Spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum, Professor Ango Abdullahi has said that the Nigerian oil industry which is concentrated geographically in the South-south region received a large chunk of its seed funding from the North.
Abdullahi said, “General Gowon spent more money in Lagos than what has been spent in Abuja, today. Gowon, a Northerner ruled the country for nine years and expended Nigerian money more in Lagos than is being expended here in Abuja. Let’s even go back to the beginning.
“It is the North that developed the present day oil industry in this country. It is Northern money; it is the Northern leadership that developed the oil industry. Check the statistics, the years and the people who ran the ministry of oil, energy or petroleum during the Tafawa Balewa administration. In fact, one of the oil companies raised the question, is the money coming from the North to be an investment or a loan? And I can quote Ribadu on this, he retorted by saying, ‘this money is Nigerian money and this oil, when it develops is Nigerian oil, so it doesn’t matter where the initial money comes from.’
“People are either myopic or so biased that they don’t care about history. In recent history, take the time of President Shehu Shagari for example, he was the first executive president of this country. You can’t accuse Shagari of being pro-North. Go to his village, go to his house in Shagari and see what it looks like. It was a leadership of sacrifice most of the time. It was do unto others as you would want them to do unto you. For the period we led this country, we did more for others than we did for ourselves. This is why we are being referred to as foolish.”