Akpaekong on Thursday
Why Does Ahmed Yerima Weep For The South?
Thu, Apr 22, 2021

There is this article purportedly written by Alhaji Ahmed Yerima, governor of Zamfara State from 1999 to 2007, that has been making the rounds on social media platforms. Titled "I Weep for the South", the article says that Nigerian politicians of the southern extraction are selfish and are always willing to sacrifice the development of the South to achieve their narrow and selfish goals.

They are in a blind support of the North and are currying the favour of the region with gigantic physical projects, spending a lot of much cash on the north and being in tandem with that region's aspirations, for the sake of political support. The piece laments that, unfortunately, the North has consistently failed to recognise the South's many such gestures through the years.

Let me quote him in part: "While in office, they are all aspiring for the next office. The strategy to get on the ladder is to sacrifice their people, their towns and villages and their region. They do everything possible to please the Hausa Fulani Northerners in order to be favoured."

The piece is so well researched, stretched out and presented that one finds it difficult to doubt that it is the work of the former governor. But at the same time, the work is so heavily against the north that it becomes doubtful that, Yerima, the strong protagonist of Sharia Law (like the biblical Saul of Tarsus) and defender of the North, well known for his extremist Islamic views, would dare to posit such pro-South stuff for public consumption.

I am forced to ask, if indeed, Yerima is the author of that piece, what does he want to achieve by it, as it is against the entire northern oligarchy, its ecclesiastical system, its economy and its polity? How does Alhaji Yerima intend to gain from it, the entire work being a condemnation of politics of the north?

Let's look at some of the truths in the said piece, beginning from what it says about former President Goodluck Jonathan. It says that when this man was in power, he concentrated national development projects in the North, deliberately closing his eyes to the South, including Bayelsa, his state of origin. Accordingly, Jonathan postponed South South development to an anticipated second term but rehabilitated the Almajiris, emirs, built Abuja-Kaduna rail line, completed federal universities in Katsina and Jigawa, etc, but in the end, his northerner INEC chairman, Attahiru Jega, replaced him with Muhammadu Buhari.

During his tenure as president, Yoruba man, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo immensely promoted infrastructure development in the North, while those in the South were neglected. Peter Odili squandered Rivers State money on northern opinion leaders when he was governor of that state. James Ibori, one-time governor of Delta State turned the state's Liaison Office in Abuja into an ATM for all the northern PDP members while Stella Odua, minister of Aviation under Jonathan, funded in full, the rehabilitation and upgrading of Kano, Sokoto and Katsina airports while Port Harcourt Airport operated from a Tarpaulin and Enugu Airport was completely shut down.

Igboman, Ibe Kachukwu, then chairman of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC board of trustees and minister of Petroleum, promoted the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano Gas Pipeline. When Obono Obla, SAN, was appointed chairman of the Government Asset Recovery Committee, he made all past office holders from the South South and South East geopolitical zones his target. Nsima Ekere as managing director of Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, gave out emergency jobs to southern contractors fronting for northerners. Rotimi Amaechi, minister of Transport has built the Lagos-Ibadan-Abuja-Kaduna-Kano-Katsina rail line and is completing the biggest rail and road line into Niger Republic while the roads in the south are impassable.

If you trace the roadmap of these southern players in governance, you will agree that they practically abandoned the development of southern roads, rail lines, airports, production lines and institutions of the South West, South East and South South geopolitical regions to concentrate on the building, rehabilitation and development of similar projects in the North.

What is said about Bayelsa man, Chief Timipre Sylva is laughable. It is indeed, clear mockery. Whereas Bayelsa State is not connected to the National Grid, minister of Petroleum, Sylva, initiated the construction of Ajaokuta-Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Gas Pipeline to facilitate the building of a Gas Power Station in Abuja and Kaduna, aimed at "turning Kano into an industrial headquarters" while unemployment was destroying Bayelsa State. Ahmed Tinubu, former governor of Lagos State and national leader of All Progressives Congress, APC, is being criticised for rigging President Buhari into power using his bullion vans.

In spite of all that they did, Jonathan lost second term, Obasanjo lost third term, Ibori went to prison, Obla was framed and arrested, Kachukwu was humiliated out of office, AMCON took over all of Odua's assets. He says Tinubu won't be president nor will Amaechi be vice president. I don't know about that anyway.

Yerima cannot claim to suddenly love the South and sympathise with her the way he is doing, when most northern leaders are happy to oppress the South. A few days ago, Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of Kano State was quoted as saying that the North owns Nigeria and that the Yoruba and Igbo are minority?

When did hard man Yerima change such that his thoughts go in line with that of those from the South? When did the new love for the South begin? This man was the first to implement the controversial Sharia in a state of the country. While others were considering whether Sharia was good for Nigeria, Yerima rushed to become the first Nigerian governor to implement the law in his state on January, 27, 2000. It was discovered that the burden of Sharia was laid on the poor and down-trodden masses while the elite and the political class remained sacred cows. At that point, Yerima began to court controversy.

After his two terms as governor, he became a member of the National Assembly. As a lawmaker, Yerima was accused of marrying an underaged girl from Egypt and was investigated for having violated Nigeria’s Child Rights Act of 2003. The case did not go very far because under Article 61 (Second Schedule) of the Nigerian Constitution, the Nigerian government has no power to legislate on marriages under Islamic Law and Customary Law including matrimonial cases relating thereto. The former governor was also a guest of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

God blessed every part of the country with an abundance of natural resources - the North has so much in livestock, agricultural produce like millet, rice, guinea corn, hides and skin, cotton and solid minerals to explore, exploit, harness, develop and live on them. The South West has been blessed with cocoa and lots of other agricultural crops. The South East has lots of agricultural crops and minerals to harness and stimulate the economy. The South South has agricultural and mineral resources including the petroleum.

It is unfortunate that years of dependence on petroleum resources of the South South region has made other regions unable to promote the development of natural resources in their domains. This failure has made the North terribly afraid of their future in a situation that the segments of the nation declare "to your tent O Israel." Before and after the civil war of 1967 to 1970, the Igbo of the South East sought for a new country of their own. They gave the unborn nation a name: that old Biafra. Recently, the Yoruba joined in the clamour for a new nation they could call their own, they have christened it Oduduwa Republic. Instead of the North beaming the light on an Arewa Republic, they become angry on the issue of breaking the nation into smaller and better entities to enjoy the new lease of life the new countries would offer.

Many northern elements have expressed displeasure over the mounting separationists agitations in the country. Some say if the South, and to be sure, the Igbo and the Yoruba seriously attempt to break away from the entity called Nigeria, there will be war. The Fulani herders group, Miyetti Allah, belongs here. Is Alhaji Yerima happy about the various bodies formed to push the split of the nation? Is he a different species of northerners? Does he want to be president in 2023? Three days ago, I came across a newspaper headline, "Oduduwa Republic Will Implement Sharia Law." I think Yerima's hand is in this conspiracy.

When did Yerima drop the usual spirit of North dominating South? How will it benefit him weeping for the South? What is Yerima up to in this latest ploy?

Food for thought

Now who will bail the cat.