Politicians should stop diving us By: Hussain Obaro 2014-10-09 21:33 During my service year in the NYSC in Owerri, Imo State we went to the market one day to buy some tomatoes to prepare soup, but we discovered that price of tomatoes had suddenly risen. We enquired why, and we were told that it was as a result of the crises in Jos, Plateau State then. This shows how dependent the rest of Nigeria is to the food supply from the North. Some of us from the South has been brainwashed into holding the opinion that the South actually feeds the rest of Nigeria especially the North cannot survive without oil money. Our leaders in the South who are predominantly Christians have made us to believe that the North who are predominantly Muslims have an issue with a Christian being the President of this country. Hence, the mentality of “born to rule”. If any region or part of Nigeria is to be said to be feeding the others, I think it is the region that produces more than 75 percent of the food and about 80 percent of the fruits that we all eat in this country and beyond. Northern Nigerian produces bulk of the vegetables for Nigeria. Earlier this year, I had a stop in Okene, Kogi State on my way to Benin, Edo State. Standing close to the main road for about an hour, I had counted more than 50 trucks each of them either loaded with fruits and vegetables, Yams, bags of beans, rice, maize and other food stuffs being conveyed from the Northern part of Nigerian to the South-East and South-South. I stood there wondering how the rest of this country would survive if the Northerners refuse to send us food just for one week. Our leaders from the south should stop deceiving us by hiding the truth. They should be patriotic enough to tell the young generation that the North is actually the feeding the South. I have heard several of our leaders from the South in some fora say that President Jonathan does not need votes from the North to win his re-election in 2015. Instead of playing politics based on issues and appealing to our Northern brothers and sisters to vote for Jonathan again, our Southern politicians have resorted to playing politics of hate, bitterness and segregation. An average Southern youth believes that the North hates President Jonathan. Even some of the Northerners serving in the Presidency are giving us that false impression just to gain the “trust” of Mr. President. Our leaders should stop the politics of hate and tell their people the truth. The North actually contributed more than 8 million votes to President Jonathan election in 2011, if Northerners hates the south as some of the leaders claim then how come more than 8 million Northerners voted for the emergence of President Jonathan in the last general election? I have watched one of the prominent politician from the South-South on a TV Station say that the North and of course Muslims have ruled this country for more than 40 years. This is what they have brainwashed their youths with. I wonder if military incursions should be regarded as part of conventional rulership? Our people in the South should be educated that Northern Muslims have no hatred against the South or Christians in general. General Aguiyi Ironsi was a Southern Christian, who ruled the Country for close to 6 months, General Yakubu Gowon is a northern Christian who ruled for about 9 years, General Olusegun Obasanjo is a Southern Christian who ruled for close to 3 years, Chief Ernest Shonekan is a Southern Christian who ruled on the interim for about 3 months, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo is a Southern Christian who ruled for another 8 years and President Goodluck Jonathan is another Southern Christian who has ruled Nigeria since 2009 till date. President Jonathan is not the first Christian that have ruled this country, so our dear Southern Politicians should stop promoting politics of hate, bitterness, acrimony and religion. Canvassing votes is a matter of persuasion and not by force. So stop dividing Nigeria along religious and ethnic line just for the purpose of elections and resource control. We are all brothers
Posted on: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 00:35:00 +0000
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