A Vote For Unity -- Nigeria, We All Hail Thee
Adey Oyenuga
September 10, 1999
By Tajudeen Suleiman/Kano
Lagos - A Hausa/Yoruba Solidarity rally sends signals to the detractors
of the Obasanjo regime that ethnic differences can no longer be exploited
for selfish gains.
Emir Road, in the heart of Sabon-Gari was the venue of the historic event
last Monday, 22 August, in front of the one-storey palace of the Seriki
Yorubawa of Kano, Alhaji Salihu Olowo, thousands of Hausa and Yoruba folk
gathered in a solidarity rally for President Olusegun Obasanjo.
It was not just a Kano affair. The Hausa communities in the South-West
also sent powerful teams to the rally. The Seriki Hausawa of Ijebu-Ode,
Alhaji Yahaya Garbe Alawa, that of Ado-Ekiti Ondo and Akure, Alhaji
Audu Sarki, that of Ikire, Alhaji Garba Bazamfare and Alhaji Ali Yaro
of Ojo in Lagos were physically present to grace the occasion.
It was quite an emotional affair and many wept as Hausa speakers spoke
fluent Yoruba while Yoruba speakers also spoke in impeccable Hausa
language. They all spoke in turns on their desire for peaceful co-
existence with neighours, no matter their ethnic groups. Yoruba and
Hausa were urged to rediscover the love for each other which had held
the country together since independence.
Alhaji Ahmed Zungeru, Seriki Hausawa of Ibadanland, delivered a thought-
provoking speech in Hausa, English and Yoruba. He said in part that,
"Nigerians should remember how Hutus of Rwanda killed more than half
a million Tutsis in 1994. Man is truly capable of extreme bestiality.
Hutus and Tutsis are like our Hausa/Fulani who both speak the same
language. We must prevent and discourage human depravity."
According to Zungeru, when the resolution of conflict is started by the
killing of members of another tribe, "you end up killing members of your
own tribe like they are doing in Rwanda, Burundi and Somalia."
Zungeru illustrated the need for peaceful coexistence amongst the ethnic
groups in Nigeria with his own history. "I was born in Ibadan 51 years
ago," said Zungeru, adding "my father and mother were also born in Ibadan,
and have been living there since." And, as if to emphasise his Yorubaness,
he broke into a Yoruba song and asked the audience to sing along with him.
Ba ti fe kori be na lori, emi la o ni yosi? (literally meaning, What we
want to happen has been, why won't we rejoice?).
After his speech which was loudly applauded, he was passionately embraced
by the Dan Masanin Kano, Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule, who was one of the
invited dignitaries on the occasion. Feeling patently concerned, Alhaji
Sule observed: "You will find virtually every tribe in Nigeria here in
Kano and also foreign nationals, all living peacefully together. There
cannot be progress without peace." He sounded genuinely angry and bitter
that some disgruntled elements in the polity were fomenting trouble for
their selfish interest.
Nigeria, he said, is a beautiful country, and one of its gains is that
it is blessed with diverse ethnic groups. "God has decreed also, that
we must live together in the same country, and no one can stop that,"
he asserted.
Maitama Sule later officially launched a new movement, the National
Integration Forum, organisers of the rally. Speaking to The News on the
purpose of the rally, one of the organisers, Dr. Jimpat Aiyelangbe said:
"This is to send a signal to all those who want to destabilise the
Obasanjo government by exploiting ethnic differences that their tricks
would not work. The ordinary Hausaman, the ordinary Yoruba or Igbo man
are happy to live together and are in support of the government."
In a joint communique issued at the end of the day the rally, the Hausa
living in the South-West announced "to the whole world that we are at
peace with the Yoruba and we don't want anybody to kill and main on our
behalf". The Yoruba living in the North also echoed their northern
brothers.
Umaru Sanda, who was at the rally was pleasantly "shocked to hear" how
historically entangled the Yoruba and the Hausa have been. "We have
become the same, like blood brothers," Sanda said, with a mien of
incredulity on his face.
Indeed, his remark captured the essence of the rally.
Publication date: September, 20 1999
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Copyright (c) 1999 P.M. News. Distributed via Africa News Online
http://www.africanews.org
Noadeen Fasina
Noa
Noadeen Fasina
I am sighing because its a good news, it means i can relax for now and
hopefully for a long time. Kano city is my adopted home and as i write this,
90% of my nuclear family ekes out a living in that great city, so my sigh
was a sigh go relief. It has been so for about 40 years.
Noa
----- Original Message -----
From: Kueberuwa.Steven <kueb...@niehs.nih.gov>
To: 'Noadeen Fasina' <noa...@worldnet.att.net>; <naij...@esosoft.com>;
<yorub...@onelist.com>; <akwa-cr...@lists.stanford.edu>;
<annang...@egroups.com>; <igbo...@lists.cc.utexas.edu>;
<RIV...@siue.edu>; Adey Oyenuga <oye...@chapman.edu>
Sent: Saturday, September 11, 1999 8:24 AM
Subject: RE: A Vote For Unity -- Nigeria, We All Hail Thee
Noa,
Why are you sighing at this most beautiful of events. Or is unity and
peaceful co-existence not some of the tenets that you ascribe to? Would you
rather the group came together to murder each other as Fasheun and his
followers advocate?
Stevek.
-----Original Message-----
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