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Quit Notice: The Double Standard
Posted by George on Thu 07th Sep, 2017 - tori.ngThe unity of Nigeria has been heavily threatened by two influential ethnic groups in the South-eastern part of the country as well as the north with the Federal Government in a close shave.
President Muhammadu Buhari
On June 6, 2017, a Coalition of Northern Youth Groups gave an October 1 deadline for Igbo natives to quit the North for their homesteads in the South-East zone of the country. It was at a well-attended and publicised “world press conference” at the Arewa House in Kaduna.
The youth premised their action on the secessionist stance of some pro-Biafran groups, including the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its leader, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, which they claimed had repeatedly vilified the Northern values and leaders in their campaign for an independent State of Biafra from Nigeria.
However, the youth’s action received widespread condemnation across the country, especially their disavowal by the governors of the 19 Northern States, and in particular, the Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, who ordered the police to arrest the arrowheads of the youth organisations.
But one week after the police failed to heed this order, the Arewa youths were emboldened to call for Kanu, who is on bail from the courts, to be declared a “terrorist” and the IPOB as a terrorist organisation.
We recall that the Arewa youths’ quit notice was countered by a Coalition of Niger Delta Militants, which ordered northerners resident in the Niger Delta (South- South) to leave the zone by the same October 1. Subsequent quit notices and/ or declaration of “independence” came from other ethnic-based bodies, such as the Yoruba Liberation Congress (YOLICOM), which on Thursday, July 27 in Lagos, declared an Oduduwa Republic.
In the intervening periods, though, some nationality groups, such as the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and Ohanaeze Ndigbo, and the Federal Government, then under Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, tried to mediate in the stalemate.
In doing so, they asked those given such quit notices to disregard them, with the government – both federal and states – pledging to protect the affected inhabitants and their properties.
It was a dingdung affair for months until Saturday, August 19, when President Muhammadu Buhari returned to the country from his medical leave in London, and gave his widely-reviewed Monday, August 21, national broadcast, in which he critiqued the series of agitation in the country while he was away, and said no Nigerian had the right to threaten another Nigerian to leave their homes anywhere in the country. “Every Nigerian has the right to live and pursue his business anywhere in Nigeria without let or hindrance.
I believe the very vast majority of Nigerians share this view,” Buhari said, even as he acknowledged legitimate grievances among groups in the country. No doubt, President Buhari’s father-figure stature, and his reverence in the North, coupled with interventions by Northern leaders of all shades, and Vice President Osinbajo (as Acting President), prompted the Arewa youths to suspend their quit notice at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, August 24.
“As a consequence of these vigorous engagements, and as cultured people with a tradition of respect for our national values, leaders, and elders, we are today pleased to announce the immediate suspension of the relocation clause, otherwise referred to as the quit notice from the Kaduna Declaration,” said the spokesman for the group, Mr. Abdulaziz Suleiman. As if to mollify the Igbo they had maligned in their quit notice, the Arewa youths urged the government to “allow Igbo to hold a referendum to determine their future.
” While we welcome the suspension of the quit notice, we find it disconcerting for the Arewa youths to be showcased as having done something very noble. It’s like tweaking an elder’s nose, and still praised for the effrontery.
If we may ask, why would Northern Governors and Senators escort the youth to Abuja? Were they with them in Kaduna when they mathe threat? Or do we take their presence as a confirmation that they were allegedly “the behindthe- scenes powers” that goaded the youth into their prior action? And why Abuja, and not Kaduna, as the venue for the partial reversal of their threat? It would have made more sense if they had done so at the very symbolic Arewa House in Kaduna.
We can safely conclude that, by using Abuja for the suspension of the infamous “declaration,” and being monitored by Northern Governors and Senators, the youth clearly indicated that they were pressured to recant their stand. Which explains their decision to “suspend” and not totally withdrawing their threat, and also repeating their demand for the government to “punish” Nnamdi Kanu by cancelling his bail bond, and detaining him.
What other proof do we need than the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malawi (SAN), actually proceeding to file applications in court for Kanu’s bail to be revoked! The same Malami, as the Chief Law Officer of the Federation, did nothing to rein in the Arewa youths when they issued the ultimatum, only to give the flimsy excuse that, “government considered the security implications on the issue.
” And yet, there would be no such “security implications” when Kanu is re-arrested? What double standard! We call for restraint from all parties to avoid exacerbating an already bad situation. Only dialogue can suffice this time!
Source: New Telegraph
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