finally began, the Southern regions had three common sense options that would have greatly weakened the North. Firstly, the South could have insisted on dialogue and non-aggression as a way out of the political crisis, Secondly the South could have insisted on absolute neutrality in case of war, and lastly the South could have ratcheted up the rhetoric by threatening to secede if the East is attacked. These measures would have had the effect of forcing the North to seek more dialogue and eventually accept a more equitable arrangement that would have guaranteed true federalism and an equal stake by all regions.

But in a grand betrayal, top Southern collaborators many of whom held prominent positions in General Gowon’s cabinet in military and civilian capacities, without reflecting on the future consequences joined forces with the North in waging war on a Sister Southern region. Southerners were indeed in a competition on who could out-do the other in the war effort. Col. Benjamin Adekunle never stopped boasting about how he could shoot at anything that moves, while Chief Obafemi Awolowo became the architect of food as a weapon of war, although in reality this policy only succeeded because the Biafrans lacking arms and ammunition could not hold any permanent ground. The constant movement of refugees made cultivation impossible and led to the loss of large swaths of farms and farmlands.

By the time the war ended and the dust settled, the grim reality began to unfold. The South had effectively fought to vanquish a sister Southern region and had virtually helped consolidate Northern power and domination. 40 years after, the realities of how the South fought to remain in slavery has continued to confront us. With the end of the war, having vanquished the Eastern leg of the tripod, the victorious North effectively became first class citizens and the “born to rule” ideology began to take root.

From 1970 to date the North has unleashed a stranglehold of domination on Southern Nigerians. Almost all heads of states From Gowon to Murtala Muhammed, Shehu Shagari to Muhammadu Buhari, Ibrahim Babangida to Sanni Abacha, Adulsalami Abubakar etc have been Northerners with the exception of General Obasanjo who succeeded in becoming head of state only as a result of General Murtala Muhammed’s unforeseen sudden assassination. Even then he effectively functioned as a robot under the control of the Northern duo of General’s Yar’Adua and Theophilus Danjuma.

By the time Chief Abiola came out and won the June 12 1993 elections which the North had wrongfully thought that Alhaji Bashir Tofa would win, it became another opportunity that exposed the cult of Northern domination and the extent to which the South had fallen. Chief Abiola’s election was cancelled and the rest is history.

Obasanjo’s second coming as an afterthought to pacify the West also bears all the hallmarks of Northern domination. He was neither the best candidate nor the choice of the South or even the West they sought to pacify, yet he was recycled and imposed by the North because his antecedents in power as a military head of state led the North to believe he remains the best option as a Greek gift to the Southwest, while he would nonetheless expectedly remain under the robotic control of the North. As Yar’Adua begins a hasty reconstitution of Northern hegemony and as the alarm bells raised by Afenifere are yet to fade, it is important to realise that the predicament of the South is a direct consequence of the civil-war misadventure and the lack of strategic thinking in spite of the abundance of educated egg-heads in the South.

The North has since the end of the war enjoyed a free run as a result of a fragmented and weakened South. All core strategic positions including the presidency have been largely reserved for the North. States and local governments in the North have been created in superior numbers by Northern military rulers to ensure perpetual dominance. The predicament of how the educated South in a strange twist of fate, fought to remain under servitude and domination is a great lesson in history. The younger generation of Southerners in the present struggle for justice and equality must not fall victim to the mistakes of past Southern leaders.

In conclusion, let me ask again the question I had asked in the beginning; what if the crude oil where to be located in the North, would they have allowed the South any stake in it, and would they have remained in Nigeria? These fundamental questions have attracted a lot of literature in the face of Northern domination and arrogance. The conventional school of thought gleaned from the extensive literature on the subject believes the historical antecedents of the North, vis-avis resource control; decolonisation etc suggests the North would neither have shared the crude oil resources with the South, nor remained in Nigeria if the crude oil resources was located in their region.

It is indeed a measure of the tragedy of Southern Nigeria that their resources are under the total dictates and control of the North who would never have allowed any access to others if the reverse was the case. The chickens have indeed come back home to roost.

Comrade Lawrence Chinedu Nwobu

Email: lawrencenwobu@yahoo.com

Robot  Villager

# 1 Permit me to begin by asking a fundamental question; what if the crude oil whe...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 08.07.2008 04:33

allaccess  Villager

# 2 Chinedu, hmmm, this is serious news to me and other Nigerians o, "Northern Domination And The Tragedy Of Southern"; is it really true that the north has dominated for most of our 4 decades, and that it is a tragedy to the South? what religion does the North practice?...why don't you write an article telling us the North worships Islam and that Nigeria is a corrupt country. Perhaps the more you tell the story and over flog it we might just wake up and smell the blasted coffee. Boring repetitive jargon devoid of any semblance of original suggestions that will help Southern Nigerians address the over publicized issue. Posted by allaccess| 08.07.2008 05:04

docokwy  Villager

# 3 If the oil where in the North, I predict that the north would not have left Nigeria. They would have, instead, opted for a humongous share of their oil money (70-90%) and given the remaining pittance of 10-30% to the south. One of the reasons they will not leave is the morbid desire to islamize the entire country; and the other is need for access to the sea. Instead of them leaving, I also predict that the north would have utterly suppressed the south by ''killing'' all them off, or chasing them out of their homelands, so they can have a free ride to the Atlantic ocean. Posted by docokwy| 08.07.2008 05:22

allaccess  Villager

# 4 Chinedu, The same Chinedu and his Igbo cohort are the ones creating disunity by calling for an Ndigbo nation rather than a Southern Nigerian state. Only when it suit these people I guess. Posted by allaccess| 08.07.2008 06:47

docokwy  Villager

# 5 =allaccess;4295066949>Chinedu, The same Chinedu and his Igbo cohort are the ones creating disunity by calling for an Ndigbo nation rather than a Southern Nigerian state. Only when it suit these people I guess. Have you not read Bode Eluyera, Tonsoyo, and Remi Oyeyemi and their call for an Oduduwa state (which I support). Or you want to act the eediot that you are? muumuu, Ode, Oloshi Posted by docokwy| 08.07.2008 07:04

Oguguo Yakere  Villager

# 6 Ladies & Gentlemen of the south particularly, I would like to commend the author for reminding us again and in clear summarized terms where we went wrong. I have spaced out below a potion of his submission for a re-visit: By the time the war finally began, the Southern regions had three common sense options that would have greatly weakened the North. Firstly, the South could have insisted on dialogue and non-aggression as a way out of the political crisis, Secondly the South could have insisted on absolute neutrality in case of war, and lastly the South could have ratcheted up the rhetoric by threatening to secede if the East is attacked. These measures would have had the effect of forcing the North to seek more dialogue and eventually accept a more equitable arrangement that would have guaranteed true federalism and an equal stake by all regions. To make matters worse, following the war they made sure that the south became decimated into tinier groupings while they remained whole and intact to continue their domination. Old friends became enemies in the process. I am yet to hear any Northerner describe himself or herself as a Sokotoian, or Kanoian, or Bauchian or Niger-ian or Adamawa-ian. To be fair to the west I am equally yet to hear such coinages as Oyo-ian, Ogun-ian, Oshun-ian, Kwara-ian. Some have championed the acceptance of the fragmentation which was soley aimed at (for evil purpose) weakening the strong entities in the south. I have brought the above up because united we stand and divided we fall. It is time for old friends who have become enemies to reconcile and forge a common front to stop this enslavement. If you pay attention, you would notice that those born after the war think that Nigeria has always been the way it is now with a Northern first class superiority. They seem to have come to accept it. If we do not destroy that fixation in their subconscious minds and the generation that knows the difference dies off, then we will be risking the horror of our children accepting and remaining enslaved to the North for ever. The North has its Northern solidarity meetings from time to time (not isolated groups) but when they come out to Nigeria they want you to see Nigeria as one and not talk about the component regions or in politics they prefer North/South ( instead of the tripod)o they can do their winner take it all more frequently, all because in that way they can keep their advantage in place. Let the south re-unite this time, in equal terms to counter the monster before it consumes all the south. There is no need being penny wise pound foolish. The article is well written and a good reminder to the south of how it had been cornered and subjected to slavery despite its so called educated elements who are nothing but comfort seekers for self only. Posted by Oguguo Yakere| 08.07.2008 07:38

Palamedes  Villager

# 7 Look here! Stop dividing Nigeria into North and South; what about the East and West compass points? Or since when did East and West become South, which is like calling California and New York states, Southern USA. Posted by Palamedes| 08.07.2008 08:21

Eja  Villager

# 8 Here we go again: Another champion of the ethnic group (abi na culture) called 'southern Nigeria'. This is like a group of people sitting in an enclosed room farting on each other and taking deep breaths - farts so thick and palpable that after a while, the atmosphere in the enclosed room looks like a thick stew...with which our friends will eat their pounded yam (made only from yams grown in 'southern Nigeria' of course). Una no dey tire? Posted by Eja| 08.07.2008 08:34

toksyleigh  Villager

# 9 My main purpose was just to read this article and move to next one without posting a reply, but unfortunately I just can resist after reading the replies from the likes of docokwy but I will get to him later. This author is saying the same things I have been saying for years, the Ndigbos, Ijaws, Yorubas, the Itshekiris et all are too busy fighting amongst ourselves about so many little things like a bunch of 5 yr. olds things such as ethnicity, Biafra, my daddy's lawn is greener than yours, it's the turn of my kinsman to run Nigeria, Yoruba is a race not an ethnic group, the Igbos perceived hatred for them by the Yorubas, Nigeria owes Igbo, Adebibu is a better thug than Andy and Chris Uba put together and my patones is bigger than yours so on and so forth. The funniest part of it that while the likes if docokwy and Denker are busy slugging it out over these little issues their kinsmen and mine are getting rich on their ignorance. Getting back to docokwy, Have you not read Bode Eluyera, Tonsoyo, and Remi Oyeyemi and their call for an Oduduwa state (which I support). Or you want to act the eediot that you are? muumuu, Ode, Oloshi I have been watching this guy for a while now and I think it's about the right time that the admin. of this site call this docokwy guy to order. Men, this guy does not know how to disagree without resulting to name calling and cursing. You have the right to disagree with other people but do you have to result to these types of typical Nigerian conversational styles. It's really a shame!!! Common sense they say is suppose to be common or is it? God help us all, Goriola Abamieda Jr. Posted by toksyleigh| 08.07.2008 08:55

ILN TOO  Villager

# 10 =toksyleigh;4295067000>My main purpose was just to read this article and move to next one without posting a reply, but unfortunately I just can resist after reading the replies from the likes of docokwy but I will get to him later. This author is saying the same things I have been saying for years, the Ndigbos, Ijaws, Yorubas, the Itshekiris et all are too busy fighting amongst ourselves about so many little things like a bunch of 5 yr. olds things such as ethnicity, Biafra, my daddy's lawn is greener than yours, it's the turn of my kinsman to run Nigeria, Yoruba is a race not an ethnic group, the Igbos perceived hatred for them by the Yorubas, Nigeria owes Igbo, Adebibu is a better thug than Andy and Chris Uba put together and my patones is bigger than yours so on and so forth. The funniest part of it that while the likes if docokwy and Denker are busy slugging it out over these little issues their kinsmen and mine are getting rich on their ignorance. Getting back to docokwy, I have been watching this guy for a while now and I think it's about the right time that the admin. of this site call this docokwy guy to order. Men, this guy does not know how to disagree without resulting to name calling and cursing. You have the right to disagree with other people but do you have to result to these types of typical Nigerian conversational styles. It's really a shame!!! Common sense they say is suppose to be common or is it? God help us all, Goriola Abamieda Jr. what else do you expect from Dog-Cock-y? i think the name says it all. nuff said. Posted by ILN TOO| 08.07.2008 09:12

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