Northern Stars!!!!

[lionger]

Abumujahid,

i'm not exactly a fan of Abiola, and i agree with you and umulhuda that his declaration of madate was a silly move which eventually cost him his life. i only noted that IN PRINCIPLE, Abiola should have become the president of Nigeria and Abacha should have handed over to him, being the elected leader. Unless u don't think the june 12 elections were free & fair/legitimate, or that abiola didn't deservedly win. that is another matter. i only brought the abiola issue as an example of the damage IBB and Abacha created in Nigeria. I didn't mean to start a lengthy debate on a 'southwestern star;D' ?on a thread about northern icons.

i found your last sentence quite amusing..were you being sarcastic? lol this man stole money, Abu, and a great deal of it too. Since when did phrases like 'good leader' and 'mean to enemies' go together? i don't want to go on crying about ?abacha; i've made my point on him. i just want to believe that northern nigeria can produce much better leaders those of of his ilk. This shuold hopefully be my last post on the subject.

[nura]

Thanks lionger. It was a good exchange I also think this is my last post on this subject. The Abacha money thing is very embarassing but unfortunately all our leaders past and present have this money stashing problem. Our people are obsessed with money and lots of it and mainly because it is only when you have money that you'll be left alone. You'll agree with me therefore that the root cause of the money stashing problem is the fear of post government house. Nigerians do not believe in an undulating graph - up & down, they only believe in going up and up non stop.

The funny thing is it is only Abacha that the whole nation is worried about, what about IBB and His cohorts, Abubakar, etc.
I tend to believe that Abacha's offence was not stealing but dying!

Thanks Lionger

[Ummulhuda]

ummulhuda

i must admit that i laughed a bit while reading your reply.so abacha's islamic faith could prevent him from finding pleasure in the execution of a dissident for obvious trumped up murder charges, yet allowed him to loot the national treasury! LOL! . u tried to make a case for abacha and even hitler! of course they were not alone in their crimes, but does that not in any way rid them of responsibility?

As if sani abacha fell down from the sky in 1993 and became Nigeria's head of state..lol. Wasn't he there during and b4 ibb's time? He was the one who announced on radio buhari's ouster. so he was definitely a willing party to the looting (IBB could't have done it alone, according to your theory). you acknowledge that both IBB and Abacha did steal money, yet Abacha is a star and IBB isn't? Is it because this is kano-online forum, and Abacha was born in kano, whereas IBB is from niger(lol)? And since you do acknowledge that Abacha looted the treasury, how can he still qualify as a northern star?

as for MKO, u may have a point in that he was foolish to declare mandate with abacha at the helm, but he did win the election, didn't he? what legal right did Abacha have to power? I hope you know that detention without trial is a human rights violation, which Abiola endured until he died. Then u say his death was an act of God. lol i shoulsn't even laugh at that statement using God to justify man's wickedness is just too bad. it doesn't matter whether he was directly killed or not.

i guess the worst leader in nigeria's history is debatable but in my opinion, Nigeria shold have been spared every military ruler, perhaps withthe exception of Murtala Mohammed. for this reason the upcoming election like a choice b/w the devil and the deep blue sea. my candidate would be gani.

i must say your defense of Abacha is impressive, however in doing so u're not being fair to yourself, and alll of northern nigeria. there are many other ppl that are definitely northern nigerian icons, and they have been mentioned on this site. including abacha's name doe not at all honor those ppl, or northerners for that matter.

Happy sallah
? ?

I have read that both you Lionger and AbuM have had your final say on the topic of Abacha's candidacy as a northen star. Well I hope this will be my last also.
Firstly, Anyone here can submit a name that he thinks qualifies as a northern star. Personally, there are many names here that I will remove given the chance. Maybe my idea of a northern star and other ppl's do not tally.I don'tconsider personal achievement should entitle a person to be a northern
star. It's more a thing of what you have done for the betterment of your fellow country men, rather than what you are able to acquire in terms of personal wealth and recognition mainly because of that wealth. Yet, I am not crabbing at ppl's nominations. Abacha is a raw deal to a lot of ppl because of his perceived in adequacies, and what a lot of ppl see as his despotic nature especially when they don't happen to come from the North.
Everything I have said about Abacha, I have said it with real conviction and belief from the bottom of my heart. He may not have achieved much, but he tried to, which is more than you can say about I.B.B. and a lot of the ppl mentioned as Northern stars, here. I also do not consider Abacha because he came from Kano. Or that I don't tend towards I.B.B because he came from Niger state. Even I.B.B. owned to not being perfect as a head of state, you know. That is why he wants a second chance to make ammends. If I were favorably disposed to ppl from Kano only then I should mention Ismaila Gwarzo as a northern  star or Al Mustapha as well or even Abacha's son Mohammed. But I don't have much regard for all three ppl unfortunately. Where they are concerned, i just keep quiet, because if you won't put in a good word then don't put in a bad one either. For your information, I genuinely like I.B.B. I think he is a very charming person, and has the potentials to be a good leader if only he won't try to please every body at the same time. It is an impossible task. At the same time however, he makes such phenomenal miscalculations, (for example anulling June 12th; I wonder why he agreed to Abiola's candidacy in the first instance if he was going to reject him in the end) and helping to foister O.B.J. on us).

What still puzzles me is your placid acceptance that an execution could be an enjoyable thing to somebody. It is a matter of fact thing when you look at it. Abacha's faith should disallow him to treat anybody's death with relish. To begin with, Both I.B.B. and Abacha are not bloodthirsty hounds. If they were, we would never have had the bloodless coups we had. Look at Liberia or Sierra Leone or the most disturbing and surprising of all, Cote dIvoire, all initially bloodied from the first coups. And Ken Saro Wiwa's sentence was not even passed by Abacha as AbuM pointed out and I didn't even know that.

I agree that generally leaders are held responsible for the acts of their subordinates, but I still maintain that a leader can be made incommunicado that he does not get to know the real situation of his subjects. I still believe that is what happened with Abacha.

You said that Abacha had no legal right to power, neither did I.B.B. nor Buhari, nor Obasanjo the first time around nor Murtala Mohammed nor AbdusSallam Abubakar or any military ruler who forces his way into power. Yet we accepted them and lived with them. Abiola had a legal mandate and was denied, This is akin to Buhari wresting power from Shagari, don't you think so? Only this time, nothing had to be wrested, the power just wasn't conceded. Things like this have happened on a grander scale than the Abiola mandate. How many wars have been fought in the name of acquiring sovereignty? How many times have ppl have to die struggling to acieve that end simply because it was never given willingly? So abacha was just following a well trodden path. there is nothing new in what he did. Why aren't we up in arms against America fo the CIA's role in the murder of Murtala Mohammed? Because America is too strong for us or because Murtala was northerner and therefore of not much concern to the southerners/ Yoruba ppl?
No one can USE God. Lionger, as a christian which I presume you are, you should know that. You should also know that everything is an act of God and done with his sanction otherwise it can't be done. I will like to tell you in the context that I said Abiolas death was an act of God, and I was not justifying any perceived wickedness, on thepart of Abacha because I just don't think of him as a wicked person. He just did what he had to do that's all.

I remember ppl saying during the frenzied campaign for Abacha's "Tazarce" that he Abacha asked for ppl to recite the Qur'an about a million times so that Allah will choose the best path for Nigeria. I am sure I am not the only muslim who has heard this. Nigeria was on the brink of anarchy at the time. What with Abiola in detention, NADECO howling all the time, many insensitive selfish politicians out to grab what they can, the west snapping at the heels of Nigeria, All but Mayhem reigned during that period. When the call for this prayer was made many must have heeded it. I don't know whether a million recitations were made, but enough for Allah to pass his judgement on Nigeria. The Divine Judgement of what was good for Nigeria was that the  two archrivals, Abacha and Abiola ahould both be out of the way. Within three months of that call made by Abacha, he was dead! The new interim leader AbdusSallam Abubakar, was from what I heard anyway not  willing to assume the reigns of leadership, which was a good thing because Islamically one should never elect a man who shows a strong desire to rule over his colleagues. He will invariably make a bad ruler. For the same token that he was not a willing candidate, that is probably why he quickly set the dates for a return to civilian leadership. Imagine if it were some one who had nurtured a hope of ruling Nigeria, we may not have had the chance to return to farar hula so soon. So that is the second Act of God as far as a return to some semblance of peace and what was good for Nigeria was concerned.
Barely two months after the demise of Abacha, Abiola also left for his heavenly abode. That was also an act of God. You see if Abiola had lived, he would have been out of jail by now but what would his fate have been? Would he have been Nigeria's new ruler? I mean would June 12th have been upheld? If it were upheld that means we wouldn't need to set dates for new elections or anything like that. How many ppl's dreams and political ambitions would have been thwarted? Anyway that all pales beyond comparison to the scenario that will likely follow.
If Abiola had not died and even become President of Nigeria, then Nigeria today will have ceased to exist on the mapof the world. Why do I say that? Because OPC will rule the day and will probably rule Abiola as well. The atrocities that this faction of the Yoruba society (and anyother that might ave sprung up) will commit on Northerners will be like the Bola Ige's similitude to the Hutus and Tutsies that the late gentleman once mentioned. Imagine with all the pacification of an Obasanjo or a Falae or a Saraki, in short a Yoruba president no less whether you like it or not, still a large faction of the Yoruba society have not been mollified. Obasanjo is a Yoruba leader, and peaceful Nigerians keep losing their lives at the hands of xenophobic individuals. With Abiola in place, the OPC will feel a moral and vengeful justification to kill and maim northerners. And just like the OPC has had the full protection of some powerful Yoruba elites so it will be doubly more so under Abiola. I don't say this because I think of Abiola as a tribalist, I just think he will be very  ineffectual at curbing the misdeeds of some of his tribes men. Look at Obasanjo for God's sake! He was military wasn't he? and yet even he cant curb the excesses of his tribe's men. What more a politician who depends on the goodwill of those very same ppl?

So abiola was removed from the scene. Some cynics may sarcastically comment (in fact I expect you to Lionger) that Abiola was then removed to save the north from imminent genocide? The answer will be yes. Because the north will not take it lying down either, there will be so much blood shed on both sides of the country that it wont be worth staying together. I mean anyone reading this knows what I mean. We've been having so many of these ethnic strifes and in frightening proportions and the trigger to them all are trivial events most of the time.  
Abiola died
1) in full view of the western media, so no one can be blamed for his death. Autopsies carried out by WESTERN medical practitioners confirmed that he died from natural causes. This still did not stop some Yoruba elements from attacking hapless northeners  living in the southwest.
2) after Abacha otherwise like I said earlier, his death would have been blamed on Poisoning or some such by Abacha. It is not to exonerate Abacha that Allah took Abiola's life after Abacha, it is rather to limit the sort of bloodshed and unrest that followed Abiola's demise. It doesn't matter who was at fault, the backlash will always ultimately fall on some innocent unwitting victims.
Lastly we had the Yoruba candidates in all three political parties so which ever you  chose, you were choosing a Yoruba man at the helm. These events were all Acts of God which the collective prayers of Nigerians solicited for what was best for Nigeria. What was best obviously was the avoidance of spilling innocent blood and all the attendant unrest, displacement of ppl and the orphaning of children and refugee status that come with such scenarios. In otherwords BALA'I was averted. That Lionger was what I meant by Abiola's death being an act of God and not a defence of Abacha's so called criminality.
With this I also put this subject to rest.
Thank you for the Sallah wish. I had a nice one.
 

[al_hamza]

Professor Aku and Shehu
both are living examples.

Aku is from kaduna state and teaches at A.B.U
is the only african professor of meterological Engr and one of the only three living.

Shehu is the youngest professor to walk on earth and the youngest V.C nigeria and probably many nations have ever seen.... Prof at age 28 and presently V.C at age 32 (A.T.B.U)

i dont the the name but i can confirm  it soon.
The person is a heart specialist and was present during the first ever heart surgery during the !960's in south africa and b4 u forget Aparthied was at its peak back then but was still invited.Imagine his knowlegde then .....HE'S FROM KANO!

[al_hamza]

Anyone noticed that
HIS EXCELENCY GCON MNI SSS MNA COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE NIGERIAN ARMED FORCES
LATE GENERAL SANI ABACHA,
was killed just some days/hours after meeting Yaser Arafat of the Plo?
Man dont u think the guy was getting on the americano cowboy's Nerves?
I mean he refused to co-operate in all wayz
and was becomin too important a figure in African politics
by the way
WAYE YA ZAGI MAI GIDA?

[sir-bash]

we have doctor Aliyu Tilde who is a great schorlar and also Mallam KAbir Yusuf who is the publisher of Weekly Trust,his paper has gone a long way in boosting the image of the north and countering some of the lies of the southern press.we also have D.R Ibrahim wada who is the only embrayologist in west africa

[Blaqueen]

wow!!!!!aunty ummul!!! i love whut u pointed out!

and hamza & bash... wow, that's LOVELY to know!!! very very very glad to know that!
abeg hamza... komai naka rabi ::)  ;D... find out tha name of the heart surgery person....fleazzzz... :)

[Ummulhuda]

Thanx FDQ. Glad to be of service.
I wonder if we have put down the name of Professor Attahiru Jega, Political Science Dept. B.U.K. as a northern star?
If I were to choose another person as president after Buhari, I'd definitely go for Jega. He is another wholesome uncorruptible Nigerian, and dont think ppl in Govt haven't tried to buy him with plenty of lollies as well.

[Sas]

How about Women. Hajiya Mariya S. Dantata. I thought I will see her name in the first page and many other entries. Anyway maybe most of you are abroad so you may not know what is actually happening in kano. Go and see what this woman is doing. Everyday if you go to her house you will see an endless queue of people waiting to receive breakfast, lunch and dinner. She distribute from her own wealth to many poor people in the city of kano and nearby villages. Islamic schools, primary schools are just some of the places she helps. No wonder she is continously getting recognision even from Universities abroad. If you dont know her you should know her son Alhaji Aliko Dangote who also should be recognised.

[Blaqueen]

thanx a million Sanusi  ;) .. she should be govn'ress lol!...

Amb. Lawal Mohammed Munir - Musa de Oro International Award for Most Outstanding Diplomat...1998

[lionger]

lol FDQ r u related to that ambassador by any chance? ;D ;D

[Blaqueen]

haha.. he was guest of honor at my university  :)

[Fulanizzle]

Hehehehe dont mind her, dyme is the window-cleaner/maid/cook in his house 8)

[Fulanizzle]

OOOOH yeah...Amb Lawal Muhd. Munir also got another 'MOST OUSTANDING DIPLOMAT' award again @ 2001....

[Ibro2g]

Its kinda late but I still want to say it,
CONGRATULATIONS