AMOS TAUNA in this interview with the National Chairman, Northern Consensus Movement, Dr Abdullahi Awwal Aliyu, where he spoke on national issues that bother the country and particularly, the North. According to Dr Aliyu, the North still has a balance of four in the presidency to make it to 14 years as occupied by the South. He called on the South to support the North to make it a reality in this coming election.
Excerpts:
How does Northern Consensus Movement (NCM) see the happenings in the country?
Northerners are at the receiving end. In whatever circumstances you want to look at it, economically, security wise, agriculturally, in all aspects, the North is at the receiving end and our people are suffering. Unfortunately, our governors that will be the ones to work towards the alleviation of the suffering of the Northerners are not working for the people that elected them, they are just there for themselves, their families and friends. That is what is happening in the Northern political hierarchy.
Unfortunately, some Northerners are looking at President Muhammadu Buhari being a Northerner will concentrate on the North, but the reality is that President Buhari is a nationalist. As a retired military Head of states, who has served this country meritoriously during the civil war, he fought to keep the country one.
He has held national appointments, he is more of a nationalist that others will think he will only concentrate on the North. As Northerners, God has blessed them with administrative skills by carrying everybody along. On the North as a people and as a region, we are known to respect constitutional authorities because of our own culture and religion that taught us respect for elders and respect for constituted authority, they are parts of our religion and culture, and every Northerner is known for that.
That is why we are at the receiving end. Anything that triggers violence in other parts of the country will not happen in Northern Nigeria. Even if you want to do it, there are some elders that will tell you not to do it because of the respect of religion and culture, you find out that there is normalcy and respect for elders in the region. Northerners keep together as one entity. Northerners see Nigeria as our country and that is why we are at the receiving end.
How prepared is the North in the forthcoming elections?
Well, for the coming elections, l will say that the North is prepared and that is why with the recent happenings with the Naira redesign, you will discover that from the other parts of the country there is violence resulting to killings, burning of structures, but nothing is happening in the North because we believe in democratic governance and constituted authority. So the North is ready for the elections.
The Southern governors threatened that it is their turn to lead the country but the Northern Consensus Movement came out to make the pronouncement that the North still has a balance of four years. If you compare the democratic government, PDP held 14 years with the South holding unto the presidency, Buhari has eight years and then within two years of Yar’Adua and the eight years of Buhari making ten (10) years for the North and the Southern part has 14 years in the presidency. So if we are talking about equity, balance, fairness and democratic compensation, the North has been more democratic than any section in the country and has contributed democratically than any other region, so to be fair and honest, to have balanced in democracy, the North still has four years.
So, it is only fair for the North to produce the next President. Then, thereafter, the country can come together and decide which region will produce the next President of the country. So, it is fair for other parts of the country to support the North to produce the next President. Recently, the Northern Elders Forum came together and supported the North to produce the next President in the forthcoming elections. We are praying that at the end of the election, a Northerner will emerge as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
What is your prayer for the general elections?
Well, my prayers for the 2023 general elections is for it to be peaceful, orderly, fair and to be credible. My call to Nigerians in general is that we should know that we don’t have any other country but Nigeria.
This is the only country we have believed in and for those calling for separation or war. You don’t separate just like that. History has shown that for any country to be divided, there must be war and that war will consume lives and property, which takes many years.
We don’t pray for such things in Nigeria, so our prayers for all Nigerians to agree that we don’t have any other country but Nigeria. So we should come together and salvage this country, work together towards making peace, unity, reconciliation and development.
