{"id":5064,"date":"2015-06-08T15:14:13","date_gmt":"2015-06-08T15:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=5064"},"modified":"2015-06-08T15:14:13","modified_gmt":"2015-06-08T15:14:13","slug":"arewa-songs-of-conquestcomplete-text","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=5064","title":{"rendered":"Arewa Songs Of Conquest(Complete text)"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Yinka Odumakin: Arewa political artistes have been singing songs of captivity lately and not a few ears would have tingling especially among the greedy lot whose misplaced expectations have led into this quandary.But thank goodness for the Col. Dangiwa Umar of that region who sings redemption songs. Among the former who see Nigeria basically as the northern soil and conquest from the south is Senator Saidu Dansadau. His surname is from the Dansadau Emirate of Zamfara, the land of Sharia.He carries the typical aristocratic traits of many Fulanis,at least that was my impression when I entered his residence in Abuja in 2006 at the peak of the battle to stop Obasanjo’s evil agenda to change the constitution so he could have a third term in office.You cannot but want to give up on Nigeria when you see the same man as “navigator” carrying useless memos from some silly think-tank on the future of a country he nearly plunged into war over inordinate ambition. Back to Dansadau.I was invited to some event in Abuja in 2006 at the Adamawa Governor’s lodge in Abuja by then Hon Sola Adeyeye (now a Senator) to gather more pressure against the third term gambit. Obasanjo’s deputy, Atiku Abubakar was part of the night’s event. We were about an hour into the meeting when security operatives stormed the place with an instruction to disperse the gathering. The day after, Prof Adeyeye whom I spent the night with invited me to a meeting at Dansadau’s residence in Abuja.He was soft-spoken (as if they are trained in it) with the usual aloofness. I did not see him again until the 2014 National Conference where we were both delegates. One of his major contributions at the conference was the call for the establishment of a Women and Children Islamic Commission to deal with the prevalence of divorce in northern Nigeria. He said men in the region were not compliant with Sharia when it comes to divorce as many kick out wives after eight children. He spoke about a gentleman who already had 78 divorces in his 50 years on earth. But why I’m writing about him this week is his song of conquest that just went viral even before the inauguration of a northern president. It was a simple question to him on whether the APC South West demand for Speaker of the House of Representatives was just and fair. He said it was gluttonous after having the Vice-President as if there is no aspirant for the same position from the North West where the President comes from. I personally don’t give a damn how they share their spoils. The bit that got my goat, however, were the further speaks that came from the abundance of his heart and I quote the former Zamfara Senator verbatim: “Nigerians should take note of the voting trend since independence. In fact, since the 1950s, the North Central per se had never voted in the manner it did along with the other parts of the North as it did at this particular time. These are the kind of things we have been looking for, (for) a long time. Various initiatives have been put in place in order to see that northerners from wherever they are, from the 19 states, become one as far as voting is concerned. We are not saying 100 percent of northerners should be in one political party but that northerners should have one voice, they should decide and dictate the politics of Nigeria; like it has been before independence and even during the First Republic because of the numerical strength of the North. “But of recent we became divided so we became so vulnerable. But God in His infinite wisdom and mercy used the goodwill of General Muhammadu Buhari and we have gotten the kind of unity that we have been yearning for, for so long. We have realised this dream now. So, now that we have achieved the unity we long for because of Buhari\u2019s goodwill, it is only fair that we now make some efforts to consolidate these gains because General Buhari will not be the president for ever. So that after him, we have consolidated on this goodwill and we will be able to grow this unity, political cooperation, electoral cooperation from strength to strength so that the North will as much as possible dictate the political landscape of the country and what happens in Nigeria as it used to do. This is necessary because my fear is that not that Senator Ahmad Lawan is not qualified, he is very much qualified, but in third world countries where there are lots of crises and ethnicity and religions, you have to balance power in such a manner that every ethnic and religious group as much as possible will feel satisfied with the balancing of power. That is all we are saying. “And for the North East, they really deserve the Speakership. There is no doubt going by their number and what they contributed to the success of the APC going by the candidates contesting for the position, they truly deserve a very important office in this dispensation. There is no doubt about that. But I feel no sacrifice is too much as far as the unity of this country is concerned. No sacrifice is too much as far as it concerns the growth and the continuity in power of the APC. So, in order not to take a decision that will make the strength of APC wane so quickly, I think regional groups and individuals should learn to make sacrifices. “In fact, where I fault the leadership of the APC is why should the leadership do zoning in piecemeal? Why should they zone the Speakership to the South West? When you are taking that decision, why didn\u2019t they take the entire zoning together? That was what the PDP did in the past and since it is good, the APC should emulate it. If any crisis arises as a result of the zoning I will blame the leadership of the APC. Why, because if they had sat down from the word go to zone all the positions, this problem wouldn\u2019t have arisen.” Only the naive and uninitiated would not be able to get his drift. Senator Abraham Adesanya in his lifetime was fond of telling the story of two friends,the cock and the fox.The fox was relating with the cock with respect thinking that the comb on its head was a burning fire until the day the latter, driven by greed, asked the former to feel his head in exchange for a favour.The fox did and discovered that what it feared as fire was so cold and delicious.That was how the cock that was hitherto feared became a regular meal for the fox<\/p>\n
Solomon in the Bible carried out all possible experiments on behalf of humanity and documented it all in the Book of Ecclesiastics. Those immovable truths have proved inviolable to date. In like manner, Prophet Jeremiah Obafemi Awolowo who created ethnic pride for the Yoruba country carried out loads of experiments with the Nigeria project and like Solomon and documented his findings in his various publications. Unfortunately the Yoruba political landscape of today is littered with men who have never read a book from Awo even when they are in love with his glasses without his vision and his cap covering brains they never engage in thought. It is not that difficult for such men to remove the ancient landmarks which their fathers have set and thus become a plaything and song themes on the lips of Arewa children like the gentleman I quoted extensively last week.\"Former<\/a> The summary of all Awo findings is that a multi-ethnic Nigeria can only prosper with its constituent units living in peace and happiness if it was run along federal principles. That was what Awo fought for all his political life that denied him “power at the centre” but he remains at the centre of political discourse in Nigeria, 28 years after his transition to higher glory. And within those years arose strange children in Yorubaland who, buoyed by unearned wealth, felt the Awo way was not for them. They chose the Akintola road and with their media power they blackmailed those who insisted on the Awo path. They were able to mobilize a generation of angry and disoriented youth who were totally bereft of knowledge to act against their own enlightened self-interest. Like bewitched Galatians, they confused their own desires for good governance with Arewa quest for CHANGE of baton. In a matter of weeks, Arewa spokesmen are making it clear that the March 28 removal of the virus that entered their power computer was the only common denominator and hangers-on should find their level. What a tragedy of victory! The stiff-necked adventurers who uncritically assumed a day would come when Arewa would embrace power sharing are now doing what Yoruba call “aramora, iso kijipa”, like you are being whipped but you can’t afford to drop any tear. The children of Oduduwa who gave an identity and the formula to engage all nationalities with pride are now hovering like Almajiris in Abuja because they sacrifice their core values to play at their traducers\u2019 area of strength. The gloom on their faces is worse than those of who lost elections. They are now busy tearing themselves into pieces jostling for who will be the senior in the slavery they have just sold themselves to. Like Fela Anikulapo Kuti around this time in 1984, “I just dey look and dey laugh”. These folks lack any institutional memory to even understand the subtlety of those they are engaged in power game with. They are in a game whose rules of engagement they don’t have the faintest idea of. They didn’t know that the power of cash becomes immaterial when the key to the treasury is handed to those you thought you were funding. Some folks are so poor despite having tons of cash. In 1962, Obafemi Awolowo in the course of the legislative sitting passed a note to the then Prime Minister of Nigeria, Tafawa Balewa. The content was “when can we see?” The response was instant “why not now?” Pronto the Opposition Leader and the Prime Minister moved to his office and Awo stroked the frame of his glasses and looked straight into Balewa’s eyes, asking: “Mr PM, what is it I’m hearing about plans to impose emergency rule in Western Nigeria today?” Balewa laughed haughtily and said, “Come off it Chief Awolowo, how would you countenance such a wicked rumor? Do you not know how long a process it takes to do such a thing?” Meeting ended and both men returned to the chambers. By the evening of that discussion, a state of emergency was declared in Western Nigeria.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
General Olusegun Obasanjo in a moment of delirious delusion took his pen and scribbled some comic script to the effect that Chief Obafemi Awolowo was the architect of his own power misfortune in Nigeria.The inferior scholarship in him read power and office as the same thing. He boasted that he was walking barefooted when Awo was already a famous adventurer in power but that the office of the President of Nigeria which he could not attain was his on a platter. He went further to ridicule<\/span> the sage that even when he gave him clues as to how to placate Arewa to concede power to him, Awo remained his rigid and principled self as the Pro-Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University to which he deliberately appointed him to learn Arewa ways.<\/div>\n
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That reminds me of another power muppet of Yorubaland, Chief Sunday Adewusi the notorious Inspector<\/span> General of police under Alhaji Shehu Shagari. He was among the delegates to Obasanjo\u2019s Political Reforms Conference of 2005. The Yoruba agenda committee had sought audience with the delegates and the Governors of the region before the conference commencement. We were all assembled in the office of Oyo state Governor, Alhaji Rashidi Ladoja when Adewusi asked \u201ce joo awa melo lo gbo awusa ninu awa to nlo soke lohun to ri o ma mun nkan rorun fun wa o?. He was asking that, how many of Yoruba delegates could speak Hausa as that would make things easier for them as if they were people of the colony going for some constitutional conference in London.<\/p>\n

I took time to count the number of traditional marks on his cheeks as I wondered if any gathering of Arewa would be asking how many of them could speak Yoruba even when the fellow calling the conference was called a Yorubaman. Obasanjo indeed became Nigerian Head of State which Awo did not achieve<\/span> but all they made him to do was to convert many of the great things Awo did in Western Nigeria into Federal holdings in a unitary fiat.He sacked Admiral Akin Aduwo as Military Governor of the region when he dallied over Obasanjo instruction to turn the great \u201cIfe fortress\u201d (apology to another Arewa spokesman, Prof Jubril Aminu) to the Federal.<\/p>\n

If Shekau were to find himself in Ife today, he would yell with pride \u201cBoko Haram\u201d given what that centre of learning has become.\u00a0Either as Military Head of state or President, I ask Obasanjo to point at one pride of such he was able to give to Yorubaland outside his personal mansion<\/span> and hotels in Abeokuta. In between his military rule and civilian dictatorship, Arewa found a place for him in prison and till date he is said to bear their marks of torture on his back. Before him was Ladoke Akintola who took that route against Awo\u2019s well thought-out federal engagement in a multi-ethnic state.<\/p>\n

He was brutally assassinated<\/span> before he could take stock. Bashorun M.K.O Abiola also emerged from that school. He did everything imaginable for the Arewa. He built many mosques, gave out cash in tons, took titles uncountable. He even established National Concord to desecrate the Yoruba essence in service<\/span> to Arewa (National Concord reincarnate owned by the new kid on the block has been repeating history). Abiola was a good boy until he wanted to share power with Arewa. In 1983 he was told \u201cpower was not for sale\u201d. Before Awo died, MK0 was reconciled with him and the sage told the business mogul in the course of their meeting\u201d those who put me through all the travails are your best friends, I pray they don\u2019t take your life\u201d. Instead of saying \u201cAmen\u201d, Abiola responded \u201cI know my people\u201d. By 1993,he won a presidential election<\/span> but his \u201cpeople\u201d kept him in prison until they liquidated him and returned his body bag to Lagos.<\/p>\n

While Abiola was in gaol, Oladipo Diya took the Akintola road as the new traveller as Abacha\u2019s No 2. His assignment was to consign the Yoruba leadership to the dustbin. He raised the Imeri Group to displace Afenifere and nicknamed NADECO \u201cAgbako\u201d. It took only three years for Arewa hammer to fall on him. It was to \u201cAgbako\u201d he turned in the moment to salvage his life the way Obasanjo found lengthy sheets to write epistles to Afenifere leader, Chief Michael Ajasin when Arewa \u201cbulala\u201d became unbearable. Luckily for Diya, Abacha dozed off eternally the night before his execution but he is said to still bear the scars of torture on his head till date.<\/p>\n

I have gone through this narrative only to show one thing: it is foolhardy for anyone to think Awo was wrong in concluding that Arewa DNA does<\/span> not share power and that Nigeria would only do well if the constituent<\/span> units live their civilizations and we run a centre that allows them their autonomies within corporate Nigeria.\u00a0A new team is now on the Akintola route and soon we shall be able to say if they are able to turn the tide of history or we shall once again<\/span> play Bob Marley\u2019s:\u00a0\u201cNow you get what you want. Do you want moreeeeeeeeeee\u2026\u201d \u2026\u2026.concluded<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Yinka Odumakin: Arewa political artistes have been singing songs of captivity lately and not a few ears would have tingling especially among the greedy lot whose misplaced expectations have led into this quandary.But thank goodness for the Col. Dangiwa Umar of that region who sings redemption songs. Among the former who see Nigeria basically […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5065,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[242,156,243],"class_list":["post-5064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-arewa","tag-general-olusegun-obasanjo","tag-obafemi-awolowo"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Former-Nigeria-leaders.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4oswh-1jG","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5064"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5064\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5066,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5064\/revisions\/5066"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}