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Religion, Economy, And The Human Capital Dilemma In Northern Nigeria By Anas Abdullah I
Religion is the opium of the masses as Karl Marx would say but it appears to be more than that, religion is an essential component of the state certainly it relevance transcend the present world but in the hereafter. According to St. Simon man was initially created to leave in the Kingdom of God but due to the (forgiven) sin of his grandfather Adam, man was sent down to the kingdom of man as punishment for his sins, therefore man will always try to make the kingdom of man just exactly as the kingdom of God so that he can enjoy his stay in this world but apparently man realized that his desires is a mirage which can never be achieved. Although God has promised those that live according to the teachings of His book that they will certainly be the ones to inherit the kingdom of God. Thus, it becomes imperative upon people to live according to the teaching of the Holy scriptures. Having said this it is obvious that religion play a significant role in shaping the mind and character of the an individual and the society at large. Furthermore, it is needless to say a lot of our conviction and decisions are influenced by our faith.
Although Religion is a very important component of the state Karl Marx further argued that the economy plays a more crucial role in shaping the society because it is the substructure upon which both the political, social, religion superstructures are based. Here labour or the productive forces are given priority because herein lies the ability to exploit and utilize the resources from the land. However, without effective productive forces the remaining means of production cannot be harnessed. Labour force therefore became central in the economy and it plays a crucial role in making and shaping both the state and the individual.
On other hand is, the education subsystem, a well educated population will no doubt have the ability to create something out of nothing. For instance Japan has be able to record extraordinary development simply because they have been able to educate their people. But education system varies from one state to another considering the state peculiarities it is however important to note here that religion and economy most be given due attention in the educational system if it is expected to yield positive result.
Education is therefore not left behind in the development of human capital as well as religion and economy which we already mentioned.
Religion: Religion as we have stated earlier in our introduction is a very significant component of the state. Islamic religion has been part and parcel of the culture and tradition of the inhabitants of contemporary Northern Nigeria, the coming of Islam to this region can be dated back to centuries ago starting from the arrival of Magilli a renowned Islamic scholar from the middle east who migrated to Kano.
However, the revival of Islam and its adaptation as state religion was achieved by the Jihad of Shaikh Usman Danfodio, as a result of the revolution an Islamic state was formed, with all the necessary structures and institutions of a state guided by the teachings and practice of Islam. Significant to mention here is, the main reason why the colonial masters used indirect rule in the north was because of the administrative system they met in place which was established by the Shaikh and his lieutenants under this government. The education system was not left behind just as in the ottoman empire, northern Nigeria education system was based on the Madarasa and the student were referred to as Almajirai or Dalibai, the Madarasa taught Quran, Figh, Sunna, science, math, astronomy, health science and some aspects of traditional medicine. The teachers are called Mallams who are highly placed in the community by virtue of their knowledge, the Mallams, parents, and the state took good care of the Dalibai or almajirai for the shelter, clothing and feeding. The Dalibai/Almajirai were generally admired because of their discipline and their desire to learn .
It is however, important to note that this madarasa was free of charge and admissions were available to all. According to Prof. Abdullahi “The system of education in pre-colonial Hausaland as selfless education, the teachers and scholars devoted their lives to education and dissemination of knowledge without any desire for material gain or in anticipation for any financial profit” He further argued that “in the old system the teacher and the taught alike detested worldly glory and riches study and learning were pursued not for material ends but to acquire sanctity” The teaching was done in a way that it will put the fear of God in the minds of the pupils this is in order to produce a decent society.
This system of education was generally accepted by all and sundry indeed, the system flourish in the pre-colonial Hausaland for almost a century, perhaps this can explain why the art of reading and writing started from this part of the country popularly called the Hausa Ajami which is used on our national currency presently. Generally speaking , the system was very accommodating both for the rich and poor it was an egalitarian system of education so to say, it was certainly very convenient for the people with less financial stress.
Unfortunately, this system was truncated with the coming of the colonial master, fierce battles were fought to bring an end to the Islamic system of administration in the region , using gunboat diplomacy, they succeed in bringing to halt the political system. It wasn’t the will of the people but they force their way on the people, thus they were perceived by the people as enemies. This resulted to a wide spread resentment across the people against the whitemen and all they brought. More so, it marks the turning point of the madarasa system of education which was neglected and was termed outdated and unsuitable for the challenges of the 18-19 centuries. This consequently led to the decline and negligence of the madarasa system and the gradual introduction of secular education system.
The madarasa system gave the people free access to basic elementary education which was equally free and convenient more so, it was perceived as a basic component of the religion of the people. Thus, with the sudden emergence of colonial rule and the subsequent introduction of the secular education, the madarasa were left decaying without appropriate attention, emphasis was now focused on the secular education introduced by the whiteman, even though the western education was not accepted. Thus, parents would not allow their children to be enrolled into the then primary school because they were perceived as ungodly and a mischief.
Thus, by independence the then first republic identified this problem and was challenged to formulate an education policy that could be accepted by the majority of the people, this was not an easy task but in trying to overcome this problem the then government decided to give prominence to Arabic and Islamic studies into the western education school. Also considering historical antecedents they realize the need to involve the Ulamas and traditional rulers so that the western system of education may gain a level of acceptance by the people. Prof. Abdulkadir describe the situation in his words as “to make the “Makaranton Boko” more attractive to our people a very strong component of teaching Arabic and Islamic studies was included in the curriculum from primary school up to the end of secondary school. I am sure we all remember the caliber of our Arabic teachers in our colleges. The government (First Republic) of the day also recognized that the traditional Quranic education and the attendance teaching of Arabic and Islamic studies would have to continue”(weeklytrust newspaper Dec.31, 2005)
This policy yielded remarkable result however; the system didn’t last long as the first Republic was terminated by the military intervention. Besides, subsequent military and even the civilian regime didn’t give the issue any relevance thus the deterioration continued, unchecked. The Ulamas’ and the traditional rulers who are well aware of the problem were left without the economic and political means to checkmate the problem. That was how the problem continued to the pathetic situation we find ourselves today. Currently, significant numbers of the children in the region are being denied access to basic necessities of life such as proper education (Islamic and Western) health care, food, shelter and clothing. Prof. Abdulkadir observed that “we have now, in the 21st century over 17 million of 4-12 year old children in the streets begging under the pretence of seeking Islamic education”.(op.cit ) today the entire system has been bastardized majority of our young ones are swimming in the pool of dark ignorance without the basics of life. The number of almajiris has continue to increase unprecedented it is indeed most disheartening that this so called almajiris constituted a significant number of our youths but they are seriously lacking what is required to leave a meaningful life. Is sad note that except for the first republic subsequent Governments abandon the madarasa without critical evaluation and improvement.
We are all an endangered species if the issue of the almajiris is not addressed once and for all. Because such aggrieved youths will sooner or later trace those responsibilities for their predicament and they will then pose a security threat to all of us. Today this so called madarasa, are virtually dead, the almajiris hardly learn much out of the system and virtually all of them are not in the western system of education to even complicate the issue further they also lack access to any sort of skills acquisition scheme which could help them in future , such a population can never be an asset to the state but a liability No society will develop without developing its human capital. Certainly religion has been misunderstood.
The Economy: Production certainly occupy a prominent position in every economy however, maximum productivity can only be achieved when the productive forces are adequately equipped with the modern techniques and skills the best way of doing this is by adequately educating the labour forces to suit economic and social needs of the society. It is unfortunate that in the 21st century the northern Nigerian states have over 17 million 4-12 year old children as almajiri denied access to education and basic amenities of life such as shelter, etc. this certainly pose a serious threat to the North because without a competent and educated population the means of production will virtually be useless since there will be no production and without production virtually the economy will crumble and that will equally be the end of the entire political system. Since according to Karl Marx the political, social, and religious superstructure are shaped and changed by the economic substructure.
i. Capital: The banking sub-sector is one of the most important institutions in the capitalist economy it is obvious that finance retain a central position. The significance of the banking industry therefore cannot be overemphasized; it is the engine house of the capitalist system through which businesses are financed and capital is circulated within the system However, Northern Nigeria is dominated mainly by Muslim who have a lot of reservations pertaining the lawfulness of the transactions of the western banking system which is mainly practiced in the country (if not for the effort to establish an Islamic Bank recently) thus many Muslims hardly partake in the transactions of this industry either as creditors, investors, account holders or even as worker because the system is entirely base on usury which is Haram (prohibited) in Islam. This is certainly affecting the per capital income and the distribution of wealth in the country, it is needless to say that in the capitalist system your per capital income determines your living condition i.e. health, and education. Which in turn translate into our ability to develop the human capital.
ii. Income: It is a known truth to all that today the entire economy has been monetized emphasis is now on capitalism, privatization, deregulation and globalization therefore the living condition squarely depends on your ability to generate more income. Today if you don’t have enough money you can’t send your child to school however in other parts of the country you will find one or more persons in a family who are working and providing for the family in fact even the younger ones engage in some little income earning job or trade just to support the family. I remember one day in Lagos I saw a small girl wearing her school uniform at the motor park around 6am but she was also selling chewing stick and akamu before she proceed to school.
This is to increase the income of the family unlike in the North were in most cases the father is the only bread winner because women as preached by our Ulama’s are not allowed to work therefore the man is left with the difficult responsibility of shouldering the family alone and as mentioned earlier income certainly affect the level and kind of education one can acquire this days because everything is now privatized and monetized.
Except for our elites who in some instance allow their wives to work and help them in running the family which give them the opportunity to send their children to very expensive schools but the majority of the population who are rural dwellers earn very little not even enough for sustenance talk less of paying for schools fees aside from the fierce competition for admissions so they rather prefer to send their children to almajiri school which is free of charge and easy admission, still on the income issue the higher the income the higher the probability to save and invest which is the bedrock for wealth creation.
Education And Human Capital Dilemma: Human capital in indeed the bedrock for growth and development no country can achieve any sort of development without a well focused and competent population Prof. Abdullahi argued that “a country like Japan with limited natural resources but with highly educated and competent population has managed to improve the quality of life of her people” it is also said a well educated population is an asset while an uneducated population on is a liability and a nuisance to the society. And the only way to develop human capital is through education be it religious knowledge, western knowledge, skill acquisition knowledge or a combination of both.
Certainly going by recent trend in the North it is true to say the region is facing out in terms of human capital development. The human resource in this region are grossly underdeveloped, this is even glaringly clear when you look at the Percentage of student enrolment into post secondary school in the country if education is the basic tool for human capital then we certainly have crisis at hand in this part of the country Prof. Abdulkadir share similar view when he lament, “that the dangers are too apparent and things are gradually becoming more and more worst in 2005 presentation from bottom 14 northern state added up to (6.8%) to the total (UME successful candidates) which is still less than that of Anambara State alone (7.18%) the same year” (op-cit).
Our future in the Nigeria project depends largely on how well we develop our human resource because it is the most essential resource given to us by God. But unfortunately a critically analysis of human capital development will reveal a lot of sad conclusions for instance there is nowhere in this country were you will find small boys begging in the name of schooling how can someone begging to survive be able to learn. Nowhere in this country do you find such sad phenomena. This boys are denied both education the western and Islamic education they are only being taught how to survive through begging that’s way we are looked down upon by our counterparts, they believe we have nothing to offer in the Nigeria project, no natural resources and no competent human resources we are more or less dependents and parasite as far as the Nigerian projects is concern. This also explains why “we were told face to face during the recent National political reform conference that the northern states (and North West in particular) have nothing to offer to the Nigerian economy and are over dependent on the rest of the country for survival” Prof. Abdulkadir
At this juncture I will like make some observation pertaining the attitudes of our Islamic scholars who discourage their followers from pursuing western education in the name of Islam which is not correct and it stands to be condemned, I could vividly recall in the 80’s when many students abandon their studies in A.B.U Zaria to join AL- Zakzaky’s shi’a movement most of whom were very brilliant students who feel into the trap of AL-Zakzaky may I also applaud the likes Shaikh Abubakar Muhammad Gumi, Dr. Ahmad Ibrahim, Shaikh Ja’araf Adam and a host of others who have been encouraging youths on the significance of acquiring knowledge both Islamic and western and the need for youths to join Military, Police, etc. But we still need more efforts particularly from our Ulama’s who are more closer to the people. Because if this sad situation persist it may in the long run constitute a serious security threat to all of us (Even those with police dogs at home).
Presently the relative gap is gradually be becoming absolute and the level of resentments is on the increase we all need to do something quick, to effectively kick start our economy, labour force can never be neglected in any serious economy, it most be developed and harnessed for the interest of all.
Recommendations Having critically examine the problems affecting Human capital development in Hausa land there is need for urgent measures to be taken to solve the problem, however looking at historical antecedent religion has played a significant role in shaping and developing the present day Northern Nigeria it is therefore important to embark on serious awareness campaign pertaining the relevance of modern education and other contemporary issues, the best medium to do this is through the mosque were Muslims converge in groups to say five daily prayers, then the Friday service which include the sermon which are usually presentations on contemporary issues to enlighten the people. But for this initiative to be successful, the Imam most be carried along and should be give more prominences in the society. Seminars, conference, and forum should be organized to enhance their skills provision should be made for them to have access to modern techniques of research and allowances must be improved.
It is now apparent that the present day secular primary school cannot accommodate the ever increasing demands for admissions across the country neither the private nor the public schools would be able to meet the nations demand. Therefore it will be an additional advantage if the madarasa are fashioned to supplement the over crowded secular schools. The pattern of their syllabus should be changed to accommodate the present day situation and demands subjects such as health science, science, maths, computer science and skills training programmes should be incorporated into the madarasa system.
Government should also device means of making the labour of this “almajirai” youths economically viable which will by and large have a multiplier effect on the economy, this can be achieved once the pupil are well trained and equipped along the present economic and social need of the society. Information and computer technologies can also be integrated into the madarasa in collaboration between the government and the private sector. This will give the madarasa a new spirit and zeal that will shape it to face the challenges of the 21st century. But to achieve this laudable objectives there most be corporation between the traditional rulers, politicians, Ulamas, academicians, the business class and the mass media. The madarasa system of learning most be improved for the greater benefit of the people.
Certainly the Ulamas will have a crucial role to play alongside the private sector. Also the tradition rulers should have a role to play particularly in the are of dissemination of information. Because, this institution have an efficient way of disseminating information from Emir (Sarki) to District head (Hakmi) down to ward head (Mai Unguwa) and to the people. For Muslims to get out of the present day quagmire there is need for Islamic banking to give Moslems the chance to partake fully in the Banking sector without any doubts or fear this I believe will by and large bring economic vibrancy within Ummah.
Also women must be encouraged to acquire knowledge and also they should be motivated to acquire skills that will help them in generating additional income for the family.
More so, we have to encourage our elites to invest in education and media. This are vital institutions in shaping the character and mind of the individual, this region is obviously lacking in terms of private media house and education institutions thus, more media houses are needed both electronic and print media to project and protect the interest of their people. Also important is the revival of Hausa Ajami form of writing this I believe will be a welcoming development particularly in our rural areas, this form of writing was used in pre-colonial Hausa land before the coming of the Europeans.
GOD HELP ONLY THOSE THAT HELP THEMSELVES, thus the people most be encouraged to be hard working, Islam abhor laziness and dependency, it has be reported that one day the Holy prophet (SAW) entered the mosque and notice the presence of a young man for quite some days so he asked the man what he was doing and the man replied, I decided to devote myself to the House of God for worship and the prophet (SAW) asked again how do you sustain yourself, he replied I have a brother who goes to work and he supplies me with provisions for my sustenance. The prophet (SAW) said your brother is better than you before God.
Thus, hard work and selfless service is part of Islam. But today the reverse is the case Muslims have chosen laziness and hopelessness just as Chinua Achebe describe the backward people as the “cargo cult mentality that anthropologies sometime speaks about a belief by the backward people that someday without any exertion whatsoever on their own part a fairly ship will dock in their harbour laden with every goody they have always dreamed of possessing”. We most cultivate the habit of hard work and dedication if we are to succeed.
Conclusion Human capital development is essential for any kind of development and the most important vehicle to achieve this is by giving the population the needed education also the success or other wise of an education policy is being determine by a lot of factors this include religion and economy. This paper therefore made and attempt to identify some of the obstacle towards the effective development of human capital in Hausaland, religion is one of this factors which has been grossly misunderstood or misinterpreted by the Muslims population in the region, Muslims are suppose to be hardworking, organized and disciplined because in Islam there are principles and laws guiding believers on how to worship God. More so both the Holy Quran and Hadith are scientifically arranged and taught by the Holy Prophet in a way that it provides several lessons that could be deduced and used in day-to-day’s life.
It is obvious that we have found ourselves in a very serious quagmire, the human capital dilemma in the northern Nigeria epitomize danger for the region and Nigeria at large, the economy of the region which is a cardinal component of the state is gradually collapsing due to negligence particularly in the area of human development. The agriculture sectors have since been abandoned in the hands of the peasant farmers without major government assistance. It is now crucial more than any other time for us to develop other sectors of our economy particularly and more importantly human capital. If we do so it will automatically reactivate the other sectors of the economy particularly now that research is in top gear by the U.S.A and European government to develop alternative source of energy, in fact presently in Europe and U.S.A there are cars using hydrocarbon instead of fuel. Very soon we may witness a revolution in energy sector.
Anas can be reach at
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