'Quit the south!' Order, is Ango Abdullahi senile?
By Omogbolahan Babs
Elder statesman and a leader of the northern cultural organization, Northern Elders' Forum (NEF) Prof. Ango Abdullahi has made a call to his ethnic nationals domiciled in the southern part of the country to quit the south en masses and return to their ancestral home - the north. The Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and former Vice Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, is reputed for his divisive, ethnocentric, discordant and acerbic statements. Rather than promote national cohesion and unity, the octogenarian has always propagated ethnic supremacy. You therefore wonder why such a daedal and erudite scholar engage in such centrifugal machinations.
Prof. Ango Abdullahi, just like his compatriots in other ethnic nationalities like the Odumakins of Afénifére, the Nnia Nwodo of Ohanezes, the Edwin Clarke of PANDEF among other microscopic groups making inflammatory statements capable of causing implosion in the country do not mean well for us all - as a country and as a people. At this time of our national life, we have a precarious situation at hand that is largely fueled by mistrust arising from ethnoreligious proclivity. These individuals rather than being instruments of Nigeria's oneness nurtured by her diverse nature, have become her major remora and cog.
The only raison d'etre for their recent calls for implosion in the country is lack of political patronage. Prof. Ango Abdullahi is not a fan of the present government. As a matter of fact, his group, the Northern Elders' Forum (NEF) supported the opposition (PDP) candidate in the last presidential election. The factional Afénifére is known to be a sympathizer of the erstwhile ruling party. The PANDEF under Sir Edwin Clarke's ascendancy is for the People's Democratic Party, PDP, needless to speak of Nnia Nwodo's Ohaneze Ndi'gbo. These individuals hide under ethnic incognito to promote their egocentric political cumshaw.
Prof. Ango Abdullahi's call for northern nationals domiciled in the south to return home is not bizarre. It is not to suggest that the bookish old man is senile. Far from it. It is a premeditated strategy. His co-travellers in the south had also, not too long ago, made similar request. It has a political undertone. Nigerians of discerning mind can decipher. We remember their statements prior to the 2019 presidential elections. The Buhari government does not seem to play their kind of politics. And the best they could do is to create apprehension in the country, promote ethnic idiosyncrasies so that we see ourselves not as a people united by our diverse culture, but alienated by our differences.
The north should return home according to Ango Abdullahi. People like Dangote will uproot his refinery and other business interests from Lagos, Ogun and wherever located in the West and go back to Kano. The Igbo businessmen in Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto, Maiduguri and other places should leave their business and relocate to the south. The Hausa/Fulanis who have lived all their lives over a century year now and have married from and to other tribes in the south should divorce their spouses and return home. Ango Abdullahi and his fellow political 'wayfarers' do not wish us well. The implosion they wish happen will not come to fruition. Because, this too shall pass.
Omogbolahan Babs, a Forensic and Criminal Investigation expert writes from Abuja
Elder statesman and a leader of the northern cultural organization, Northern Elders' Forum (NEF) Prof. Ango Abdullahi has made a call to his ethnic nationals domiciled in the southern part of the country to quit the south en masses and return to their ancestral home - the north. The Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and former Vice Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, is reputed for his divisive, ethnocentric, discordant and acerbic statements. Rather than promote national cohesion and unity, the octogenarian has always propagated ethnic supremacy. You therefore wonder why such a daedal and erudite scholar engage in such centrifugal machinations.
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Omogbolahan Babs
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Prof. Ango Abdullahi, just like his compatriots in other ethnic nationalities like the Odumakins of Afénifére, the Nnia Nwodo of Ohanezes, the Edwin Clarke of PANDEF among other microscopic groups making inflammatory statements capable of causing implosion in the country do not mean well for us all - as a country and as a people. At this time of our national life, we have a precarious situation at hand that is largely fueled by mistrust arising from ethnoreligious proclivity. These individuals rather than being instruments of Nigeria's oneness nurtured by her diverse nature, have become her major remora and cog.
The only raison d'etre for their recent calls for implosion in the country is lack of political patronage. Prof. Ango Abdullahi is not a fan of the present government. As a matter of fact, his group, the Northern Elders' Forum (NEF) supported the opposition (PDP) candidate in the last presidential election. The factional Afénifére is known to be a sympathizer of the erstwhile ruling party. The PANDEF under Sir Edwin Clarke's ascendancy is for the People's Democratic Party, PDP, needless to speak of Nnia Nwodo's Ohaneze Ndi'gbo. These individuals hide under ethnic incognito to promote their egocentric political cumshaw.
Prof. Ango Abdullahi's call for northern nationals domiciled in the south to return home is not bizarre. It is not to suggest that the bookish old man is senile. Far from it. It is a premeditated strategy. His co-travellers in the south had also, not too long ago, made similar request. It has a political undertone. Nigerians of discerning mind can decipher. We remember their statements prior to the 2019 presidential elections. The Buhari government does not seem to play their kind of politics. And the best they could do is to create apprehension in the country, promote ethnic idiosyncrasies so that we see ourselves not as a people united by our diverse culture, but alienated by our differences.
The north should return home according to Ango Abdullahi. People like Dangote will uproot his refinery and other business interests from Lagos, Ogun and wherever located in the West and go back to Kano. The Igbo businessmen in Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto, Maiduguri and other places should leave their business and relocate to the south. The Hausa/Fulanis who have lived all their lives over a century year now and have married from and to other tribes in the south should divorce their spouses and return home. Ango Abdullahi and his fellow political 'wayfarers' do not wish us well. The implosion they wish happen will not come to fruition. Because, this too shall pass.
Omogbolahan Babs, a Forensic and Criminal Investigation expert writes from Abuja
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