The leadership of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has condemned the use of threats and intimidation by some southern politicians to demand the zoning of the presidency to their region or nothing else.
It said such use of force cannot transmit power to the south without negotiation.
In a statement issued on Thursday by its Secretary-General, Murtala Aliyu, the Forum explains that the North is not against or opposed to the election of any Nigerian from any part of the country as President. It, however, noted that such should be done in line with the law and democratic principles.
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“It has to be stated clearly and for the avoidance of any doubt that the North does not seek to dominate any part of the country but will not submit itself to be relegated to serfdom,” the Forum said.
“Those issuing ultimatums are to be pitied knowing that they know not what they are doing. They own no patent nor monopoly of the art or science of ultimatums. Enough of the blackmail.”
ACF also said that the north can no longer be blackmailed or intimidated by such threats, as those issuing such ultimatums do not have the monopoly of intimidation, vowing that the north will not submit itself to be relegated to serfdom.
According to the ACF, despite the north ruling only for ten out of the 22 years of democracy in the country’s fourth republic, some southern politicians are still blackmailing the region with dare warnings against the election of any northerner as president.
FULL STATEMENT: ENOUGH OF THE BLACKMAIL
A long-running political riddle that has continued to frustrate all efforts at achieving ‘justice, equity and fair-play’ is this: anything and everything in which the North has superiority or advantage or strength is, in the opinion of many Southerners, fake or contrived or speculative and therefore unacceptable.
These Southerners contest the facts that the North has 78% of the landmass of Nigeria.They refuse to accept that the North has over 55% of the population of Nigeria. They won’t concede that the voting population in the Northwest region of the North alone is bigger than those of the Southeast & South-south combined. They will never acknowledge the fact that all the beef, all the tomatoes, the onions, the beans, etc. consumed in the South, is produced in the North.
They concede nothing.On the contrary, they say the North brings nothing to the table and is entitled to nothing. Not to an equitable share of national revenues, not to a fair share of employment in the public services, or to admissions into public schools. If the law says, for example, that election outcomes must be based on one man one vote, they quickly dismiss it as an ‘imposition’ by Northerners. They contest every fact, every principle including those that formed the basis of our union such as our federation, our system of administration, our⁷ democracy, etc.
And as we inch up towards the 2023 elections, it comes as no surprise that some Southern politicians are giving their Northern counterparts an ultimatum which roughly translates thus: elect no one from the North as President, or we will break up the country!
It has to be stated clearly and for the avoidance of any doubt that the
North does not seek to dominate any part of the country but will not submit itself to be relegated to serfdom. Those issuing ultimatums are to be pitied knowing that they know not what they are doing. They own no patent nor monopoly of the art or science of ultimatums. Enough of the blackmail.
