by Abigail Anaba
Shock. That was the feeling I felt when the latest memo purportedly presented by Governor Nyako was drawn to my attention. Then from shock it went to disbelief. I am still trying to get myself to totally believe Governor Nyako wrote that. I am hoping that like the Nigerian Army’s recent rescue story we will get a denial or retraction. I’m hoping the governor will come out to say he never wrote that. That it is the work of the enemy. Perhaps some unscrupulous elements sponsored by the PDP wrote and leaked this document. I wish.
Where do I start?
I found the entire piece which I would rather refer to as tantrums of a teenager very difficult to follow. On the one hand the Governor sounded like he was going to ask for Northern Nigeria to separate and find solutions to their own problems without southern intervention and then the next minute he was asking that the whole of Nigeria joins together to fight the common enemy – the Federal Government. Is the governor asking for a civilian coup? A revolution? Who in the Federal Government should we be fighting? The president? Is he asking all Nigerians to fight Goodluck Jonathan? Ask him to go? How convenient.
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You may want to take a look at the budget for 2014 of the governor who claims to be doing all in his power to fight the state of insecurity in his state. The state budget for security is just 4% of the entire state budget. Recurrent expenditure still gulps over 50%. Governor Nyako prefers to be building roads which gets the highest in capital expenditure. Which is more important: building roads or securing the lives of his people. Or are they not primarily his people? Is he not the Chief Security officer of his state?
Governor Nyako really should know better than make inciting comments that can cause disaffection among members of the populace. His memo sounds too desperate to be from someone of his stature, experience, and position as governor.
Don’t forget, Nyako has served the nation as a military man- as governor of Niger state. He in fact rose to the rank of vice admiral in the Nigerian Navy. For a man of his caliber to turn around to accuse his country’s military of systematic genocide all in the name of politics?
I find it quite intriguing that the table of who is being dominated has suddenly turned. A few years ago, the song of most people in southern Nigeria was that the North was dominating them. This simply meant at that time that they were not allowed a shot at the topmost position in the country. It’s not even a decade and Governor Nyako and any who support him are already talking about a Southern domination? In other words, domination is just about who is president.
Yet I ask is it Southerners in charge of the Northern states? What have the governors of Northern states done to get rid of the underlying causes of the rise of insurgencies? What have they done to get rid of poverty and a general lack of education in that region? What did they do with the decades of “northern domination”? How did Northern Presidency help the average Northerner?
I would have given Governor Nyako all my support if what he had presented is a blueprint to end insurgencies in the North with the allegation that the Federal government is refusing to implement it. What is this cock and bull unverifiable story of Northern officers being shot in training camps and drawing parallels between President Jonathan and Hitler of Germany. Is President Jonathan trying to eliminate the North because they did not vote for him in the last elections?
I could not help laughing out loud when I read Governor Nyako calling on the Red Cross to help set up efficient medical and ambulance services. Really, Governor Nyako? You knew the importance of medical services and ambulances and yet in your 2014 budget the ministry of health got just 3.2%? Where really are your priorities?
Perhaps Governor Nyako actually wants another war or is preparing for one. If not, I wonder why he is reminding Igbos that they did not speak out against the murder of Northern and Western leaders in 1966. I am moved to conclude that Governor Nyako is nothing but a mischief maker. No dear Governor, nothing in your pernicious diatribe shows a love for this country. You and others like you who are playing politics with the lives of Nigerians are the real problem.
This article is culled from The Scoop.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
