Chairman, Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF) and Governor of Niger State, Babangida Aliyu has said that the North will survive in case of a break up of the country, Nigeria.
The Northern region is not afraid of being on its own as he warned against statements that suggest that the country is heading for a break up.
“If Nigeria splits, the North can still survive on its own contrary to the belief of some people in other regions that the north cannot survive if the nation disintegrates,” Aliyu declared.
He made the statement during a meeting in Minna with members of the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) in his office.
Babangida cited some countries in Africa that had disintegrated in the recent past, noting that such countries have not gone into extinction rather they have survived and are waxing stronger.
“No community in Nigeria should be afraid of separation. If some people want to go, they should go, we will survive. We are not scared of separation” he said.
“The same was said of Niger Republic. Niger was the poorest country in the world but today, if you see oil in Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto and Maiduguri, it would have come from Niger Republic.
“There is no way Niger and Chad can have oil and the north will not be able to do the same” Aliyu boasted.
Babangida Aliyu was said to be afraid of mentioning any name but it was believed that he was responding to threats by Alhaji Asari Dokubo that the nation would disintegrate in 2015 if President Goodluck Jonathan is not re-elected.
Meanwhile, Babangida Aliyu is accused of doing the biddings of the rebelled governors and not the stance of the northerners.
Alhaji Mushid Alero a frontline politician in the North Central believed that a united Nigeria is a force for national development and called on Nigerians to ignore Babangida Aliyu.
According to him, politics is all about disagreement and agreement but must be devoid of ethnic and personal sentiment as perpetrated by Aliyu and his cohorts, saying Nigeria must come out stronger. ##
