BY Soni Daniel, Regional Editor, North

Second Republic Minister of Steel, Dr. Paul Unongo, has alleged that there is a tremendous and concerted effort to decimate the North and stifle its growth and assertiveness.

Unongo, who is the spokesman for the Northern Elders’ Forum, said in an-eleven-page document released to Vanguard yesterday that the recent escalation of conflicts between Fulani herdsmen and other groups in the North was part of the premeditated plans by those he called enemies of the north to actualise their evil plot.

Unongo also accused Professor Ben Nwabueze of being part of the campaign to decimate the north by claiming that there was no monolithic north since the area is made up of many tribes and languages.

The former minister, who said that those trying to rewrite the history of the north to suit their whims and caprices were doing so for selfish reasons, warned of the dire consequences of trying to cause dissension in the area.

According to Unongo, the Fulani-Tiv conflict was deliberately masterminded by the enemies of the north to find justification for its destruction by security forces.

He said: “The Tiv and Fulani of Northern Nigeria, having lived together for over 200 years as brothers, friends, and playmates, are now sold a dummy, that they are ‘enemies’ and must slaughter themselves to defend against forceful conversion to the religion of the foreign enemy.

“This has laid bare the true intentions of the tremendous effort being made to disunite the peoples of the North.

“Can a discerning true leadership from the North arise and see the true reasons why the current dispensation is encouraging all forces working tirelessly to weaken the concept of a unified Northern Nigeria?

”Is it not the fear of the tremendous clout a united Northern Nigeria will wield in the life of this terribly mismanaged Nigeria that interested parties are fanning the ambers of disunity and violence across the North?”