In 1957 when Chief Anthony Enahoro famously moved the motion for independence, The North opposed it, and made certain ridiculous demands which subsequently delayed Nigeria’s independence until 1960.
British colonialists believing they had found a willing ally in the North, because of their earlier opposition to independence, moved to subtly design and aid Northern dominance over other regions. They started by inflating Census numbers in favour of the North, and consolidating on a redrawn map of Nigeria, that gave the North a vastly superior landmass. Ignoring the natural North and South boundaries as demarcated by the River Niger. Thus began the monumental fraud that has largely dogged the nation to-date.

Little wonder that at independence, the nationalists like Chief Obafemi Awolowo, and Dr Nnamidi Azikiwe that actively fought for independence, were cleverly schemed out of power. Not too surprisingly, the North that actively worked against independence mounted the saddle of power (Courtesy of the British).Tafawa Balewa a hardly educated Northern politician, bereft of any ideas for strategic economic, and social development, became the Prime Minister and head of government. His regime was marked by inter-regional wrangling, rigging of elections and population census results in favour of the Feudal North, and massive social unrest that led to daily massacres in the Western region (We-tie).
Beyond all logic, his regime technically ignored the crisis in the Western region, leading to an escalation in the crisis, and the subsequent frame up and arrest of Chief Obafemi Awolowo for complicity in a phantom coup plot. He was subsequently tried and jailed by the Tafawa Balewa administration.

Consequent upon the continuing social unrest, public opinion and the press turned against the Prime minister Tafawa Balewa regime, such that they were open calls for a coup. Long before the jan.1966 coup, there were already rumours of an impending coup which was directly linked to the social crisis at the time.The Jan.1966 coup itself was initially very popular as people jubilated openly in the streets, before it was conveniently reclassified an Igbo coup.
In July 1966 there was a so called counter coup by the North, against the General Aguiyi Ironsi’s regime that had succeeded Prime minister Tafawa Balewa’s government. The Northern coup was not in any way like any known or conventional coup. Rather than concentrating on eliminating Igbo political and military leaders (since it was supposedly a counter coup against the Igbo leadership) Northern military officers and civilians went into town and started the wholesale slaughter and massacre of Igbo and other Eastern Nigerians. At the last count up to 50,000 civilians were slaughtered.

The scale and scope of the massacres, made it more of a genocidal attempt, than a coup. I am yet to see anywhere in the world where coups are done by killing tens of thousands of civilians.
The Northern mutineers probably appreciated the consequences and implications of their actions, which necessitated their declaring the unconventional counter coup, a secessionist coup (Araba).Their stated intention was to secede from the rest of Nigeria. Lt Col. Yakubu Gowon had preparatory to the planned Northern secession famously announced that “there was no basis for Nigerian unity”.
The Northern somersault from a planned secession, to a policy of “keeping Nigeria one at all cost” led to the civil war, which was occasioned by the unprecedented large scale massacre of Eastern civilians. It is highly predictable, that had the North concentrated their counter coup on the elimination of Igbo political leaders, and the subsequent seizure of power there would have been no war.

The North succeeded in forming a coalition against the Eastern region in the prosecution of the Civil war. Undoubtedly other Nigerians were misled into believing that the North had a genuine and sincere motive for the quest to preserve a united Nigeria. However the end of the war, and it’s aftermath have largely unmasked and revealed the true intentions of the North. Basking in the glory of the civil war victory, they designed a pattern of marginalisation and containment of the Igbo,which has continued to date, and gradually extended the marginalisation to their erstwhile allies. The North ensured that they dominated all strategic positions in the military, and federal government parastatals,occasionally giving some insignificant positions to their civil war allies. The mindset of the North as regards the absolute control of power,is in line with their belief, that they are “Born to rule”.
With the exception of Gen.Olusegun Obasanjo, who accidentally became head of state, after the unexpected assassination of General Murtala Muhammed.The long list of heads of states since independence have been Northerners.

Their determination to prevent any Southerner from getting to power became more manifest, when the June 12 elections acclaimed to be the freest and fairest was cancelled, in spite of the fact that Chief Moshood Abiola himself a Muslim, was running on a Muslim, Muslim ticket.
Following the heat generated by the cancellation of the June 12 elections, the North began a frantic search for a Southerner they can control and trust to return “their power back to them” after a few years, so that they can continue their unbroken run on power unfettered.
Their search settled on President Olusegun Obasanjo, not because they loved him, but because they felt they could trust him having delivered the first time around.
There are reports that President Olusegun Obasanjo was asked to sign certain documents, probably to guarantee retention of the status quo.

Northern rule which lasted for 36 out of the 45 years of independence is a classical study in mismanagement, incompetence, corruption, tyranny, ethnic and religious intolerance. The unitary system of government, which ironically was one of the reasons the July 1966 counter coupists claimed they had to strike, was maintained and strengthened in outright disregard of Nigeria’s diversity. Ethnic and religious killings of Southern Christians resumed in the North less than 10 years after the civil war, and has continued to date. There is abundant evidence that Northern Politicians and religious leaders sponsor the riots, but to date no single Northerner has faced trial for such ritual periodic killings.
It is instructive to note that no senior Northern politician has ever condemned the periodic killings of Christians in the North.

Neither the Arewa consultative forum, nor Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, nor Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, nor Vice president Atiku Abubakar,amongst others has ever condemned such killings, or taken any major initiatives to put a final stop to such killings. This aptly demonstrates their tacit support for such heinous and barbaric crimes. Indeed there is hardly any surprise, considering that the Northern leadership under Gen. Ibrahim Babangida successfully smuggled Nigeria into the “Organisation of Islamic countries” OIC, in blatant disregard of Nigeria’s religious diversity.

Political experts have variously proposed a return to regionalism, and devolution of power’s as the best formula for the management of Nigeria’s diversity, within the framework of a negotiated constitution. But the North have consistently remained the greatest opposition to a restructured, equitable, and just Nigeria. The insistence on maintaining a lopsided status quo that is gradually sending the nation to an early grave, just because it favours them, is a clear demonstration of arrogance and insensitivity.
On one hand the North is loudest about maintaining a united Nigeria, on the other hand, they are the most intolerant of other Nigerians, which technically amounts to eating their cake, and still having it.

We do not need a crystal ball to realise, that the North’s present quest to return to power come 2007, is not because they have any positive agenda. The North is not and will probably never be repentant. Simply speaking their only agenda is to reconstitute the caliphate Army, and resume this time an unbroken run on power, with all the attendant negative consequences, I foresee Nigeria becoming like Sudan if the North by any act of omission is allowed to return to power. Nigerians are presently trapped between the devil and the deep blue sea, torn between the risk of power returning to the North, and President Olusegun Obasanjo’s 3rd term agenda. I dare say President Olusegun Obasanjo is a lesser evil. Most Nigerians prefer and are actually working towards Obasanjo’s handover to a technocrat from the South-south or Southeast, this would in any case be the greatest boost for our nascent democracy.
But if circumstances make this scenario impossible, I would rather President Obasanjo remains in office, rather than handing over to the caliphate North.
We must not forget so soon that the present unjust, unitary structure, exploitative, and miserably poor Nigeria we have today, bereft of electricity, pipe borne water, quality healthcare, and education is largely the making of the caliphate North. The North’s return to power would send us progressively back into the stone age. And withought any doubt, no Southerner will ever be allowed to smell the Aso rock seat again.

Lawrence Chinedu Nwobu
Dundalk, Republic of Ireland
Email:lawrencenwobu@yahoo.com