An ethnic choice?

22 views
Skip to first unread message

Toyin Falola

unread,
May 29, 2021, 10:55:29 AM5/29/21
to dialogue
The 24 Army Officers Buhari Bypassed Over Ethnic, Religious Sentiments To Appoint Lesser Qualified Yahaya As Army Chief
http://saharareporters.com/2021/05/28/revealed-24-army-officers-buhari-bypassed-over-ethnic-religious-sentiments-appoint-lesser


Sent from my iPhone

Ibrahim Abdullah

unread,
May 30, 2021, 7:04:01 AM5/30/21
to usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Can this be ethnic when there are other so-called Northerners passed over? 

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfric...@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDial...@googlegroups.com 
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialo...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/D2F84A36-31E8-4DD4-9936-F8E736697A3A%40austin.utexas.edu.

Okey Iheduru

unread,
May 30, 2021, 10:38:45 AM5/30/21
to USAAfrica Dialogue
Great Professor! You should have told us dullards all along that "so-called Northerners" is an ethnic group. There are cleaner ways to circle the wagon, you know!

OLAYINKA AGBETUYI

unread,
May 30, 2021, 12:35:27 PM5/30/21
to usaafric...@googlegroups.com



I have proffered the solution to this lingering ' national question': sixtrarchy.

Other presidents may not be as bad as Buhari in managing this problem, but this structural problem will not go away unless it is systematically redressed and the Constitution amended accordingly.


OAA



Sent from my Galaxy



-------- Original message --------
From: Ibrahim Abdullah <ibdu...@gmail.com>
Date: 30/05/2021 12:05 (GMT+00:00)
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - An ethnic choice?

Boxbe This message is eligible for Automatic Cleanup! (ibdu...@gmail.com) Add cleanup rule | More info
Can this be ethnic when there are other so-called Northerners passed over? 
On Sat, 29 May 2021 at 2:55 PM, Toyin Falola <toyin...@austin.utexas.edu> wrote:
--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfric...@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDial...@googlegroups.com 
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialo...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/D2F84A36-31E8-4DD4-9936-F8E736697A3A%40austin.utexas.edu.

Oluwatoyin Adepoju

unread,
May 30, 2021, 1:03:44 PM5/30/21
to usaafricadialogue
Could someone please help me respond directly to Abdullah's question?

Farooq A. Kperogi

unread,
May 30, 2021, 1:29:32 PM5/30/21
to USAAfrica Dialogue
There's nothing "ethnic" about this since,  in any case, several Northern officers are also affected.

As I pointed out yesterday in response to Professor Falola, it's a longstanding tradition in the Nigerian military--and paramilitary forces-- that when a junior officer is elevated to the head, all the senior officers have to retire. It happened in every administration. Every damn administration. 

During Obasanjo's and Jonathan's administrations, the tradition disproportionately affected Northern officers, but it also affected Southern officers. 

I recall writing a cover story in 2000 for the Weekly Trust about the massive number of senior military officers from Muslim Northern Nigeria who were retired when Obasanjo appointed junior officers from the Middle Belt and the South to headships of military and paramilitary institutions. 

Farooq 

Twitter: @farooqkperogi
Blog: www.farooqkperogi.com


Sent from my phone. Please forgive typos and omissions.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CAGBtzfNej_S9JisJTEbY18VT7J6KnnC9wu0H6aW98_3siL_y4g%40mail.gmail.com.

Toyin Falola

unread,
May 30, 2021, 1:36:58 PM5/30/21
to usaafric...@googlegroups.com

Farooq:

I let the response dies off as I was actually pondering not over the procedure but the rupture it creates. You forfeit loyalty and commitment in the way this is done.  And you encourage corruption. Why do you want to fight the Boko Haram or not steal security money if you can be retired that way? This was where I headed—how a system sabotages itself by its silly procedure.

In all political systems, any form of destabilization eventually becomes part of a decline process.

TF

 

From: dialogue <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of "Farooq A. Kperogi" <farooq...@gmail.com>
Reply-To: dialogue <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Date: Sunday, May 30, 2021 at 12:29 PM
To: dialogue <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - An ethnic choice?

 

There's nothing "ethnic" about this since,  in any case, several Northern officers are also affected.

Farooq A. Kperogi

unread,
May 30, 2021, 5:07:19 PM5/30/21
to USAAfrica Dialogue
I agree entirely,  Oga. As I said in my first response to you, it wastes talent and destroys institutional memories. I don't know in what other country this tradition exists. But I won't be surprised if we copied it from Britain. 

Farooq 

Twitter: @farooqkperogi
Blog: www.farooqkperogi.com


Sent from my phone. Please forgive typos and omissions.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/1183C13E-E72E-464B-8393-1295CF9BBFBE%40austin.utexas.edu.

Ibrahim Abdullah

unread,
May 30, 2021, 5:07:35 PM5/30/21
to usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Thanks Farouk----Okey wants to shoot me for not mentioning so-called Easterners  and Westerners who were passed over. 

Ethnicity is toxic--it subverts citizenship and constitutionality. 

OLAYINKA AGBETUYI

unread,
May 31, 2021, 6:35:46 AM5/31/21
to usaafric...@googlegroups.com



And there you have it!

The Achilles heel of the presidential system as currently practised from Washington to Abuja is that each president moulds the nation in his own image.

Hence the need to revamp the system for an ethnically polarised nation!


OAA



Sent from my Galaxy



-------- Original message --------
From: Ibrahim Abdullah <ibdu...@gmail.com>
Date: 30/05/2021 22:13 (GMT+00:00)
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - An ethnic choice?

Boxbe This message is eligible for Automatic Cleanup! (ibdu...@gmail.com) Add cleanup rule | More info
Thanks Farouk----Okey wants to shoot me for not mentioning so-called Easterners  and Westerners who were passed over. 

Ethnicity is toxic--it subverts citizenship and constitutionality. 
On Sun, 30 May 2021 at 5:29 PM, Farooq A. Kperogi <farooq...@gmail.com> wrote:

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfric...@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDial...@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialo...@googlegroups.com.
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages