Truth North Prefer Not To Hear, By Tunde Abatan
There are three ways to solve a problem either in an individual, family ,corporate organisation or country.
First is by all concerned to acknowledge the problem, identify it and lastly seek for ways to solve it.
But then, some prefer to look away and allow the problem to fester beyond irredeemable proportion which could consume the concerned.
The last two weeks or so have been dominated by blame game from voices from the South to the North on the current security situation in the country.
There is a saying that when two brothers lock themselves in one room and speak hard truth to each other, their countenance will show in their demeanor when they emerge from the room.
On the contrary if they had deceived each other, they will come out smiling and probably grinning.
This shows that Truth has not prevailed between the two sides as truth when spoken pierced both through the ears, mind and soul of the hearer.
In the last sixty years of the country trial and error with governance, one of the problem why the nation appears to take one step forward and 10 steps backward is the self deception of the oppressor and the oppressed to pretend all is well within the polity both by the oppressed in mute passivity for fear of the oppressor.
In the case of Nigeria’s leadership drawbacks, the Northern part of the country has held the lever of power for over 42 years while in the remaining 24 years ,the South have had the opportunity of being in the driver’s seat, the Norths ruling elite both in the military and civilian, with its entrenched interests ruled through the back door.
When things are not going the way of the Northern ruling elite, they shout marginalization on roof tops and make governance difficult even when their Southern puppet is in power.
They did it for Olusegun Obasanjo who they use to replace late Chief Moshood Abiola who won Nigeria’s fairest election.
Hardly had Obasanjo settle down to governance that Zamfara State and other core Islamic states in the North introduce Sharia law…to Northern established ruling elite, Hisbah meant is to checkmate Obasanjo. The impunity was much that they use Hisbah a religious inclined police-to enforcement the law contrary to Nigeria’s established police force.
Even with the military in power, all major apparatus of government, including the defence arsenal were all located in the North.
To the North power and the absolutism of it is their interest even when it is clear to all that such power has never been used to benefit the average man on the street of its 19 states thereby ingloriously earning the title of Poverty capital of the world .
Hence, in spite of the short interregnum of Southern rule ,the North through entrenched interests in the military were able to control governments.
At the last count 21 of military institutions had their headquarters located in the North .
Besides, the appropriation of resources-both fiscal, mineral and solid minerals are determined by predetermined models which suits the Northern hegemonic interests.
Why then do we have leadership failures and attendant poverty ravaging the North and earned it the poverty capital of the country.
But then, it is quite obvious to all that the insecurity which has plagued the country in the last twenty years or so through extremist religious belief like Boko Haram, Lakurawa and associated ills like Kidnapping, banditry and Terrorism, are all products of the Norths cultural attitude to education , literacy which on their own help recruit convert to evil ills mentioned above.
But then, when the South which on average contributed much of the revenue and mineral resources were being used to propagate poverty induced afflictions like banditry, Kidnapping and terrorism which has assumed a dimension now almost beyond the capacity of the Nigerian armed forces to suppress.
That the incidence of terrorism has led to the displacement of over 3.7 million people across the three Northern regions of North West, North East and North Central with the attendant suffering of the poor has never been of concern to the Northern Elders Forum and the Arewa Consultative Forum- the two bodies which has now turned to pointing accusing fingers at non state actors like Sunday Igboho’s attempt to drive away bandits from his home base ,of ethnic profiling is dangerously amusing.
It is because rather than the Northern elite groups to look inward and check attributes which has made fellow Nigerians unsafe in their country they are crying wolf.
Like Yoruba adage, He who gives birth to wayward children will carry him ..meaning abiyamo to ba omo oran lo ng pon.
Since it is an open secret that the North of Nigeria left their borders left porous to let in their itinerant kinsmen in other neighbouring West African countries,..no thanks to late President Muhammed Buhari who plotted to make Nigeria homeland of the Fulani’s through the Ruga system..
Since the behaviour of the itinerant Fulani from other parts of Africa have been absorbed by Norths brotherhood system,
it behoves on other Nigerians to call on them to put their house in order and not allow harboring their brothers from other crime to undermine their life.
It is also an open secret that since the North establishment has promoted the Almajiri culture using Islam as a vehicle, it is only natural that they should retain such cultures to their region and allow people in the South to develop on their own without their Northern neighbours being a threat to their being as cosmopolitan homo sapiens eager to join the rest of the world in modernity.
According to Nasarawa state governor, Mohammed Sule, today the country has over 18 million out of school children out of which 70% are from the 19 Northern states.
He also admitted at a talk shop in Abuja last week titled, “Enhancing Human Capital Development on Northern Nigeria” that recent data has shown that Almajiri children who roam about the streets of North West States, represents between 72-81% of school of banditry now ravaging the whole of Nigeria and making life difficult for those who knew nothing about their circumstance.
Since a hungry man is an angry man, time and situation now should have dictated to the ruling elite in the North that it’s cultural system which embraced poverty induced Almajirism is the bane of insecurity now ravaging the entire land.
Thank God that Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa state looked straight into the eyes of Northern established traditional and religious elite that time is up for them to ban Almajirism in the society.
But could Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Nigeria’s President who told Northern traditional rulers Council last week of the need to embrace peace, unity and sustainable development throw his weight behind Governor Sule who on record is the only governor to have been bold enough to call a spade by its real name asking his people to ban Almajiri system.
To have admitted that his state has 430,000 out- of – school children in Almajirism is admitting the obvious.
It is as clear as crystal ball that until the Almajiri system which breeds poverty is outlawed, recruiting ground for religious extremism, banditry and kidnapping which has become business in the South will continue to thrive.
Could other states in the North openly admit and bold enough to take steps to ban Almajirism without considering influence of religious institution which survive within the evil system.
Since the North alone has more than 70%of out of school children which conservatively is roughly,12.5million impressionable youths who are as hopeless as hopeless could be, only a drastic change of culture could tame the recruiting ground for terrorism now threatening to tear the nation apart.
For the ACF and NEF to point cussing fingers at Sunday Igboho of promoting ethnic profiling is to admit that they act in agreement with the sustenance of an evil system which has become a permanent source of instability in the country.
If the Northern established power groups are lovers of Nigeria, they should be less hypocritical of their blame game and take step to rescue the nation from themselves before the other parts of the country rescue itself from the stranglehold of the North whose sense of ownership of Nigeria is contemptuous and an insult to the South whose labour constitutes more than 90% of revenue earning which has sustained Nigeria.
Of what logic is the sense in the North entitlement to collect shares from VAT when the environment in the region has robbed it of contributing to the nations economic well being .
The earlier the North realise that it cannot continue to hold the rest of the country captive as it has done in the past 60 years the better for its continuous existence and achievement of its pride of place in the continent.
Tunde Abatan is Publisher, Newdawnngr.com
