Some smartalecs out of the South-West have recycled a not so recent report of progress on the agricultural and agro-processing front in Nigeria's north. These are developments for which our former president Goodluck Jonathan and his minister of agriculture Dr Akinwunmi Adesina have barely received any recognition and/or commendation. These #Unitarists and #Federalists would want to use good news out of the north as a "threat" for the #Pro-Biafra movement. Haba!
Because of the steadfast feedingbottle mentality, the north had over time refused to pull itself up by the bootstraps. Of course this blanket analysis comes up short and simplistic. The hardworking farmers and yes the Fulani herdsmen are underappreciated. They do not wait for any handout from anybody. If they do not work HARD, they starve. This is even without Boko-Haram in the equation.
These real hardworking northerners are not in any way represented by the very few who hang around the corridors of the offices of the thieving northern elite or in front of the palaces of the emirs and lesser chieftains. Because of the horrendous traffic in insults attending the call for #Restructuring by the South and the blood-drenched hate directed at Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB for daring to ask for #Biafra, it has been impossible to give these NORTHERNERS their due. That is unfair.
These commentators have highlighted a number of positive developments up north on the commercial agriculture front. They have sounded as they were announcing bad news. I don't get it.
The north begins to take some tentative steps to do what they needed to have done over the past 30 years are the very wecome resultant "success" is presented as a threat? To whom? How come? We have even been asked to pray for the success of our enemies, which the northerners are not(?) - going by the very recent outbreak of love for Ndigbo!
Whatever good news coming out of the north is almost too little too late. But as they say, better late than never.
Whatever good news coming out of the north is almost too little too late. But as they say, better late than never.
I must express my surprise that the originator of that write up was only just recently recognizing those positive developments the news of which has been in the public domain for a while. Check Olusegun Adeniyi's THE VERDICT. The north needs much more of the same. That's where southern investors come in. Many of them, Ekene Dili Chukwu, Folawiyo, Ibeto, etc have been involved unsung from Kebbi State all the way to Taraba. Apart from the major moguls, capital accumulation up north is always a mission impossible. .
Any success up north is OUR success. It makes the region and Nigeria much more stable and hence less susceptible to the kind of upheavals for which it is well notorious. Whether we end up with #Biafra or a #Restructured Nigeria, Ndigbo need an educated and an economically vibrant north with a robust middle-class. A poor north is in nobody's interest. .
One politician in response to the agitation from the south for #Restructuring threatened that the north would unleash such agricultural productivity as no one has ever seen. That was about six years ago. The speaker was Paul Unongo who was picking a quarrel with constitutional lawyer Dr Ben Nwabueze, on the heels of similar outbursts by leeches like Dr Junaid Mohammed and the late Ahmadu Abubakar.
I had simply rejoindered, "Just do it!"
I had simply rejoindered, "Just do it!"
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