Exposing Prof Ango Abdullahi’s Lies About Nigeria ―By Annkio Briggs

Exposing Prof Ango Abdullahi’s Lies About Nigeria ―By Annkio Briggs

RESPONSE TO PROF. ANGO ABDULLAHI’s CLAIMS 

Southern Protectorate, Southern Nigeria And Or Niger Delta Have Always Sustained Herself Without Depending On The North For Any Economic Assistance, From Time Immemorial.

Verifiable Sources of Records with Facts and Figures Part 1 (Pre-amalgamation Era Records, from 1900 – 1913)

It is a fact that Southern Nigeria was a British protectorate in the coastal areas of modern-day Nigeria formed in 1900 from the union of the Niger Coast Protectorate (NCP) with territories chartered by the Royal Niger Company (RNC) below Lokoja on the Niger River. 

Lagos was added in 1906, and the territory was officially renamed the Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria. In 1914 Southern Nigeria Protectorate (SNP) was joined with Northern Nigeria Protectorate (NNP) to form the single colony of Nigeria.

‘The unification was done for economic reasons rather than political – Northern Nigeria Protectorate had a budget deficit: and the colonial administration sought to use the budget surpluses in Southern Nigeria to offset this deficit’. 

According to Micheal Crowder the great historian, in his article titled “Lugard and Colonial Nigeria – Towards an identity?”  Which was taken from his book “History Today” February 1986, Vol. 36,pp 23 – 29, wherein he stated thus: “the Colonial office ruled that the rich Southern Protectorate should provide the deficit-ridden Northern Protectorate with funds to finance its Baro rail line.” 

Consequently, even without waiting for the amalgamation of the northern and southern Nigeria, the Baro-Kano railway was built from £s77,207.09 (Pound Sterling) funds obtained as loan from Southern Nigeria (Source: Annual Report of the Colonies, Northern Nigeria, 1907-8, pp, 76)

The reality was that the Southern Protectorate was rich and the Colonial government had a surplus budget, while the Northern protectorate was poor and had a deficit budget, in ordinary language the Southern protectorate was rich, and the Northern protectorate was poor.  

That the North after amalgamation suddenly became rich to start funding the development of not only the North that took a loan of £77,207.09 (Pound Sterling) to build the Baro-Kano railway, which has not been paid back.

Flowing from the above, it has come to the notice of the NIGER DELTA SELF DETERMINATION MOVEMENT (NDSDM) and the NIGER DELTA OCCUPY NIGER DELTA RESOURCES (NDONDR) that Prof. Ango Abdullahi have made some statements and claims that we the Niger Delta people find necessary to respond to with verifiable facts and figures, to ensure that our people are not advertently or inadvertently misled. 

On the 5th of February 2017, in an interview conducted by Kenny Ashaka  and Abdullahi Hassan and published in the Sun, a Nigerian National newspaper, Prof. Ango Abdullahi in his capacity as the Spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) was quoted as saying “North Ready For Nigeria’s Break Up.”

It will be recalled that in a previous interview published by News Express on the 13/07/2014 (the 2014 National Conference was still sitting) Prof Ango Abdullahi, as spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum, was also quoted as “We are ready for Nigeria’s break-up”. 

This is based on the insistent breaking up of Nigeria proposal/offer made by the Northern Elders Forum, through their spokesman, Professor Ango Abdullahi, for themselves and on behalf  of Northern Nigeria as a whole.

We the Niger Delta Self Determination Movement (NDSDM) and the Niger Delta Occupy Niger Delta Resources (NDONDR), for ourselves and on behalf of the Niger Delta people hereby unconditionally accept the Northern Elders Forum offer as the NDSDM and NDONDR are ready for and desire such a break up as much as the NEF desire it. 

It should be noted here that there is no disagreement on the preparedness of the NEF (representing Northern Nigeria), and the NDSDM/NDONDR (representing the Niger Delta peoples) for the breakup of Nigeria, we look forward to the discussions that will speedily lead us to our desired end. 

Prof. Abdullahi have consistently stated that there is nothing wrong in dividing Nigeria, again we completely agree with the good Professor. We also agree with him that the North will prosper rapidly if Nigeria breaks up.

Before this final position of the North as clearly presented by Prof. Abdullahi, that the North has the capacity to develop fast if let go by Nigeria, we in the Niger Delta are aware that there existed a conspiracy as far back as 1900 between the colonial British government and the North, to oppress and deprive the indigenous and independent people of the geographical region the British Colonial Government named Southern protectorate. 

We believe that the North of Nigeria has more than enough resources like cows, goats, rams, sheep, beans, maize, tomatoes, onions, land mass and disputed population claim to develop faster (please refer to the document prepared by the Northern Think-Tank constituted by the Northern Governors, the Arewa Consultative Forum, the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation, with the title “Key Issues before the Northern Delegates to the 2014 National Conferences, see pages iii and 40). 

We in the South are willing and very ready to let go of the burden we have carried on our backs since before the creation of Southern and Northern protectorates as the North have perpetually depended on the South for all their socio-economic needs like roads, water, light, railways, schools, hospitals, civil servants salaries, and all other infrastructural need. 

It is necessary at this point to remind the world that we in the South pay for all the agricultural resources the North brings to sell in the South, while they take our own money from our resources for free and they create unviable States, LGAs, Federal constituencies and Senatorial districts for their economic and political gains and share our resources, including the distribution of our oil blocks to themselves. 

While we prepare for the discussion to break-up Nigeria, the NDSDM and NDONDR based on available and verifiable documents states unequivocally that the South of Nigeria as far back as the records exists have never depended on the North at any point in time for her economic survival or infrastructural development.  

The false claim by Prof. Ango Abdullahi that ‘the north sustained the entire Nigerian state from 1914 up to 1974” without verifiable records showing facts and figures is unacceptable, malicious and a deliberate attempt to  distort the historical records in the archives of the British government and all over the world.

We, the NDSDM/NDONDR are set to produce verifiable records containing historical facts and figures as available in the British archives in particular and other global verifiable records in general, to counter the false claims made by Professor Abdulahhi. 

It is our belief that, His Emenence Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the Emir of Kano spoke with hindsight of records (facts and figures), vis a vis the present day realities, where the different peoples from the Middle Belt, the Yorubas, the Ndigbo, and the Niger Delta are all agitating for Fiscal Federalism, Resource Ownership and Control and Self Determination, while in the North Boko Haram is rejecting Western Education as their own form of agitation. 

Based on the unsubstantiated claims of Professor Ango Abdulahhi the NDSDM/NDONDR hereby challenge and call on the professor to show or provide Nigeria and indeed the world, the sources of his malicious and bogus claim that the North sustained Nigeria with revenue from Northern Nigeria between 1914 and 1974. 

Failure to provide verifiable records to Nigerians and the world will leave us with no option but to continue with the release of authentic and verifiable records with facts and figures. To show our seriousness on this issue, we hereby present verifiable pre-amalgamation (1900 – 1913) records with facts and figures as follows:

Northern Nigeria Protectorate Revenue (Local) and Expenditure (1900 - 1913).

Please see table 1 below:

Data Analysis:

From the data on table 1 above, the North had a total budget expenditure of £2,999,488.00 (with an average annual expenditure of £599,897.60), a total local revenue of £1,158,240.00 (with an average annual revenue of £231,648.00, which is 39% of the total expenditure), thereby leaving a total budget deficit of £1,841,248.00 (with an average annual deficit of £368,249.60, which is 61% of the total expenditure).

We hereby call for a referendum for the break-up of

Nigeria (Niger Delta-N-Exit) and put the int'l

community on notice that Nigeria is ready to break-up,

based-on and relying on the offer of the North through

the spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum

and our Southerners in Nigeria

By implication, the north could only fund 39% of their annual budgets from 1900 - 1913, consequently, the 61% deficit of the north was funded by the South (13%), the Imperialists/British government (86%) and Lagos funds (1%), even when we had not been amalgamated.

Southern Nigeria Protectorate Revenue (Local) and Expenditure (1900 - 1913).

Please see table 2 below:

Data Analysis:

From table 2 above, the annual surplus budgets of the south from 1900-1913, shows that the south was rich, self-sufficient and even had surplus to give to the north. 

With a total annual cumulative expenditure of £17,025,583.00 in thirteen years, and an average annual expenditure budget of £1,216,113.07, its total cumulative annual revenue of £18,635,342.00, and average cumulative annual revenue of £1,331,095.86, the south therefore had a budget surplus of a cumulative total amount of £1,609,759.00, which is 9% of its total unspent monies.

It is important to note here that the south had budget deficits in 1905 and 1909 respectively but funded itself from its surplus reserve, and neither borrowed from the north nor the Imperialist/British government.

Also, it is worthy of note here that the £582,750.00 the South generously contributed to the north within the period 1900-1913 was generated from the South’s surplus of £1,609,759.00, which is cumulative annual average surplus of £114,982.79.  

Grant-In-Aid from Imperial Treasury & Southern Nigeria to Northern Nigeria(19001913).

Please see table 3 below:

Data Analysis:

From table 3 above, the annual deficit budgets of the north from 1900-1913, was funded by the South with a total amount of £557,750.00 (with an average annual funding of £55,775.00in thirteen years, which is13% of the North’s budget), the Imperialists with a total amount of £3,574,684.00 (with an average annual funding of £274,975.69 in thirteen years, which is 86% of the North’s budget) and Lagos funds with a total amount of £25,000.00 (with an average annual funding of £12,500.00 in two years, which is 1% of the North’s budget).

Based on the data, information and verifiable records and the sources we have presented above, we will begin to commence the compilation of same for the years 1914 – 2017 while we expect the good professor Ango Abdullahi and the North to provide their facts and figures on how the South have been depending on the North, citing verifiable sources and records with facts and figures

In conclusion, we hereby call for a referendum for the break-up of Nigeria (Niger Delta-N-Exit) and put the international community (including but not limited to the  United Nations, African Union, Economic Community of West African States, the American, British, French, German governments) on notice that Nigeria is ready to break-up now, based-on and relying on the offer of the North through the spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum and our Southerners in Nigeria.