THEWILL - Expanding the National Conversation

THE DEMAND FOR ZONING BY THE NORTH

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 19:58:00 -0700

PHOTO: L-R: FORMER VICE PRESIDENT, ATIKU ABUBAKAR; FORMER THIRD REPUBLIC SENATE PRESIDENT, SENATOR IYORCHIA AYU, AND FORMER MILITARY DICTATOR, GENERAL IBRAHIM BABANGIDA AFTER THE NORTHERN 'LEADERS/ELDERS' MEETING LAST WEEK IN ABUJA.

dr omu

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 00:40:04 -0700

'Zoning' is an internal affair of the PDP. It does not qualify for national discourse to the extent that we are not running a one party state, except of course, and as usual, the ruling PDP has no plan to midwife a few and fair election.

To my dear 150 'Northern elders', suppose a northerner carries the PDP flag and Jonathan carries another party flag and wins the Presidency in 2011, will you stop him from ruling? What if an Easterner from Party X wins the presidency, would you stop him from ruling?

The question needs to be asked also if these 150 northern elders are not representing themselves and their immediate families alone.

LYDIA

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 02:21:19 -0700

These people have guts oh! What a cheek! In a country of 150 million people, less than 300 hundred stay in a secret place and make an agreement and expect the 150 million to be bound by it! Who do they think they are? Do they know the meaning of democracy? They are speaking for themselves, their families and other members of their cabal. Leaders of what, what have they done for the north? What are they doing for the north, and what then will they do for the north? where were they when poverty, hunger and disease, al majirai and beggars became the id of the north?

Kyrian Agbodike

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 04:34:05 -0700

In as much as I am not against Jonathan Presidency beyond 2011 if he wins the election, I want to remind every one that since 1960, the North has actually ruled for 13 years while the south has 9 years. The remaining 28 years was really provided by the military. Military coups should not be given legal acceptance.

That the Northern military officers succeeded to rule 25 years out of the 28 years does not mean that the south was denied leadership after all the officers took suicidal risks. We have to remember that coup has maximum punishment of death if it fails. No southern officer had planned and carried out coup successfully and was denied right to rule.

The southern officers took less risk and lost no life as such but the Northern counterpart took the highest risks and benefitted when they succeeded. Do we remember Dimka and co of 1976, Brigadier Bako of 1983, Gen Vatsa and co of 1986, Major Okar and his boys of 1990 and many others that were not made public who lost their lives because of an attempt to overthrow one government or the other?

What I am saying here is that we have to put aside what ever happened before 1999 and start to count from the start of this democratic experiment. We should respect any agreement we have reached in any point in time other wise we are setting bad precedence for younger generations and we cannot complain when it the time comes.

Biodun Sonowo

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 05:21:43 -0700

The call on Jonathan not to run is provocative, selfish, arrogant, arrant nonsense. People should note that the advocates of the "north's turn" are silent on the 3 yrs spent by Yar'Adua, on the 38 wasted yrs of north-led rule and on any articulate programme for development when the "north"gets there. Nigeria needs to open the space for the best to emerge from anywhere-south, west, east or north-what we need is visionary leadership not tired, re-cycled failures seek to re-inflict their incompetence and greed on us.

Breakthrough A Martins

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 05:47:52 -0700

I agree with Dr. Omu,this so call northern Nigeria must come to under and know that Nigeria is a country and not a family matter. There are over 150million Nigerians and only 150 northern leaders are crying for power, in the first place, can any of these leaders carry guns or cutlass and fight if the need arises? therefore they
should go and find something else to do.

President Goodluck can contest if he like as long as the constitution of the country allows him to do so. God bless every Nigerians who are fighting for the truth, we must set the country free any way and anyhow.

Solomon

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 21:59:58 -0700

This zoning of a thing,is purely a PDP affair,who gave the north the assurance that PDP is going to win the 2011 election.oh,..i see PDP wants to rig next year election,come what may,tru a do or die affair.If not why is the north insisting that,they will produce the next president,what if PDP did not win the election and a southerner wins from another party what is the north going to do?that is my question.

Richard T. Stanley

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 08:02:57 -0700

These guys are not even ashamed. I just came back from the middle east. With very little resources some of these Islamic states are so developed while Nigeria with so much is still behind some of their villages. These 150 guys ARE REALLY deceiving themselves. They are not speaking for the north they left in poverty in their 38 years of eating what they called the national cake. Some of them ruled and ruined these country and should be behind bars not in self seeking political meetings. If you go to the North before 1999 you will weep. In all they stole not one of them thought of building an industry in any part of the north. MAY GOD HELP NIGERIA. Now they are gathering. If they had developed the North and erased poverty from that region in the 38 years they ruined this country, we would have seen sincerity in their gathering. But now it's clear that they are self seeking!