The northern cabals (comprising of mafia-risque families) owns Buhari and the entire Nigeria. One doesn't have to think too hard to deduce how we got to this point. Without being hateful in parlance, Nigeria is indeed a zombified nation; and the people often get the kind of leaders they deserve. Nigeria jaga jaga, no be small.

Northern and Southern Forces

This has always been the dynamics at play within our politics. This often take different forms or ideas. The Nigerian amalgamation by the British joined a southern protectorate that was landlocked, rich in valuable resources and whose political structures had been highly severed, together with a northern region that was vast & mainly arid, depended on agriculture, whose political structures were untouched; and more pressingly, their influence extended as far as Futa Jallon. This was in its entirety a mismatch, and to add to that, the very fractured nature of the southern regions to the chagrin of a Northern hegemony united in ambition and driven by bitterness (The first Nigerian coup). This resulted to, in its unique way, a bitter civil war which further broke apart the south who were the major losers.

What happened after that?... Your guess is as good as mine. The Northern hegemony through the army gained resource control. Their interest changed and before the turn of the mid 70s, the groundnut pyramids that littered the northern region had disappeared completely. The focus on oil was indeed the goal of every government up until present, and this has been heavily guarded by deep rooted northern interests. Every single government has placed northern interest in the oil sector above every other; This is why in the past, a refinery complex was built in Kaduna with trunked pipelines channelling crude oil; and in the present billions are being channelled under the guise of oil explorations in the north and all sort of northern developmental programs. The oil in the south is majorly in the hands of the north.

A Tale of Two APCs.

A wise man once said that 'there was a country'. The northern interest in oil has always been guarded by northern interest to the chagrin of the people of the 'South-South'; This being a political expression that does not even exists in real terms, and that has been forced down our throat to keep us in perpetual division. THE ONLY TIME DURING THE JUNTA YEARS THAT NIGERIAS HEAD OF GOVERNMENT WAS NOT IN THE HANDS OF THE FULANI EMPIRE, (UNDER OBJ's MILITARY TENURE) THE PETROLEUM PORTFOLIO WAS UNDER CARE OF GENERAL BUHARI AND COMPANY. When they were losing grip on the scheme of things during the second republic of Nigeria, It was the same General Buhari and company that was called to secure their estates and protect their interest. Finally when Abacha needed to consolidate his powers as a substantive Head of state (in his mind, this was meant to be for a long time), who did he call upon? The same Muhammadu Buhari as head of the defunct Petroleum Trust fund (PTF), which ran its affairs unsupervised, almost like a parallel government. This leads to the tale of the first APC; AFRI PROJECTS CONSORTIUM.

When MB was called to head the PTF, his only condition was that he was made Executive Chairman, and he remained in that position until it was disbanded by the OBJ (1994-1999). His main qualification was an astute experience of the 'petroleum portfolios', and he was considered to be both a strict ~disciplinarian~ authoritarian, and an incorruptible man. His first task was to hand over PTF to a single consortium; Afri-projects Consortium (APC), as sole adviser to the Fund. This was a huge shock to the board, as the APC had exclusive power to initiate projects assess probable cost, approve costs, execute projects and assess quality of project. By the disbandment of this parastatal in July 1999 it had gulped an excess of 181billion naira. A little research on who the consultants that comprised APC would come to you at no shock at all, thus its easily understandable that 70% of all it projects were executed and fully completed in the north, while those in the south were often abandoned and uncompleted. There was a monumental fraud in the institution, in which Buhari acknowledged but denied responsibility (PMB is of an incorrigible reputation that he when he took over power placed the then Ex president Shagari and his vice Ekwueme on house arrest, because he felt the buck rested on their table). He even in his classical sense refused to appear in a 'reconciliationiary' effort (HRVIC) headed by the Late Justice Oputa, on his own sense of moral high ground. The PTF in its execution had functioned as a parallel government and he was accountable to know one. The prudent, puritan general only defence was that he was not aware of such massive fraud went on his watch, and he did not benefit personally. As much as N25billion is believed to have been siphoned by the consortium, created and headed by him. When an independent enquiry was set up to look into their expenditure, Salihijo Ahmad who was at the helm of the management mysteriously died of a heart attack (July 5, 1999), and the case was closed; Some quarters believed he committed suicide or was poisoned to guard a deep rooted secret.

The second tale begins almost like the first. At the height of the last dispensation, the stand of GEJ to re-contest and the systemic corruption that had been left to rot the system, led to a rift in the ruling party. The Northern hegemony who had been disturbed by GEJs body language, and the actions of his erstwhile petroleum minister; whom they felt insulted their position... had responded to heat up the polity as much as they could afford and raise as much dust. They then assembled and formed another consortium, The All progressive congress (APC). These people driven solely by self interest and championed by the interest of Northern Nigeria, again sought out a champion. Again it was the same retired champion who had always been a soldier and champion for the vested interest of the north on the geographic contraption called Nigeria. What did he do? He repaid the members of the assembly that packaged him as Presidential, consolidated his grip by securing his security structures to kit and kin in the most nepotistic way possible, and designed his kitchen cabinet to comprise of family members and a selected few. As always he sat upon the petroleum portfolio and has instantly changed its trajectory. We no longer here of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) who GEJ and the last legislature could not grow the balls to sign because the North wasn't fully in support of it. Today billions are awarded in contracts from the petroleum portfolios and channelled to the North undeterred. Still like the leopard that doesn't change its spot, Buhari is contented with his Executive chairman President of the country while monumental fraud, and hardship fall on the masses.


Resource control, Taxation and The Real Corruption.