Lamentation song, pure and simple. The meeting was called to examine the failure of the North to stop President Goodluck Jonathan. But for a better part of the over two hours spent at the meeting, it was all about lamentation, about what ought to have been done but which was not done, things not meant to be done but which were done.
In fact, their discussions were so bitter in tone, pitiful in manner but desperate in approach, so much that they lamented why Jonathan had not been stopped much earlier, particularly during the heady days of the ailment which afflicted Umaru Yar’Adua, a time when just a handful of people held the country hostage.
To be fair, in recounting how the North lost an opportunity at seizing the moment, reference was made to a meeting held much earlier, where a former head of state was in attendance along with two serving ministers at that time, about the intrigues which went on in the Presidency.
Not totally representative of all the desperate interests in northern Nigeria, those in attendance assumed they were. But what the politicians represent were no more than political groups such as Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, Unity Forum, UF, and General Muhammadu Buhari’s party, the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC.
Other interests allegedly represented at the meeting of the group, on Friday, May 20, 2011 between 8 and 1015 p.m, were the representative of a former Vice- President, the representative of a former Inspector-General of Police, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, two former ministers and a former state governor who dumped the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, but who has now ended up in CPC and who played a prominent role in the Yar’Adua administration.
That was not the first meeting of some leading politicians from northern Nigeria. In fact, since after the primaries of PDP which saw the defeat of the obtuse consensus candidate of the Northern Political Leaders Forum, NPLF, there has been a rash of meetings.
Facts of this latest meeting emerged barely 48hours after the swearing in of President Jonathan as he begins his four-year tenure in office.
The politicians vowed to ensure that they keep a tab on the activities of the President with a view to plotting a retake of power in 2015.
The meeting was held in the Maitama District of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja.
Participants at the meeting were informed of the “need for them to further earlier discussions towards the realisation of the northern presidency project in 2015, as well as the question of leadership in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). It was argued that the success of northern desires in 2015 will largely depend eventually on who secures the PDP leadership now.
”One of the participants described as unfortunate the present crop of northerners in the PDP, who he saw as only being used against the interests of the North”.
Speaking further, a source close to the meeting disclosed that participants were charged not to see the present situation in the North as a light matter.
”It is a very serious one”, one of the attendees charged, remarking that they were aghast when “they read the comment of Senator Joseph Waku, in a national newspaper, where he allegedly revealed that Mr. President, the current Chief Justice of Nigeria, the National Security Adviser (NSA), the Directors-General of the State Security Service (SSS), and the Nigeria Intelligence Agency (NIA), are all Christians.
“That Waku had also wondered in the said publication that Senator David Mark, who is also a Christian, should not similarly be aspiring to return to the position of president of the upper chamber of the National Assembly.
”That even among the present service chiefs in the country, it is only one of them that is a Muslim”.
But the meeting was not all about lamentation as a bit of introspection was introduced when one of the participants admitted that “their respective attitude as northerners is creating the prevailing situation for the North, adding that they, however, do not know the level of havoc they have done and are still doing until the North will be out of political power completely”.
Another participant, who had worked inside Aso Rock Presidential Villa, went further to give a breakdown of the security configuration in the seat of power.
”During (our) period in office at the Presidential Villa”, he began, “there were about 1,500 personnel of the SSS, out of which almost 1,000 were of northern extraction.
”That during the administration of the late President Yar’Adua, of the over 1,000 SSS personnel at the Presidential Villa then, most of them were northerners.
”That, there are about 700) SSS personnel presently deployed to the same Villa, with only few northerners amongst them, including one (names withheld) a namesake of his, who, he revealed, presently works with Mr. President.
”That similar situation obtains in the Nigeria Intelligence Agency, NIA”.
Sunday Vanguard learnt that one of those at the meeting categorically stated that the “President should be put under check”. It was gathered that “this position was generally accepted to the participants”.
Consequent upon an earlier point raised during the meeting, the participants were said to have enthused that some of the pieces of information gathered during their discussion would “make (for) progress”.
In fact, another speaker at the meeting remarked “that this reminded him of the on-going debate on the issue of leadership in both chambers of the National Assembly, particularly that of the Senate President and Speaker, House of Representatives. He recalled that a fortnight ago, it was stated that there was no zoning, but that a week later, the same people maintained that there was zoning. He added that by the time media practitioners began to blame the Presidency and the leadership of PDP for doublespeaking on the issue, the Presidency and the PDP leadership could not defend it.
”The participants were thereafter admonished to document all comments made by Mr. President for the sake of posterity, so as to use same against him (Mr. President) later in order to also confront him that this and this, are what he (Mr. President) had stated at one point in time or the other”.
What Sunday Vanguard has also been able to discover is that whereas the meeting was expected to have more participants, the current agenda of ministerial nomination kept some of the expected participants away. It was also discovered that beyond the bravado of some of the leaders, there are those who are still hopeful of being appointed by Jonathan.
The participants at the meeting admitted this much when reference was made to the unfortunate development that has ensued that some “northerners in PDP (who were) being used against the interests of the North”.
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