Ajaokuta: Beyond the Sentiments

By

Abdullah Musa

kigongabas@yahoo.com

There is what may be termed a natural instinct with human beings to want to protect that which is theirs: property, ideas, institutions, landmass, (not necessarily country, if Nigeria’s example is to be considered) and of more emotional value, women, and possibly children.

The desire to own a thing starts from the inconsequential during childhood; to the looting of the treasury as an adult civil servant; a politician; a soldier of fortune; or even the business man or woman. We may even own that which is not supposed to be ours, (in the case of loot) in the absence of a strong counter claim by those who may in real fact be the true owners or co-owners.

I listen from time to time a Radio Kaduna Hausa program titled: a fada a cika, meaning act upon your words or promises. The last one I listened to had one Ibrahim Abubakar Zango as guest, and he was a real orator; with high sense of drama. He understood the use of pauses to drive home his points, and his voice or the manner of speaking was that of an old man who knew everything, and spoke with an authority that did not brook further argument; the finality of a ‘revelation’.

I cannot recall whether he worked with the institution under discussion, (Ajaokuta Steel Rolling Mill) or an associated company. What was forcefully delivered was the passion to protect that which was (is) ours; and by ours read (Arewa), for Ajaokuta is located in the Northern region of Nigeria, the home of Radio Kaduna. He lamented the neglect. (by whom: Mamman Ali Makele, Bashir Dalhatu, or AVM Nura Imam?)

He went on to enumerate the potential of Ajaokuta, a place that is capable of satisfying the indolent gluttony of ‘Nigerians’, so that we do not need to depend on the crude oil of the Niger (or Ijaw) Delta. So incensed was he that he was telling the program manager that Ajaokuta can produce gas! The manager went on to ask that is it possible to produce gas outside the petroleum enclave? To this our venerable ‘old’ man replied, ‘yes’. If I may recall, it is gas cylinders that were to be produced at Ajaokuta and not the gas itself. But the issue is not the truth or the fact, but the arousal of passion.

At the height of the power of late General Sani Abacha, I met one propagandist who had cause to extol the virtues of the General. He had this to say about the then Nigeria’s foreign debt: duk an biya! He meant that all had been paid. I was incredulous! Completely paid? Yes, he affirmed, completely paid. He was matching his words with both a facial expression of utmost faith, and the brushing of palms to show emptiness. (Of the debt burden) I wanted to elicit from him the process followed to settle the debts, but he brushed me off, it was of no significance. We were later to learn after some years of the Abacha Loot!

The seeming old guest of Rediyo Kaduna (note how I wrote Radio) may not really be a propagandist in the mould of the Abacha apologist. But we are in most cases victims of the limitation of either our own knowledge or that of our level of exposure. I for one do not own fixed assets, or even liquid cash stashed in the banks to qualify me as being in the company of the rich. There is no any possibility that if DanGote were to pass away that I would inherit the refinery he bought through privatization. Yet I am an ardent supporter of privatization for the simple reason that Government ownership of businesses has never translated into public ownership of the said enterprises.

What had obtained was that such enterprises were milked dry, so much such that the services they were set up to give were never satisfactory. In some cases, the enterprises were grounded completely. For one to tenaciously hold on to something that belongs to one, irrespective of its health status, (a discomposed limb for instance) does not show proper appreciation of the variables in the equation under study. Arewa had its Bank of the North. While it lasted, it outpaced the Ministries as a haven for contracts. The Head Office was always a beehive of activities, but it was the activity of taking out and never putting back. The executives grew fat, those who had one connection or the other thrived, and the masses, who were supposed to be the majority shareholders, (by virtue of owning the governments that owned Bank of the North) went on living poorly without dividends.

I for one believe that human beings are differently endowed. One easily becomes a medical doctor; with ease another becomes an airline pilot, while another ekes out a living as a cleaner. It is best if one maintains an appetite that is in consonance with one’s level of earnings, or mental capabilities. To be a public servant meant up to a certain time to have an assurance of a permanent and pensionable employment. You were literally assured that you could spend thirty five years plodding through, with assurance of a gratuity and monthly pension. For this, you were spared the cauldron of the market forces: where the returns were higher and the risks greater. But then corruption emerged! The public servants developed appetites suitable for the business class. To finance this, they had to run down the institutions that were entrusted to their care. The ‘unrepresented’ segment of the population starved both literally and metaphorically.

There came to be a compelling need to find a solution, to stop the rot. Unfortunately, easy living made sure that the serving ‘public servants’ could not be able to adjust, and the incoming ones were even hungrier to also sink in their fangs into the soft, and juicy humps of public trusts called parastatals. If those services were really needed, if the institutions were to be saved and run efficiently; and by efficiently we mean run without scarce public resources being injected perpetually without commensurate results, then such institutions had to change hands!

Even in advanced nations managing sophisticated enterprises such as refineries, steel mills and the likes required an equally sophisticated management team; definitely not cronies to be appointed by any new Minister, wanting as it were to ensure he created a cash cow for himself and family. Earlier in the discourse, I made reference to the allegation of neglect of the Ajaokuta steel rolling mill. I listed at least three Northerners who served as Ministers in the Ministry that supervised the rolling mill. Where then does the fault lie?

I dread that we as Northerners are showing others that we are incapable of competing in best practices. We ran that Mill longest, and if it was neglected we were responsible. It was built with national not regional resources, (to my understanding) as such other Nigerians are equally shareholders; in the same way we lay claim to the oil wealth that lies in the Niger Delta area. If as old men we find our life styles being threatened by the new way of living, we may, in the interest of those coming after us accept it so that they may be able to adapt to reality: reality being that before we consume we should create. And to continue to consume, we have to learn to manage well, accumulate and use sensibly the resources in our care. If Nigerians are all Hausa/ Fulani, (the clan more inclined to stick with the ‘government-feeder bottle’) then one would not advise that we should change: One would just wait and let the crash that is certain to happen jostle the survivors back to life. But the reality is different; others have seen how it is done elsewhere with beautiful results and are forefront in wanting to emulate.

Arewa is truly free to urge us back to the dark days, but we should not insist others must follow us along. We may, with the new fortunes of an Arewa Presidency swing the pendulum back fifty years; but if that were to happen, then definitely there would not be a Nigeria again for us to repeat it.

Is it true that Achaba riders are back to the main streets of Abuja because EL Rufai is gone? We are in reverse gear; let all those who can flee, do so.

Arewa, kindly forgive me; but that is how I feel.

 

Abdullah Musa