Why Awolowo picked an Igbo man as running mate in 1979 presidential election

By Rasheed Audu, 19th October, 2025

Credit: Ethnic African Stories

Chief Obafemi Awolowo's running mate in Nigeria's 1979 presidential elections was Chief Philip
Umeadi, an Igbo man from Anambra State.

Umeadi was a senior lawyer and politician from the old Anambra State, and his pairing with Awolowo (a Yoruba leader) was seen as an attempt to foster Yoruba–Igbo political cooperation under the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN).

In an interview with Vanguard in 2010, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, who was 35 when he became the Director of Organisation of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), narrated how Awolowo settled for Umeadi. Read it below:

"Did you know that Papa Awolowo contacted some of his trusted friends in the North, requesting that one of them should come and be his running-mate but they turned him down? They rejected, especially those from the Hausa-Fulani clan.

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Ah Yoruba people !!!

 Author Unknown (received as 'Forwarded Many Times' via WhatsApp)

Ah! I remember the giddy days and fervor with which the Yoruba's campaigned for Buhari! How their girls would kiss his poster. How they did t-shirt aso-ebi's with Buhari and Osibanjo's picture where they were drinking sachet Milo tea! Ah those heady days! Days where the Yoruba's poured online warriors all over the internet to sell Buhari's candidacy, a man they dressed in borrowed garbs from the East and West but never in Fulani attire!

A man they insanely loved to the point that they hated anyone who said otherwise and called them "thieves" or beneficiaries of PDP "looters." Yoruba imams, pastors and babalawo's praised and prayed consistently for Buhari and earnestly yearned for his leadership because, to them, he would rule with hate for corruption, nepotism, ethnic chauvinism and he would be a President for all. They cursed all in opposition and labelled them with all sorts, such was the hate emanating from the very top of religion/religious leaders. Indeed for all! Yoruba intelligentsia all lined up and outdid themselves with beautiful prose in awe of Buhari!

You were hated in class, in the market, in church, in mosque, on the streets and in friendly gatherings if you dared speak against their messiah - Buhari! Such was the love that friends cut ties, religious institutions blacklisted anyone who did not toe the Buhari line. It was a complete wipeout of opposing voices of reason or call for closer scrutiny of the man they were selling! Even their revered poet body-shamed a fellow human being with the appellation - "shepopotamus." Such was the hate that it didn't matter the victim was a woman!

Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu wrote to Lt. Col. Victor Banjo

 BACK  TO  HISTORY :

 Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu wrote to Lt. Col. Victor Banjo commanding him to invade and liberate Western Nigeria (Yorubaland) from the “Hausa/Fulani dominated Nigeria”.

 From: The Military Governor,

Republic of Biafra,Enugu,

22nd August, 1967.

My dear Victor,

 1. For some time now, you and I have been discussing the circumstances that have led to the current and inevitable disintegration of what was the Federation of Nigeria. We have been fully convinced that the aim of the Hausa/Fulani complex has ever been, and will ever remain, the total domination of every other part of what was known as the Federation of Nigeria. It is impossible to forget that the crisis which led to the army take over in January 1966, the coup of the Northern soldiers led by Gowon in July 1966, the wholesale and indiscriminate massacre of the people of what is now Biafra- and, to a less degree,the people of the Mid-West and West, including the Yorubas, were all the direct result of Hausa/Fulani attempt to subjugate and use as tools,the gallant people of Western Nigeria namely the Yorubas. We do not need to remind ourselves of the heavy losses in life and property suffered by the Yoruba people in their fight for justice and freedom during 1965.

 2. Sharing our belief that the people of Yorubaland have a right to live a life of equality and self-respect and justice free of domination and dictatorship from any quarter, you have both identified with the cause of the Biafra struggle for survival and expressed your determination to see the people of Yorubaland freed from Hausa/Fulani domination.

We, the people of Biafra, for our part are willing and have decided to give you and the people of Yorubaland every assistance to achieve your aim.

 3. After clearing the whole question with my Executive Council, I, as the Commander in Chief of the Biafran Armed Forces, have decided to place at your disposal Biafran forces, for the liberation of

Yorubaland on the following clear conditions:-

 (i)You will have nothing to do with the Military Administrator in the Mid-West Territory during your sojourn there prior to your move to the West.

 (ii)The willingness and preparedness of Biafra to assist any part of the former Federation of Nigeria wishing and willing to liberate itself from the Hausa/Fulani domination, does not in anyway whatever

Yoruba leaders disagree over origin, meaning of their name

Vanguard Nigeria. Saturday, October 26, 2019
By Dayo Johnson, Ola Ajayi, Rotimi Ojomoyela, Shina Abubakar

…'Yoruba' is derived from derogatory word, 'Yariba'-Fani-Kayode
…Why earliest Hausa/Fulani called our forefathers 'Yariba'- Prof Ajala
…It was accepted, adopted out of ignorance -Rt Hon Jumoke Akindele
…It's an untrue, unreliable history-Chief Erubami
…O'dua citizens must rise up now -Yoruba Council of Elders
…Yoruba doesn't exist in Ifa - Elebuibon



Yoruba is one of the three largest ethnic groups in Nigeria.They are concentrated in the Southwestern part of Nigeria.

The people constitute about 40 million in the West African region and 35 per cent of Nigeria's population making them one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa according to CIA World Factbook.

The people of this ethnic group were regarded as descendants of a hero called Odua or Oduduwa and they are generally called Yoruba and have Yoruba as their common language though they have several dialects. But do the people who are called by that name really know the origin and the meaning of the word 'Yoruba'? How did the word 'Yoruba' come about?

A member of the race and former Aviation Minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode has traced the history behind the name. His discovery stung him. He has therefore rejected to be called 'Yoruba', which he discovered to be insulting and derogatory and called on all the descendants of Oduduwa to renounce the name given to them by their historical adversaries.

According to Chief Fani-Kayode in his official Tweeter handle, the Hausa/Fulani gave the people of the South West region the name 'Yariba', from which Yoruba was derived, which means "shady and unreliable".
He said "I reject that strange name and label. I am not a 'Yariba' or 'Yoruba' but an 'Omo karo jire or an 'Oduduwan' and my language is not 'Yoruba' but 'Anago'. We are what we call ourselves. We are not "shady and unreliable"(Yariba) and we must not accept names given to us by our historical adversaries.

"Any Omo Karo jire or Oduduwan that continues to call himself a 'Yoruba' is lost and does not know the implications of what he is doing to his own people. He is simply affirming and confirming an insulting label which has deep sinister, mystical and spiritual connotations.

THE HAUSA-FULANI ARE NOT OUR MATES

Dan Okojie Wrote:

Southern Nigeria [Igbo, Yoruba and Niger Delta] listen to me carefully. 

Forget your PhDs, businesses, "abroad exposure", "open-eye", big big grammar, social media sagacity etc. Get your notes, go and beg the Hausa-Fulani to tutor you on how to play politics.

The average Fulani man may look dirty, uneducated, unexposed, deprived or stupid but he possesses a knowledge of the importance of political power and how to use it. The Hausa-Fulani are not by any means stupid. In fact, they are masters of Nigerian politics. 

Nigeria's transition to democracy in 1999, was heralded as a new dawn for a brighter future. In preparation to enthrone himself as a civilian President, the late General Sani Abacha created Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Nassarawa, Zamfara, Gombe and Ekiti States. Now making 36 in total. The South had absolutely no idea that by this, the balance of power would forever tilt towards the North even in a democratic setting. Only on this premise did Abacha agree to an eventual transition to democracy which General Abdusalam would see through. The 1999 constitution [the one supervised and crafted by the Caliphate], put paid to the aspirations of the South and set the stage for its perpetual subservience to the North. Our politicians didn't think much about it-we were happy Obasanjo was made President.

In today's Nigeria, Northern Nigeria dominates virtually every aspect of the nation's political dynamics. Democracy is a game of numbers and with this fact, Kano, Katsina, Kaduna, Niger etc., will continue to play significant roles in who becomes President of Nigeria, their members in the national assembly will continue to constitute the majority without which key bills would falter if not in their interests-PIB, NNPC sale, oil blocks licensing, electoral reforms, restructuring etc.

No matter your wealth, the real power lies with who calls the shots in politics. By fiat, your billions could be frozen by the President whimsically. The average Southerner is not politically conscious. He doesn't understand politics nor does he think beyond an election cycle. The Hausa-Fulani plan across generational lines. They think ahead. You often see the shoemaker, sugarcane seller, herdsman, suya man and others glued to their transistor radio. They don't bother about Davido, Tuface or Teniola. They are focused on what's going on in the polity-propaganda, religious directives, strategies, policy etc.

Their mosques are centers for religious, political and social engineering. In every election, they vote en bloc for a particular candidate regardless of performance. Once their leaders direct, they follow. Some may call this foolishness but I beg to differ. It is exactly why Buhari was so confident going into the 2019 elections having performed disastrously. Southern Nigeria's churches focus on tithes, wealth and bogus spiritual promises of a "better life".

You don't find Hausa-Fulani killing themselves during elections. But the supposedly "Educated" South is always a war zone at every election cycle.

While Southerners target Shell, Mobil, Total, Chevron, Zenith bank, traveling abroad, bagging degrees etc, the average Northerner's focus is the NDA, military, CBN, NNPC, DPR, NAPIMS, Police, DSS and other organizations that have considerable strategic influence in the affairs of the country.

Northern Nigeria is way smarter, united, politically mature and coherent than the South. Kwankwaso may disagree with Buhari but he would never get into a war of words with him like Amaechi did with Jonathan in 2015. Kwankwaso and Ganduje may be political enemies but you would never see their supporters shelling themselves with bullets like those of Amaechi and Wike. Buhari and Atiku [both Fulani men] contested the 2019 elections, not a single bullet was fired in the North but over 50 persons were killed in Rivers State alone due to the feud between Amaechi and Wike.

We need to come down from our high horse, go on our knees to beg them to lecture us for we are but babies in this game.

Lagos State belongs as much to the ethnic Igbo as to the Yoruba, Ijaw, Hausa, Fulani, Efik, Idoma, Urhobo, Itshekiri, Edo, and so on

By Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe 

Lagos State belongs as much to the ethnic Igbo as to the Yoruba, Ijaw, Hausa, Fulani, Efik, Idoma, Urhobo, Itshekiri, Edo, and so on who live in it, pay tax, identify with it, and settle in it. That compact was made the moment Nigeria became a single nation, and a successor power to the old principalities who were subdued and who ceded their sovereignty for the new commonwealth of Nigeria.

It was pragmatic. The Igbo had the skill and the industry, and Lagos was the seat of the Federal Government of Nigeria and its major port. The Igbo have lived in Lagos since the 15th century when the Aro and other Igbo first settled in good number in a place we now call “Oyingbo” in the era of Benin and the Portuguese trade.

The arrival of  Dr. Namdi Azikiwe to Lagos in 1937 from Accra after his studies in the United States, stimulated the political and cultural environment of Lagos as no other has before or after him. Zik literally resurrected the wizard of Kirsten hall from political death. Zik represented Lagos in the western house. The NCNC was the power in Lagos, and not the Action Group. The Igbo were prominent in the governance of Lagos in the Lagos City Hall.

The institutional development of Lagos – the railways, the ports and ship yards; the education and research facilities; the Banking and Commodities Exchange, the development of towns like Yaba, Surulere, Ebutta-Metta, Festac Town, Victoria Island, and now increasing the Ajah-Lekki axis, and of course, the ghettoes along the Orile-Badagry axis, have profound Igbo imprimatur.

The circulation of the image of Lagos is to date best reflected in the cosmopolitan Igbo imagination of one of the greatest African writers of the 20th century, Cyprian Ekwensi, a thorough Lagosian if there was any. Igbo have built industries in Lagos and have been drivers of commerce and exchange.


Interestingly, I was born at plot number 8, Okoya Street, Idumagbo- Lagos, while the Ojukwu families were residing at number one to three on the same street. I grew up to know the father of Odumegwu Ojukwu. Chimbizie and Azuka grew up with us on the same street. Even the Chibeze small parking space at the end of Okoya Street is called Ojukwu.

I later attended St. Patrick Primary School, Idumagbo, where I had very amiable classmates of Igbo origin in the persons of Azubike Ezenwa and Damian, Ihekuna, both now professors and doctors of today. They were brilliant, resourceful and friendly.

HOW SAD FOR THE YORUBA NATION

The Republican News

FROM A TRUTHFUL YORUBA...

Did the Igbos put guns on anybody's head before buying up Alaba, Ajegunle, isolo and Oshodi in Lagos?

Did they use juju before the Ibadan surrendered Iwo Road to them?

And what were we looking at before the Igbos took over Isida and Adeti in Ilesa ?

Where were the YORUBAS when the Igbos thrived and built 90% of the Hotels in Abuja. Was there a law that excluded the YORUBAS from selling building materials? Dei Dei building materials market in Abuja is 90 % Igbo owned.

So the more we point one finger at the Igbos, the more we have the other four fingers pointing at our laziness and lack of initiative as a society.

The YORUBAS should have been better with all our education, but we may be worse than the Fulanis who just roam around the bush.

Why? Because we lack the entrepreneurship spirit. We just want salaries from doing 8am to 5pm job. We proceed in foolishness and we persist in hoping to reap plenty without sowing hard. The Igbos are different, hence we are now jealous and envious.

We love wasteful parties and Aso Ebi. Just a little business without even making any profit yet, we usually call musicians to spray money like coffetti .

Where are all the Board Members of Ebenezer Obey today? Where is lawyer Omoyinmi and Lanre Badmus? Where is Oroki Social Club of Osogbo? Where is Felates of Ilesa and the likes whose trade mark was to bring Sunny Ade to Ilesa every Xmas, to waste all income gathered for the year?

The Yoruba society wasted their leading lights on excessive consumption and wasteful attitudes. We wasted our capital on frivolous social gatherings.

We took religion to ridicoulous levels, such that the wealthiest pastors and churches are now Yorubas. But all the wealth extracted by the churches from the Yoruba nation is also merely flaunted to show whose God is the most miraculous. 

So we have become paupers and destitutes, as the Yoruba nation cannot now pay salaries. Pensions are owed for years.

Tell me, is Osun State filled with human beings or goats to have tolerated Aregbesola, when they rejected Akande. Say it loud, is the Constituted Authority of Ibadan sane to just bring about 21 Obas from nowhere to receive salaries, where there is no money to reopen Ladoja Akintola University?

Are the Ondos so wise to have allowed Mimiko to devastate their terrain as to be now saddled with 12 months salary arrears? What of Ekiti with rabble rousing Fayose and the intellectually arrogant Fayemi?

Kusa, Ndigbo in Lagos and the sad new politics of ethnicity

Written by PAT UTOMI

Vanguard Nigeria. Tuesday, March 12, 2019

L-R: Deputy Director General, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu Campaign Independent Group (BOSICG), Cardinal James Omolaja Odunmbaku; Eze Ndigbo of Lagos, Eze H.N Ohazulike; APC Governorship Candidate in Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu; his Deputy Governorship Candidate, Dr. Kadir Obafemi Hamzat; Financial Secretary of Council of Ndieze Lagos, Eze Nwajei Ofurile Ikechukwu and Eze Christian Nwachu, after the conferment of Ugo Chiunyere Eze Ndigbo tittle on Mr. Sanwo-Olu and his formal endorsement by the Ndigbo in Lagos

I know Femi Kusa. He is a friend and a classmate. I knew of him from his Daily Times days. Then we met at the University of Nigeria shortly after the end of Nigerian Civil war. I have read his reflections on Ndigbo and the politics of Lagos. And have followed with considerable curiosity the Galestorm his article set off and some of the responses to his rebuke of Ndigbo.

My reaction has been influenced by a number of experiences from my own life's journey. Two related to the times I shared with Femi at Nsukka, the other came from a few years later in Graduate School, in the United States. I shall start from the latter.

When I was at Indiana University, a certain Professor of comparative politics and former Vice President of the University J Gus Liebenow remarked that it was a shame that some very bright African students were completing Ph.ds in Economics, Education and even Political Science and other disciplines with little understanding of the American system of government. He thought this particularly unfortunate because such people ought to be the kinds to turn to for light on how the American system worked, on return to their home countries. Who better to elucidate on the American way, in his home country than a US education Ph.d.

Liebenow, a Liberia expert, pushed for fellowship that could take some of the top Phd prospects from Africa, as interns, to the corridors of American government. He got his way.

I turned out to be the first to be selected for this programme and went off to the US Capital, Washington DC as an intern in the Indiana Washington Office for rotation through the offices of members of the Indiana Delegation to the US Congress.

While the opportunity allowed me the bragging rights of engaging the American way in observing and asking questions directly of a Senator who would later become Vice President of the United States (Dan Quayle) and a Congressman who would dominate foreign policy oversight from the House of Representative for many years, (Lee Hamilton), I suspect the opportunity advanced Liebenow's goal because I have done many hours of talking, in the 38 years since that exposure, on how the American system works.

Some people at UNN were apparently not as smart as J Gus Liebenow. If they were, one of the Yorubas that ventured to Nsukka just after the Civil War, should probably not be one to raise issues of questionable charity towards a people he had ample opportunity to better understand.

In those days at UNN some of my closest friends were Yorubas: My classmate from Loyola College Ibadan, Gbenga Sadipe, Folu Ayeni, First Class Graduate and Class Valedictorian in 1974, who would, with his wife Bose, found Tantalizers, years later; Ade Ogidan who would work at the Guardian for many years with Femi Kusa, and Ademola Ayegoro, among others. Most times we gathered in Baba's room, a room next door to that of Clement Ebri, later Governor of Cross River State. It was part of a season in which things ethnic seemed peculiar to me.

I was sometimes "one of those Yoruba boys", other times a Midwest boy and at others an identity challenged rascal. But I had fun, happy with myself and with everyone around.

Igbo and the wisdom of the west

By Hyginus Azubike
~vanguard Nigeria. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2018.

WHEN the presidential flag-bearer of the People's Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku
nominated Mr. Peter Obi as his running mate, joy was universal. In the political history of Nigeria, no such nomination was greeted with the type of elation with which Nigerians received it. From North to South and East to West, the citizenry proclaimed Atiku's choice as the best Nigeria has witnessed preparatory to general elections.

Most Nigerians were excited by Obi's nomination due to his performance as Governor of Anambra State. They believe, rightly, that teaming up with Atiku, they will replicate the Anambra wonder.

As Nigeria's Vice-President when Obi was Governor of Anambra State, Atiku must have closely observed the younger man; and was satisfied with Obi's several positive contributions at meetings and saw in him what the rest of Nigerians did. Atiku himself said of Obi: "In 2016, my running mate, former Governor Peter Obi, gave an Independence Day speech at 'The Platform' event organised by Covenant Christian Centre in Lagos.

It was an unforgettable Independence Day event which, according to Google analytics, was the most searched item in Nigeria on that day. Why was that speech so attractive to Nigerians? It is because Mr. Obi gave a detailed breakdown of the reality of governance in Nigeria today, which is one of a wasteful squandering of the riches that should have gone into the development of our youth".


However, it was both shocking and perplexing that the opposition Obi got was from the South East, the very people who are supposed to be at home with the wonders that he did in Anambra State. In what looked like diplomacy's way of saying 'No' to a person, a group of persons said that they were against the process by which Atiku nominated Obi. They went as far as issuing statements and initiating moves intent on truncating the choice. What was instructive was that while they were on this, the Westerners appealed and even send a delegation to Atiku that they were fully ready for the post should the Easterners lose it due to their folly. This singular act should stick as food-for-thought for the people of the East.

Full Video: What Southern, Middle Belt Leaders told Saraki

~Oak Tv

The President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, John Nwodo, has suggested that too much powers in the hands of the executive is the reason for the disregard of the legislative arm of government by some public officials...

Watch the entire video:

 

A Handshake Across The Niger: The Igbo/Yoruba summit

Written by Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor
~Vanguard Nigeria. Tuesday, December 19, 2017.

Amajor review of Nigeria's geopolitical alignment is set to take place tomorrow as the Yoruba nation engages the Igbo nation in an embrace that could alter the country's political configuration in a way as never seen since the 1951 cross carpeting on the floor of the Western House of Assembly.

The meeting of Afenifere, the apex Yoruba socio-cultural body with Ohaneze, the apex socio-cultural Igbo body in Enugu has remarkably also drawn the participation of South-South political elements. Vanguard could not confirm as at Press time the participation of South-South leader, Chief Edwin Clark, but his leading associates, including Senator Bassey Ewa-Henshaw, a former chairman of the Niger-Delta Development Commission, NDDC, are expected at the event.

The seed for the summit was sown in the sacrificial death, 52 years ago, of Nigeria's first military head of state, Gen. Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi and the first military governor of the defunct Western Region, Brig. Adekunle Fajuyi.

Aguiyi-Ironsi was killed by soldiers mostly of Northern descent in Ibadan while visiting Fajuyi who paid the ultimate sacrifice for a guest when he opted to die with the visiting head of state.

However, the twine that tied Aguiyi-Ironsi and Fajuyi in death was subsequently displaced by animosity and rivalry that have for most of the country's existence, kept the two major nations as rivals always competing for an alliance with the North.

The prod towards reconstructing the bridge follows the increasing chasm in the polity especially since the advent of the Muhammadu Buhari regime which in the opinion of many stakeholders in the South, has alienated the region through its appointments, policies, and programmes.

Remarkably, one of President Buhari's leading apologists, Mr. Osita Okechukwu dismissed tomorrow's meeting as nothing new and perhaps as a distraction to Buhari's long-term goal of restructuring Nigeria's economic and political configurations.

He said that quite unlike the agitations of the summiteers in Enugu tomorrow, that Buhari has positioned political restructuring that is to be canvassed tomorrow as a priority for his second term.

"Mr. President has been much engaged in economic restructuring, and you can see that it is his goodwill that has unlocked several aids, grants, and loans to Nigeria to pursue projects that have been in the pipeline for several years now," Okechukwu, director-general of the Voice of Nigeria, VON and one of Buhari's longest-serving political associates from the South, deposed.

The framework for the summit, however, hopes to look beyond the political necessity for an alignment towards a cultural bond that drivers for the meeting say flows from similarities in culture between the Yoruba and the Igbo.

The hosts for the meeting are Pa Reuben Fasoranti, leader of Afenifere and Chief Nnia Nwodo, president-general of Ohaneze Ndigbo while the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe, and the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, will act as Royal Fathers of the Day.

Ironsi, Fajuyi, symbol of national unity -Donald, Fajuyi's eldest child
By Charles Kumolu

DONALD Fajuyi, the first son of the late Military governor of defunct Western Region, Col. Adekunle Fajuyi, retd, has said the Handshake Across the Niger testifies that the duo of Fajuyi and the late Major-General Aguiyi Ironsi were symbols of national unity.

He also said the decision to celebrate them by the Igbo and Yoruba race, indicated that the significance of their deaths still resonates among Nigerians.

Fajuyi in a chat with Vanguard said he is expectant of a similar forum to be convened to also celebrate people of other tribes, who paid the supreme price for Nigeria's unity.

He said: “I want to thank God for making it possible because it is long overdue. Those who conceived the idea did well because it is needed. The late Ironside (Ironsi) was a great soldier and statesman, who was at the peak of his career. In those days, anyone who is a General is on top of his profession. He was a close friend of my father (Fajuyi). They were good friends. In those days, people were detribalised. There was no attachment to being Hausa, Igbo or Yoruba.

“I am very proud that my father was a party to those who ensured that their era was detribalised. I hope that with this, more bridges will be built and more handshakes exchanged across the Niger. The late Gen Hassan Katsina, retd, was also a great Nigerian. I hope that in time to come, Northern soldiers who also sacrificed their lives for the country would be celebrated as symbols of unity like my father and Ironsi. I hope to see handshakes across the Benue. I want to thank the organisers and Nigerians for recognising the sacrifice made by Ironsi and my father.”

It's an opportunity for southern people to re-invent themselves - Annkio Briggs
By Clifford Ndujihe

Restructuring Nigeria: We must restructure Nigeria now, Southern, Middle Belt leaders insist.

Topics:

• Hausa/Fulani's rejection of federalism is a demand for dismemberment
• Northern leaders list terms for restructuring, want Marshall Plan
• We must restructure Nigeria now, Southern, Middle Belt leaders insist
• THE DANGER OF RESTRUCTURING WITHOUT A REFERENDUM-APPROVED CONSTITUTION
• What restructuring means in practical terms by ABC Nwosu
• It's time to restructure Nigeria, says Babangida
• Beyond restructuring or secession: My fear for Nigeria
• 'Why north is uncomfortable with restructuring'
• How Nigeria was de-structured
• TRUE FEDERALISM THROUGH RESTRUCTURING IS THE ONLY OPTION FOR NIGERIA NOW
• Road to recovery: A case for restructuring Nigeria
• Restructuring and its benefits for all
• Restructuring: Let's go our ways in peace -Rufai Hanga
• IT IS TIME TO RESTRUCTURE NIGERIA
• RESTRUCTURING AND THE YORUBA AGENDA
• Restructuring: Who lopsided Nigeria in the first place?
• The clamour to restructure Nigeria
• Why Nigeria must be restructured
• Who's afraid of restructuring?
• The restructuring rhetoric
• Nigeria: Formed by negotiation, will forge by negotiation
• Osinbajo commits political apostasy

________________________________

Hausa/Fulani's rejection of federalism is a demand for dismemberment
Written by Rotimi Fasan
~vanguard Nigeria. Wednesday, December 20, 2017.

IT'Simportant to enter a caveat from the beginning in the light of the title of this week's piece. Nigeria's greatness lies in its remaining one country that is made up of diverse ethnicities. That is one lesson to be learned from the present arrangement of the world. In spite of the tension of division and tribalism that has been created in Donald Trump's America, the fact remains that America's greatness lies in its diversity. It's the reason for the existence of many of the regional economic and political groupings around the world. It's the logic behind the decision of those European countries that have elected to remain part of the European Union despite differences. It's the reason they are unhappy with Britain and would quickly want to close the chapter on its breaking rank and choosing to exit the EU. Nigeria's situation cannot be different from the rest of the world. We can't be thinking of breaking up while others are finding ways to resolve their differences in a bid to remain or come together. It's not too likely that any of the component parts that make up Nigeria will do better alone than they would collectively as one country.


This is the reason we must be clear-eyed about the way we relate with one another and be determined to correct the injustices of the past rather than insisting on keeping them. Yet, it would appear that some self-deceived Nigerians cannot separate their self-interest from the interest of the whole. They fail to see the wisdom in relating to others on the basis of fairness and equity. This is where we have found ourselves as a country with the debate over the skewed nature of our federalism and how to correct it. The Yoruba have a saying that there are boundaries even in farmlands jointly owned by a father and his children. No matter how close we are, we still need some personal space for self-actualization, some room within which to operate and be able to function as individuals. It does not mean we are no longer one or have become enemies by such recognition.

Benin people 'owned' Lagos, Aworis paid royalties to them -Erelu Abiola Dosunmu

Written by CHARLES KUMOLU
~Vanguard Nigeria. Tuesday, December 12, 2017.

Erelu Abiola Dosunmu

Her Royal Highness, Erelu Kuti IV of Lagos, Erelu Abiola Dosunmu, in this interview, shares her
perspective on the controversy over the 'ownership' of Lagos and declares that the former federal capital was an extension of Benin Kingdom. She explains that there are no ambiguities regarding the ancestry of the aborigines of Lagos, saying they are predominantly Benin. Abiola Dosumu maintains that the Awori ,after settling in Lagos, paid royalties to Benin people. Excerpts:

Are you not concerned about the controversy over the true aborigines of Lagos?

I would not say I am concerned because I know the truth. The history of Lagos is not obscure, it is very clear. If people are going to say the truth, we all know what the truth is.

A friend was saying to me if I was not sure there is no third party trying to take the rights of Lagos through this raging controversy. We all know the story of Lagos from childhood.

Even a play was staged about the beginning of Lagos last year. I just know that the truth will surface after this raging controversy because a lot of the gladiators are being miserly in some of their discussions.

Can you give clarity on some of the things you consider not to be factual among those that have been said so far?

The territory of Lagos has always been an extension of the Benin Kingdom in the sense that they used it as a passage to the port for their trading and interaction with foreigners. We all know that foreigners visited the Benin Empire long before colonialism and signing of the treaty of Lagos. This is their passageway and hunting ground.

As soon as strangers came to settle down, they would pounce on them and make them pay royalties. Like all human beings, when you settle in a place for a long time, it is expected that you will have the right of ownership.

And the foreigners were not ready to be subservient and refused to pay Isakole (royalty) and the Benin king did not take kindly to that. He sent an expedition and subjugated the foreigners and set up his own administration in form of a kingdom.

Therefore, when I say that we are purely and predominantly Benin, it is the truth. The royalty of Lagos is predominantly Benin.

But we have all intermingled and have since inter-married with people from Yoruba land and people from other places. And we are enjoying the two cultures. We are even enjoying more because we now have Igbo, Hausa and other tribes settling in Lagos. We are not enjoying the Yoruba influence alone, we are also enjoying other influences.

Prior to the institution of the royalty with Oba Ado as the first king, who were the people that the Benin met on the ground?

The Benin has always known about Lagos because they considered it as part of their territory and they used it for many purposes. And when the Awori came from Ife to settle in the areas of Lagos, the Benin quickly got them to pay royalties. Benin was landlocked but, as Benin Empire, they were interacting with people from other parts of the world.

BIAFRAEXIT: 16 northern groups give Igbo October 1 to vacate region /With Biafra, Igbo'll remain in Nigeria, says Nnamdi Kanu

Topics:

• With Biafra, Igbo'll remain in Nigeria, says Nnamdi Kanu
• 16 northern groups give Igbo October 1 to vacate region
• Arewa Youths Write Osinbajo
• Presidency replies Arewa youths letter to Osinbajo on Biafra secession
• Igbo youths to Northern group: We're not afraid of war
• Open letter to Prof Ango Abdullahi
• OPEN LETTER TO THE AREWA YOUTHS.
• Igbo dare Arewa: We won't leave North …demand Ango Abdullahi's arrest
• The quit notice to Igbo in the North
• Southern leaders demand Arewa youths to withdraw ultimatum.
• Igbo quit notice: Pan Yoruba group calls for Oodua Republic
• PRESS RELEASE BY THE MIDDLE BELT YOUTH COUNCIL.
• The Igbos Have Paid For Their Sins- Emir Sanusi
• THE YOUTHS OF ODUDUWA REPUBLIC LAGOS DECLARATION – 10TH JUNE 2017

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With Biafra, Igbo'll remain in Nigeria, says Nnamdi Kanu
Written by Ihuoma Chiedozie and Tony Okafor

~PUNCH Nigeria.  Tuesday, July 25, 2017.

Nnamdi Kanu

The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, on Monday, said Igbo must not vacate the North, or any other part of the country, as a condition for the actualisation of the agitation for Biafra.

The IPOB leader spoke in an interview with some journalists in Enugu, where he received awards from a number of pan-Igbo groups, including the Igbo Women Assembly, the Eastern Consultative Assembly and the Igbo Students Union.

Reacting to the 'quit notice' issued to Igbo in the North by a coalition of Arewa youths, Kanu noted that secession from Nigeria did not imply that Igbo must leave the North, or other part of the country as suggested by the ultimatum issued by the northern youths.

He said, "You are aware that Scotland is seeking to leave the United Kingdom? Are you remotely implying that every person from Scotland, who lives in England, should now return to Scotland?

"Britain just left the EU. Are you now implying that every British citizen in the EU should come back to Britain in order to finalise that process of extraction of Britain from the EU?"

Kanu noted that what he described as "poor education" was responsible for the impression that Igbo must leave other parts of Nigeria in the event of the actualisation of Biafra.

The Nigeria Question? - Viewpoint: FACTUAL NIGERIA MATTERS ARISING -Reality Check!

Topics: 

• FACTUAL NIGERIA MATTERS ARISING
• Is Nigeria a free nation or a conquered vassal state? By Femi Fani-Kayode
• THE ULTIMATE CORRUPT PRACTICES: THIS IS PURE MADNESS
• Kaduna Nzeogwu last African soldier revolutionary; not Igbo
• Your Land Or Your Blood. 
• IF ANY THING HAPPENS TO NIGERIA, HOLD ISLAM RESPONSIBLE!
• EMIR SANUSI BARES HIS MIND ON HAUSA, IGBO AND YORUBA… THE PROBLEM OF NIGERIA.
• A good Nigeria is better than a good Arewa, Oduduwa or Biafra.
• Prof. RACE Achara: Keeping Crime in the Tribal Family
• IGBO SCHOLAR DISGRACES Femi Fani-Kayode, Demolishes claims on Igbo/Yoruba history with facts and figures
• A VOTE AGAINST COUNTRY IN FAVOUR OF TRIBE.
• OHANEZE NDI-IGBO AND FULANI INFILTRATION
• The Fulani Republic of Nigeria - by Fani-Kayode
• NIGERIA UNITY UNDER THREAT! THE FULANI CONSPIRACY - Obiora Ogochukwu Okafo 
• THE WILL OF GOD - DONALD J. TRUMP.

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FACTUAL NIGERIA MATTERS ARISING -Reality Check!
June, 2017.

The Ibos want Biafra
The North wants Ibo's exit
The Yorubas want Ibo's exit
The Ibos are saying "we have investments in your areas and cannot leave them"
And the fight is being cooked.

Amongst all these, the President is in London
Governors are sharing bailout funds
Workers salaries are not paid
Government officials have their children schooling abroad
Ministers and senators are looting

The poor Hausa man is riding Okada
The poor Ibo man is riding Okada
The poor Yoruba man is riding Okada

The poor Hausa man sleeps under the bridge as Alamajiri
The poor Yoruba man sleeps under the bridge as Alaye
The poor Ibo man sleeps under the bridge as agbero

It is pertinent to note that the poor from all ethnic groups in Nigeria have everything in common and so is the rich.

Do not allow the agitation of an Ibo man who lives in UK or USA for Biafra cause the killing of the Ibo man in Adamawa. The rich hate us that much.
Do not allow the Alhaji whose children are living abroad to persuade you to go and start killing on the street of Kaduna.

The problem in the country is not the agitation of any ethnic group but the unity of the elite and the disunity of the masses.

How many times have you taken your agitation to question your local government Chairmen?

Why have you not asked your Governors through agitation how they spent bailout fund?