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In 418 B.C. Herodotus, the Greek philosopher who is known as the “father
 of history”, said “a man who does not know anything about the events 
that took place before he or she was born will remain forever a child.” 
Not only was he right but one must go a step further by saying that 
those who refuse to learn from their history are condemned to repeating 
its mistakes. In 1957, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Saurdana of Sokoto 
and the Premier of the North, said the following: “We the people of the 
North will continue our stated intention to conquer the South and to dip
 the Koran in the Atlantic ocean after the British leave our shores.” Three
 years later, on October 12, 1960, he went a step further by saying the 
following words to the Parrot Newspaper: “The new nation called Nigeria 
should be an estate of our great grandfather Uthman Dan Fodio. We must 
ruthlessly prevent a change of power. We must use the minorities in the 
North as willing tools and the South as a conquered territory and never 
allow them to rule over us and never allow them to have control over 
their future”. That same year he said: “I will allow Sir Tafawa 
Balewa to go and become Prime Minister and lead the unbelievers of the 
South whilst I will stay in the North and lead the faithful”. One
 year later, in a television interview with the BBC (which can still be 
viewed on YouTube) he was asked whether his “Northernisation Policy” 
would be a temporary or permanent feature. His response was as follows. 
“In actual fact the policy is a northerner first. If you cannot get a 
northerner then you get an expatriate like yourself on contract. If we 
cannot get that then we will employ another Nigerian from the south on 
contract too. This is going to be a permanent policy as far as I 
forsee”. Not to be outdone, in January 1947 on the floor of the 
Northern House of Assembly, Sir Tafawa Balewa, a man who was to become 
the first Prime Minister of Nigeria 13 years later, said the following 
words: “We do not want our Southern neighbours to interfere in 
our development. We have never associated ourselves with the activities 
of these people. We do not know them, we do not recognise them, and we 
share no responsibility in their actions. We shall demand our rights 
when the time is ripe. If the British quit Nigeria now at this stage, 
the Northern people would continue their uninterrupted conquest to the 
sea”. The passion for the total domination of the Nigerian state 
by the North has not in any way diminished over the years. As a matter 
of fact it appears to have become even more pronounced and, for some, it
 has become an obsession. Consider the following. On October 2, 2014, one Aliyu Gwarzo said the following to Pointblanknews: “When
 I say that the Presidency must come to the north next year I am 
referring to the Hausa-Fulani core north and not any northern christian 
or minority tribe. The Christians in the north are nothing and the 
minorities know that when we are talking about leadership in the north 
and in Nigeria, Allah has given it to us, the Hausa-Fulani. They owe us 
everything. This is because we gave them Islam through the great Jihad 
waged by Sheik Usman Dan Fodio. We liberated all these places and all 
these people by imposing islam on them by force. It was either the Koran
 or the sword and most of them chose the Koran. In return for the good 
works of our forefathers Allah, through the British, gave us Nigeria to 
rule and to do with as we please. Since 1960 we have been doing that and
 we intend to continue. No Goodluck or anyone else will stop us from 
taking back our power next year. We will kill, maim, destroy and turn 
this country into Africa’s biggest war zone and refugee camp if they try
 it. Many say we are behind Boko Haram. My answer is what do you expect?
 We do not have economic power or intellectual power. All we have is 
political power and they want to take even that from us. If they don’t 
want an ISIS in Nigeria then they must give us back the Presidency and 
our political power. Their soldiers are killing our warriors and our 
people every day but mark this: even if it takes one hundred years we 
will have our revenge. Every Fulani man that they kill is a debt that 
will be repaid even if it takes 100 years. The Fulani have very long 
memories”. The full text of Gwarzo’s contribution can be read on 
Pointblanknews or elsewhere. His words are self-explanatory and they 
need no further analysis. Thankfully his views do not represent the 
thinking of the majority of Hausa Fulani people but he does speak for a 
dangerous and vocal minority and his words constitute a clear statement 
of intent. Simply put, it is his desire to conquer and subjugate 
Southern Nigeria and to restore northern domination and supremacy in the
 affairs of our nation in perpetuity. The quest for Northern 
domination in the affairs of our country is as old as the hills. It led 
to a brutal civil war between 1967 and 1970 in which millions were 
killed. It led to pogrom after pogrom and slaughter after slaughter in 
the North. It led to a series of military coups and counter coups. In 
1991, it led to a coup by Major Gideon Orkar which, if it had been 
successful, would have resulted in the excision of the core Northern 
states from our country. It led to the annulement of Chief MKO Abiola’s 
presidential election of June 12, 1993, which almost resulted in a 
second civil war. It led to the brutal suppression of the South 
by General Sani Abacha and the murder, torture, incarceration and exile 
of many southern leaders. It led to stiff opposition to the government 
of President Olusegun Obasanjo in the North which came in the guise of 
“political sharia”. And finally it led to it’s most barbaric and hideous
 expression in the relentless opposition to the regime of President 
Goodluck Jonathan which came in the form of Boko Haram. Judging 
from recent events, with President Buhari now in power it appears that 
those who have been lusting for total northern domination for the last 
55 years have finally had their way. The inability to think 
deeply or profoundly is a curse. The inability to read widely and learn 
from others is a pitiful and costly affliction. If there were ever a 
time for profound thinking and deep and sober reflection when it comes 
to the affairs of our nation, it is now. I say this because only three 
months after President Buhari has been sworn into office the power 
configuration, vis-a-vis North and South, has resulted in the following 
mess. 1. President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria – North. 
2.Senate President – North. 3. Speaker of the House of Representatives –
 North. 4. Chief Justice of the Federation – North. 5. President of the 
Court of Appeal – North. 6. Chief Justice of the Federal High Court – 
North. 7. Secretary to the Federal Government – North. 8. Chief of Staff
 to the President – North. 9. Chief of Army Staff – North. 10. Chief of 
Air Staff – North. 11. Comptroller General of Customs – North. 12. 
Director-General of State Security Services (SSS) – North. 13. National 
Security Advisor – North. 14. Director General, NIMASA – North. 15. 
Chairperson of the Independant Electoral Commission (INEC) – North. 16. 
Comptroller-General Immigration – North. 17. Accountant-General of the 
Federation – North. 18. Commander of Civil Defence Corps – North. 19. 
Chief Security Officer to the President – North. 20. ADC to the 
President – North. 21. Principal Secretary to the President – North. 22.
 Senior Special Assistant to the President on media – North. 23. 
Chairman of the EFCC – North. 24. MD Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) – 
North. 25. Head of Service – North. 26. DG, National Communication 
Commission (NCC) – North. 27. Chairman NDLEA – North. 28. CEO, AMCON – 
North. There is no gainsaying that this is unacceptable. Some of 
us warned that this would happen but we were insulted and lampooned for 
doing so. These appointments are not only lopsided but they are also a 
manifestation of the fact that in just three months southern Nigeria has
 finally been relegated to being little more than an occupied region and
 a vassal state. The people of the south appear to have been placed in 
servitude and bondage. Our chains may be invisible but they are very 
much there. The question must be asked: is Buhari the President 
of Nigeria or is he the King of the North? Some have argued that the 
federal character formula has no place in our affairs anymore and that 
merit ought to be the only criteria for government appointments. Permit 
me to qoute a young man from twitter who responded to that absurd logic 
rather well by saying “if federal character isn’t important, why is the 
Vice President also not from Daura? Educated people should not speak 
like illiterates”. Others have said that we should wait for the 
ministerial list and that after that things would balance out. Again 
this is absurd logic and those that spout such convoluted thrash appear 
to have forgotten the fact that the President is compelled by law and 
the constitution to appoint a Minister from every state of the 
federation, including each of the southern states. Whether he is 
President of Nigeria or King of the North, Buhari would do well to 
retrace his steps. The consequences of not doing so for both his 
government and the unity of our country will be grave and costly. The 
south cannot be subjugated and treated with contempt and the people of 
the South will never be slaves. Fairness and equity in the distribution 
of national resources and key government appointments are a fundamental 
pre-requisite for peace, security and national unity in our country. It
 has served our collective interest well for many years. Those who seek 
to upset the applecart and jettison it today are not considering the 
inevitable and monumental consequences of their actions. Power may have 
returned to the North but the people of the South must be treated with 
respect, sensitivity, dignity, fairness and decency. Those that refuse 
to accept this counsel and that insist on charting a different course do
 so at their own peril.