After taking some time to read through the article, Soludo: Decision time for Yar'adua, I felt I needed to write this rejoinder.
Firstly, talking about the so-called poverty in the north, whom are we to blame? The writer wrote as if it is Soludo who collects the Federal allocation paid to these states, monthly. Who on earth does not know that more than half of all statutory Federal allocations to states in Nigeria goes to the North. Take a look at Kano state for example, Kano state has a population of 9, 383, 682 (2006 census), with 44 local government councils, while Lagos state, which has a population of 9.013.534 has just 20! Who should we blamed for the so-called poverty in the north? (The term "so-called" is used here, recognising the fact that poverty is found everywhere in Nigeria, not only in the north).
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I think the writer already provides the answer in his article (the last sentence in paragraph 11). Secondly, the writer talks about the employment programme embarked upon by the CBN. While I cannot comment on this, because I do not know how and from where the writer got his figures, nor am I privy to the criteria used by the CBN in making their recruitment, I must confess that I feel disappointed that this kind of issue is being raised. Nepotism is one of the major stumbling blocks in our path to development as a nation.
Finally, it is clear that the writer's interest is not necessarily in the well-being of the nation, but in the accomplishment of a set purpose.
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