Centre for the launching of the book of Sir Olaniwun Ajayi.
Below is his unedited speech.
“Let me start by saying that I am Fulani
(laughter). My grandfather was an Emir also fulani my uncle and guardian was also the immediate late Emir of kano Alhaji Ado Bayero
and therefore I represent all that has been talked about this afternoon. Sir Ajayi has written a book.
And like all Nigerians of his generation, he has written in the language of his generation.
“My grandfather was a Northerner, I am a Nigerian. The problem with this country is that in
2009, we speak in the language of 1953. Sir Olaniwun can be forgiven for the way he spoke,
but I cannot forgive people of my generation speaking in that language.
“Let us go into this issue because there are so many myths that are being bandied around.
Before colonialism, there was nothing like Northern Nigeria, Before the Sokoto Jihad, there was nothing like the Sokoto caliphate. The man
from Kano regard himself as bakane. The man from Zaria was bazazzage. The man from
Katsina was bakatsine. The kingdoms were at
war with each other. They were Hausas, they
were Muslims, they were killing each other.
“The Yoruba were Ijebu, Owo, Ijesha, Akoko,
Egba. When did they become one? When did the
North become one? You have the Sokoto
Caliphate that brought every person from
Adamawa to Sokoto and said it is one kingdom.
They now
said it was a Muslim North.
“The Colonialists came, put that together and
said it is now called the Northern Nigeria. Do you
know what happened? Our grand fathers were
able to transform to being Northerners. We have
not been able to transform to being Nigerians.
The fault is ours.
Tell me, how many governors has South West
produced after Awolowo that are role models of
leadership? How many governors has the East
produced like Nnamdi Azikiwe that can be role
models of leadership? How Many governors in
the Niger Delta are role models of leadership?
Tell me. There is no evidence statistically that
any part of this country has produced good
leaders.
You talk about Babangida and the problems of
our economy. Who were the people in charge of
the economy during Babangida era? Olu Falae,
Kalu Idika Kalu. What state are they from in the
North?
“We started the banking reform; the first thing I
heard was that in Urobo land, there will be a
curse of the ancestors. I said they (ancestors)
would not answer. They said why? I said how
many factories did Ibru build in Urobo land? So,
why will the ancestors of the Urobo people
support her?
“We talk ethnicity when it pleases us. It is
hypocrisy. You said elections were rigged in
1959, Obasanjo and Maurice Iwu rigged election
in 2007. Was it a Southern thing? It was not.
“The problem is: everywhere in this country,
there is one Hausa, Ibo, Yoruba and Itshekiri man
whose concern is how to get his hands on the
pile and how much he can steal.
Whether it is in the military or in the civilian
government, they sit down, they eat together. In
fact, the constitution says there must be a
minister from every state.
“So, anybody that is still preaching that the
problem of Nigeria is Yoruba or Hausa or Fulani,
he does not love Nigeria . The problem with
Nigeria is that a group of people from each and
every ethnic tribe is very selfish. The poverty
that is found in Maiduguri is even worse than any
poverty that you find in any part of the South.
The British came for 60 years and Sir Ajayi
talked about few numbers of graduates in the
North (two as at independence) . What he did
not say was that there was a documented policy
of the British when they came that the
Northerner should not be educated. It was
documented. It was British colonial policy. I have
the document. I have published articles on it.
That if you educate the Northerner you will
produce progressive Muslim intellectuals of the
type we have in Egypt and India. So, do not
educate them. It was documented. And you say
they love us (North) more than the south.
“I have spent the better part of my life to fight
and Dr. (Reuben) Abati knows it. Yes, my
grandfather was an Emir. Why was I in the pro-
democracy movement fighting for June 12? Is
(Moshood) Abiola from Kano ? Why am I a
founding director of the Kudirat Initiative for
Nigerian Development (KIND)?
“There are good Yoruba people, good Igbo
people, good Fulani people, good Nigerians and
there are bad people everywhere. That is the
truth. “Stop talking about dividing Nigeria
because we are not the most populous country
in the world. We have all the resources that
make it easy to make one united great Nigeria .
It is better if we are united than to divide it.
“Every time you talk about division, when you
restructure, do you know what will happen? In
Delta Area, the people in Warri will say Agbor,
you don’t have oil. When was the Niger Delta
constructed as a political entity? Ten years ago,
the Itshekiris were fighting the Urobos. Isn’t that
what was happening? Now they have become
Niger Delta because they have found oil. After, it
will be, if you do not have oil in your village then
you cannot share our resources.
“There is no country in the world where
resources are found in everybody’s hamlet. But
people have leaders and they said if you have
this geography and if we are one state, then we
have a responsibility for making sure that the
people who belong to this country have a good
nature.
“So, why don’t you talk about; we don’t have
infrastructure, we don’t have education, we don’t
have health. We are still talking about Fulani. Is
it the Fulani cattle rearer or is anybody saying
there is no poverty among the Fulani?”, he said.
This is a great message to our generation.
"When I Was Governor Of Central Bank, The
Economy was growing At 37%, the Oil Sector
was not adding anything to GDP Growth. The
growth was coming from Agriculture, Services
and Trade, which is also very revealing. If we
are now
saying we are in a Recession, because of the
collapse
in Oil Price, we are not being sincere.
.
You can’t be in Recession because a sector that
is 15% of your GDP has declined. What happened
to
Agriculture, Trade, Services And Health?"
~ Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi!
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