Checking The Poverty Level In The North

Mohammed Bala

So much has been said about the damning level of poverty in this part of the country, the north. Our northern leaders, that is to say, Governors, National Assembly members and highly placed traditional rulers have all come to appreciate that there exist a choking, volatile and rampaging poverty level in the region. All that has been said by these high profile leaders of the region is undisputable. The question, from us, the led, is, what next? What do our leaders think of doing to ameliorate the crunching poverty level being felt everywhere in the North?

Some English dictionaries have defined poverty as, want, asceticism, financial embarrassment, insolvency, impoverishment, penury, pauperism, destitution etc. Whatever its definition is, certainly the north is feeling the pinch of some, if not all the above. It is so embarrassing and quite disorganizing to behold the abject and crass poverty bedeviling the north and its people. Go to any major city, town or village in this region and you will appreciate the magnitude of the deplorable conditions people live in. Is this the kind of situation we want to bequeath to our children and our children’s children? The answer is unambiguously, no. Then why the inertia to do whatever it takes to improve the lots of ones people? Haba!

The social amenities that are available to people in the region are absolutely inadequate, and in some cases, desolate. Take for instance the current food shortage crisis that has left millions of families malnourished and disorganized. Hunger is so terrible that no human being can bear it. It can drive some wayward people to shirk common sense and decency to commit crimes and reap where they did not sow in order to make ends meet. Some families even go to the extent of shouldering their responsibilities on their daughters who go out of their way to bring back home something to feed the family with. The hordes of street beggars, the teeming unemployed youths, and the harsh reality of the difficult situation at hand add immensely to the unfortunate situation we find ourselves in. The situation is so critical and calls for dire and urgent steps to be taken.

The dastardly condition of roads, the crumbling educational facilities, the highly deplorable condition of our hospitals and of course the lack good hygienic portable drinking water must to be addressed squarely, before any tangible solution is considered.

It is good that our leaders have come to appreciate the harsh conditions we are living in. This shows clearly that they too are aware of our condition. It now remains for them to sit down and shoulder their responsibilities of the citizenry and begin to implement popular policies that will guarantee good living conditions for our people.

The on going Northern Agricultural Summit in Kaduna should be conducted with all the seriousness it deserves. That the summit is taking place at the right time and place, is very is very pleasing. It should be seen as an assignment that may make or mar the survival of the region. It should not be like the others, where communiqués issued, but implementation becomes the problem and the reports put away and forgotten forever. The current summit should be holistically approached and given the due attention with religious zeal and dedication. All discerning eyes of northerners are on this summit, hoping to see what the out come will be.

A few years back it was reported that foreign agricultural experts came to the Savannah Sugar Company site at Numan in Adamawa State and were taken round the landmass where sugar can is grown by a helicopter ride. They made cheering comments after the aerial rounds, that if properly handled, the landmass they saw from the air could produce enough rice for not only for our country, but will suffice for the whole of the West African region and beyond. This was only the farming landmass they saw, unknown to them that we have here in the North, the Bagauda Dam irrigation site, the Bakalori dam site, the Kafin Zaki dam, the Dadinkowa dam and Hadejia/Jamaare river basin! All those dams can produce various crops for local consumption and even for exports, but ironically, the initial intention of maximum utilization of the facilities was negated.

Undoubtedly, the north is blessed with abundant arable land that can be utilized for even higher mechanized farming techniques. The area is equally endowed with a climate that makes the cultivation and storage of almost any crop possible. This naturally given opportunity should be vigorously exploited. It is true, that if the seasonal rain would continue to fall, the average northerner will fully survive and depend less on anything. The discordant tunes coming from the Niger Delta region should be an eye opener for us all. When your brother starts thinking and looking at you as a parasite, you just do not sit down and fall hands. Take as a challenge and stand up.

It is incumbent on all the nineteen state governors in the region to realize this potential and work out modalities for our teeming unemployed youths to become attracted to farming. Issues that militate against farming practice by the youths, include the lack of authority to clear and farm land areas, the lack of agricultural loans to finance the farming, the now closed agricultural offices which used to offer training and farming aids, the lack of fertilizer in good time before planting season begins, the urban drift of youths to cities for better opportunities. Unless the Governors acknowledge the fact that we have an emergency situation in the food production sector and take on the challenge head long, we will continue to wallow in poverty.

If one takes a look at what is now remaining our industries and remembers the good old days when all of such were running full scale, such a sight will be that of annoyance, regrets and pity. Take Kano for instance, the Bompais, Sharadas phase one to three, where companies hitherto functioning in manufacturing, have become eye sores now. Those companies were employing thousands of Nigerians and making life better for them and their wards. All of such people have been thrown into the murky waters of life where poverty, as a result of unemployment, reigns supreme. The products of those crippled companies are no longer in the markets and the fortunes of the people have dwindled to the lowest ebb of their lives.

It is not necessary to look for reasons why the industrial giant of the north was deliberately crippled. The facts remain clear, that whatever, or whosoever was responsible for the calamitous state of our industries have in their minds the wish to hit the north below the belt. In Kaduna also, the textile factories have been adversely affected and have long been stagnated. To say that concerted effort by all the government in this region is urgently needed to save those industrial plants is an understatement. All these industries that are not functioning should be revived with massive infusion of grants and human resources so that jobs and business opportunities will rebound.

A lot of Nigerians, especially of the northern extraction, felt so bad when they in newspapers that one Dokubo has labeled northerners as primitive, arrogant and parasites. The irony is that this is a man said to be fighting for the course of his therefore expectations were that he really knows what he was doing. What will he stand to gain by referring fellow citizens to such harsh and derogatory remarks? There are some “niger delta” northerners who always look away and make harsh comments against their fellow northerners just like Asari Dokubo did. Notably are the two ex governors from the region. Recently, one of the two was credited to have insinuated that an Emir from this region is accepting from all the Local Governments in his State, in obvious reference to the allocation of funds to Local Governments Areas that was accruing from Niger Delta. What did those two did to their people when they were State Governors, if one may ask?

Babangida Aliyu, Governor Niger State, is one man that I come to respect and greatly admire. At the current summit in Kaduna, he spoke the minds of millions of voiceless northerners when he said the north could survive without any oil revenues. He was dead right. When there was no oil, in fact when even there was no form of any colonial government anywhere in this country, the north was surviving. It had a system of government in place with all the paraphernalia of State being run by the Emirs and Chiefs. It is therefore better for it to look backwards and tap from the abundant natural resource, especially agriculture that once sustained the economy, to better the lives of its people. Doing this is better than depending on the oil that has turned to be a means of curse and slander to it. After all, there are many countries that have no petroleum resources, but are doing very well economically. Countries like Japan have no oil, but have a number of refineries to refine the crude oil they import.

Another area that needs the attention of our leaders apart from the agricultural sector and collapsed industries is the all important education sector. They should endeavor to revive the sector right from the primary school stage to the University level. It is unfortunate that most students who qualify to undergo University training do not get the chance as the number of Universities and Colleges in the North are inadequate that placement for students is limited to only a few. This calls for establishment of high schools all over the region for all surplus qualified students to be absorbed.

The need for Primary Schools to be standardized so as to conform to the prerequisite of qualitative education should be given due attention. There are plenty of such schools still operating under trees due to lack of classroom blocks. Teachers should be treated well by being housed in remote places so that they can live comfortably and carry out their responsibilities wherever posting takes them. The current teachers strike should ended on a sound note by all the disputing parties. The State Governments should make concessions and bend backwards a little for the teachers’ demands. While the teachers of course, should equally concede some points. When it comes to educating our wards, it is every body’s business and not just the Governments alone.

My Governor, Danjuma Goje of Gombe State stands out as one of the best things that happened to our State. His quest for development is unquenchable, his drive and motivation ability towards the people is unmatched, and his statesmanship, simplicity, meekness and humble humility are worth emulating by all. I am not a politician per se, and not holding any brief, but just saying the facts as they are. The establishment of the Gombe State University by the Goje administration is a clear testimony that he meant well, not only to Gombe in particular, but to the nation as a whole. We have seen students from some two classrooms block “University” coming for NYSC from some parts of the country with practically nothing to offer! The Gombe State University is laid on a very solid foundation, with the erstwhile former ABU VC, Prof. Abdullahi Mahdi as the Vice Chancellor. The doors of the University are very wide open for any one with interest to visit. We eagerly await the first graduates of our University; indeed, it will be dreams come true.

Those States in the region that are not giving due attention to housing, roads construction, health care and electricity, should please realize that we are far behind others. They should aggressively embark in massive developmental efforts at the grass roots level. They should appreciate the simple fact that whatever they put on the ground for their people to benefit, their rewards will not only be self accomplishment, but earning regards and recognition of their people. We have States that have embarked on provision of housing in all their Local Government Areas. Assuming that these States are building twenty housing units in the Local Government Headquarters every year, the acute lack of accommodation persisting in our region will be minimized. It will also check the rural urban drift by the people for greener posture.

All the Local Governments Councils in the region’s States must realize the quandary we find ourselves in. They must make maximum utilization of the all monthly allocations for the development of their areas. This fight against poverty is ours to fight and there is no one, absolutely no one, to fight it for us, better than us.

Mohammed Bala,

Bajoga, Gombe State.