by Alexander O. Onukwue
The good news is that the quit notice has been suspended, but what did the Northern Youth show by the way they went about announcing it?
On the 6th of June, the constituent members of the group went to Arewa House in Kaduna and made a declaration which caught the attention of the whole nation. They were widely criticized for being divisive and engendering a political tension in the country not seen since military days. Governor Nasir el Rufai threatened that they will be arrested. But they had some silent and open supporters, most famously Prof Ango Abdullahi, and the Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau said they would not be arrested because they were quoted out of context in the media.
Fast forward 11 weeks and the youth, having gained some media coverage, have called off the quit notice, not in Kaduna, but at the Federal Capital Territory Abuja. With them on the press conference table was Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno, almost giving the group a certain air of validity. He would rubbish such an idea, stating that he is only there in a role akin to that of the father of a son who had thrown stones at the neighbours car and has been brought by the father to apologize.
But it cannot escape the imagination that the Youth wish to be seen as rubbing shoulders with constituted authority, as having obtained some form of legitimacy from their 11-week movement. This appears more the case if it is true that the quit notice should have been withdrawn weeks back according to Governor Shettima; it seems the announcement has come this week to coincide with the return of the President to the country.
Again, the shift of the blame to IPOB as the reason for the Northern group’s formation, citing the “turmoil” which the Nnamdi Kanu movement could create for the nation, seems crafted to be in rhythm with the “national red lines” hammered on by President Buhari in his Monday national address.
It is indeed good that the quit notice has been called off, but the group want to let Nigerians know that they are not the bad guys, and are in fact close to Government.
