The Dogs of Elitism

The Dogs of Elitism

Gimba Kakanda

It pains how everyone suddenly dives unto dissecting the post-election debacle that just wracked the Northern Nigeria. And for a split second, it became thus annoying that our rambling commentaries on the killings in Northern Nigeria of the southerners and Christians (and fellow Northerners and Muslims) by some unthinking elements of the region gather more and more tension that seeks to throw even the patient to rage. And, yes, it is forgivable that discerning and, pitiably, the befogged Nigerians grumble over the killing of a brother by a brother. But, in a blink, why not sink to grasp the origin of such exudation of hurting barbarism rather than resort to winging preposterous sentiments.

First, there is a wrongly held perception of Northern Nigeria, especially in justifying its many internecine disputes and riots by non-dwellers of the region and far-away foreigners as a region destroyed by Islamic militarism. Sometimes, these come out of inaccessibility or deliberate attempt to distort causes by such information gatherers. The region is a composite fringe of the country with unlike-minded members of diverse ethnic groups, religions and other apolitical sodalities whose interests have long been in collisions since the creation of what pessimists termed a ‘geographical mistake called Nigeria.’

The troubled with Northern Nigeria is the creation of the elites, but this in a sense is as shallow as other concluded surmises that religions despoil the region. It was just unfortunate that religions got muddled into the set-up of their ploy to breed some lower species of humankind that fall out of their hand, just as this riot that welcomed the election of Dr Goodluck Jonathan as a democratically elected President of the republic.

A people believe that the trouble with the region stemmed from adoption of the federal character principles which sparked the politics of State of Origin that stirred every group- ethnic, social or political- in the region to align with and defend its biological or geographical origin with passionate submission to fit into the quota provided by the federal character principles that stipulate criteria for civil workers in employments and appointments by the government of the federation. This constitutional provision shocked the nationhood of Nigeria so hard a consideration of statehood wouldn’t be an ignorable option to salvage the people from the invigorated wands of regional or ethnic advocacies and campaigns. Elsewhere I wrote that:

“In Nigeria, ethnocentricism is brewed in feeling of superiority of some ethnic groups to the others. Historically, the minority ethnic groups of the North-central Nigeria are torn in years of political manoeuvres to disengage from the grip of the dominant Hausa/Fulani elitism. Louder in Jos, Plateau State and Southern Kaduna, the pro-Middle Belt activism seeks ‘secession’ from the groin of Northern Nigeria, and adoption of ‘Middle Belt’ in lieu of ‘North-central’, in their troubled campaigns.

In a rough sketch of ideas, the Hausa/Fulani elitism and domination came with the Islamic crusades of Shehu Usman Danfodio in the 19th century when the Fulani reformer invaded and captured wide stretches of Northern Nigeria and parts of the Western region in the sovereignty of the Sultanate caste, planting his kinsmen on the dais of all territories in his folds.

The machinations of the pro-Middle Belt activisms versus the Hausa/Fulani dichotomy are the bricks that built the foundations of the volatile harmony that holds the composite region. However, the Middle Belt unity slackens on the sentiments of religions flaunted by campaigners of both groups as the key proponents of the Middle Belt movement are Christians, hence the mutiny of Muslim ‘Middle Beltans’.”

Sadly, the ethno-regional alignment in Northern Nigeria wasn’t a success among the Hausa/Fulani ethnic group whose settings have coloured elitism so religiously that only some chosen families- of the royal and the rich as practised during the days and immediately after the departure of the colonialists- enjoyed the privileges offered by the federal character principles. The unprivileged is the Talakawa caste or lower lower class whose children constituted the Almajiri educational system that were subjugated to Arabic/Qur’anic education which, unfortunately, didn’t make it to qualification to allocation of a ‘privilege’ expounded by the federal character principles which honoured only certificates awarded in western formal education. This is another obvious reason why a cult of Nigerians schooled in Arabic and Islamic education got annoyed and teamed up as Boko Haram sect to lampoon the sham of Western education because the constitution has no regard for their studies which is a stipulation by their practised religion. Troubled by this reality, and the reality of survival, the constituents of this caste resorted to lowly occupations or low-earning commercial ventures that saw them trooping out of the rural to the urban settings where life become a streak of daily hustling to stay fed. In the cities, the Almajiri educational system conflicted with the overt dose of secularity that seemed to celebrate what their perception of Islam forbid, and hence, the birth of asocial critics of modern trends.

In the meantime, the young and the old constituents of this caste become beggars roaming around the various streets of Nigeria while the youthful continue on their low-earning jobs, and frequently, the caste pours to the house of the moneyed ‘kinsman’ who had benefited from the federal character principles, coming from a privileged family that flies the badge of elitism or, luckily, some ‘fortunate’ poor man’s children drafted into the Army Force but, by a twist, got bounced to the realm of the elites day the soldiers struck coup and got involved in the deconstruction of this country. Yes, this cult of unhelpful or dubiously philanthropic elites decimated the Talakawa caste. Psychologically. Yes, for peanuts the caste hoards worshipful passions for the ‘Big Man’ whose wishes and commentaries are orders obeyed as if from portions of the Holy Book. The elites would rather have constituents of the wretched caste as errand boys or, in the hours of politics, as dogs (sorry, thugs) of their missions, while their own children relish the luxuries of studies oversea, and the young elitists would soon be up for a slot of the federal character principles that the begging kinsman, kept off western education would never trump. So, the poor beggars remain subservient to the Big Man, whose exaggerated feats are popularly sung by some praise-singers that win them some cultic followership across. Thus, the relationship between the Big Man and the begging Small Man is in the God – Servant’s mode, and on this they worship whatever ideologies the moneyed and educated Big Man flaunts. Such is the practice across Northern Nigeria.

And, despite the allocations of privileges and advocacies of the regions, The Big Man does nothing, not even to the mandatory challenge of boosting the development of the region; it was so pathetic, so annoying that a state capital in the South like Yenogoa that came on to being in 1996 is far developed than the Northern town of Minna that has been on existence as state capital since 1976. The trouble is, the elites of Northern Nigerian extraction who have had most slots as first citizens, having sucked Nigerian economy dry, had nothing to exude as achievement for the region, rather than their shamefully flaunted wealth, fleets of cars, houses and families scattered across many developed countries; more harrying is when they still wield influence in the localities they apparently sabotaged. But, this shouldn’t be a general appraisal of the people, for individuality and not regional background is the yardstick of weighing merits in the set-up of nationhood; this invalidates the rants of equally disgusting bigots calling for rejection of campaigns by elements of Northern Nigeria for a race to lead this jumbled country.

Know that the clashes and riots between the Hausa/Fulani and Minority ethnic groups in Northern Nigeria are being ‘gallantly’ fought by the constituents of the Talakawa caste. So, it never baffles how these children of the lower caste become restrained to smoking marijuana, and living on thin wages for survival. Yes, I repeat, they were psychologically destroyed by those that occupy the front line of their ethnic and regional advocacy. And, the terrors they bred in the youths grew and went out of their control; it was like keeping a dog in manger and never around to treat it. Such was the trouble with the riots that punctuated the presidential polls where the youths, now called ‘animals’ by aggrieved southerners, pounce on whoever is seen as obstacle to the emergence of their elite as president of the federation.

The riots are political, only that the people involved coincidentally happened to be of two religious divides; the dominantly Muslim Hausa/Fulani youths hunt down the betraying countrymen that failed to join them in the quest to have their kinsman on the dais of the country. Arguably, retired General Muhammadu Buhari possessed the desired traits and records required for immediate reconstruction of the fallen nation, and the records also included his non-advocacy of tribal or regional stupidity that characterize service to the fatherland. Many Nigerians, Christians and Muslims, Hausa/Fulani and the others, young and old, thumbed the ballot paper for the retired Army General. And when the statesman whose honesty in service as former head of state having adopted policies that put out the feasting thievery of the elites, earning him the most worshipful followership among the bred dogs, lost the election, the debacle was predictable. Let’s not pretend; the southerners too were overt bigots. Only that theirs are limited to verbal rioting.

However, this essay does not intend to contest the superlatives poured on the conduct of the 2011 presidential elections, but I must drop that the election was the stupidest ever in the history of this country, the one that colourfully painted the seams of religious, ethnic and regional divides in the frock of politics. It was thus publicly exhibited that many Christians are heard propounding the Christianity of aspirant Goodluck Jonathan, and the extolling his background as a descendant of the marginalized south, while the elite-bred dogs rambled here and there on the reason why a Muslim man, Muhammadu Buhari, MUST lead the nation. That was enough exhibition of stupidity; goes to show the sham that our political and religious leaders sold to us. Despite these, a number of true Nigerian patriots cast their votes unmindful of such divides.

It must be known that the boys do not wait for orders by the moneyed elites. Rather, they flare whenever the worshipped men or affairs of the ethnic group aren’t favoured in our polity. This time around the elites too become pawns of the riots; the dogs they bred charged upon them for impeding the dreamed victory of most (if not only) honourable elite of the group that has once lead us. Yes, it was an action that ought to set the millionaire-saboteurs a-thinking deep into the mode they destroyed the sensibilities of these youths.

And that was why it hurts whenever supposed intellectuals slam religion as cause of the unrests across the vast region. If religion has been the trouble, why aren’t there turbulences in places other than the North? I’m a Muslim too and by my grasp of our sociology I know that these riots were being carried out by a people misused by elitism; a people that are coincidentally Muslims; a people that seldom hide behind the cloak of religions to throw out their objectives. But, these are first-class fallacies, self-made conspiracies and mischief to justify their cause. Obviously, this people become nimble inciters owing to their possession of nothing to lose in the tragedy beckoned. The trouble with the origin is saturation of ignorance provoked by poverty that came with elitist segregation and sabotage; this is neither a fault solely on these plunderers of our national treasury but a collective failure of Nigerian leaders now and then to erase the print of ethnicity, religions and regional advocacies that are shamefully encouraged by our hallowed constitution. May God save Nigeria.