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Seun Kuti says northern, southern elites do no represent the interest of their people

April 12, 2022 No Comments

Nigerian musician and social activist, Seun Kuti has opined in an Instagram post that majority of Northern and Southern elites do not represent the interest of their people.

Taking to Instagram on Tuesday afternoon, Seun Kuti, who is the last son of legendary Nigerian recording artiste, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, said most elites from the aforementioned parts of Nigeria are primarily interested in their own personal agenda.

“Both the northern and southern elites don’t represent the interests of their people. I have northern friends and none of them wants to be my overlord. Not a single one,” he said.

Kuti went further;

“I am aligned with the people and their interests not with the oppressor and his interests. We need class consciousness before we kill each other for nothing.”

Politics

Southern, Northern Kaduna agree to split into two new states

May 27, 2021 No Comments

Christians, Non-Hausa/Fulani from the Southern part of Kaduna and their counterpart Muslim Hausa/Fulani dominated part of Northern Kaduna, have agreed for the split of Kaduna State into two new states.

Speaking during the presentation and defense of their memos at the Senate ad-hoc Committee and the House of Reps Special Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution at the Hassan Katsina House on Wednesday, both parties that have been engaged in infamous inter-ethnic and religious clashes for decades, said creating new states from the present Kaduna State will go a long way at solving the bloody violence that seemed to defy solution.

President of the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU), Hon. Jonathan Asake, who defended the memo of Southern Kaduna people said: “The wish of Southern Kaduna is to have a brand new constitution, not an amended one.

“But in the absence of that, we are here to make our inputs as a people who have suffered suppression and oppression for a long time.

“Southern Kaduna is made up of 67 ethnic nationalities spread in 13 of the 23 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Kaduna state. It has a landmass of 26,000kmsq with an estimated population of 5.1 million. We are endowed with an educated population and with abundant natural resources.

“Our land size is greater than that of Kano state which has a landmass of 20,000kmsq. Yet Kano is a state of its own with 44 LGAs. Our population is greater than 21 other states of the federation,” he went on. “We are demanding for the amendment of the provision of section 8 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which makes it almost an impossible task for the creation of a new state.

“We have been demanding for a state of our own for over thirty years and Gurara state was among the 18 states proposed in the 2014 Confab report.

We are demanding for the creation of the Gurara state after the amendment. This will help in solving the incessant conflicts between our people and the other divide”.

SOKAPU also asked for the removal of the Land Use Act from the Constitution and its amendment as a law, so that communities and families can have larger control of the ancestral lands.

“We stand by all the 2014 confab report which had captured most of our demands.”

In the same vein, the Northern part of Kaduna State, under the aegis of Kaduna Development Elders Initiatives submitted a memo signed by the Senators Representing Kaduna North Senatorial Zone, Sen. Sulieman Abdu Kwari; the Senator Representing Kaduna Central Senatorial zone, Senator Uba Sani; all the House of Reps members from the Northern Part of Kaduna; all members of Kaduna state house of Assembly from the northern part of Kaduna their Chairmen of LGAs and Councillors.

Defending the memo of the group, Abdulkadir Ahmed said, “we are canvassing for the creation of New Kaduna state from the present Kaduna state and we want the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria amended to make this possible.

“Kaduna South has been complaining of marginalisation ever since, even though Chiefdoms have been given to them and they occupy 60% of the workforce of Kaduna state.

“Let the state be split and if they are asking for Gurara state, let them have it.

“This will solve all the crises we have been having in this state.

“On our part, we are asking for the creation of ‘New Kaduna State’, which will include Kaduna North and Kaduna Central Senatorial zones.

“But there should be a referendum for each section of the state to decide on where it wants to belong.”

Kaduna state governor, Nasir El-Rufai, who declared the meeting open, also asked for true Federalism, State Police and Financial Autonomy to Local Government Councils.

The Chairman of the Committee, Senator Kabiru Gaiya from Kano State, in his opening remarks assured all that each of the memos will be well looked into and submitted to the National Assembly for further actions.

Politics

We’ll no longer play the fool for you, Southern, Middle Belt leaders tell Northern leaders

November 4, 2020 No Comments

Leaders of the Southern and Middle Belt parts of the country under the auspices of the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) on Wednesday, warned they would no longer allow the Northern part of the country to dictate to them, or allow them keep playing any supremacist role over others.

This was the focus of a communiqué issued by the forum after an emergency meeting the forum held in Abuja.

The communique was signed by Chief EK Clark (PANDEF Leader), AVM Idongesit Nkanga, Chief Broderick Bozimo, Mr. Solomon Asemota (SAN), Senator Bassey Henshaw, Prof GG Darah and Chief T J O Okorotie for the South-South

Others, who signed the communiqué were Chief Ayo Adebanjo (for Afenifere Leader), Mr Yinka Odumakin, Senator Kofoworola Akerele-Buknor, Oba Oladipo Olaitan, Senator Femi Okunrounmu, Chief Supo Sonibare, Chief Demola Folarin, Dr. Akin Fapohunda for the South-West.

They also included Chief John Nwodo (President General, Ohanaeze), Chief Guy Ikokwu, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, Mr. Chuks Muomah SAN, Mr. Mike Ahamba SAN, Mr. Madu Bright O Allwell, Chuks Achi-Okpaga, Chief Alex Ogbonnia for the South-East.

For the North-Central (Middle Belt) are Dr. Pogu Bitrus (President, Middle Belt Forum), Air Commoder Dan Suleiman (retd), Dr. S D Gani, Elder Stephen Bangoji, Hon Jonathan Asake, Mr. Chris Aba, Mr. Mark Jacob and Mr. Festus Nyiwo.

While reacting to the meeting of Northern states’ Governors with Northern Emirs and Chiefs and Arewa leaders in topmost positions in the current regime held on Monday, the SMBLF reiterated it’s call for restructuring before the 2023 general elections.

The communique reads: “The meeting coming aftermath of the ENDSARS protest when we should be putting heads together nationally to seek solutions to our problems is most distractive, divisive and made Nigeria widely scattered as against the ‘indivisibility’ and other non-sequitors that were regurgitated at the end of it.

“Where would this country be heading to if we also decide to call our own meeting with our Governors and top officials in the Federal Government? We do not see any responsibility displayed by those who have been serially accused of sectionalizing our national government to allow such in sensibility, insensitivity and total subversion of the unity of the country that only exists on the lips of those behind the meeting.

“It not also lost on us that the communique of the meeting was making space for National Executive Council nominations to a sectional initiative as the utmost level of disregard to the rest of the country whom they are treating as serfs when we are supposed to joint and equal stakeholders in project Nigeria

“The meeting wondered the quality of humanity of any group meeting at this period of mourning not to have a word of compassion for those that were recklessly murdered by state forces and hired thugs during the protests.
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> “We reject the indecent approach to paste the peaceful protesters in dark colours. They made their demands clear and were orderly before the violent Nigerian state deployed armed soldiers and thugs in 911 lorries against them.

“It is wickedness to place ‘our power’ above every other national interest by playing the “regime change” label on the peaceful protesters who were not armed like Boko Haram that the regime is chasing about with negotiations in the same spirit it has been cuddling and pampering killer herdsmen.

“We do not see the thoughtfulness in the celebration of Northern youths not participating in ENDSARS protests as if they did not also loot like their deprived young people in other areas of the country which shows they are suffering the same thing. But instead of treating leprosy, our counterparts are dealing with eczema.

“We foresaw all that is happening now, which is why we have been calling for restructuring as a multi-ethic country like Nigeria can only be run along federal lines. We were not oblivious of the damage the military did to this country by using fiat to create LGAs with headquarters in the villages of top shots mostly from the North. Kano state today has 44 Local Governments and Bayelsa has 80.When you want to recruit 10 policemen per LGA Bayelsa will have 80 and Kano 44O. That affects where the materials to be drawn into SARS and others are drawn.The inequalities multiply everywhere. And this is why we insist on restructuring of the country now before we go for any national election.

“We make it abundantly clear to our colleagues from the core North that yesterday ended last night and never again shall this country be run the same old way. No section of the country can play any supremacist role again as if the rest of us are fools.

“It is either we live together as equals under the same rules of engagement or we explore other options as dignified human beings.

“We deeply mourn with all families who lost dear ones in the crisis we just went through and pray to God to comfort them. May those who wantonly destroyed lives pay grievously for their deeds.”