ABUJA: Capital of Nigeria or Northern Nigeria? (2)

“Economy is the science of getting the maximum from life.”
Garry Becker. Nobel laureate in economics 1992.

“Minds are like parachutes, they work best when opened.”
Lord Thomas Dewar.

“The Yes-man is the enemy; your best friend will argue with you and even fight with you.”
Aleksandr Soltzenitsyn. (Russian Nobel laureate in literature)

“…The Siloviki’s code of honour is much like the Chechen’s code of honour – the unconditional protection of their own and the manipulation of others if it is necessary. They save their own but betray and frame agents who are recruited with the help of dirty tricks and money. Considering the current psychology of the Siloviki, who are busy with their own business affairs and tricking or framing others, the concept of “our own” has shrunk to mean one person – oneself. Everybody else falls into this category of “disposable agents.” who van be tricked, framed or discarded. Today there is no such thing as ‘our own’ people. The concept of ‘our own’ has relevance only for Swiss bank accounts, and everything else is expendable. The vermin think only about making a lot of money and don’t care about great Russia, the power and influence of which they measure in direct proportion to the quantity of money stashed away in their private accounts …”

Yulia Latynina. Famous Russian political analyst.
Excerpt of column titled “Protecting our own.”

*Silovili is a Russian word collectively used for officers of the Russian KGB
and Military. (Commentary by me)

**Chechens are a minority ethnic group in Russia. This region, very rich in oil has fought two fierce civil wars with the Russian army within the past 10 years in order to break away from Russia. (Commentary by me)

“Imagine a situation in which a good acquaintance – but not a close friend – suggests that you start a joint venture that requires you to invest all your savings. If you hesitate, he whips out a revolver and threatens to shoot your close relatives. This is how Russia‘s most recent suggestion for co-operation with the United States on a joint anti-ballistic missile defense system comes across. But the main point is that if the United States were to accept the Russian offer, it would have to entirely reject its present strategy of intercepting enemy warheads in space using missiles with a range of more than 2000 kilometers. In addition, the joint project would mean that the billions of dollars that the United States had already spent on its unilateral anti-system would be for naught. The other problematic aspect of Russia‘s proposal is that it would require an unusually high level of trust in each other to make this new relationship work. And Russia has done everything in its power to undermine this trust. A case in point: Ivanov has promised that if the United States does not cancel its plans to place a radar in the Czech Republic and elements of anti-missile batteries in Poland, Russia will deploy Iskander rockets in Kaliningrad aimed at U.S. installations in Europe. If Russia deploys these weapons, it will violate the terms of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe. This in turn could lead to a new stand off with Europe. On the surface, Moscow has offered to create a joint global anti-missile system that would significantly improve U.S.-Russian relations. But Moscow has threatened a new military stand-off if Washington refuses its proposal anf if it develops its anti-missile system in Europe. Thus, Moscow has proposed an absolutely meaningless and unrealistic initiative that will only distract and irritate Washington at a time when the Kremlin is frantically looking for U.S. support for Putin’s successor.”

Alexander Golts. Columnist on Defense issues for Moscow‘s English language newspaper.
excerpt from recently published column titled; “An Anti-Missile Proposal Doomed to Fail.”

ABUJA: AN IDEAL CAPITAL FOR THE NORTH.

Abuja as a capital is an ideal place for the North in all sense of the word. They figured out that if another civil war starts, a military Head of state from the North would have more than enough time at his disposal to quickly relocate to a military base in Kaduna or any other city in the North, from where a well planned attack or defense could be launched and co-ordinated. Moreover, incase of another civil war, the enemy would have to cross the River Niger or/and Benue which makes his task much more difficult. The fact that the new capital is located in Abuja gives any Northern military Head of state a psychological and military advantage. They won’t feel “vulnerable” again. No wonder after the failed Okar coup where he announced the secession of the South from the North, Babangida quickly relocated to Abuja. Thus, the decision to relocate the capital to Abuja provided much more security to a Northern Head of state, in case of a civil war, but makes a non-Northern Nigerian President very vulnerable, and as our analysis has shown, does not make the President of Nigeria safer in anyway should a war breaks out between Nigeria and a foreign country.

DILEMMA: HOW TO SELL THE ABUJA PROJECT TO NIGERIANS

Having agreed on Abuja as the new capital of Nigeria, the Northern Military officers had a formidable problem before them to tackle in order to realise their objective. How would they sell this idea or project to Nigerians, most especially non-Northerners, in order not to raise any suspicion? Although, it was a military regime, nevertheless, they couldn’t just say outright that the capital would be relocated to the North just like that without any cogent reason. More so, since the former capital, Lagos, was regarded as a Yoruba territory, and the Yorubas were on the federal government side during the civil

war, they needed to be careful and diplomatic about how they go about it.

The Northern military officers also could not just announce that the new capital would be relocated in any of the already existing major Northern cities like Kano, Kaduna, Zaria, Sokoto e.t.c. That would definitely raise suspicion too. They needed a more civilised or refined way of selling the idea. The first step in selling the idea of a new capital was discrediting or representing Lagos as an unsuitable city for Nigeria‘s capital because of his closeness to the ocean. Other flimsy excuses like congestion and equal access to all Nigerians were added for solidity and hide the ‘real’ motive. However, the biggest trick that was played on Nigerians by the Northern military officers was the “equal accessibility” of a new capital to all Nigerians! They sold it to us well and we swallowed it completely!

I am sure if you are objective and follow my analysis with an “open mind,” by now, you should be convinced beyond any reasonable doubts that the “hidden motive” for relocating Nigeria‘s capital from Lagos to Abuja was not because the Northern military officers really cared about the security of Nigeria and Nigerians. The capital was relocated to the North for their own “personal security” and other “strategic” economic and political reasons which include the following:

(1) To have a “complete control” of political events in the country;

(2) To “enforce” the “artificial” and “non-existing” unity of the country, by tying the South to Abuja, thus making the possibility of breaking up the country much more difficult;

(3) Incase Nigeria eventually breaks up, they already have a modern capital of their own completely at their disposal, completely built with the Niger delta money.