‘Supporters of SNC asking for civil war’

The National Coordinator of the Coalition of Northern Politicians,
Academics, Professionals and Businessmen, Dr. Junaid
Mohammed, has criticised the call for a sovereign national
conference, saying the proponents of the conference are asking
for another civil war.
In an interview with SUNDAY PUNCH, Mohammed said the
conference would not solve the problems of corruption,
illiteracy and poverty facing the country and noted that such
national conferences had yielded negative results in countries
such as Niger Republic, Benin Republic, Rwanda, and the
Democratic Republic of Congo.
He said, “The most spectacular failure of the national conference
system is that of DR Congo. DR Congo is a big country with big
problems. It’s a classical example of what you call a failed state.
They held a sovereign national conference with so much fanfare.
At the end of the day, what they had was not only a coup but a
revolution.
“So, I have news for those who believe national conference is the
panacea for the problems of Nigeria. Most of the problems of
Nigeria today are contextual problems. The sovereign national
conference in Nigeria will not solve the problems of corruption,
illiteracy and poverty. It will not give an honest and realistic
government and it will not give a sincere and responsible
revenue allocation formula. These are the problems of Nigeria.
“No country, so far, has disintegrated peacefully. What they are
asking or demanding is that we go through another civil war. If
they want that, they are more than welcome. But they should be
man enough to come out and say we want to disintegrate this
country and we are prepared for the consequences. The first
consequence is war; the second is the attendant consequences
of war. We don’t have anything to fear.”
Mohammed argued that the North had far more advantage over
the South, when it comes to war, stating that any set of people
who attempt to disintegrate the country would be crushed in the
way of Biafra.
“The last time the Igbo carried out their own coup, in which they
killed people from other ethnic groups and there was retaliation
and they started talking about war, we had war. Who lost? They
did.
Over one million lives were lost and over 90 per cent of them
were Igbo. And the people who instigated the Igbo to go to war
were Lagosians. When they took up the challenge, these people
withdrew from them. If they want that now, I wish them good
luck” he said.