representing Kaduna State says
ethnic minorities in the north are
yearning for liberation as a result of
what he describes as the suffocating
yoke of Hausa/Fulani lords.
We understand that minority ethnic
groups in the north are unhappy
over some situations surrounding
them. What exactly are these and
what exactly do they seek off the
national conference?
There are a few basic needs or
aspirations of the northern
minorities. I would rather call them
northern ethnic nationalities and
northern minorities. Two things that
they want this conference to do are
to give the northern ethnic
nationalities their minority rights
and for these rights to be placed in
the constitution of Nigeria so that
ethnic nationalities will be
protected. There is so much influx of
people into the Middle Belt states of
Nigeria from the far north, from the
south, east and west. They are
trooping into the Middle Belt states
and for that reason, there is need to
protect the ethnic nationalities as
well as their ancestral lands,
otherwise, there will be many
smaller ethnic groups that will
become extinct in a matter of a few
more years. So, they need to be
protected. That is one.
The other thing the ethnic
minorities in the north want this
conference to do for them is the
question of religion. Religion has
been used unfairly against northern
minorities. Because of religion, they
have lost so many of their rights and
we want the rights of ethnic
minorities to be institutionalised in
the constitution where they can be
protected. I can give you some
example: when Christians want to
build churches in some of the
predominantly Islamic states, they
don’t find it easy. In some places,
they don’t even have a right to build
churches and they don’t even get
land. These people who demand the
right to build churches are also
indigenes. Their ancestors lived in
those places before the arrival of
Islam or Christianity and they
demand to have their rights, to
express themselves religiously and
freely, on their own, and within
their own ancestral lands. But they
are denied because they are
Christians. The definition and use of
religion against them makes them
foreigners in their own ancestral
land. So, again, we want this
conference to institutionalise
minority rights in the northern
states.
The third thing is the quest for the
creation of a few more states in the
north. There are some places in the
north where minority ethnic
nationalities were mismatched with
major ethnic groups. For instance, in
Kaduna State, which is part of
northwest, there is a great
mismatch of the people of southern
Kaduna and the people of northern
Kaduna. Because of this mismatch,
there has been marginalisation and
discrimination against the people of
southern Kaduna. For this, the
people of southern Kaduna want to
have a new state created and, in
fact, they qualify for the creation of
a new state –they are asking for
Gurara State.
The other place where there is a
mismatch is southern Borno,
southern Yobe and northern
Adamawa where the majority of
ethnic nationalities have been under
the control and domination of the
Kanuri. So, the ethnic nationalities
in those areas are demanding for
the creation of a state where all of
them can have their freedom to live
as a people. This again is because
they have been mismatched,
marginalised and discriminated
against. There are two suggestions
for either Amana State or Savannah
State in that area. Some are
suggesting that you can merge
Amana and Savannah and call it the
New Sardauna State. If that is done,
there will be a margin of justice in
the north. The other area is
Southern Kebbi –the Zuru people.
There is a mismatch between the
Zuru people and the Hausa/Fulani of
Kebbi State. These are the cries of
the ethnic minorities in the north.
Also, we are asking for the
restructuring of the northeast zone
so that a few states can be created
to free the ethnic minorities and let
them have their freedom. We also
want the same done in the
northwest so as to redress the
mismatch of minority ethnic groups
with majority ethnic groups in the
north.
If this is done, the northeast and
northwest will be a better place for
the majority ethnic groups. And the
minority ethnic groups that had
been wrongly attached to them will
also be free to live and run their
own affairs. These are part of the
things we want to see happen at this
conference.
So, when we talk of resource
control, as northern ethnic
minorities, these are the major
issues. The mismatch of minority
ethnic groups in the north with the
major ethnic groups militates
against the freedom and
development of the minority
groups.
In northern Nigeria, we have more
than 250 different ethnic groups.
There is nothing you can call
homogeneity or homogenous north.
There is nothing like that. The most
diversified region of Nigeria is the
north. In the north, we have the far
northwest, that is, the Hausa and
Fulani groups. In the far northeast,
you have the Kanuri, the Shua and
others. Then, in the southern part of
northern Nigeria, you have over 200
ethnic groups. They speak different
languages. So, they are not
homogenous.
This is the work of empire builders.
The first two empires that were built
in the north were the Sokoto
(Sultanate) caliphate, which came
after the Sultanate Kanem Bornu.
So, you had the Sultanate Kanem-
Bornu Empire in the far northeast
and the Sokoto Caliphate in the far
northwest. When the British colonial
masters arrived on the scene in
1900, they waged war on northern
Nigeria and defeated the Caliphate
and the Sultanate Kanem-Bornu and
then imposed British colonial rule all
over northern Nigeria. What they did
was that they took the ethnic
nationalities of the Middle Belt who
were not Muslims, and who were
not also Christians at the time –
these were the non-Muslim groups-
the British took them and
subordinated them to Hausa/Fulani
rulers. That was what they called
indirect rule. So, problem of ethnic
minorities in the north is a problem
of British indirect rule.
The British should have undone
what they did on October 1, 1960
when they handed over political
independence to Nigeria. They told
Nigerians that we have handed you
your political independence, but not
every Nigeria was free. There were
still ethnic groups, especially in the
Middle Belt in the north who were
still under the yoke of certain
Hausa/Fulani/Kanuri Muslim rulers.
There have been adjustments, but
there are still some ethnic
nationalities in the north, which till
today, do not have traditional rulers
of their own ethnic group, but have
some imposed on them. They have
different religion, culture and
ethnicity yet, people are imposed
upon them as rulers. This is what we
want Nigerians to object to. Every
ethnic nationality in Nigeria is equal
to the other and should be free to
determine their own political state
by themselves.
Yes, they had their own traditional
rulers and institutions. Their
ethnicity was distinct and they had
their own ancestral lands. It was the
British that took both their ethnicity
and ancestral lands and handed
them over to the lordship of Muslim
Hausa/Fulani/Kanuri rulers.
There was, but the British bayonet’s
subdued them and imposed
colonialism over them. However,
the unfortunate thing the British did
was the imposition of indirect rule.
They took a Nigerian with whom the
majority of the ethnic groups fought
with during the age of slavery and
slave trade and jihad; but they
never conquered them. The British
took these and made them lords
over the others. Over time, some
have gained their political, social,
economic, cultural freedom, but
there are still some who are under
their yoke who have others as
masters.
What I can say is that the soldiers, if
you go back to 1967, especially in
northern Nigeria, used what I call
the perpendicular line drawing to
create states. They drew a
perpendicular line from the border
of Niger up to the border to western
Nigeria, and they called that
northwest. So, you have rulers and
their slaves. In the northeast, the
drew a similar line from the border
of Niger, Lake Chad, Chad Republic
to Northern Cameroun up through
the way to the boundary of
southeast. The only difference was
the boundary of Kano. Kano was
central and so, they easily carved it
out. Plateau was in the middle, so,
they carved out Benue-Plateau. But
it was all done on perpendicular
line. That was how the soldiers did
it. But looking back, the question is,
was military state creation objective
or was it manipulated by a certain
class, the political elite in northern
Nigeria?
Looking at it critically, it is obvious
that the way it was done was to
ensure that masters must have their
slaves along with them. That was
why we had the mismatch. But, if
truly state creation was to be done
based on ethnicity, culture, religion
and land, then, it would have been a
different story. But merging two
different ethnic and religious groups
in a state where one is predominant
and the other weak, you have a
mismatch which creates problems of
marginalisation and discrimination.
To change that, it will be until the
masters are willing to release their
slaves. This is the issue in southern
Borno, southern Yobe, northern
Adamawa, southern Kaduna and
southern Kebbi. If these are settled,
then, the cries of every ethnic
minority in the north will be solved.
The only way to solve this will be to
restructure the area and give them
their own state or merge them with
their kith and kin in the Middle Belt.
Indeed, the ethnic minorities in
northern Nigeria are actually asking
for two zones –Middle Belt East or
Middle Belt West. Then, it comes to
northwest, northeast, Middle Belt
East and Middle Belt West meaning
in all, you have four zones in the
north. In the same manner, we align
with the south to have four zones
so that you have South-south,
Midwest, Southeast and southwest.
Four zones in the north and four
zones in the south.
If you do not get what you want
today, you are not going to rest your
oars. You are going to double your
fight until you get what you want. If
this fails, we will continue to ask and
we will take the political tool.
Yes, they are also crying to be heard
but the bulk of Bauchi itself is
minority. But the only thing that has
happened to them is the factor of
religion. They are all minority but
they hide under the cloak of Islam
to claim majority. It is only religion.
But majority of Bauchi is ethnic
minority. They have Hausa; they
have Fulani but only in the northern
part. So, if you want to create a
minority state out of Bauchi, what
will you have left? The same thing
applies to Gombe State. For me,
therefore, I think we can use the
political tool to settle the question
and yearnings of minority ethnic
groups in the north.
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| NORTHERN ETHNIC MINORITIES SUFFOCATING UNDER HAUSA/ FULANI DOMINATION - PROF. TURAKI. |
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