KADUNA DECLARATION IS DIVINE AGENDA

Since the glorious Kaduna Declaration was made by Arewa Youths in the North of Nigeria, there has been a cacophony of opinions, views and comments from all manner of analysts. I stumbled on one observation which is so convinced that Kaduna Declaration is a decoy; a decoy designed by the north to unleash a military coup and take over power by force and hold it for as long as is comfortable for the northern elite. According to the commentator, the decoy is coming on the conclusion by the northern elite that embattled President Muhammadu Buhari may sooner than later be handing over government to his Deputy, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo. He averred further that the northern elite sense that the eventuality of Buhari’s unceremonious fall from power will further distant the north from Aso Rock against the wishes and desires of the north to cling on to power. This idea of a brewing military coup by northern military elite is not news in real terms. Only recently, none other than the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Buratai, alarmed the country about an intelligence report that some elements of the Nigeria military were fomenting a coup. It felt like tell-tale for a National Army Chief to be raising such an alarm. Ideally, at the unearthing of such a very sensitive issue, Gen. Buratai should have deployed all necessary intelligence machinery to determine whether the report was real or a mere rumour, that he chose to go public with such a heinous revelation lends credence to the idea that Northern Military may actually be perfecting a coup to sustain their hold on power in Nigeria. So that is not the news!
The news now is that in addition to the most unpopular stature of the military coup alternative all over modern civilized world, the grip on power by the north through military and democratic systems have not yielded any desired result for the North or the Country. What use is there in a leadership that is steadily undermined by the followership? Has the north really enjoyed their dominance of power in Nigeria since independence? Is the north the most developed part of Nigeria since Ahmadu Bello, Tafawa Balewa, Yakubu Gowon, Murtala Mohammed, Shehu Shagari, Muhammdu Buhari, Ibrahim Babangida, Sani Abacha, Abdusalami Abubakar and Yar’Adua lorded it over Nigeria? Was the 30 month Nigeria-Biafra war not caused by the insistence on holding on to power at all cost and by all means, instead of negotiations? Is Boko Haram not of the north? Is the herdsmen menace not of the north?
The greatest trouble of Nigeria is the north. And the biggest problems of Nigeria at all times have been caused by the north. Right-thinking northern leaders at all levels must therefore disabuse their minds of the falsity that; they must remain in control to achieve anything better than what they have achieved for Nigeria, That makes the coup option very unwise, unreasonable and indeed irresponsible. A military coup will not stop the national conflicts in Nigeria. The south will continue to trouble the country in such a manner that the military leaders will find the country ungovernable. They should ask Gowon, Buhari, Babangida and Abdusalami. A soldier in power is no longer fanciful in the world. Sound democracy is the in-thing which the northern elite, must allow to be ingrained in their highly warped skewed ethnic and religious psyche. Nobody in this era succeeds in ruling a people against their will. That is why this writer feels that the so called decoys and ploys apart, the Kaduna Declaration is a divine agenda of the almighty God to give Nigeria a soft landing instead of a fatal crashing. And to that extent, the Arewa Youth may even be angels of God. Reading through their declaration, one sees some sincerity of purpose. They have explained that they have not insinuated and instigated violence in the wings of the quit order they passed to Igbo and by extension southerners in the north. Rather, as Yerima Shettima, stressed, the north too is tired of the present composition and constitution of Nigeria; hence they actually recommended a Referendum to determine the way forward for Nigeria as a united or fragmented entity. After due analysis, this writer feels the Kaduna Declaration is glorious after all.
The majority of the people of the northern, eastern region and the western regions of Nigeria are not happy with the way Nigeria has fared very poorly politically, socially and economically after 57 year of independence. What we experience is the direct opposite of what we should be witnessing in our 57 years as a nation. What then is as glorious as a call by the north to be at the fore-front of the call for a Referendum for Nigeria? Indeed, who wants Arewa Youth arrested? Why have we been calling the arrest of Ango Abdullahi and Junaid Mohamend? These angels sent by God to deliver a massage of the real change Nigeria deserves now must be accorded some regard and respect. Those calling for their arrest are directly saying they enjoy the present condition of Nigeria. They must be among the cabal that have been supervising the retrogression and decay of this country. Will the arrest of those Arewa leaders change the oppression and suppression of the masses of Nigeria by a few? Will it cause the amendment of the constitution to include restructuring and referendum? Will it stop all the tensions now raging all over Nigeria? Will Nigerians become happy with Nigeria and Nigerian leaders? That cannot be? The way to go is the way the Almighty God has revealed through the Arewa Youths and their supports from the Northern Elders Forum.
As they recommended, let the relevant national and international organizations come up with all necessary instrumentality to conduct a Referendum in Nigeria. If it ends in Go on with One Nigeria, then fine. But if it ends in, ‘To your tents O Nigerians’ that too is fine! At least, Senator Femi Okoroumu and Alhaji Tanko Yakassai reasoned that countries all over the world are known to have split along the line in their national lives, and that if Nigeria splits; there is nothing the big deal about that. In fact, Yakassai has been urging his fellow northern elite and leaders to prepare for the eventuality of dissolution of Nigeria. Similarly, all the nations of Nigeria should be preparing! There is no sense in the postponement of the age-long agitation for Nigeria’s dissolution. The Igbos will never be happy in Nigeria again. It is not certain the Oduduwa people are happy in Nigeria. The Kaduna Declaration has revealed that the Arewa people are happy in Nigeria. So, why is all this pretence about a united Nigeria? Who is playing the ostrich here? Let there be a direct restructuring of the country without recourse to the very faulty constitution. Let there be a referendum. The outcome will establish the true attitude of Nigerians about their Nigeria. It is better to part in peace than unite in pieces!