The North Has Almost Conquered The South Culturally!

THE NORTH HAS ALMOST CONQUERED THE SOUTH CULTURALLY! Ozodi Thomas Osuji I just read Sunny Awhefeada’s article: The Northernisation of Nigeria (Guardian Newspaper, 6/29/2009, Editorial Pages). I have to say that this is one of the best pieces that I have read in a long time. The thesis of the article is that the Northerners of Nigeria, specifically Hausas, have an ambition to conquer and control Nigeria and, eventually, convert Southern Nigerians to Islam. It said that the process began with Othman Danfodio’s Fulani conquest of Hausa states (1804) and was briefly halted by the advent of the British colonial masters and resumed with the independence of Nigeria. The article traced the various governments that have cursed Nigeria, from Abubaka Tafawa Belewa to Aguiyi Ironsi to Yakubu Gowon to Murtella Mohammed to Olusegun Obasanjo to Shehu Shagari to Mohammad Buhari to Ibrahim Babangida to Shonikan to Abacha to Obasa...Read the full article.

[netotse]

i see. . .personally i feel this article lacks merit! (if the writer is to be taken seriously then he might as well have written on the west conquering the whole world)!

[Suleimana]

Originally Posted by netotse

i see. . .personally i feel this article lacks merit! (if the writer is to be taken seriously then he might as well have written on the west conquering the whole world)!

You took the word right out of my mouth! It is really a subset of the discourse on the ongoing conflict between east and west. As somebody who had to wear western suit most of my adult life, I say amen to light cotton clothing of any origin. How can somebody recommend a suit in Nigeria?

To more serious discussion, we should talk about how our people have adopted Christianity after the 'owners' had discarded it. While the Christian ideals remain essentially noble and could form the basis for a progressive society, they way and manner in which both Islam and Christianity have been used 'as opium' for the majority of Nigerians should be questioned. It is a measure of how badly we have been ruled that perfectly educated people have no quarrel with western influence (clothing, music, culture, language -you name it) but are immediately suspicious of anything from another tribe.

I have my reservations as regards the spread of religion as a northernisation agenda though. I suggest the author should travel a bit more around northern Nigeria where I dare say Christianity and evangelism is alive and thriving. If I play the devil’s advocate and agree that southern contractors are willing to 'convert' for juicy contracts laden with grafts, these are not Christians -true adherents of the Christian religion have higher ideals! In the same vein, their oppressors have no claim to Islam.

I am not sure how successful such a campaign will be though. How many Alhaji Obi and Mallam Okechukwu have we encountered in the public space? On the contrary, the non northern heads of state have been Christian and some even ‘born again’ while our ‘Mallam Gowon’ still prays in the name of Jesus. Further down, all the powerful southerners in and out of government are yet to convert. I suggest we leave religion out of this because it does not stick.

You know what? This article was not fully researched. I think it should be re-written. It struck gold when it alluded to that fact that Nigeria is a frontier in the conflict between Eastern and Western Civilizations but was totally derailed with all the ranting about cultural domination. Any vote?

[ifeolooni]

agbada is a yoruba word and we even have it in aso oke and others which are exclusively yoruba wares, even thisdays the northerners now wear gele for their ceremonies.




the only thing the north control is just the political system and i believe that, and that is why theyhave been resisting change in favour of true federalism



but the igbos and yorubas undoubtedly controls nigeria not the northerners and they can take even the political power anytime they get serious , those down the delta ar already fed up and they would fall in line too.


look at the banks,insurance,nollywood,music,education,manufact uring etc

NB an average northern has not and will not benefit from the present arrangement but they whether directly or indirectly have b een used to maintain the status quo

[Suleimana]

Originally Posted by ifeolooni

agbada is a yoruba word and we even have it in aso oke and others which are exclusively yoruba wares, even thisdays the northerners now wear gele for their ceremonies.




the only thing the north control is just the political system and i believe that, and that is why theyhave been resisting change in favour of true federalism



but the igbos and yorubas undoubtedly controls nigeria not the northerners and they can take even the political power anytime they get serious , those down the delta ar already fed up and they would fall in line too.


look at the banks,insurance,nollywood,music,education,manufact uring etc

NB an average northern has not and will not benefit from the present arrangement but they whether directly or indirectly have b een used to maintain the status quo

I agree with many of your summations. Our greatest asset is quality human resources and the north has no idea what that means. Where I differ is that we have been used to maintain the status quo. They don't bother with such finesse any more. Mass rigging comes far cheaper than vote buying.

[FSU]

The North controls nothing, absolutely nothing, except a quicksand political power on the brinks of collapse. The richest man in Nigeria is said to be Dangote (even though we all know he is only a front to past military looters). Yet all his investments are in the south. Wait until MEND, OPC and other southern freedom fighters get completely fed up with the northern shenanigan and deal those south-based investments a deathly blow. Just a mere action by MEND and the northern governors cannot even pay salaries. So what power are they holding with 99% poverty and 100% disease infestation and illiteracy?

[maikanodahiru]

To say agbada has origin from the Arabs is a great travesty. Where as president Mubarak takes pride in wearing western clothes, other Arab leaders in the gulf states still wear their traditional dress. It is a matter of choice.
I don't know what the writer what trying to infer in this article.

[Silent 1]

Walk the streets of any urban or semi-urban town in both the North and South of Nigeria and, Mr. Osuji's article will shock you. Its apparent depature from reality is so immense, as to verge on embarassing.

I say urban and semi-urban becuase rural is so out of it. If rural Nigeria accounts for half the country then, you truely begin to question this piece. And, I say apparent depature from reality because, Mr. Osuji would have had a stronger arguement had his thesis being built around " The North Has Conquered Nigeria's Political Class Culturally" and he had procceeded to argue that, there is a link, in Nigeria, between the political class and popular culture / fashion trends. Even this would have being a tricky arguement to press -- especially in the south -- where there is a near total cultural disconnect from the political class.

Nigeria is a painful place to live, maybe moreso for a politically or/and historically concsious southerner...... But, these thoeries, these arguements?........

[lateesha]

after the agbada and dashiki what else?
will it also cover their leprosy and akwarikwata

[kalu31]

who are the beggers in Lagos?

who has 2% primary enrollment amonghts girls?

which are the poorest state, and states in Nigeria?

where do you find kids, left alone to feed and live on the roads as part of a 'learning" series ?

which states cannot survive without NYSC?

pls lets get serious here!

[FSU]

Originally Posted by kalu31

who are the beggers in Lagos?

who has 2% primary enrollment amonghts girls?

which are the poorest state, and states in Nigeria?

where do you find kids, left alone to feed and live on the roads as part of a 'learning" series ?

which states cannot survive without NYSC?

pls lets get serious here!

Did you forget VVF?
CSM
Polio
inability to pay salaries because MEND is at work?

[olubadan]

What is the purpose of this article to fan more discord..or point out anomalies.. whichever the article lacks any premises and most of the write up are based on assumptions rather than fact. The author talked about acculturation which I agree it is a natural occurrence when people co-habitate, socializes or exist… You cannot fault that in my own view.


The problem of Nigeria is not about agbada/ethnicity/religious sentiments as most people like to put it. It bothers more on purposeful leadership the absence of these have made many Nigerians disoriented leaving us open to sort of exploitation call it ethnicity, religion, tribalism or pandering to our fears.

The solution to most of our problem lies in our resolve to work collectively as brothers, moving away from pettiness and strive to achieve common purpose..

[shinycoin]

Am thinking the Nigerian problem goes beyond who is dominant and who is subservient.

We have had almost fifty years of independence and even after that time we still categorise ourselves as Hausa, Ibo, Yoruba, Idoma, Ibibio etc...

When are we going to see ourselves as Nigerians and understand that our problem is not what state we come from but that of leadership.

Obasanjo ruled for eight years and filled every sensitive political position with his cronies, both Yoruba and Igbo and Hausa, where did that get the Nigerian state? don't you know that to the victor belong the spoils of war?

My man, i neither see how the Northerners have dominated Nigeria and plan to Northenise the South, nor do i see how relevant that fact is to the current malaise afflicting the Nigerian state.

Isn't it time we moved away from tribal politics and fear mongering in our daily lives?

[Tunde meee]

Honestly I think most of Thomas Osuji's write up are product of someone who sleeps and wakes thinking of how best to fern his ember of discord among Nigerians. This is a poor attempt at that.

Agbada as mentioned above is a Yoruba word. I have never seen an Arab in it.
He said Mosque are sprouting in the South as if mosques have not always been part of the south even before he was concieved.
How many times has he been to a factory in Nigeria to see people wearing Agbada. Has it not always been the Ogas who does nothing else but only going through the files and ascenting to one decision or the other. How for God sake does wearing agbada affect that. What you wear or not wear is a case of choice and has got nothing to do with dominance. Our problem in Nigeria has never been any other than blind and directionless leadership.

Those people guarding Yaradua should give him the "Honduras" treatment and escort him to Chad in his pyjamas. Nigeria has had enough of these unproductive Northerners who keep leading the country astray with their lack of morals and motivation.

See how corrupt the Southern part of Nigeria is? This is because the Northerners in power keep lowering the bar for all Nigerians with their laziness and wicked tribalism. . .not to mention their zombie mentality. Nigeria will never recover from the current state of stupor with any Northerner at the helm of affairs.

If Only OBJ had handed the the key to Nigeria to a Southerner, things would have been a whole lot different. . . OBJ and IBB would have been in jail or on exile by now.

Till then, the Southern part of Nigeria remains spiritually and intellectually conquered by the Northern part of Nigeria. . .forever.

We need another Southern military(no Northerners allowed) coup to get rid of all these leeches keeping Nigerians in chains.

[RAHIM]

Originally Posted by Simbili

Those people guarding Yaradua should give him the "Honduras" treatment and escort him to Chad in his pyjamas. Nigeira has had enough of this unproductive Northerners who keep leading the country astray with their lack of morals and motivation.

See how corrupt the Southern part of Nigeria is? This is because the Northerners in power keep lowering the bar for all Nigerians with their laziness and wicked tribalism. . .not to mention their zombie mentality. Nigeria will never recover from the current state of stupor with any Northerner at the helm of affairs.

If Only OBJ had handed the the key to Nigeria to a Southerner, things would have been a whole lot different. . . OBJ and IBB would have been in jail or on exile by now.

Till then, the Southern part of Nigeria remains spiritually and intellectually conquered by the Northern part of Nigeria. . .forever.

We need another Southern military(no Northerners allowed) coup to get rid of all these leeches keeping Nigerians in chains.

As much as it is perfectly fine to criticise the ineptitude of Yar'Adua and his cronies(north and south), it is very silly for you to think that nothing good will ever come out of the North. The problems of Nigeria as has been previously pointed out to you in various other threads, is not The North or The South, it is a powerful cabal that cuts across ethnic and religous lines whose major pre-occupation is greed and wealth.

Even if Yar'Adua was up for impeachment, you will be suprised that the people that may come to his defence in order to maintain the status quo. The man is in power to represent these powers that be and if you think that the 'North' deliberated and choose him to represent their interests then you are in for a rude awakening. You want to stage a coup, why not go ahead instead you are calling on someone else to lay down his/life so you could benefit from it. Maybe it is time for you to make that sacrifice if you are that passionate, besides, not only the military can dispose the president.

p.s. When you say ''leeches'', are you refering to Yar'Adua and his cronies or you mean the whole Northern region you seem to hate so much? In the meanwhile, you never seem to make any valid point other than insulting a region where you think all you problems originate from. As usual, you will only seek to derail the thread from its initial point or lack of.

Originally Posted by RAHIM

As much as it is perfectly fine to criticise the ineptitude of Yar'Adua and his cronies(north and south), it is very silly for you to think that nothing good will ever come out of the North. The problems of Nigeria as has been previously pointed out to you in various other threads, is not The North or The South, it is a powerful cabal that cuts across ethnic and religous lines whose major pre-occupation is greed and wealth.

Even if Yar'Adua was up for impeachment, you will be suprised that the people that may come to his defence in order to maintain the status quo. The man is in power to represent these powers that be and if you think that the 'North' deliberated and choose him to represent their interests then you are in for a rude awakening. You want to stage a coup, why not go ahead instead you are calling on someone else to lay down his/life so you could benefit from it. Maybe it is time for you to make that sacrifice if you are that passionate, besides, not only the military can dispose the president.

p.s. When you say ''leeches'', are you refering to Yar'Adua and his cronies or you mean the whole Northern region you seem to hate so much? In the meanwhile, you never seem to make any valid point other than insulting a region where you think all you problems originate from. As usual, you will only seek to derail the thread from its initial point or lack of.

Hello brother RAHIM, this is not a personal matter but a factual one. All the problems in Nigeria have been caused by irresponsible Northern leadership and followership. Having set the pace for the rest of Nigeria, it is only fair to state that with all honesty, so the main issues can be addressed.

Has anything good come from the Northern part of Nigeria since Nigeria's independence? Name one. The problems of Nigeria were pointed out to those without brains, who keep trooping to Lagos and Abuja for contracts from 'ba'a-bi-allahs". You don't expect intelligent people to buy all that rubbish do you?

Look, I am stating it again. The North is the North(all leeches). Yes, I hate the Northern part of Nigeria. I can't even allow any one of them into my house. If my children choose to marry any such peoples, I shall definitely disown them. Why should I pretend? I don't see any difference between one Northerner from the other. The South is the South and I don't see any difference from one to the other. If you choose to see it differently, that is fine by me too. I blame the whole North, no exceptions. If you think there are powerful cabals in the Southern parts of Nigeria, then you must be joking. What you have in the South are mostly the 'enslaved'.

Don't worry, I am learning from the people of Honduras how to get rid of the 'dictator' chain in Nigeria. You do your part and liberate all the child brides and victims of backward Sharia laws in your midst. Or don't you have a role to play in your Northern part of Nigeria there? Don't you have cousins and sisters being married off at ages 13 to old dudes in Zamfara state as we speak?

So brother, do you part while I do mine.

Yes, we need a coup definitely to liberate Southern Nigeria from the clutches of Northern Nigeria. No member of the JTF will be allowed this time around. This is going to be extremely difficult because of the poverty level that the Northern parts of Nigeria has spread to the Southern parts of Nigeria. I am working on it.

[ikuchi munta wei]

Originally Posted by Simbili

Look, I am stating it again. The North is the North(all leeches). I don't see any difference between one Northerner from the other. The South is the South and I don't see any difference from one to the other. :

This sounds contradictory to me.

Quick take, what did the south do to remove themselves from thsi enslavement?


Back to my sidon look!!!!

Originally Posted by ikuchi munta wei

This sounds contradictory to me.

Quick take, what did the south do to remove themselves from this enslavement?


Back to my sidon look!!!!

Believing in God of course, to come down and liberate them from the mallam's knives. Pathetic, ain't it?

Let us keep praying.

Hunger is a terrible thing to inflict on slaves.

[Ofunwa Villager]

Osuji got it all wrong, the Agbada he is refering to is the uniform of the looting class not a northern attire. further, he states that the Arabs are discarding their cultural robes for western attires, far from the truth. I think Osuji needs to visit Nigeria more, i mean the wider reaches of Nigeria and may be extend his visit to the middle East in order to get a broader perspective.