A member of the Northern Elders Forum, Dr. Junaid Mohammed has said that Nigeria would not disintegrate if President Goodluck Jonathan was denied a second term in office by the electorate.
The Second Republic Lawmaker made the statement in response to a remark by former Anambra State Governor, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife that Nigeria would infact disintegrate if Jonathan was not re-elected into office.
Ezeife had said: “Everybody can make noise but if those who are making noise should think deeply, they would realize that the continued existence of Nigeria as one country is anchored on Jonathan’s continuation in office come 2015.”
“The Niger Delta boys would blow up all the oil pipelines and then a part of the country could say they are no longer interested in Nigeria; they could say Nigeria legally expired when the nation marked its centenary and that they are now on their own.
“This is not what I want, but I am afraid it could happen if we foolishly think of only our short term interest, instead of thinking of long term implications.
However, Mohammed retorted: “It is unfortunate that Ezeife, who witness the Biafran war orchestrated by his kinsmen, which claimed over one million of Igbo people, should be beating the drums of war today.
“It is, therefore, clear to all that the man has lost touch with reality and is merely playing to the gallery for selfish motives.
“People like Ezeife are perpetual political opportunists in the Nigerian political arena and should be ignored especially when they fan the embers of ethnicity and war in time of peace such as we have in Nigeria.
“My candid advice to Nigerians is that they should ignore him because he does not have a good sense of history and does not speak for anyone in Nigeria.”
Mohammed also shut down a claim by Ezeife that aggrieved Niger Delta militants would blow up pipelines.
“Contrary to Ezeife’s postulation, Niger Delta militants or any terrorist group cannot be a threat to a government that emerges through credible, free and fair election in Nigeria,” Mohammed said.
Some evil pundits say Nigeria will disintegrate by 2015…
A rejoinder, a story…a true life story to prove them wrong
“YHIFITU”
CONCEPT AND STORY
YHIFITU, the main character of the story is a metaphorical
representation of the nation Nigeria. The word is derived from few of the major
tribes that make up Nigeria;
Yoruba Hausa Ibo Fulani Ijaw Tiv Uhrobo
She was born 1st October, 1960… a birth that was
celebrated with great pomp and pageantry; and like every celebrated birth,
there was a bright a glorious future before the newly birthed child…but
Yhifitu’s dream was cut short at the tender age of six. Her entire family was
thought to have been wiped out in a civil unrest that happened in 1966. It was
a most traumatic experience for young and beautiful Yhifitu.
Now her future looked bleak, no more fatherly or motherly
love, they all must have perished in the civil unrest. So much had been expected
of Yhifitu being an only child of her parents. Now what would become of her
parent’s once lofty dream for Yhifitu? Was there still any hope?
Mathew was a young civil defense officer who nearly lost
his life protecting innocent citizens during that disturbance. But for him,
Yhifitu would have died in the pool of her own blood when there was a second
blast, following the first that killed her father and mother right before her
eyes!!
Though Yhifitu survived, was life really worth living or
maybe, just maybe her survival was for a purpose. It took another forty long
years and by the same divine providence that saved Yhifitu’s life for her to
discover that what happened to her was more than just mere temporary physical
disorientation…it was something more devastating – her soul died!!
When Mathew saved young Yhifitu’s life years ago, little
did he also realize that he had been chosen in the unfolding of a divine reform
agenda to help revive the soul of tender and beautiful Yhifitu.
Mathew was later transferred out of town; he considered
resigning rather than having to part with with the girl Yhifitu, but again that
would be crime against the State. Yhifitu was given to foster parents but due
to lack of care, she ran away…further into uncertainty, growing older but going
nowhere in particular.
In the process, we saw how other men tried to no avail to
help her. No matter how much they tried, the centre just would not hold. In the
eyes of many, Yhifitu was every man’s dream – beautiful, rightly adorned, seemed
to have great potentials. Many could not just understand why a smashingly
beautiful girl like Yhifitu was just not hitting the right chord. By now she
had completely lost touch with Mathew.
It was in 1976, Yhifitu was sixteen and in what was beyond
mere co-incidence, Mathew delivered Yhifitu out of an imminent threat of rape
and abuse when an arrangement to completely sell her into an arranged marriage
was foiled. It was in the course of interrogating the teenage girl he saved
that he suddenly realized that this was the same girl he rescued ten years ago!
It was a glorious reunion, at least so Mathew thought. On
his part, he made up his mind to help her this time come what may. The next
three years saw Yhifitu in Secondary School and now she was nineteen. “But how
could a man be this nice to you?” she was told by many…at that time, no one
trusted men in uniform; they were seen as instrument of cruelty and injustice
but Mathew was different, but how more could he prove it. Yhifitu would not
even give him a chance. Following a unpleasant argument one evening, Yhifitu
made up her mind she will no longer stay; she disappeared before it was dawn.
But life became even more harsh and rough for Yhifitu, at
different instances, she almost died. Once was in 1983 when she was 22 and
another in 1997, then she was 37. Years rolled by, Yhifitu had come to know
that though Mathew was high-handed and had his mistakes; fewer men were as
sincere as he was. Time was ticking, Yhifitu would soon be forty – she was yet
without direction.
As though God heard her cry and gave Yhifitu a last
opportunity, events leading to her soul revival began in May of 1999, few
months to her 39th birthday. She was still as beautiful as ever, but
no man was still able to understand her – she still was not married. Mathew on
the other hand was coming out of a life-threatening situation when he again met
Yhifitu, when he needed a hideout when there was an instituted conspiracy to
eliminate him. Yhifitu was wiser now and she submitted herself to Mathew’s
counsel.
The years that followed were the most beautiful of
Yhifitu’s existence – thank God it did not take her forever to realize this.
Mathew was determined to make a difference in her life, he helped to improve
her self esteem, made her believe in herself and made her see the purpose for
her existence. Little wonder that when Yhifitu turned forty-six by October 1,
of 2006, her soul revived!!
Yhifitu now knew how to love and appreciate others, she
understood family and moral values, she became dedicated, selfless, and
productive and had a clearly defined vision – it was a glorious rebirth. Many
did not give Yhifitu a chance; many pundits said she would destroy herself
sooner or later, but now she survived! And now she is a pride of other ladies,
and everyone that knew her.
When Yhifitu survived at age six, to her, “Was life worth
living? She thought she had lost all. Though it was a long wait, at last her
song changed and it was worth the wait.