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We Are Boko Haram: A Response to Dr. Aliyu Tilde By Mustafa Liman-Adamu
Dr. Aliyu Tilde’s article on gamji.com with the above heading was captivating indeed. As the writer himself called it bold, it was indeed one. Issues raised ranged from cultural history of the word boko, boko haram, its distant cousin Maitatsine, up to the negative effects that resulted from rejecting boko.
One essential ingredient which the writer omitted, perhaps deliberately, was the reason why our forefathers at the beginning of the 20th century were vehemently opposed to boko system of education. He would have done his readers, particularly those who have no idea at all, a great favour had he touched that aspect. It would have added the taste which the article lacked.
As a prelude to making an attempt to briefly do that, I will like to make it clear, that the issue here is not about the halalness or haramness of boko, because we cannot stoop so low to find fault with education, no matter where it originates from.
When the British under the command of Lugard defeated the North, notably by capturing the major Emirates of the region, they were seen- and truly they were- destroyers of our cherished religious and cultural heritages. They met a hardworking people literate enough to have a comprehensive administrative, social and political system that aroused their admiration. Hence, the adoption of indirect rule in the region which was practically impossible in the regions that were hitherto illiterate and/or disorganised.
The colonialists backed missionary activities financially and otherwise. Through that, they built schools, infirmaries, etc to lure the Muslims to convert into Christianity. Naturally, someone that destroyed your cherished heritages, ruled you against your will in your own land, killed your revered leaders and now attempted to make you disbelieve in your faith which is your life here and hereafter, how will you accept his ways?
Surely all that is now gone. The fears of yesteryears no longer exist. Therefore it amounts to folly to still reject boko. But just like we all know, our backwardness is nothing but failure of leadership. From the 1920s up to the 1980s education in the North was growing steadily until when the declining era came. People like Dr. Tilde enjoyed good education from primary up to tertiary level. But just last February, according to your friend Garba Deen Muhammad, you were “close to tears” after visiting your daughter who had only eight lessons in a week! I count her fortunate because you can even afford that good government school. Go to other government schools, especially state owned like the LEA’s, and you will shed those withheld tears.
‘”Our general contempt for knowledge is outstanding, making us prefer ignorance as a companion. The more knowledgeable you are or try to use that knowledge, the lesser are your chances of survival.” says Dr. Tilde. Kai Malam! I really don’t believe you are the one saying these loose words! What exactly do you mean? It is same people like Dr. Tilde that, after earning a PhD, still prefer to enter politics to make it instead of remaining where they will be of better use to the society. Even after losing the senatorial seat in 2003, our Dr kept nagging until when there was nothing more he could do. Yet he is now insulting the politicians. Was it not him that benefited from politicians like Ahmed Adamu Mu’azu in his native Bauchi State? As recent as 2007, he was bold enough to personally declare Sule Lamido as his Governor of the Year and criticise other governors in Jigawa’s neighbourhood apparently because they proved inaccessible to him.
I really don’t understand what Dr Tilde wanted to achieve by bringing dressing issue into the discussion. What has that got to do with boko haram? Do people no longer have the liberty to dress as is accepted in their society? He even ahead adding “….We wear them both the riga and the kaftan during the harmattan cold and during the hot summer. Any attempt to borrow other wears to suit the weather as shown by the Quran is repulsed, unlike in the Arab world where they have different dresses for different situations. In fact, if you do not wear these “uniforms”, many of us do not consider you as fully Muslim. Simple. The hijab, on the other hand, is now imposed even on babies!” Ya salam! Who is he trying to impress? Perhaps in his fantasy he regards himself as Turkey’s Westoxicated (to borrow from Adamu Adamu) Kemal Ataturk who coerced his subjects to dress like “civilised” Westerners instead of their oriental dressing of the time.
I found it totally absurd to say that we bear “excalating intolerance” towards the attitudes and cultures of other Nigerians. May be Malam is a kifin rijiya, otherwise he cannot tell me that it is our intolerance that daily attracts others to set up their business here. Go and ask, how many youth corps members from South decide to stay after their service? How many Southerners, especially from the East and the West, daily settle in the North? Even as I am writing this, I can think of more than seven just within my environment. No doubt we have some bad elements that do cause trouble from time to time ( which both Islam and our culture frown at), but they cannot match the criminality and hard-heartedness of the infamous Area Boys, the OPC, the tax-collecting criminals of the East or indeed the daring Niger delta militants.
As to the charge made by Dr Tilde that “on campuses today, for example, we allow our students to grow with this isolationist attitude: in almost every faculty or department they now form societies of Muslim students, something unheard of in the 1970s and early 1980s when we were undergraduates.”, this attitude is not the best, but just walk into any campus and you will find out that your people are even far better compared to others.
To summarise, Dr Tilde has only succeeded in wasting valuable time repeating and regurgitating problems that we already know exist as well as imagining some that never do. The only thing we may not know is the motive behind the writing. We are tired of writers like him. I now further understand why the erudite Mohammed Haruna once referred to him as “confused”. To me he aptly portrays the typical rebel without a cause. What will interest us is finding lasting solutions so that we can move forward. We acknowledge that we have problems both in the North and Nigeria at large. Let us all come together to proffer practical solutions that will make all of us have a better country.
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