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Endemic Poverty in Kano: Height of Official Insensitivity By Kabiru Inuwa Tsakuwa
“There is nothing that is as rich as honesty”... Williams Shakespeare.
In responses to a series of questions by a BBC Hausa reporter monitored in Kano (August 4th, 2008), on the reason why there is a prevalence of endemic poverty in the north in general and Kano in particular, which happens to be the most populous and more than any other state of the north earn so much surplus revenues from many sources; a certain political appointee of the state government mentioned what to me was nothing but crass insensitivity and ignorance of the true situations of things!
He said and I quote that, the hunger and diseases ravaging the hapless people of Kano are due to combinations of many factors namely: Absence of energy and hopelessness and that, the alarming phenomenon is not peculiar to Kano alone and so, what the hue and cry is all about!
But any observer with a discerning mind will not be surprise the least, by the above senseless and arrogant statement and will readily acknowledge the fact that, the situations is not as simplistic as portrayed. Because in addition to the cancer-worm of corruptions among government officials which is becoming so pervasive with the passage of time and failure of leadership to adequately stem the ugly tides; there is if truth most be told, a general disconnect between the government and the masses.
If we consider the issue of energy, what has the ANPP administration do to reverse the closure of industries in the last five years against the backdrop of hostility and politicisation of energy distributions by the federal government? How far has she gone in the efforts to develop an independent power plant beyond the signing of M.O.U? And if a small state like Abia can own its IPP, what stopped Kano from having its own to address the shortage?
Why government failed woefully to play its part in the last five solid years to make IPP a top-most priority, considering its potential to help absolve the greater percentage of our able-bodied youth out of the streets through the resuscitated moribund factories?
And to categorise the enterprising people of Kano as hopeless is to say the least very unfortunate indeed. This is because, through out recorded history, Kanawa were known to be very adventurous business men and women who excel in virtually many sectors of life. Their in-built energetic vibrancy enabled them to straddled virtually all the nooks and crannies of Africa and beyond in search of golden fleeces! It is on the records that, Kano people were the only category of hausa-Fulani who have successfully freed themselves from the dominations of the ubiquitous Igbos in virtually every field of human endeavours.
In Kano today, in addition to their well known trading activities, one can find carpenters, masons, electricians, plumbers, motor-mechanics, taxi-drivers, vulcanizer, refrigerators technicians and what have you among the generality of our diverse people; unlike what obtain in other northern states where every thing is still dominated by the Igbos and Yorubas!
Therefore, if due to the ongoing injustice of the highest magnitudes, the people have now succumbs to the arbitrary rule, executive high-handedness and squander mania, which made them so confused and dejected amidst wanton display of obscene opulence by members of the political class; the blame should not be heap on them!
It is unfortunate that, what we used to hear in far away climes have now become our lot such that a stroll along Hausawa Ribadu and Bawo roads respectively will remind one of refugee camps in war tone areas of Darfur and Somalia. The same picture of pathetic women and children sitting idly and waiting for some crumbs from the few public spirited individuals that abound here and there, are also very much true of Lodge road and Race-course Street among several other places. And this is happening in the state with the largest revenue base and in the world number six oil exporting nation!
To buttress my point about the insensitivity
of Kano ANPP Maladministration, instead of making the much needed
fertiliser available to the target beneficiaries, the distributions has
become what is known and refer to as allocations in local parlance, to
cronies and political hangers-on. And what was initially meant to be sold
at
Finally, as William Shakespeare said, if the ANPP government can be honest with itself by transforming the way it conduct its business devoid of corruptions and embezzlement; I believed that, the present life of hunger, penury, squlor, despair and want ravaging the people of Kano in particular can be eradicated completely to restore hope for a brighter and more prosperous and contented life among the people. But can they? That is the one-million dollars questions on the dried lips of the traumatised Kano people!!!
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