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The Bitter Truth: The Lye Called Nigeria And Other Observations By Hamza Katsina
An intelligent man once stated that “experience is the best teacher and a fool will learn from no other”. Well, I must be the biggest fool, but fortunately I had the best teacher, whose lessons were often tampered with love and compassion. To me life is a collection of experiences, and since I don’t believe in coincidences or accidents, I am also of the view that each experience is intended to be a unique lesson, meant to teach and equip us with the vital tools needed for survival in our physical and social environment through the course of our existence.
My lesson began very early on in life, back in Nigeria between 1973 and 1980, where life was a constant struggle. On a good day we looked forward to one good meal a day; fruits, meat, milk and other high protein and nutritious items were a luxury.
In school my classroom was under a big tree with over 50 other kids, and I was one of the lucky ones whose parents believed in education and so I wasn’t sent out to hawk items on the streets to help make ends meet. Teachers were often absent and so we spent most of our time playing under the hot sun in this arid part of Africa. This experience or lesson however did not last very long, and at the age of about eight I found myself in the United States of America, where I attended some of the best schools in the world from elementary to high school. The change was exciting and unexpected; not only were the classrooms indoors but they had heating, and cooling systems too. To top it off, at lunch they even provided you with free meals, which teachers encouraged you to eat. We were constantly reminded of the benefits of milk, fruits and vegetables that were always available, but to my dismay loathed by many pupils, who often sneaked them into the garbage.
Looking back however, the best part of my education was the values we were taught. I know this will come as a surprise to many, especially those unfamiliar with the U.S culture other than what they see in movies, and so equate the U.S with sex, violence, and disrespect, especially of the elderly. But it’s true, in this part of America at least, I was taught core values that have stayed with me and have helped me navigate and succeed in many life experiences. Values drummed into me such as tolerance, respect and understanding of other religions, cultures and life styles at such a young age have proved to be invaluable. Most of all however; I was taught to be proud of who I am and value my own culture, history, and identity. This coupled with the constant reminder of the importance of honesty and money earned through hard work has made me cherish my stay in the U.S and love the people.
The state and indeed the city we lived in, in the U.S was a good place, beautiful scenery and kind people, in fact the most kind and accepting I have come across to this date, so soon my past lesson with poverty was a distant memory. I quickly adjusted to my new life, but was met with a new lesson— that of my identity. I was in a predominantly “white” school, and for a long time I was one of only three other black students, all in different classrooms. I put the white in quotation marks because there were Asians, Middle Easterners, and South Americans, but at that time to me they were all white. It was early 80’s amidst the tense relationship between the U.S and Iran, and thousands were starving in Africa. There I was black, African, and Muslim, in a part of America that did not even have a mosque at the time and with hardly a black population.
Again looking back I have come to understand why there was so much emphasis on the values we were taught in school because as good as the people were they were as curious as they were ignorant of other cultures. Their view of Africans or blacks in general was just as riddled with prejudice as the African view of the “white man”. For example we expect every “white man” to be naïve yet school smart, and to always be on time. Some of us even expect the “white man” to lack core family values, and mores. They too had their own biases against the African/black man and so soon the pressure to conform to these biases especially those pertaining to my color was palpable, and even more so as I got older.
I was expected to be a good athlete, and of course do drugs, and know where to buy them. Because of my color I was “pigeon holed” into a particularly category and expected to play the part. After a while you begin to feel that even friends, teachers, and neighbors all expect it. Once I cut myself on my chin while shaving for the first time and placed a bandage on the wound. When I got to school that morning my homeroom teacher asked me to stay back after class, which I did. She approached me after the class had left, sat down next to me and explained that she understood how difficult and challenging living in some neighborhoods was and in earnest went on to lecture me on the dangers of drugs and fighting. She had automatically assumed that I lived in a bad neighborhood, had been in a fight and drugs were involved, just because of my color.
Been one of only a few blacks in our town (and an African as well as Muslim for that matter) made me somewhat popular. Every festive holiday, be it Christmas, Easter, Thanks Giving or Hanukkah, I would receive invitations from several families to join them for dinner or some type of a celebration. At every such invitation I brace myself for the inevitable question from my friend’s usually older relatives such as: “why do the Muslims hate us?” Or “What I don’t understand is if China can feed itself why can’t Africa?” From younger relatives it’s usually: “How do you defend yourself against all the wild animals?” Fortunately my friends, along with their immediate family, were always there for me and I rarely had to respond.
As I mentioned earlier, my experience in the U.S was overwhelmingly positive and I viewed such infrequent questions and comments coming out of ignorance and prejudice, which to some extent we are all guilty of. Human nature however is funny because it only takes one person and one such question at a party, dinner, or classroom to make you feel out of place. In my case it not only made me feel out of place at times, but kept intensifying that burning desire to find my identity and place in society. The society in general and in particular the media did not make this any easier. This was a period before Denzel Washington, and the glamorous Mrs. Obama, hence most images of black people on T.V was that of a drug dealer or comedian. “Beautiful”, “handsome” “smart” and “sophisticated”, was mostly “white” even in the school literature we were taught.
In my third year in high school we left the U.S and returned to Nigeria, It was 1989 and I was now 17 and a foreigner in my own country. I hardly spoke the language and had no knowledge of our culture and traditions. My religion too was unfamiliar to me, to the extent that I did not know how to even recite the Fatiha properly, and how or even how many times I should perform the Salat. It had only been about nine years since we left, but those were my formative years, and so everything was alien to me. This had its advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantage was that as a Nigerian from the Hausa/Fulani tribe I was expected to behave in a particular way, which I couldn’t and didn’t because it wasn’t who I was. In short, just as in the U.S, again I was pigeon holed and expected to live to people’s expectations, except this time it was not based on color but religion and tribe. The advantage was that since everything was foreign to me I could see things from a neutral view, and I did not like what I was seeing in Nigeria. Ours was a fragmented society, torn by religious, tribal and even regional bigotry that was just as divisive, destructive and hurtful as the era of open and institutional racism in the U.S that was taught to us in U.S history class. The level to which it has been ingrained and accepted by people and society at large was shocking. And because it was so entrenched and accepted in society it was hardly noticed and its consequences such as poverty and violence, although widespread and devastating, was hardly ever attributed or accepted to be the byproducts of this bigotry. Thus the root cause was hardly ever seriously addressed, but rather inflamed by “revered” religious, traditional and political leaders to their benefit.
What I observed was that in our society, it could be considered an insult to simply be called by a particular tribe that is not yours. It is common to hear a person from the Hausa tribe chastising their child for acting like an “inyamiri”, which is a derogatory word for Igbo, one of the major tribes in Nigeria. The same is true vice versa among the Igbo’s and Yoruba’s as well as other tribes. I was also opportune to travel to the Southern part of the country, where I stayed for about three months. There every Friday, I would wear my traditional Hausa/Fulani Muslim clothes for the Muslim Friday prayer, and every Friday I would hear someone shout out “mallam!” or “aboki!”, both derogatory words for Hausa, as we made our way to and from the mosque. Depending on the context I have come to equate all these derogatory references to the word nigger, and interestingly enough I had never been called that or heard any of the people around me utter it in the U.S.
Because of this toxic relationship between tribes and religious groups people mostly tended to associate and reside in neighborhoods populated with those who are of the same tribe, region and/or religion. In fact whenever possible, they would prefer to do so with people from the same village and religious sect because the same toxicity taints all relationships. “You can’t segregate yourselves into a small enough social unit”, I used to say to myself when I realized this. The reason of course is because the toxicity is not because of our differences but rather because of the disease called bigotry that lies in all our hearts. Bigotry is like the mythical vampire virus, roused by fear and ignorance of our differences such as in culture, religion, language and color that should in fact be our strength as a people. It is an evil that gains in strength and notoriety with every act of hate and violence that it incites out of this tenuous fear and ignorance, under the guise of these differences. Like a vampire, once a victim, your immediately overwhelmed with the desire to find a victim of your own. Therefore even if a family, infected with this disease, is able to isolate themselves from the rest of the world, they will still fall victim to this evil, because even among family members there are differences, even if it’s just in an articulated thought. The only solution is to purge oneself of this disease.
Bigotry however was not the only scourge that I noticed threatening us as a nation. We also seemed to be afflicted with a dire case of identity crisis, exasperated by the media. The image of beauty whether in an advertisement, Nigerian movies or shows on T.V was mostly of a light skinned woman or even child. Light skinned or “fare” (especially with regards to women) has become synonymous with beauty and success. Again just as in the U.S I had the same burning desire with regards to my identity, and finding myself in a nation much worst and uninviting in terms of bigotry then the foreign land I left.
I lived in Nigeria for about ten years after my return from the U.S. I left college in 1997 and after searching in vain for employment I departed and moved to Niger. There I found a job with an organization belonging to the Peoples Republic of China (Taiwan). In Niger I again witnessed the same level of bigotry, but because of what I had seen in Nigeria it didn’t surprise me. What was disturbing to me was the attitude of our Chinese employers and colleagues towards those of us of African heritage. For instance, my first assignment after securing the job was at the residence of our Chinese employer. Been my first assignment I arrived a bit early and so I sat down with their security guard, who I would later learn, was called Clement, at the gate. I sat there chatting with Clement and shortly afterwards their maid came out with food for him. As is customary in our African tradition he invited me to share the food with him and when I declined he insisted but I still politely declined. By this time I knew the African thing to do should have been to at least have a taste of the food or he may feel insulted. However I couldn’t because the tray the food was on looked so worn and unclean. We continued talking as he ate until I was finally able to muster the courage and asked him why they don’t provide a descent tray. Clement said in a matter of fact tone, as if I should have known: “oh, they give us food on the same tray their dog is fed with”. I was flummoxed by the response, but I soon did come to know and that was my first experience with blatant racism; not in some far away land, but on my own continent.
Some of our Chinese employers would refuse to shake hands with Africans, and where they had to, if for instance it was a high ranking government official who came to visit, they would do so with a big smile, but would go and scrub their hands the minute he or she leaves. They even had separate dishes, and drinking cups for such visitors. The really perplexing part about the whole thing however, was that they were medical doctors, who I felt should have known better.
The purpose of giving this example of course is not to malign the Chinese or anyone. Among our Chinese employers I have met and befriended some really good people such as our Chief (Director) and his wife, who on many occasions explained to me that they did not share such views. The reason why I share this particular experience is to highlight the rot in our African society as a consequence of our bigotry and inferiority complex. Bigotry of course begets fear which eventually leads to hate, resentment, suspicion and distrust, which in turn results in disunity, poverty and violence among people. For centuries foreigners have capitalized on this to plunder our resources, enslave us, humiliate us and dehumanize us even in our own land. Nothing has really changed since the time of slavery. As a people we are still infested with the same factors that allowed unscrupulous people, whether foreign or our own “leaders” to turn us into human commodity, and indeed they continue to do so, except today it is more settle, even if just as destructive. Neither clement nor I wanted to work under such conditions, but as a human being in a land where your children can literally starve to death if you can’t provide, you learn to cope in order to survive. One of the greatest lessons I learned during this time was that what people refer to as dignity and honor are a luxury that sometimes you can’t afford.
Fortunately I worked in Niger for just over a year, than I left for Singapore and Malaysia, both lovely nations. From there I secured a job in Thailand and eventually settled in Brunei. During all this time the burning desire to find myself and place in society never left, especially because of the treatment I was regularly subjected to either due to my nationality, or color. In Malaysia and Thailand it was common while I was walking to work to hear someone shout-out, “nigroooo!”, their version of nigger, or for someone to leave their seat when I sit next to them on the bus. The police would also regularly block major destinations in Kuala Lumpur and pull aside only black persons insisting on seeing their Visa, at times aggressively, to verify their legal status in the country. People of course would stop and stare. The humiliation I felt each time is beggaring description, and could only be compared to the racist abuses hurled at us “non-whites” when I once went to a Premiere League game in Europe.
Today I have reached that age and financial stability when I would like to retire and leave all the hassle of living in a foreign land behind me, and once again attempt assimilating into the Nigerian society. Of course I am forever grateful for the experience that I have had thus far and have no regrets, but it’s time to find myself a place I can call home I feel. There is however one major problem that I have painfully come to realize— I have no home to go to!
To begin with, even though I have never directly financially benefited from my government back home (Nigeria) whether in the form of a job or otherwise (despite the fact that it has vastly benefited from my labor abroad such as through the remittance I send and various investments) it is unable to provide me with the basics that every functioning government should. I am not even talking about very basics such as a functioning healthcare system, transport system, education system, electricity, or even potable water. I can afford to provide all these for myself and my family if not in Nigeria than from outside the country. What I require is the basic of the very basics which also happens to be the very reason why the institution known as government came into existence a long time ago, mainly security and a functioning legal structure upon which all public as well as private institutions are justly governed by.
Security is important to me and even more so since I have a relatively young family with children who are bound to want to go out to explore. Unfortunately Nigeria has become one of the most dangerous nations in the world. In the South crude oil bunkering, armed robbery and piracy have become a favorite past time of the teeming young and unemployed with devastating consequences to the social and economic lives of the people. Kidnapping is another activity that has gained a firm foothold to which practically everyone has fallen victim to including several octogenarians, a two year old infant and even the present president of the federation himself when his uncle (some papers say cousin) was kidnapped, as well as the eldest son of Chief Edwin Clark, the self proclaimed freedom fighter of the South-South. These disreputable activities in fact are at times the handiwork of various well organized and armed militias in the region, such as MEND, proclaiming to be fighting the federal government for the rights of their people.
Other parts of the Southern part of our nation where the previously mentioned nefarious activities are not so rampant are challenged by “cult” activities whereby human beings of all ages and social backgrounds are abducted, slaughtered and dismembered wholesale, supposedly for ritual purposes. Baby factories, whereby poor vulnerable young girls are abducted, raped and impregnated is another enterprise these same communities are infested with. The babies are usually sold to the highest bidder for whatever purpose.
We come to the North, where the godless and faceless “Boko Haram” has completely destroyed thousands of villages that have existed for centuries, and have managed to bring economic and social activity in the entire region almost to a halt. They have, at will, literally slaughtered thousands, rapped, kidnapped and pillaged unchallenged, until recently when the citizens of Borno (thanks to the gallantry of the youth in Hausari) formed a vigilante group known as ‘Yan Gora. In fact this depraved group is successfully on its way to overtaking The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) of Uganda, another religious extremist group, as the deadliest in Africa if not the world. Just recently they abducted over 200 girls from a government secondary school in Chibok local government. Never mind that they had previously literally slaughtered and burnt alive in classrooms and dormitories almost 200 students in various places in Yobe state alone. Nowhere in the North seems to be safe or out of reach including the capital Abuja, where they recently attempted a prison break less than a hundred yards from the presidency and detonated a bomb at Nyayna Bus Station killing at least 70. Every day they continue to kill, maim, torture, rape, abduct, and pillage at will and as elsewhere our government appears helpless, unable, unwilling or what I don’t know. All this is besides the regular religious, tribal and economic based conflicts such as between farmers and herders plaguing our nation.
Like in the south many in the north attribute all these conflicts to “God’s will”, or that they occur because of “our lack of devotion to God” and the only way out they believe is “prayers” and more prayers. Shockingly even our Commander In Chief believes this and regularly holds special prayer dinners, breakfast and what have you. At times this leads one to wonder whether the god we worship is so busy managing and punishing Africa and Nigeria in particular that he forgets there are other “sinners” elsewhere who seem to get away scot-free. Religion is practically dead in many European and Asian nations for instance, such as in the Netherlands and Japan, yet they seem to live a pretty comfortable conflict free life. Could it be that it’s because they deal justly with each other?
Now let us examine the legal structure in our nation, which to be blunt only exists on paper. Corruption is the order of the day governing and dictating policy at every institution in the land up to the presidency including what we have that passes for healthcare and education. Projects are initiated by various government departments not to better the lives of the common man but to provide the avenue for embezzlement. The sad reality is that bribery, kickback and outright theft of public funds is so common and widespread that Nigeria operates on two economies, the official and real economy. The official economy is the one that sets the minimum wage for the file clerk at your local government clinic at eighteen thousand naira, despite the fact that even a child will tell you that the average family in the country needs at least four to five times that for food alone in order to survive. The real economy is the one in which that file clerk at your local government hospital earning a minimum wage will receive bribe from those who can afford to pay to shorten their waiting time for seeing a doctor for instance. It’s simple, if he/she doesn’t their family will not eat.
The problem I have though isn’t the corruption, I don’t intend to ever work for the Nigerian government or any organization for that matter, God willing. What I have a problem with is that as long as you live in the country you will be forced into the “system”, thus aiding and abetting. For instance what happens if, while living in the country I get into an accident that clearly is not my fault? Knowing full well that Justice in Nigeria is up for sale to the highest bidder; do I bribe my way out? If I don’t the other person will probably do so, and then I will be the one at “fault”. This isn’t just supposition; this is the sort of real moral dilemma that I am faced with every time I visit the country right from the airport. Again like the economy, in Nigeria we have what the law says on paper, and the real justice, which is money.
The absence of a functioning legal system upon which all institutions are governed by of course means the absence of a civil society, thus paving the way for criminals of all sorts such as Boko Haram, Child traffickers, pirates, militants, and oil thieves to operate with impunity. To be sure, every nation has its crime and criminals, but they don’t hold a whole nation at ransom. In very few nations do criminals posses the monopoly of power and force over the government to the point where they forcefully extract an amnesty and payment of billions each year as “allowances”, “salary” and “contracts”, which all is really just mafia style protection money that our government has been forced to pay. In very few countries do criminals freely drive in convoys of up to 200 military trucks in broad daylight, even into one of the nation’s biggest cities and at will break into banks, kill the innocent including women and children, rape and abduct after over running the military in their own barracks. Boko Haram did just that uncountable number of times including in Maiduguri, undoubtedly one of our major cities, where they entered twice under a state of emergency. The first time they over-ran the air force base near the domestic airport (thank God there were no domestic flights landing) where they went on a rampage killing soldiers and their families including children, before setting the place on fire including fighter jets. The second time was the attack on Giwa Barracks where they did the same and freed thousands of prisoners, yet the government is still talking about dialogue with them. I won’t even mention the free-hand enjoyed by other criminals, but it will suffice to say that the bitter truth is Nigeria is a failed state. Nobody is really in charge, and even our president who is supposed to be the top civil servant and commander in chief as well as our legislature (senators, and members of the house) know it even if they won’t admit it. It’s only on paper that he (the president) is the top civil servant and commander in chief and they (legislators) are the top law makers, thus creating a check and balance. In reality however they know that they hold minimal influence and the only thing they check is to make sure they get their balanced share of the loot through endless and ineffectual committees.
The sad part of all this is we don’t have to be like this. We are a nation blessed with human as well as natural resources, and hence, if it took nations such as Malaysia, South Korea, and Singapore roughly just a decade to build a civil society, eradicate corruption and significantly better the lives of their people in terms of rule of law and essential amenities such as education, healthcare, transportation, electricity, and potable water it should take us even less.
Unfortunately however corruption has so permeated every aspect of our lives, cutting across all social classes from the file clerk to the president that tackling it seems impossible. Where do you start? How can you stop a family man/woman earning forty thousand naira or less, in a country that you at least need eighty thousand naira (by the most conservative estimate for a family of five) for essentials alone, from collecting bribe? How do you reconcile the lie that’s on paper to the reality we are living so that policy can start to reflect reality and actually make sense?
I am no Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, but then again you don’t have to be to know where you start fighting corruption from. To begin with you don’t start with the file clerk and other junior to mid-ranking government officials; besides in most cases they are foot soldiers simply doing the bidding of their seniors. You start at the top of each political unit that we have, specifically with those elected into office from our councilors to state legislatures, governors, federal legislatures and president. The outcome of mitigating corruption at each of these political units will be that what’s on paper will finally begin to match the reality we are living.
Money allocated to build your local clinic and the funds to maintain it for example will no longer “mysteriously” diminish by 75% to 80% (such is the level of corruption in our nation) or worst disappear into some peoples pocket all together, instead at least 75% to 80% of the funds will be used for their intended purpose. This means there will be enough funds to build a clinic that can actually cater to the needs of the two hundred thousand or two million people it was intended for in size as well as availability of medicine and staffing. The same goes for schools, roads and other essentials. All of the sudden that eighteen thousand naira earned by the file clerk will not seem so measly, because now there will be no need of spending some 70% of his/her salary on education for the children, medicine for the family, and cooking fuel. The reason being that the public schools, hospitals and fuel subsidies will meet the needs of those they are intended for. This will also help bring badly needed investment in areas such as agriculture and create an even playing field for all Nigerians to invest and import essentials items instead of just a few people who are really just fronts for top government officials. This competitive environment will again help bring down the price of essential items such as food and the naira will appreciate to a healthy level, which will also help bring down the price of imports. Managing an economy is not an art, it’s a science.
The file clerk is also able to extort bribe from the public because he/she has a need and there were those with the need for what’s on offer who are willing to pay for it. With adequate services available this need will greatly diminish, but most importantly the sympathy the clerk enjoyed will also diminish, because let’s face it, most of us in Nigeria are not only engaged in corruption but are sympathetic to it. We know that the amount earned by most of our brethren and sisters in most of these government divisions is outrageous and not in tune with reality so we look the other way or even encourage it. Hence it has become a necessary part of life in Nigeria. This will no longer be the case and corruption will be treated as the vice it is at all levels, turning it into a social stigma, instead of it been celebrated.
Now for the big question: who is it that will stop corruption and outright theft of public funds and property by these political office holders? There are two possibilities. The first is that “special” leader we have been waiting for all these years. But he/she better indeed be special and posses some super powers along with it, because at each political level in this country, starting from district, to local government, state and finally federal level, is a powerful clique that financially benefits from the corruption and other mismanagement issues stemming from it. This evil circle is of wolves’ not in sheep’s clothing but in Agbada/baban riga, the cross and the crescent; in other words an iniquitous union between traditional rulers, religious leaders, and politicians found at all these levels. I call this partnership the Trio of Doom. Many have fallen victim to their wickedness but the most prominent one was General Tunde Idiagbon. Like him or hate him, he was one of the few at that level that dared The Trio of Doom and fought to alter the status quo. But who remembers him now?
The alternative way for us to stop corruption would be for us citizens of this potentially great nation to finally take responsibility and hold elected government officials accountable. The truth of the matter is our politicians aren’t worst or less able than politicians from elsewhere; they do what they do because they can get away with it. Contrary to what many of us believe it’s not the government that should police itself through EFCC or some other spurious initiative. That responsibility squarely falls on the citizenry.
Only citizens have the power to break up this evil alliance between The Trio of Doom that was introduced by the colonialists to reduce span of control and hence better control and divide and rule us and institutionalized by our so called founding fathers after independence.
Today like the British, this unholy alliance uses the differences among us such as that of religion, tribe, region and so on to sow the seed of hate and mistrust. They have succeeded in making the North believe that the real problem facing this nation is the South and vice versa. Additionally they have succeeded in the same between Muslims and Christians nationwide. Of course it doesn’t stop there because in the South they have succeeded in turning the Igbo against Yoruba, Itsikiri against Ijaw and the list goes on and on. In the North it’s Muslim against Christian, Fulani against Tiv, everybody against Hausa and again the list goes on and on.
They have also succeeded into making us believe that we need them because they are the only ones who can protect us from our nemesis. Without them, those parasitical Hausa’s will surely come down South to enslave everybody, forcefully convert everyone into a Muslim and turn all that oil money into their own. And of course Southerners, who are naturally full of hate for Islam, will slaughter us all in the North and enslave those still alive, forcefully turning their children into Christians. After all, is it not because of Igbo’s that we have so much armed robbery? And we all know that if not for the Hausa/Fulani Bayelsa with all that oil will be more developed than Dubai. Furthermore who in their right mind can discount the harm done to this nation by Yoruba’s and their rituals, drug running and 419? Certainly their evil ways is the reason why God is punishing us all with all these calamities. Sadly as ridiculous as these may sound many Nigerians believe them.
Even if at first we were inveigled into believing this garbage, the very sad fact of the matter is that today the ruse of the Trio of Doom succeeds into turning us against each other because we want to believe the bunk they feed us. That place in our hearts and minds where understanding, compassion, love, common sense and reason ones reigned has been prevailed upon by the disease that is bigotry.
We can therefore continue waiting for that special leader or take responsibility and bring about the change we know we need. The reason we haven’t I believe is because responsibility is hard, and it’s always easier to blame someone else instead of looking in the mirror. It’s easier for us to blame the Hausa’s, Ibo’s, or Yoruba’s for our local issues than to take responsibility and ask our councilor, chairman or governor, who most likely is “one of us”, why the schools in our district are dilapidated and have no qualified teachers who actually teach. It’s easier for us to sit around and relentlessly complain about those treacherous Yoruba’s, thieving Ibo’s, and freeloading Hausa’s or simply drown our sorrow in alcohol, religion, or the premier league than to demand for descent healthcare. It’s easier to deny reality through violence under the guise of fighting for our religion, tribe or region than to inquire why we don’t have jobs for our youth. It’s also easier to hope that the councilor who may happen to be a relation or of the same religion, tribe, state or region will take pity and give us a share of his/her loot than to actively demand for better governance from them through democratically acceptable means.
This is exactly what The Trio of Doom want, that we keep busy accusing each other and even killing each other so that they can loot to their hearts desire. Their biggest nightmare is we take responsibility and start asking the right questions.
We forget or choose to forget that the political structure of Nigeria does offer significant autonomy to states, local governments, and even districts. At each of these political levels money is regularly allocated, and states do have a certain degree of control over their resources. Despite this however, how many of us actually know our states allocation, or how much our local government and district deserve from this? How many of us ask how the money is spent in our district, let alone local government and state? Sadly far too few and unfortunately the press who should also be the conveyors of such information don’t. In fact we don’t even have a responsible press, instead what we have are advertisement and promotional magazines, and newspapers under the pretext of press, where a story can be concocted or twisted to suit the taste of the highest bidder. Ask the publisher of the defunct Next Magazine, he will tell you.
I am not suggesting that the federal government is free from blame, certainly not. But to change things at that level requires that we start at the local level. Breaking the influence of The Trio of Doom at the district level will have a domino effect that will reach the federal level. Is it not a group of districts that make up a local government, which in turn make up a state? Are the states not what make up Nigeria?
The only way to break The Trio of Doom is to rid ourselves of bigotry and to learn to shout loud and clear “NOT IN MY NAME” whenever anyone utters a bigoted comment against any religion, tribe, or region. We must learn to deal with the issues instead of chasing shadows. Not in my name should be our cry, our handle and signature to constantly remind ourselves and others of the evil of bigotry. But the bitter truth is as a people we seem to thrive on sensationalism and sentiment whether religious, tribal or otherwise, even if it’s to our own detriment. We are like a bunch of junkies whose drug of choice is bigotry; we get a thrill from the high even if only temporarily.
There is however hope, and ironically it’s in the most recent attack against Giwa Barracks in Maiduguri by the vicious Boko Haram. Giwa Baracks is found in the middle of two neighborhoods, namely Fouri and GRA, both affluent and populated mostly by educated residence of Borno. In the early morning when the murderous terrorists attacked, most of the residents fled in terror leaving their homes unlocked and in most cases wide open with their valuables including money inside. The terrorists broke into shops stealing food and whatever they could carry. The only challenge to the terrorists came from the ‘Yan Gora, some of whom are also in the Civilian JTF. On hearing the deafening sounds of artillery and screams for help the ‘Yan Gora poured into Fouri from all the surrounding neighborhoods. They came armed with nothing but clubs and crude weapons, yet they confronted Boko Haram and at the end were successful even in preventing Boko Haram from acquiring more arsenals from the barracks after most of the soldiers fled. To be fair there were soldiers uplifted by the gallant efforts of the ‘Yan Gora who also jumped into the fray. The most notable at this battle was a soldier from the South East of our nation, who the ‘Yan Gora afterwards lifted up high on their shoulders in appreciation.
What touched me the most about the actions of the ‘Yan Gora however was not the countless number of people they saved, including women and children, or even the fact that they were victorious and succeeded in defending their city. What impressed me most was that on sighting the deserted plush houses with their gates and doors wide open, they headed to the shops broken into by Boko Haram, picked padlocks and used them to lock the gates and other entrances of the deserted houses.
For those who may not know, the ‘Yan Gora are mostly a motley group of poor unemployed youth who have come together and vowed to protect their neighborhoods against Boko Haram. They are a neglected group of youths by the government and society in general. It is they who forced Boko Haram out of Maiduguri Metropolis three years ago and it is they who are keeping them out. It is because of their efforts that the residence of Maiduguri rich and poor, including those who should be in charge of our security such as police and soldiers, can sleep and go about their daily business in relative peace.
Another heartening story comes out of a neighborhood called Kuwait, less than three miles from Fouri right next to the University of Maiduguri, populated by students of the university due to shortage of hostels. On hearing the deafening sound of guns, RPG’s, and bombs naturally the ‘Yan Gora in that neighborhood flooded every nook and cranny of Kuwait with their crude weapons. Alongside them however were university students who had come from as far as Imo, Lagos, Sokoto, Rivers, Kaduna, and Ogun to study at the higher institution. They too carried weapons to everybody’s surprise. When asked why they didn’t simply run, they answered that it was their neighborhood too, and that they were willing to give their lives defending it. It was indeed a beautiful sight to behold. Hausa, Fulani, Ibo, Tiv, Yoruba as well as youth from other tribes collectively working towards one common goal, defending their future. These are the type of stories you don’t hear about in the news because it’s not in their interest and it’s not pandering to tribal, religious, or regional sentiments. Instead the headlines blare out how many churches and Christians were killed.
The efforts of the ‘Yan Gora in Borno mirrors the efforts of youth in Azare, Bauchi state. About two years before the emergence of the ‘Yang Gora in Maiduguri the youth in Azare dared Boko Haram when they single handedly and again with crude weapons apprehended a group of Boko Haram who had been regularly invading the historic town robbing and killing with impunity. Many youth were killed by the killers but the youth succeeded and vowed that henceforth no criminal would ever operate in their town with impunity and that they were willing and happy to make the ultimate sacrifice. The attacks seized.
These youths have shattered the myth of the fearless Boko Haram, ready for martyrdom at any time. In reality they are simply cowards who pick easy targets, essentially women, children and the poor and defenseless. They and all other criminals like them (including the trio of doom) only thrive because there is no civil society, where citizens take responsibility, and are only out to enrich themselves and satisfy their vain desires.
Therefore despite the obstacles before us I have hope in Nigeria, and that one day I will find a place in Nigeria where I can be myself without any fear. We will overcome, if not our generation than certainly the next, for things can’t continue as they are for much longer. |