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We Are All Boko Haram By Dr. Tilde: Is Boko Halal? By Dr. Shehu Usman Adamu
The term Boko has recently been cited time without numbers in reports, National dailies and all other from of literature be it in the media or within the security set up. The next word that comes after it in this scenario is Haram. To an ordinary person, Boko Haram simply means the word Boko from all its ramification and definition is Haram.
To do justice to the topic or the coining of the words, they have to be taking separately. The word book is coined from the English word of Book. After the arrival of the colonial masters and setting up of western schools which are using Books, the ordinary Hausa called these attending such schools Yan Makarantan Book, meaning students of the book school. which was later pronounced Boko. Although another school of taught is of the believe that the word Boko preceeded the western education, as something fake. Whichever you belongs to, the word boko is something not generally accepted. Then there were two schools, the makarantan Allo that is the koranic school which slates are used for writing and reading before taking to papers and these attending the Boko schools. Naturally, then, almost everything that came along with the colonial masters is seen as foreign and rejected, the one that received the highest rejection was western education due to the way it was propagated then and the introduction of missionary schools that incorporated Christian religion teaching in their school.
The trend continued up to seventies, because I can vividly remember some of our Makarantan Allo friends that used to tell us we are going straight to hell after death because we are attending the Boko school. After classes in our primary schools, non Boko going children will line the street or occasionally pop out of their houses and chant the popolar song against Boko school. For these of you that doesn’t know the poem or for these that have forgotten it goes like this.
Yanmakarantan Bokoko Oh You Of the School of Books Ba Karatu ba Sallah You Neither read nor Pray Sai yawan zagin Mallam You only abuse the teacher Da baya da baya suke tukin Mota And You drive the car in reverse direction (Apologies to Linguist for any in correct translations).
Events were to turn round after the first generation of yan Boko became Leaders of the country. The civil service and public service became full of yan Boko and the Military as well. The then trade mark was clean cloths, sometimes shirt stocked into trouser with belt. The dan book, or western educated person became the envy of all. I can still remember the poem song by women while throwing up their daughters and playing with them. Ba dai ki ga tumazagi ba. You will not see the Tumazagi Sai dai ki ga zanzaro You will rather see stocking.
This is a simple wish for the Girl. The Tumazagi is a form of trouser for the natives which is held in position by adjusting a string known as mazagi, while zanzaro means stocking with one hips looking like that of an insect that has constriction between the thorax and the abdomen. The prayer is simple that she will marry dan Boko, or her husband will be the zanzaro type and not a native tumazagi wearer.
With this, the Boko was then embraced by many, to a point in some cases it is placed next to religion. The Government was making efforts and funding the Educational system well and the number of yan book increased tremendously. Private schools came into being initially to supplement the Government schools and later when the Government schools started doing bad, they became a substitute. Today the private schools are the only schools as far as the correct definition of school is concerned.
The second latter Haram is simply an Arabic word meaning Forbidding. Anything forbidden by God is termed as Haram (It may be more than that from Ulamas perspective).
Before looking at the two words together, that is Boko Haram, It will only be fair to look at yan Boko, that is these that attended the Western Schools and their Influence as well as contribution to the development of the society. Development here can be positive or Negative or otherwise.
There is no question or two ways about it, these at the helm of affairs are the Yan Boko. Currently all these involve in running the affairs of the country are the Yan Boko. The Number one dan Boko is Umaru Musa Yar`adua who has a master’s degree, the number two dan Boko even though with a Higher qualification is Jonathan who has a Ph.D, the list will continue down to the messenger who has atleast attended a secondary school. To sum it all, all those that looted the treasury are the Yan Boko. All the Police officers and the constables that man the roadblocks are the yanboko, all the Lawyers and the Judges like Bulkachua and Jega are the Yanboko, all military including former military head of states and their Governors are the Yan book, all the bureaucrats and the politicians are the yanboko because for you to hold any office or join any force, you must have at least secondary school certificate.
I can’t simply list the categories of Yanboko here, but any one you see going to any form of office in the morning to run the affairs of a ministry, parastatals or even private ventures is Dan Boko.
The question one will ask here is what are the contribution of Yan Boko to the development of the country? Remember part of the poem? Da baya da baya suke tukin Mota? And You drive the car in reverse direction. Now if it is only by going to Boko school that you will have access to loot the public fund and if is only by going to book school you will enroll into the corrupt rich upper class, and if it is by going to Boko school that you will deprive the citizen of the country what is their right and legitimately meant for them, then is Boko Halas? Halal is the opposite of Haram. The danger that brewed boko haram is when Boko became synonymous with corruption. It is the general belief of all that Yan Boko sun bata kasa, that is it is these that attended western education that spoilt the country and all the present woes are attributable to them. The boko haram could have been corruption haram, they could have more followers probably, they however fail to differentiate between boko and haramun or failed to accept that there exist great difference between the two. Corruption has been in existence from time immemorial, even before the advent of western education, corruption was in existence. It is corruption that is bein perfectuated by Yan boko that is haram and not the boko itself.
Another persfective that promoted their taught as wrightly pointed out by Dr. Tilde in his article, in which Jikanhalilu is in contention with is the rejection of anything developmental or progressive by the conservative North. From the mode of dressing to time keeping, anything brought as a deviation from Normal is then considerd turanci. This has no doubt help in pushing them towards their school of taught.
I May sound Boko Haram, But I am not. I am Boko Halas, because I earn my Living by teaching in the university, so without Boko iam out of Job. The root of the problem is simple. Corruption has deprived all and sundry the basic necessities of life and even dignity of being a human being in Nigeria. You will be harassed by all and sundry for not having money, and you will be revered by all for having money irrespective of its sources.
For now the number of teeming youth that attended the Boko schools and are roaming the streets without Job simply because the Higher Yan book have messed up the economy and the country is on the increase day by day. Equally the number of non yan Boko, that is these that did not even have the opportunity of going to school is on the increase, and this is just like a time bomb. The Militants of Niger delta are having a field day because they have weapons and are holding the sources of the awaiting loot money. The government is handling them with kids gloves not because they deserve it but simply because they are withholding sources of money that will be looted
Unless the primary tap root of corruption in dug out, and the society is put back on the right tract, and the North wakes up to its challenging responsibilities and imbibe changes, tomorrow only God know what will surface may be there will be Mota Haram (The Car is forbidden), the youths will take to the street declare riding cars as forbidden.
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