Comparing Gun Men In The North To Gun Men In The South
By Invitation:
Ifeanyi Chijioke:
It’s one country but different treatment and approach. In the North, one must be constrained and apply caution when dealing with anything coming from the northern part of Nigeria, but in the South, one is free to act without constraint and often go a mile without encumbrances.
That is the reality of our country. The imbalance is a clear sign of incompatibility. There is no gainsaying that the North believes they are the darling of the union and can do what pleases them.
The table turned against the South in 1967, when a secession war led to the massacre of more than 3.5 million people.
The effort to form a new country collapsed under heavy fire of the federal troops controlled by the northern politicians as at then. Technically, being that the North was at the helm of proceedings during the war, they inculcated the ideology of ownership of the country.
Of course, they spearheaded the fight that saved the soul of our country, and rightly deserve the credit that spoilt the country.
Right from 1970 the war ended, the North saw it as a northern victory and treated the union as a laurel.
Nigeria became their private asset and everything changed for their good. The country that was in upward trajectory under the merit rule soon became a failing country under the whims and caprices of the northern rule.
Being a private laurel; the North did everything possible to hold onto power, personal cum regional interest was placed above the overall union’s interest.
After the reign of Aguinyi Ironsi, it was all about cementing leadership and quota system. Merit was sidelined and regional politics took hold of the union, and upon regional sentiment and interest, Nigeria was founded.
The constitution of the country was made by the northern military leadership, and not by the people, and the act quickly reflected in the country’s trajectory.
So, the imbalances we see in the country today have a tap root in the constitution of the country.
There is the North that has positioned itself as the brainchild and custodian of Nigeria and there is the South that is seen as the enemy of Nigeria that cannot be trusted with anything.
This concept runs deep in the bloodline of the North, and has contributed to decision makings and brand of politics being played by the country. The political numbers skewed against the South to tame the enemy that tried to divide the country.
When gun men from the North attack the country or constitution, they are seen as mere miscreants, but when gun men from the South do the same thing, they are seen as monsters that should be eliminated and even those sympathetic to them jailed. This is obvious and clear in the treatment of southern Unknown Gun Men versus the treatment of northern Bandits.
Bandits in the north kidnap citizens and instead of mobilize the country’s army against them, northern politicians troop out to defend and speak in support of negotiation and ransom. Nobody will think about arresting them for supporting banditry or murder of Nigerian citizens.
But when Unknown Gun Men commit same crime, southern villages are burnt down, the country’s army is mobilized and they trample upon anything that moves in the place the crime was committed.
Gun men in the North demanded a caliphate and took hold of local governments and communities to date, and nobody has mobilized the country’s army against them. Their secession attempt is considered part and parcel of the problem of the country, while the secessionists in the South are monsters that must be eliminated. Monsters nobody should negotiate with.
Northern politicians can defend northern gun men, but their southern counterparts cannot southern gun men, and when done, they are bundled into the prison.
That is the reality of the country, and this reality is the reason the country will continue to struggle. The imbalances in the country breeds incompatibility.
