The governors and traditional rulers said attempt at attributing the problems that led to the coup to Sir Ahmadu Bello and other North’s leaders killed in the putsch would not be accepted,
They added: “As long as we are alive, we will defend their honour.”
Speaking at the 50th commemoration of the death of Sir Ahmadu Bello, the first and only Premier of the Northern Region, the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, said although Nigeria had moved on, history should not be rewritten.
Sanusi, who said he did not want to be misunderstood, noted that while the North was interested in peace, unity and development of the nation, it would insist on being respected by all Nigerians.
He said: Tomorrow (today) marks exactly 50 years of the incident in the history of this country in which a number of leaders were killed. Sir Ahmadu Bello was one, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was another. Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola, Chief Okotie Eboh and a number of Generals that hailed from this part of the country as well as the Western part were assassinated.
“These have happened, though sad, we have forgotten about them and moved on as a nation. But 50 years later, before our eyes, this history is being rewritten and those who killed are claiming to be the victims.
“It is important that we keep history truthful and even if we forgive and forget, we must never allow history to be rewritten because what is happening in Nigeria today is a new narrative.
“Sardauna was not a victim; Tafawa Balewa was not a victim, they were the cause of the problem. We cannot accept this. We do not want people to reopen old wounds because everyone has been hurt, everyone has been offended, everyone has lost people, everyone has been marginalised, everyone has tasted power, everyone has produced good leaders and corrupt leaders.
“No one has monopoly of power or corruption or oppression. So, why don’t we, as one country learn from our history because history cannot be forgotten.
“Karl Marx said history is often repeated. The first time it happened, it is a tragedy, the second time it happened, it is a farce because if you do not learn from history and it repeats itself, it is no longer a tragedy, but a farcical result of your failure to learn from the past.
“I am not saying Sardauna and Tafawa Balewa were perfect, but they were heroes and like all heroes, they had faults. But they were better than anything this country has produced. If you have problems with Sardauna, bring your own Sarduana and compare. So, let us please move on as one country.
“The time has gone and we cannot allow ourselves to get into this ethnic, political and religious battles. However, we owe it to the memory of these gentlemen who were murdered. I think we should make it clear that so long as we are alive, we will defend their honour.
“I know that newspapers like headlines from the Emir of Kano. So that we don’t cast the wrong headlines, we are calling for peace, we are calling for unity, we are calling for tolerance, but we are insisting on respect because we will not be disrespected.”
Speaking on behalf of the North’s governors, Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai said the governors were in alliance with the opinion expressed by the Emir of Kano, adding that they would not accept any attempt to discredit those whose legacies they enjoyed.
He said: “The governors agree fully with the sentiment and statement expressed by the Emir of Kano. As northern governors, we want peace in Nigeria, we want unity in our diversity, we want development in Nigeria.
“But we will not accept a situation in which our parents, our forefathers are being insulted. We will not accept any attempt to rewrite history and discredit those whose legacies we enjoy.”
The Sultan of Sokoto, Mubammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, urged North’s leaders to stop hiding under the shadows of the late Sardauna and take up the challenge of building a North of their dream, noting that 50 years was a long time.
The Sultan, who decried the growing level of intolerance and unemployment in the North, said Christianity and Islam, the two major religions in the country, did not encourage corruption and bad governance.
Said he: “I challenge all of us to stop hiding under the shadows of Sarduana. If we want to see the North of our dream, all of us here, the leaders and the followers, must behave like Sardauna because if we have good leaders with a bad follower-ship, we will still have problem and if you have bad leaders and good follower-ship, you will still have problems.
“My quarrel is with the leaders of the North. You have a lot of problems in your hands. You came at a time when we don’t have enough resources. We have so many citizens who are jobless and want to live their lives. You have to provide for everybody.
“I challenge you to take up the mantle of leadership and face the challenge very well. See how you can create jobs for the teeming youth roaming the streets with nothing to do because there is a time bomb waiting to happen.
“Anybody who has nothing to do and is hungry can be used for 10 kobo. We have written a lot of letters to the governors on this and we will follow up. The issue is that the jobless youths must be engaged. How we do, it is our own problem because we have the people to do the job.
“So, I appeal to our governors to take up this serious challenge and keep our children off the streets. Let them be useful to the society.
“There are many important projects across the northern states which have been abandoned. How can we resuscitate them? For example, the Ajaokuta Steel Company. The Northern Governors’ Forum should take up the challenge and see how they can work toward the completion of the project because it is capable of creating thousands of jobs for our people.
“Let us diversify from oil and take agriculture serious. God has been merciful to us by giving us arable land. How can our leaders take up the challenge of paying attention to agriculture, especially cash crops?
“We can make a lot of money from these cash crops. If we do, we will make a lot of money from agriculture in the next four or five years and I can assure you that the North will be better for it.
“We know the importance of agriculture. For example, cotton, which brings to the American coffers about 150 billon dollars every year. Let us also see how we can improve on our cash crops to help our farmers help our people.
“As I said, let us get out of the shadows of Sardauna. Fifty years is a long period. Let us work with the principles he left for us, which is work ethic and fighting corruption.
“All of us are either Muslims or Christians. These two religions never encourage corruption or bad governance. We talk of Sardauna legacies. As Christians and Muslims, where did we go wrong that we have ethnic rivalry in the northern states? We have religious bigotry across the North.
“Christians and Muslims are killing themselves under one excuse or the other. When did all these things start? If we want a true North, let us look back and see at what point we started derailing and from there, let us retrace our steps back to where we should be and let us move this North and Nigeria forward.”
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