yesterday, escaped being lynched when hoodlums among the estimated
30,000 youths attending the Northern Youth Summit in Kaduna suddenly
turned violent and went for the organisers of the event, while
policemen on ground looked the other way.
The Murtala Square venue of the summit, which was thronged by the
youthful men and women, said to come from mainly far northern states,
was alive when the occasion kicked off around 11am. But it turned out
that most of them had little idea why they were there.
The coordinator of the summit, also the Chairman, Northern Youth Forum
(NYF), Jibrin Tafida, mounted the rostrum, surrounded by other states
coordinators, soon launched into oration on what the real North should
be like and how their forebears were exploited by past northern
leaders.
The initial applause he got reduced to murmuring. Coordinators from
Kano, Jigawa and Kebbi, who spoke in the same tone, did so in an
atmosphere of arguments in the crowd.
Suddenly, a crowd of ill-clad youths was formed which started asking
in loud voices that they heard what President Goodluck gave the
organizers on their behalf, since Tafida had claimed so much closeness
to Nigeria's number one citizen.
Others claimed that the organizers had collected money to induce a
fight among the youth during the sharing of the booty, so "they could
use the blood that would be shed in the free mason fetish".
Soon, the unruly youth started throwing stones and other objects at
the rostrum as they shouted, "Give us our share of the loot" and,
"free mason, you will not taste our blood. You will instead shed your
blood".
Some of the youths drew daggers and charged at the organizers. But it
would seem that the pro-Jonathan group had envisioned such a scene,
because their private security guards sprang from nowhere, but unarmed
and stood to the attackers, who relaxed the aggression. The
anti-Jonathan mob seemed to be adding in numbers, as sticks, clubs and
stones flew towards the direction of the rostrum.
While thousands scampered for safety, a vehicle forced its way into
the place where Tafida and his three main officials were protected by
a ring of supporters and body guards. At this point.
While the drama played out, the hundreds of policemen around the venue
kept a safe distance.
Tafida and his men boarded the vehicle and were driven into safety.
The summit lasted about 35 minutes.
Goodluck Jonathan clearly declared on the Live Media Chat that 2015 is still far away for him to decide if he's going to run for re-election to the Presidency. So the question is "Is he aware that there are people presently campaigning for him and what has he done to curtail this act from escalating into a full blown crisis?
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