BURNING POT BY PRINCE CHARLES DICKSON In my North, poverty is neither Shi'ites nor Sunni “When a people
have suffered for too long, they will drink fairytales on fairylands with
insatiable gullibility." (Hamilton Ayuk) So my admonition this week dwells with a
section of Nigeria--the North and it is a do-no-favors essay, call it the
truth, or falsehood, call it nonsense, be bitter or be complimentary about
it, I really do not care--or better still I care enough to tell us the way I
see it. The words of Malcolm X sum up my next few
paragraphs. "You're not supposed to be so blind with patriotism that you
can't face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who says it." Religion remains the opium of not only
the mind, but also the poor, not by choice but by the way it holds people
bondage, leaving them devoid of common sense. The myth--Aboki
is supposedly an Hausa term that is used to describe the man up North, he may
be hausa, nupe, berom, fulani, shua, but largely he is ignorantly Hausa to all and poor,
he is either mai-guard (gateman), mai-ruwa (water), mai shai (tea), mai-doya (yam), mai-reke (sugarcane), mai-miaa
(blackmarket fuel); whatever he is, he just has to
be mai-something or mai-everything.
He is a symbolism today to other Nigerians of violence and false face of
Islam. He is 'misunderstandingly' understood. Then we have the Alhaji,
he is everything above 'cept that he is presumed
rich, and in recent times dangerous too, he could be a sponsor of Boko Haram
too, but for a 'typical' southerner, there is the allure of his riches
whether via politics, oil, or 'voodoo' who cares. He is there in Abuja, Port
Harcourt and Lagos. He really doesn't care about his North; he is a hypocrite
to the core without his knowledge. Now to more of those mythical realities
and issues, that has left a region on her knees, no other time than now has
the North faced an identity crisis and fight within herself. Who are the
Hausas, who are the Fulanis, and how about the
Hausa- Fulanis, what really is the place of the
Islam in the North, is it real, a media creation, and how about the
Christians in the North? Is the North still united, as was the
case, what about her oligarchy and a few leftist socialist activists that set
the talakawa agenda, what happened? What is it that needs to be understood
about the alamajiri system and institutional
begging in the North? The North and the agitating Middle Belt
is an emotional wreck, a perfect picture of an abused bride that today is
even afraid of a hug of reconciliation, with rehabilitation and
reconstruction a far cry. If the North decides to go away from
Nigeria, will the other component part fight to keep it and would it be
really 19 states, is Plateau North, when there's no love lost between the
Plateau people and the North, does Taraba believe in North, Southern Kaduna,
parts of Nassarawa, Benue, Kogi
etc? People still believe that up North we are
all empty land mass and goats, unproductive, and leeching termites stuck on
Nigeria because of the oil, if not, why the hue and cry of PIB when Zamfara's mines are gold for the asking and we could
develop a self-sufficient and exportable agrarian community? We don’t share Boko Haram’s ideologies,
according to Borno state governor, Kashim Shettima, but really who
believes him or us. What is the Arewa ideology? So much is wrong with the North--I
challenge my brothers from Katsina/Jigawa/Kebbi/Zamfara etc to tell me two
companies that make 30 million naira a month after salaries are paid and
utilities are sorted. The huge army of unemployed youths in the
North points to the fact that there is urgent need for the revival of the
Northern economy and job creation. How many Ashaka/Larfarge cement companies do we have in the North, NASCO
in Jos is dead, funeral rites only being delayed baring a miracle, and same
for the Kaduna textiles industry. What and where have the billions of
14years gone to in the North? Universities out of private initiative litter
the South and up here what are we doing, arguing who has suffered more
casualties between Christians/Muslims. Debating whether the army or Shi'ites are at fault. Okay it has to be poverty, that's one
ideological school of thought for the bloodbath and mayhem, even America's
Obama thinks so, however, I agree only to the extent that really ...
“countries are not delivering for their people and there are sources of
conflict and underlining frustrations that have not been adequately dealt
with”. In this case, the North has failed herself. The North has equally failed...“to give
her people opportunity, education and resolve conflicts through regular
democratic processes,”. ...“In terms of human capital and young
people, I think the greatest investment any country can make, not just an
African country, is educating its youth and providing them with the skill to
compete in a highly technological, advanced world economy”. Nigeria has failed in this regard and the
North has woefully crashed in same vein. The Southwest is chasing a semblance of
regional integration; the South East and South-South are not left out. States
have even gone ahead to show/use their emblem/insignia and are creating
identities. We are still seen as Fulani herdsmen asking for reserves on other
peoples' lands, blamed for every farmer’s clash and seeking nomadic education
because we can't do regular school. We need to bash ourselves, the North, Arewa if indeed it still exists, needs to stop lying to itself and her people, there are current realities, where
do we fit into it? We need top
realize that our leaders have failed us, the North is not working, yes,
whether believed, debated or not, we are on the throne via Buhari, whether he is for anybody, somebody or all body,
we need to reinvent the North, we need to tackle poverty, lack of
infrastructure, lack of security and peace, for these elements are neither
Shi'ites or Sunnis, Tijaniyya nor Wahhabism and Salafiyya... I will end this admonition in the words
of one of the problem sons of the North, Bro. TY Danjuma,
"We need to think more, pray more, plan more, work harder, RELATE
BETTER, and talk less. Battles are better fought and won through wisdom and
strategy than through inflammable pronouncements and political
tantrums." The current hate quotient in the land is high--for how long,
only time will tell. |