13-11-2024.

From many indications, it is increasingly becoming obvious that the seemingly anti- northern interest’s action of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu government, and the statements of some individuals, have been happening not by accident, but for the purpose of tearing the north or bringing it down, so that the sinister agenda of breaking the country into two may be realised.

This much is there for the thinking minds to see, and to also see those who desire the intended outcome of the evil plot, as they too go to great lengths to make it happen that way. Their desire and wish is to witness the eventual collapse of the Northern region as one homogeneous, united and strong entity.

A trending video clip shows one Chief Tola Adeniyi, a rabid anti northern unity person, vehemently denying the existence of a monolithic north, where the  various fault lines of religion, ethnicity, culture and other divisive tendencies stand on the way of unity. He is, expectedly not from the region, but arguing for the tribes in the north against the Hausas.

According to him, “It is just now that the efforts we are making in the South have begun to bear fruit. You will be surprised to hear that in Hausa land, we now have Hausa Christians. I have never heard that before. Never. We now have Middle Belt Forum who are saying ‘we are not Northerners, we are Middle Belters. We are not Northerners. Don’t call us that.

“When you see a Jukun man or you see a Langtan man and you say you are Hausa or you are Fulani, he would be angry, and say, ‘don’t call me that name again’. He may even draw HIS DAGGER. What we did not know until recently when you call a Fulani man Hausa, he will be angry, and say ‘banza ne, I am superior to Hausa, how can you call me that’?” He also said so many other diatribes against the Hausas.

Another tribal bigot, a pastor of the’Livingspring Chapel International, who also hated the Northern hegemony, said “Nigeria is not one, and can never be one. We are different nations tied together by force. We should stay in one country, but let everyone govern himself. Let the Niger Delta have their oil, let the East have its resources.

“It is very unfair to the Southern part of Nigeria that the revenue from oil that is found in the Niger Delta should go to the North, it is very unfair that VAT revenue should go to the Sharia North, even when they disdain the consumption of alcohol and smoking of cigarettes, two of which contribute significantly to the VAT”.

What these and other ethnic bigots do not know is that some quarters in the core North were actually established by non Hausa people, most of who have not only integrated into, but have become full blown, Hausa people.,Again, unknown to many who take delight in bashing the Hausas, people belonging to minority tribes, feel terribly offended whenever they are said to be non Hausas. Some very important and big people in the country can testify to the truth of this assertion, if they are in the frame of mind to do so.

The fact that the rabid bigotry against Northern Nigeria, particularly against the Hausa people, is open now, could be attributed to the subliminal, some may even say subtle, support given by the present administration of Tinubu, and the connivance of some bad Northerners who also support the hatred. This the rotten Northerners do because they do not want the undue privileges that they are getting stopped , or those who expect to be invited to the dining table to eat from the National Cake, once they are seen and believed to be haters of the Northern cohesion.

 In any case, all the bigots are supporting the compromised (blackmailed) Tinubu because they know that they would have to be fast enough to scurry out of the country the moment his administration comes to its just end, or be arrested and jailed for offences against the interests of the Nigerian people. And the writing on the wall cannot be any clearer than NOW.

People all over the country are openly calling on the military to take over from the present administration. Not long ago, some daring people in Ibadan, the headquarters of the president’s tribe, blocked a convoy of the Army and asked them to take over the government. And many people are writing in the social media, urging the military to take over, because the present administration knows nothing but to add more poverty, hardship, harshness and hunger in the land, obviously to the applause and approval of the President’s Western World’s controller.

The popular online newspaper, the Sahara Reporters, which came into the limelight during the tenure of President Olusegun Obasanjo, alleged that a judge in the United States had said that President Tinubu was a very important asset to the World Bank and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The opposition Presidential Candidate of the People Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2013 election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, called the Nigerian President some uncomplimentary and unprintable names that are completely not edifying to the image of the country.

The stark reality is that, apart from the First family, the Second family, ministers, heads of government parastatals/agencies, ‘elected’ members of the National (NASS), the mostly illiterate praise singers and the fake clerics, only the rabid and bigoted tribalist supports the present clueless and bumbling administration.

For instance, darkness is what most of the north gets instead of light, because of the habitual ‘collapse’ of the National Grid, which occurred uncountable times so far this year (2024). Although the supposed repair of the ‘collapsed’ power lines was said to be effected, many manufacturing plants in the region have folded up, or operate only a skeletal service with a very small number of workers because electricity is also supplied to the North only skeletally. Two hours of electricity, then six hours of ‘darkness’ continuously. The rest of the workers have been sent on an indefinite leave without pay, where they will remain ‘until further notice’. 

This looks suspiciously like an inside job by the present administration of President Tinubu, because of the retention of the failed minister of power in the cabinet, a tribe fellow of the president’s, with a view to stunting the progress of the north, while other sections of the country go ahead with development, notching a very wide gap ahead of the north.

And the president wants to deceive the gullible Northerners with empty promises of providing 20 hours of electricity to the nation by 2027, the year of the next general elections. Perhaps he has forgotten that early in his clueless administration, he told Nigerians NOT to REELECT him for a second term if he failed to provide the nation with 24 hours electricity during his first term.

The tax reform bill, now before the National Assembly (NASS), was rejected by the National Economic Council (NEC), which is (normally) chaired by the Vice President, because it was observed that its aim is to enrich the president’s sub region at the expense of other regions. But the ethnic bigots who surround him, are hell bent on seeing the passage of the skewed bill at the NASS.

So many anti other regions policies are deliberately included, but well hidden in the so called tax reform bill by the tribalist president, Nigeria is unfortunately saddled with. All his key appointments are to his tribe people, most of who rejected him at the presidential poll. Also, all the key ministries are occupied by people from his tribe. Name the ministry which belongs to the so called ‘economic hights’ of the country, only his tribe people head them.

A tax consultant, Chris Okafor, asserted that ‘attribution should take precedence over derivation’. According to the tax expert, who took Anambra state as a case study, he has been on the matter for sometimes, but keeps getting worried as the days pass on.

“One honourable member almost suggested that my worries are likely to be scaremongering. But the truth is, tax experts filed with Tinubu’s apologists and 90% South western Ronus worked on the bill and hid so much into the bill which will put Lagos and Ogun into economic advantage slightly short of extortion from other states . 

“And our South East (SE) governors and legislators have not set up a tax study group or even hire Global tax experts. Let us take Value Added Tax (VAT) as example. VAT is the tax charged on consumption of goods and services. By the reform bills, 60% of the VAT will go the state of collection. This sounds attractive right? But see where the problem is. I will use First bank, MTN and Chicken Republic as case studies. 

“First bank: The registered address of first bank in Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) or Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) is 35 Marina Lagos. However, First Bank has 15 branches in Anambara. In the course of rendering bank services, First Bank collects VAT from its branches. But the way it is right now, the VAT collected from the 15 branches of First Bank in Anambara is credited to Lagos because it is the registered office of the bank. Thus, if First Bank collects N500m as VAT from Anambara, 60% of it under derivation will go to Lagos. And this is replicated in the other states in Nigeria. 

“MTN has its registered office in Lagos. But as at 2021, it had about 3m voice subscription in Anambara. MTN collects VAT from the telecom services rendered to about 3m subscribers in Anambara on daily basis. Let’s say it collects N700m monthly from Anambara subscribers, MTN credits this amount it collects to Lagos state. And by the reform bill, Lagos will collect 60% of it. Now apply the principle to all the banks, breweries and mineral water bottling companies. You should be able to understand what the tax reform bill plans to do. 

“The proper thing as it is done everywhere in the world and should be done in Nigeria is what we call tax attribution to the area of collection. It is after tax attribution, you now talk of derivation. Using the above scenarios of First Bank and MTN, the VAT collected by FIRS from the 15 branches of First Bank in Anambara will be credited to Anambara state account with FIRS. That is tax attribution to area of consumption. Also, the VAT collected by MTN from the 3m subscribers in Anambara will be credited to the Anambara account with FIRS. And by the new bill, 60% of collections from MTN and first bank in Anambara will now be given to Anambara by way of derivation. This principle should be applied in all the states of the federation. 

“This is what we mean by tax attribution to the area collected before derivation. The tax reform bill must include proper attribution of tax to areas of collection before derivation or else, it will become extortion from the rest of the regions.

“Sadly, with their propaganda, they will tell you how the generate revenue more than the 35 states of the federation and we run with it. The publication of the dangers of this tax reform bill has been on for days”.

So if the tax reform bill would shortchange the small South East (SE) this much, then imagine the havoc that it would cause to the huge Northern region where number of functioning industries do not reach what is in the SE. If it passes in the National Assembly unchanged, and I am sure pass it would, because all the principal officers in the NASS are the President’s men, and the fact that most of the Northerners are mare sit warmers, the the North may as well consider the case as lost.

Even the recently vacated position of Special Adviser to the President on Media, was occupied by his tribe’s man as a replacement. All the presidents from the northern part of the country had never appointed their spokesmen from the region. The Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to President Muhammadu Buhari, Malam Shehu Garba, who was frequently heard in the north, was not the Special Adviser on Media. That he still serves the former president as his official spokesman is due to the proximity of Malam Garba’s Kano and the Daura home town of Muhammadu Buhari. For those who do not know, Kano is closer to Daura than Katsina.

To be sure, no president from the Northern part of the country ever appointed somebody from the region as his SA Media, despite the importance of the office, and the fact that there are many competent Northerners to handle the office just as well.

May God bring a permanent ease to Nigeria, her people and her affairs.

Malam Malumfashi wrote from Katsina.