Hello Dadiyata

By Olukorede Yishau

I have no idea where you are but, by some supernatural means, I hope this gets to you. Your father named you Abubakar Idris but we all know you as Dadiyata, the name with which you tweeted in Hausa.

Seeing a poster online with your daughter reminding President Muhammadu Buhari that you were still missing did not just break my heart, it made me ask what has become a rhetorical question: What is the life of a Nigerian worth?

It was a year some days back when you were, according to reports, accosted by two men as you were about to lock the gate and arrested from your home in Kaduna, the Kaduna State capital, where His Excellency, Governor Nasir El-Rufai, is the Chief Landlord. You were 34. Since then, you have been incommunicado and despite shouts on the social media, we are not sure when we will see you again or if we will ever see you again.

You were a supporter of Rabiu Kwankwaso and an unapologetic critic of Kano State Governor Umar Ganduje. You were good at your job as a lecturer at the Federal University Dutsinma, Katsina State. There are claims that your disappearance may not be unconnected with your criticisms of the APC government in Kano State. No one has been able to prove that. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) described your disappearance as an “apparent desperation to intimidate, suppress and silence public opinion and free speech in Nigeria as well as to further entrench a siege mentality on our citizenry”. The party, through its spokesman, Kola Ologbodiyan, accused the Department of State Services (DSS) of being responsible for your ‘abduction’.

“The PDP, therefore, demands the DSS high command to speak out as well as take urgent steps to secure the release of Idris from his abductors before it is too late,” the statement said.

Your wife Haneefa sued the DSS Kaduna command, the Commissioner of Police and the state, seeking your “unconditional release” and payment of N50 million in damages. The DSS and police denied arresting your, deepening the dilemma.

A lot has happened in our dear country between then and now. As I write, Southern Kaduna is boiling. The echoes of the past are being heard. A war seems to be brewing. Men, I hear, are prepared to fight back like they did in 1992. And sadness envelops me because I am a man of peace who has no memory of being involved in any physical combat in decades.

In the recent altercations, men, women and children have been mowed down. The Human Rights Watch reports that gunmen killed at least 43 people between July 21 and 24, and that 178 people were killed in the past seven months.

Governor El-Rufai claimed the recent attacks were carried out by armed bandits terrorising the Northwest, but witnesses blamed a militia targeting Southern Kaduna communities on ethnic grounds. El-Rufai is clearly unable to stem the tide. He is not even trusted by the people of Southern Kaduna who see him as biased. This sort of image worries me and I wonder who will mediate. Without mediation, peace cannot be attained. War zones do not witness peace until the leaders from the warring parties agree that the senseless killings and arson are enough. They all must chorus enough is enough and peace will take root. For now, the people of Southern Kaduna are clearly on the receiving end and I fear retaliation and going by precedence, I shudder at what is likely to come.

Dadiyata, the Coronavirus pandemic is another major blow that has hit us since you were taken out of circulation. When it first descended on us, we locked up everywhere and when it became glaring that hunger virus would start killing people, the government decided to give us the licence to storm the streets and either die or live. The figures are not going down; the curve is far from being flattened; and deaths are being recorded here and there. Schools are being opened in phases and by today, mosques in Lagos will be opened for prayers and on Sundays, churches will witnesses praise and worship for the first time in months. But there are fears the opening of the worship centres will aggravate things. We will wait to see the fallout. The figures in Abuja, where worship centres have been open, seem to support the belief that the figures might mount in Lagos soon.

At times I wonder what you would have written on the drama around the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), that agency put in place by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration to give the oil-rich region the special attention it deserves, but unfortunately, its funds have enriched more private purses than help build the people. Fainting now seems to be an art and theatre appears to be in vogue when explanations are sought for mismanaged commonwealth.

How can I forget to tell you that most of our compatriots have found it difficult that life is almost nothing, that it is not worth taking too seriously to the extent of solely keeping the wealth that can turn around the lives of millions, and that we should do all within our capacity to make our country and the world a better place?

But, my brother, it has not been all bad news. Some Nigerians have shown the world the good in us. Professor Charles Egbu has just made history as the first Black to become the Vice-Chancellor of a UK University. Egbu’s appointment as VC of Leeds Trinity University, East London, United Kingdom makes him the first Nigerian and black person to achieve this historic feat.

Also, Victor Osagie, an Information Technology Consultant, was recently honoured by the Cabinet office of the United Kingdom for his ingenuity for the mass production of ventilators to boost the National Health System (NHS) fight against the Coronavirus pandemic. The office believes Osagie is one of the best Britain has to offer.

Osagie’s team delivered the quality control system that rapidly converted disused warehouses into assembly lines. His team converted Ford Motors vehicle production lines and Airbus Aircraft production lines into ventilator production lines. Osagie and his team produced over 14,000 ventilators in 90 days. This boosted the NHS ventilator capacity from less than 9000 pre-COVID19 era to the over 25000 capacity in July 2020.

Ikenna Nweke, a Nigerian, returned a missing wallet with foreign currency in Japan even when no one was watching him. Nweke, a doctorate student in a Japanese university, turned down the offer of compensation. He projected honesty, integrity, and contentment, which the bulk of Nigerians represent.

Lt. Victor Agunbiade was honoured with the Navy and Marine Corps Development Medal by the United States Navy for effectively managing its largest overseas cash disbursement of $45 million (N17.5 billion).

My final take: With the DSS and the police saying you are not with them, I am at a loss as to what to believe. If you are with them, the law can be used to get you out. This is a more delicate situation and I am afraid to even voice my fears about what has possibly happened to you. For now, we can neither mourn nor rejoice. The only thing we can hold on to is hope, hope that one day soon you will appear and stay with us and continue to speak truth to power.