The Nation Newspaper

Tag: North

  • Quit notice: MASSOB insists Igbo should leave North

    Quit notice: MASSOB insists Igbo should leave North

    The Movement for Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) yesterday maintained its earlier call on Southeast indigenes in the North to return home.

    This followed the ultimatum given to the Igbo by a coalition of northern youths to vacate the region.

    It said anybody encouraging the Igbo to remain in the North was an enemy of Ndigbo.

    In a statement at the weekend in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital, by its Director of Information, Comrade Edeson Samuel, MASSOB regretted that Ndigbo have become endangered species through attacks and massacre.

    According to the group, the north and east are like oil and water which cannot be mixed together.

    The statement said: “MASSOB is maintaining its earlier stand on the quit notice given to Ndigbo in Northern Nigeria. We congratulate them for taking the bull by its horn.

    “When a landlord is no longer interested in his tenants, the best way is to serve him with quit notice, instead of using thugs to eject him. The northerners have given us a quit notice; it is our duty to vacate their land without delay.

    “It is better we part in peace than in pieces. The Bible says two cannot work together unless they agree. The North and East are like oil and water, which cannot be mixed. Our cultures and religions differ.

    “We the Igbo value lives, we hate shedding of blood, but Northerners derive joy in shedding the blood of innocent people. Anybody encouraging Ndigbo to remain in the North is an enemy of Ndigbo.

    “Since 1945 till today, Ndigbo has been at the receiving end. We are fully aware that Alhaji Ango Abdullahi and some other northern elders are the brains behind this threat against Ndigbo.

    “Our governors should wake up and face these challenges without fear. Southeast governors should think back about what happened to Ndigbo.

    “In 1945 and 1953, Ndigbo were massacred in Northern Nigeria. From 1966 to 1970, over 2 million Ndigbo were murdered in Northern Nigeria. In 1980 and 1994, many Igbo were slaughtered in Kano. In 1991, 2001, 2002, several Igbo were massacred in Kaduna and Kafanchan. In 2001 and 2008, some Igbo were killed in Jos, Plateau State. In 1996, Gideon Akaluka was murdered in Kano with his head cut off. During 2011 election, Igbo members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and civilians were killed in Northern Nigeria because the then President Goodluck Jonathan worn the election.”

  • Southeast governors, IG: Igbo are safe in the North

    Southeast governors, IG: Igbo are safe in the North

    APC: rein in separatists

    The dust raised by the ultimatum issued by some groups for the Igbo to leave the North was yet to settle yesterday.

    But Southeast governors told their citizens not to panic, stressing that they are free to live anywhere in Nigeria.

    Besides, the police assured the Igbo living in the North of their safety.

    Police chief Ibrahim Idris ordered top officers to keep the peace nationwide after a meeting of the top brass in Abuja.

    The House of Representatives also urged the police and other security agencies to ensure that everybody is safe.

    The youths, who issued an October deadline for the Igbo to quit the North, claimed that their action was due to the unchecked agitation for secession by Southeast groups, led by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

    But the Federal Government, North’s governors, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and others have condemned the quit order as “provocative” and “uncalled for”.   The Inspector-General of Police (IGP) vowed that members of such groups would be stopped.

    Chairman of the Southeast Governors Forum and Ebonyi State Governor David Umahi called on northern leaders to take actions would counter the intended plot of the youths to ensure that the grim history of the past is not repeated.

    He said: “We must call on all serious-minded patriots, particularly the religious leadership in Nothern Nigeria; the leadership of other socio-cultural groups in Nothern Nigeria; the Nigerian Governors Forum; and all the service branches to rise up with voices of peace and wisdom to counteract the mischievousness and exuberant excesses of the northern youth.

    “The ugly lessons of history are too grim to be stoked with carelessness. As leaders, we must exert the full measure of our powers and influence to forestall a repetition.

    “We call on all Igbo sons and daughters resident in Nothern Nigeria to go about their lawful daily activities without fear of intimidation, hindrance or molestation.”

    Umahi reiterated the governors’ commitment to “the existence of a virile, united prosperous and progressive Federal Republic of Nigeria where justice, fairness, equity, mutual respect and equality of opportunity to all citizens, regardless of creed, ethnicity or gender, will reign supreme under the inflexible rule of law”.

    The governor also denied insinuations that a meeting resolved to send buses to evacuate Igbo in the North.

    “The rumours being peddled on conventional and social media platforms that we, the governors of the Southeast have met and agreed to mobilise vehicles and cash for repatriation of Ndigbo resident in Northern Nigeria must be disregarded, as they are nothing but tissues of lies.

    ”No amount of provocation would lead us to such precipitate and irresponsible action at this time. Those exploiting such vacuous tittle-tattle as a basis for divisive rhetoric in public spaces are simply playing juvenile politics and we urge them to cease and desist.”

     

    In Abuja, the IGP ordered Deputy Inspectors General of Police (DIGs), Assistant Inspectors General of Police, Commissioners and other senior officers to ensure peace nationwide.

    He told them that “the issue that is becoming a concern is the issue of threat by some tribal and regional groups”.

    “Yesterday, a group issued threat to some groups in this country and, like I observed, no individual has authority to stop any Nigerian from pursuing his daily bread in any part of this country because these are rights that are guaranteed by the Constitution.

    “We are not going to allow the groups to carry out the threat,” Idris said, adding:

    ”I want us all to be alert and stop anybody, group or individual that attempts to prevent any Nigerian from carrying out his daily activities; we have responsibility to ensure that those groups are stopped by all means. Being a Nigerian, no group has the right to prevent anybody from his rights either movement, association or whatever.

    He added: “The Nigeria Police Force has the right to stop such groups. The group called themselves northern youth group; nobody has that authority to stop any Nigerian from participating or residing in any part of this country; it is a constitutional right and I believe it is illegal to prevent people.

    “When the IPOB came out last month, we adopted a procedure and we are adopting the same procedure with this new group. We are trying to ensure that no individual or group causes confusion in this country because the threats constitute a subversive activity against the security of the state and we cannot allow that to happen.

    “We are going to conduct investigation into it and the state government has issued a directive of arrest to security agencies and you are aware that the State Security Council includes the Commissioner of Police; so definitely under that cover, CPs are to ensure that the directive given by the state governor is carried out as far as there is an impediment in the law of this country.

    “It is a directive and an authority on them to ensure that where these groups are seen, we have the responsibility to arrest them. The groups mentioned some dates, so we have to be very conscious of the date and ensure that no individual or group goes round this country to actualise the threats made. We will not allow them to carry out their threat.”

    On whether any arrest has been made, Idris said: “So far, I am not aware of any arrest that has been made but I want us to be mindful of the fact that to conduct an arrest is very easy, but there are so many factors that have to be taken into consideration.

    “There is no arrest yet but we as Force men have to make sure that no individual or group is seen physically either on our street or inside towns or villages trying to disturb any Nigerian from carrying out his activities on those dates mentioned”.

  • Regionalism and growth: angles from the North

    The only place where there is availability of work is the north because it produces a greater percentage of the food we eat as well as those used by some of our industries. 

    As this column had observed several times in the past, regionalism is creeping back into the country’s political lexicon, and justifiably so. The latest region to enlist members of its elite corps in the choir of progressive regionalism is what used to be called The Northern Region before the fragmentation of the country’s four regions into 36 states, affectionately referred to by admirers of unitary governance as the country’s new federating units. The three top members of the region’s elite who have chosen to expand the conversation about regionalism are the Emir of Kano and a former governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, former Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University and Spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum, Professor Ango Abdullahi, and former Vice President of the country, Abubakar Atiku. The views of these three vertical figures will form the core of today’s discussion.

    Regionalism, a word that defined Nigeria until 1966, gradually went into extinction during the decades of military dictatorship in the country. Regionalism and other synonyms: true federalism, regional autonomy, restoration of federalism, and re-federalisation crawled back into the country’s political vocabulary in the 1990s, particularly during the pro-democracy struggle against annulment of MKO Abiola’s electoral victory in 1993. But these words featured prominently in the circles of politicians and pro-democracy activists from the southern states. Regionalism until recently remained a word that was hardly used by politicians and political activists in the northern states. Most recently, Abubakar Atiku is referenced as the first major political figure from the north to popularise the concept of regionalism since the Sardauna of Sokoto.

    Atiku had acknowledged the importance of regionalism since the coming to power of President Mohammadu Buhari and the recession that has trailed his assumption of power: “Our current constitution does indeed concentrate too much power and resources at the centre, which has, in my view, impeded national development, security, peace and stability…. There is no doubt that many of our states are not viable, and were not viable from the start, once you take away the federal allocations from Abuja. We have to find creative ways to make them viable in a changed federal system. Collaboration among states in a region or zone will help.

    Atiku’s pro-regionalism rhetoric became more strident when he said: “It is clear to me that the resistance against restructuring is based on three interrelated factors, namely dependency, fear and mistrust. Dependency of all segments of the country on oil revenues, fear of loss of oil revenues by non-oil producing states or regions and mistrust of the motives of those angling for restructuring. And his conviction about the importance of re-federalisation and de-militarisation of the polity acquired more vigour when he advised: “We have a unique opportunity now, with all the agitation and clamour for restructuring, to have a conversation that would lead to changes in the structure of our federation in order to make it stronger, enhance our unity and promote peace, security, and better and more accountable governance.”

    Of course, Atiku has been criticised by many for attempting to take political advantage of calls for regionalism in the southern states as someone known to be interested in contesting for the presidency in the event of a vacancy in Aso Rock. And his analysis of the disadvantage of unitary governance in the country would have remained as playing to the gallery in the south if two other vertical figures in the north: Emir of Kano and Professor Ango Abdullahi had not raised issues about the source of underdevelopment in the north.

    With specific reference to human development indices in the north, the Emir affirmed at a recent conference in Kaduna: “We are in denial. The North-west and the North-east, demographically, constitute the bulk of Nigeria’s population. But, look at human development indices, look at the number of children out of school, look at adult literacy, look at maternal mortality, look at infant mortality, look at girl-child completion rate, look at income per capita, the North-east and the North-west are among the poorest parts of the world….As far back as 2000, I looked at the numbers, Borno and Yobe states, UNDP figures… Borno and Yobe states, if they were a country on their own, were poorer than Niger, Cameroon and Chad. Nobody saw this because we were looking at Nigeria as a country that averages the oil-rich Niger Delta, the industrial and commercial-rich Lagos, the commercially viable South-east, and you have an average. Break Nigeria into its component parts and these parts of the country are among the poorest, if it were a country. And, we do not realise we are in trouble.”  Of course, this statement does not canvass for return to regionalism the way that Atiku’s statement has done, yet it certainly has started to engender controversy in the north for giving the north a negative profile

    Unlike Atiku, Sanusi’s analysis of the situation of the north does not emphasise the issue of federalism. It, however, focuses on cultural or ideological problems that had inhibited development in the northern states (and other parts of the country) during the decades of unitary governance across the country. Unlike in the era of autonomous northern region of the 1960s, the region in the days of fragmented 19 states is seen by the former CBN governor as characterised by under-development that has arisen from northern leaders’ adoption of wrong values. However, the Emir has been forthcoming on the need for northern leaders to change governance philosophy and practice as well as their values. Relatedly, a special conference of political and cultural leaders of the 19 northern states convened a few months ago in Kaduna also addressed some of the issues raised by the Emir of Kano, without drawing a lot of flak.

    Perhaps, the issues raised by the Emir would have remained an intra-regional matter if Professor Ango Abdullahi had not brought up the imperative of breaking the country to allow the north to realise its huge potential arising from land, natural and human resources. Abdullahi’s claim: “The greatest advantage of the north over other regions is that 75 per cent of land in Nigeria comes from the North; agriculture contributes 45 per cent of the GDP against oil, which contributes 14 per cent. Apart from the foreign exchange which oil provides, which in fact has always been stolen by the leaders, there is nothing much to talk about. Presently, there is potential of oil in many parts of Northern Nigeria. Let me tell you that oil money is idle money, which Nigeria has not worked for. The only place where there is availability of work is the north because it produces a greater percentage of the food we eat as well as those used by some of our industries. In any case, there are countries that said they are not moving forward and decided that the best thing to do was to divide. So, what is wrong in dividing the country?” raises the issue of a new form of regionalism, one which allows the North to become an independent country free to exploit its abundant resources. This position contrasts with the view of southern leaders on the type of political structure that can advance the status of Nigeria as a country.

    Two issues that are referenced with varying emphasis by all the three positions are leadership and structure. These two concepts are often considered to be alternatives, especially by lovers of the political re-engineering of Nigeria during the decades of military dictatorship and the authors of the 1979 and 1999 constitutions. For example, references to the golden age under Ahmadu Bello, Obafemi Awolowo, and Nnamdi Azikiwe often ignored that these founding fathers also worked under a different structure, one which allowed each to be creative in governing his region and accountable to those they governed, without undue interference from the central government. It is ahistorical to emphasise the quality of individual leaders in the first republic at the expense of the quality of the structure in which they operated.

    The import of the divergent views of the three commenters on development of the north is not the absolute rightness of one or the other but the open expression of such views in a region often considered inviolably monolithic. A region that has cast itself as the father and protector of the unitary model of governance and fragmentation of states that had sustained unitarism for decades of military and post-military governance seems to be moving away from the belief that there is nothing wrong with the north, and by extension, other parts of the country. The divergent views of the three northern leaders referenced in this column certainly suggest the beginning of change in vision and orientation required to galvanise a national conversation on the way to change Nigeria in a way that encourages open debate about how best to redesign Nigeria for sustainable political democracy and economic development.

  • Poverty in the North, like Niger Delta

    SIR: Last week, two key developments relative to the Niger Delta made the news. One was the interview which Asari Dokubo granted Vanguard newspapers. Apart from insinuating that the Ijaw people owned the Niger Delta, and that the Ijaw are the armed custodians of the struggle for the emancipation of the Niger Delta, he went on to warn the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, to desist from further visiting the Niger Delta for the sake of solving some of the intractable problems bedevilling the region. As acting president, Osinbajo showed a commitment to the cause of the Niger Delta to the extent that whenever he comes visiting, he generates interest, trust and hope that the real clogs in the wheel of development in the Niger Delta would be identified and removed. This trustworthiness that he has often brought with him broke down barriers and divides to the extent that some states in the South-south and South-east conferred him with chieftaincy titles.

    And so, not up to a month after the then acting president made this assertion, enter Asari Dokubo. In his corralling the Vice president, he turned out to vindicate the clear majority of Niger Deltans who believe that institutions in the Niger Delta – the NDDC, the Ministry of the Niger Delta and DESOPADEC – will not succeed in alleviating the poverty of the region because of the interest of the political elite. You see, despite the billions already sunk therein, poverty of the worst kinds come from the Niger Delta. I remember a certain year in my village. Certain young men were getting fed up that although we had over 16 oil wells which contribute to the income of Nigeria, we had zero representation, zero hospitals and zero schools and Federal presence. Therefore, they stormed the offices of the multinationals drilling and exploring for oil. It was while there that the scales fell off from their eyes. They were shown video footages of certain elements claiming to be representatives of the village collecting monies which they swore they were collecting on behalf of the village. They saw the receipts, names and signatures appended to financial documents!

    And just the way it is in many places in the Niger Delta, there are many instances where the elite in Northern Nigeria work to keep the talakawa in perpetual poverty, using religion and cultural insinuations. That was what Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi was referring to recently. At the KADINVEST 2.0 programme, the emir said that the elite in northern Nigeria is using religion and culture to cage their people. Some northerners refuse to send the young girls to school, preferring instead to keep them in purdah. The little boys are Almajiri – left to be groomed on the streets, they eventually morph into a guerrilla army in the hands of religious fundamentalists eager to send them straight to heaven.

    But like the Emir has said, while the rest of the Islamic world has since moved on, and is making advances in sciences, technology, innovation and medicine, the version we have here wants to remain in the 13th Century and keep the rest of Nigeria there as well.  What makes the case from the emir particularly interesting is that the modern northern elite is not known for this kind of openness. They would rather maintain and enjoy the status quo. While the South-South elite would generally speak up to generate intense public attention just for his pocket, the northern elite is often mute, savouring the rankadede which the minnows around bestow.

     

    • Bob MajiriOghene Etemiku,

    Benin City.

  • North tackles meningitis

    In the Sahel belt, of which extreme northern states are a part, cerebro spinal meningitis or CSM, sometimes a fatal disease, occurs during the hot, dry season and terminates at the onset of the rains. The good thing is that the regional state governments are taking steps to stop it, writes News Agency of Nigeria

    Northern state governments and stakeholders are deploying more human and material resources to contain and prevent the spread of Cerebro Spinal Meningitis (CSM) and other haemorrhagic fevers in the region.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that various state governments, community and religious leaders as well as Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) are scaling up their interventions to prevent further outbreak and spread of communicable diseases.

    Many lives have been lost to recent reported cases in Zamfara and Sokoto states.

    In a survey by NAN, the Kano State Primary Health Care Management Board said it has strengthened surveillance to prevent the outbreak of communicable and airborne diseases. The Executive Secretary of the board, Dr Nasiru Mahmud told NAN that the board would scale up its efforts during this hot season that would herald the rains. He explained that the weather and population rate of the state made it necessary for the agency to strategise against outbreak of diseases.

    The state, he said, has improved on its awareness campaign in all the local government areas through various stakeholders’ meeting to address public health.

    “The state Ministry of Health has already ordered all health educators and all stakeholders to embark on massive campaign to let people know that the season has come.”

    Mahmud further explained that Kano has a minimal risk of meningitis as about 10 million children were immunised against the disease in 2016.

    The secretary noted that the immunisation has a life span of 10 years for whoever received it.

    He commended the Kano Emirate Council through its committee on health, where traditional rulers and religious leaders in all local governments have been tasked with advocating on health-related issues. He also commended development partners in the state who, he said, were involved in all stages of the health sector in the state.

    Furthermore, the scribe stressed that the board had procured large consignment of drugs and other consumables for rapid response.

    The Kaduna State Primary Health Care Development Agency said that it trained 1,500 community health workers and members on the prevention of child killer-diseases. Mr Hamza Ikara, the agency’s Deputy Director, told NAN that the training was to reduce outbreak of illnesses in the state.

    “We train them on different child illnesses such as malaria and pneumonia to reduce outbreak during the hot season.’’

    He said no case have been recorded for now because adequate preventive measures have been taken by the government. Ikara added that traditional rulers with their scribes have also been trained in order to carry out sensitisation in rural areas. He said that the state government has embarked on the clearing of drainages across the state to control malaria in addition to the distribution of treated mosquito nets to residents.

    He advised residents to sleep in ventilated rooms and avoid overcrowding, adding that people should adopt the habit of sleeping with their mosquitoes net.

    In Gombe State, the Head of Medicine, Specialist Hospital Gombe, Dr Raymond Dankwoli, has appealed to the general public to always ensure adequate ventilation in their rooms to avert possible occurrence of diseases.

    Dankwoli told NAN in Gombe that: “As we are all aware, the hot and rainy season has set in in some parts of the country. This may likely come with some outbreak of diseases like meningitis and conjunctivitis, among others.

    “This is because poor ventilation is a risk factor, therefore taking preventive measure is important.’’

    According to him, the hospital has recorded five cases of unconfirmed CSM.

    From Bauchi, the Executive Chairman of the state Health Care Development Agency, Mr Adamu Gamawa, said proactive measures would be taken to prevent measles and other child killer diseases through community vaccination.

    In Dutse, the Jigawa State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (JSPHCDA) said it has taken precautionary measures to check the outbreak of communicable and airborne diseases across the state. The Executive Secretary of the agency, Dr Kabir Ali, also told NAN in Dutse that the state government had introduced free maternal and healthcare service where pregnant women and children under the age of five were given free drugs in order to safeguard their health.

    Ali said that the agency was also taking preventing measures through routine immunisation in all the 530 public health facilities across the state.

    Also, the Borno state government said it has set aside 200,000 doses of vaccine for meningitis as a proactive measure against any outbreak as the hot season sets in.

    A report from Katsina said that the state government has confirmed an outbreak of meningitis in Batsari Local Government Area. The Permanent Secretary in the state Ministry of Health, Dr Kabir Mustapha, told NAN in Katsina that the disease was reported in some communities in the affected local government area.

    “But I cannot tell you further details because the State Primary Healthcare Development Agency is yet to forward full details on the disease outbreak to my office,’’ he said.

  • Where the North fails

    Those of us who read Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson’s Why Nations Fail, have seen, in the best-selling book, some convincing arguments on how countries of the world can seize the momentums of critical junctures of their histories to achieve economic greatness.

    Likewise, we have seen, in the same book, how elite’s phobia of Joseph Schumpeter’s “creative destruction” can either stunt growth or completely truncate it.

    Yet, while Why Nations Fail is a book rooted in political economy – from capitalistic perspective – its numerous analogies clearly abound everywhere, in terms of the realities of our dear country, Nigeria.

    Although, the parallels one seeks to draw in this piece are much nuanced from what the book presents, it suffices to say that nowhere are its numerous examples more vividly expressed than in the northern part of the country. Since the moment the Union Jack gave way to the green-white-green flag to herald the nation’s independence in 1960, the two major geographical divides in the country have tried to rival each other. Paradoxically, however, it is the North that appears to have been muddling along in this competition— in spite of its comparative numerical strength.

    In pre-independence times, there had been a glaring struggle to convince the large portion of the society to embrace western education. The North was, and still is, left to do a catching-up job as a result. The disparity between the two regions in terms of the population of private universities simply speaks volumes. Ditto commercial banks.

    The North, therefore, might have succeeded in producing more political leaders of the country at the centre compared to the South; and even now boasts of giving to the nation the richest black man in the world. But this cannot mask the fact the region is also top in churning out abject poverty, in addition to the infamy of giving us the deadliest terror group in the world, Boko Haram.

    One could, therefore, be forgiven if, by juxtaposing the present North and the South, the picture of Nogales Sonora and Nogales Arizona in Why Nations Fail naturally spring to mind.

    Apart from millions of male children who are roaming our streets under the guise of seeking Qur’anic education, which they rarely do now, there are also multitude of girls of school age who are either roaming the same streets hawking their life for their survival or enslaved in the homes of self-centered elites who employ them for all sorts of domestic drudgery, while their own children are chauffeur-driven to expensive private schools.

    Over the years, majority of the northern elite has not proven to be proactive in confronting the numerous challenges bedeviling the region. For instance, while Boko Haram insurgency is a product of doctrinal mutation of a particular Islamic creed, the group made the most of the opportunity pervasive poverty in the north-east presented to it to tap its human resources.

    If the elite in the North had been thinking strategically, they could have seen the danger ahead and devised the means of nipping it in the bud before it got out of control. Nevertheless, even the horrible experience of Boko Haram does not seem to have served as rude awakening for the region. The dangers posed by continuing to produce children that are sent to urban areas to beg their way to adulthood need no over-emphasis. With its alarming divorce rate, the North is also a place for many broken homes.

    But there’s a flicker of light at the end of the tunnel. And, it’s coming from Kano where the Emir, Muhammad Sanusi II, is championing efforts to codify family law in accordance with true teachings of the religion and culture of the people.

    According to Emir Sanusi II, “Our people are facing serious challenges in their family affairs. We have heard series of complaints where a father forced his daughter to marry someone against her wish. We have heard so many cases where people marry additional wives while they could not feed them well, clothe them well or give them good shelter even though they have the means to do so.”

    Then, he warned, “In this case, the proposed law provides that, a court of law would take something out of the man’s wealth to feed his family, give them shelter and clothes. In the event the man makes any attempt to resist the court’s directives, then the law takes necessary action against him. If you know your salary cannot take care of more than one wife, you should not get additional wife.”

    The Emir built his position on the strength of Quran 24:23: “Let those who find not the wherewithal for marriage keep themselves chaste, until Allah gives them means out of His grace.”

    Even one of the region’s most popular clerics in recent times, the late Sheikh Ja’afar Adam, held similar views. In a video clip that emerged following the raging debate on the proposed law, the late teacher is seen saying that the three conditions that must fulfilled for a Muslim seeking to have an additional wife are: Fairness, sufficient income and sexual capability.

    Indeed, some of those dissenting voice against the proposed law erroneously thought that its primary target was the common man. Nothing could be far from the truth! The explanations of both the Emir and the cleric are very unmistakable. Both the haves and the have nots are not exempted.

    However, no matter how the proposal divides opinion, no one can discount the fact that the vigorous debate it has, so far, generated is timely. Many are now flipping through their Islamic books with a view to understanding the true teaching of the religion, which has been corrupted by misogynic culture of the people.

    The North is now at another critical juncture. It therefore behooves the region to make a strategic choice. Emir Sanusi II is spearheading the defining revolution we await. Like Serethe Khama of Botswana who right from the independence put his country on the path of inclusive growth, which resulted in sustained economic gains, all hands should be on deck to see that the trail blazed from the commercial nerve-center of the North reverberates across the whole region.

    The choice before us is to either stick to the status quo, which has produced one million divorcees in Kano alone, or regulate the institution for our common good and a stable society.

    In this era of globalization, where the world is moving toward Artificial Intelligence, the North should aim at producing a digital generation that can stand on their feet anywhere in the world. Our Quranic memorizers should be using ICTs applications on their tablets to commit the book to memory.

    And no one should be allowed to subject them to the burden of roaming the streets barefooted, bowl in hands in search of morsel to assuage their hunger. The North should make it part of its strategic agenda to churn out more Sarki Abbas, Abba Gumels, and Jilani Aliyus of the future. This is how to harness a burgeoning population and not placing it at the doorstep of Boko Haram for harvest.

     

    • Musa wrote in from Abuja
  • Restarting the North again

    Restarting the North again

    If you don’t know when you have been spat on, it does not matter too much what else you think you know – Ruth Shays

    Northern governors last week attempted a feat the region had long jettisoned: bringing together its assets under one roof to count its strengths and weaknesses. The governors and senior officials went beyond the routine and ritual of periodically assembling for a few days in Kaduna, mostly to run away from begging and complaining citizens. This time, they set for themselves the challenging task of putting the region’s security challenges on the table and reaching out to traditional rulers and groups of elders to help examine just where to begin to deal with its multiple manifestations. When you remember that a few years ago, Northern governors were literally forced to stop meetings in Kaduna, or attend any event in the symbolically-important Arewa House by youths who harassed them with such abandon, this particular meeting which had an impressive attendance will be recorded as an achievement for holding at all. It was even more remarkable that governors accepted to tap into the perspectives and experience of traditional rulers, that layer that hovers between uncomfortable submission to elected politicians the age of their offspring or younger brothers, and leveraging on the considerable opportunities that exist outside their narrow formal environments to be heard. They even tacitly accepted that associations of elderly northerners who had played their parts many times over in the affairs of the region and the nation had something of value to say in the search for solution.

    The Governor of Borno State who is the Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum spoke with such passion, anger and lamentation over the state of the North. It was obvious that the governors had decided to do something different this time. The anger was substantially directed at the North, the region with the size, the people and the potential to be the richest in the nation, and to feed the entire West Africa. It is not any such thing today. It is, instead, the wretched region, derided and despised for begging for its existence and contributing nothing but trouble by the rest of Nigeria. Its people are angry and terrified by its numerous security challenges. Ten million of its young are beggars, and millions more will not receive any type of education or skills to prepare them for productive adult lives. Thousands of its people have died and are dying from preventable security threats, and millions will be victims of the Boko Haram insurgency for many years to come, or for entire lives. The North is virtually de-industrialised, its basic infrastructure decaying beyond rehabilitation. Desperately poor communities fight each other for every reason except those that improve their economic well-being. The solid show of  political unity demonstrated with the election of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 is threatening to unravel, as shadowy attackers under the generic identity of Fulani herders threaten ethno-religious harmony in many parts of the North, providing huge opportunities to exploit and regenerate dormant hostilities. The North that protected its turf as one unit with such confidence and competence in the First Republic is a pathetic shadow, with 19 governments, bureaucracies and rulers, spending resources it does not produce on governments, not the people.

    This was the North whose political leaders, all 19 of them, decided to look critically at a region that is regressing at such a rapid rate that it has become a major threat to itself and the rest of the nation, and even Africa. Well, they got an earful from the distinguished assemblage in turbans and robes and grey hairs on heads in their 80s and 90s.The Sultan of Sokoto advised on the values of justice and honesty as foundations of good governance and security. The Shehu of Borno painted a most distressing picture of the devastation being wrecked by the retreating Boko Haram insurgency. Emir of Kano made a strong case for far-reaching social reforms as solution to the deep-seated problems of the North which feed insecurity. Other traditional rulers offered advice on dealing with cultural pluralism, threats and strengthening governance structures. Elders took governors on a journey to a past which held together because leaders put premium on justice, inclusiveness and sacrifices. They reminded governors of imperatives of lowering boundaries, adopting pan-Northern policies and programmes and regenerating the dilapidated assets of the North. They held governors responsible for exerting pressure on the Federal Government to accord priority to adequate investments in agriculture, solid mineral development and basic infrastructure in the North as rights and not as a favour to northerners. They drew attention to energetic efforts of governors from the Southwest to build foundations for regional development and political unity. They pointed to multiple security threats and challenges from many parts of the nation fed by the desire to corner more resources, while the North fights itself and fritters away its bountiful opportunities. They lamented the alarming and widening gaps between the North and the rest of Nigeria in education, wealth creation, security and quality of life.

    Remarkably, there was also substantial yielding of grounds around boundaries and turfs. Governor Nasir el-Rufai submitted to a meeting that had hinted that insecurity in any part of the North is a northern problem through a detailed briefing on challenges and responses of his government on the Shia, cattle rustling and Southern Kaduna. Reactions to his briefing supported the view that northern leaders recognise that developments involving the Shia (or as he insisted, the IMN), and Southern Kaduna represented major threats to the whole North and the nation. Not one voice failed to support the enforcement of the law against people and groups who defy it, whatever religious garb they wear, or their status. A few, however advised on the values of exploring additional avenues and opportunities to manage conflicts. Dealing with overlapping responsibilities on security, law and order between federal and state governments is a major problem, and in both the Shia and Southern Kaduna issues, the need for greater synergy and collaboration was identified as a major issue that northern governors should take up with the Federal Government.

    The outcome of the meeting, the next day when the governors met alone, suggested that they may have decided on a number of steps that were best left unannounced. Some of the observations and  decisions they made public must have raised a few eyebrows, including the categorical statement that the Fulani suspected of involvement in fights with farming communities are from other countries in West Africa. Even making allowances for the possibility that the governors have the evidence to support this, it is a cause of concern that the conclusion could absolve from suspicion, the huge Fulani population which is entirely Nigerian in fights with communities. Fulani herders, Nigerian and foreign, will now be subjected to much closer scrutiny and potential abuse to show evidence of nationality. The onus to secure borders and prevent illegal entry for foreign Fulani has now been shifted to the Federal Government, a move that will neither improve border security nor the security of communities in the near future. Conflict resolution efforts and peace building will have to meander through a position which suggests that Fulani who should be involved are foreigners. Communities which still fear Fulani attacks will not find much comfort in the position that their adversaries are from other countries, and they may suspect that attempts are being made to push responsibilities further away.

    In any case, northern governors have made the commendable efforts to assume primary responsibility for the security of citizens. They have raised hopes that must be met, because the future of the North is severely threatened by unacceptable levels of poverty and crippling insecurity that compounds poverty. The North has never been as politically unified in partisan terms as it is today, with only two states in the hand of the PDP. If APC, with control of the executive and legislature at the federal level as well as 17 of 19 northern states cannot make a radical difference in the lives of northerners in the next one year, it is very likely that it will find it difficult to sell itself in 2019. If northern governors cannot find common grounds and the will to fight religious extremism, ethno-religious conflicts, youth unemployment, banditry, kidnappings, drugs and violence among youths, they would go down in history as the set who lost the North irretrievably. Last week, they showed that they do not want this place in history. They need help to restart the North.

     

  • When the North met

    When the North met

    LAST Monday, when the 19 governors of the northern states met with their traditional rulers in Kaduna, few observers needed to guess what the agenda would be. The Boko Haram menace may be receding in memory though its wounds are still fresh and in some isolated cases still festering, but in its place, the Southern Kaduna killings have begun to occupy prime media spaces everywhere. The northern elite, for that is what they really are, whether political or traditional, met amidst much flourish to begin the task of exploring hidden and open factors disposing their states to such unrestrained and unfathomable bloodletting. They appeared to recognise that such an exploration could not be done in a day or even days. The enterprise will take them time, and their success will depend on how honest and scrupulous they are in plumbing the depths of violence in a geographical space the chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum, Borno State’s Governor Kashim Shettima, continues to describe as the Northern Region.

    Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai, was their host, though of course Kaduna city is understandably recognised as the political capital of the North. Perhaps, too, the Southern Kaduna killings, which the governor has badly mismanaged, was the immediate reason for the meeting. However, it is hard to say to what extent the northern leaders would tell themselves the unblemished truth about why their region is in such an uproar, why its youth are restive, and why and how regional leaders have shirked their political, cultural and religious responsibilities. Had they been capable of telling themselves the truth, had they developed the temper for discourses unfettered by sometimes religious and sometimes feudal restraints, had they approached the changing dynamics of the modern era with the openness and calculation the times needed, and had they acquired the principled introspection required to deconstruct and learn from the Boko Haram revolt, perhaps Kaduna would not be boiling. But if it boiled, the challenge would not mystify or frustrate their collective gifts and aspirations.

    Governor Shettima and the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammed Sa’ad Abubakar III, were the principal voices at the meeting. The Borno governor was eloquent, and the Sultan was passionate, but neither rose, nor attempted to rise, to the stature of the region’s First Republic leaders. While the governor struggled to situate the restiveness in the region within the context of its socio-economic disparities, even announcing the establishment of a regional economic programme under the leadership of Tanimu Yakubu Kurfi, the Sultan sought symptomatic relief in his denunciation of hate speeches which he presumed to be the triggers for violence. Elements of everything they have identified are embedded in the crisis bedevilling the region, but it is doubtful whether the regional leaders have made a persuasive case, or whether they even have the dispassion and discipline to make any case whatsoever.

    The problem with many analyses about the country’s objective conditions is that analysts make many prior assumptions about the state (nation) and proceed from that universal predicate to examine the state’s many dysfunctions. Thus, they make the assumption that a poor region like the Northeast ravaged by, say, religious revolt will respond to economic stimuli and other forms of interventions like any other poor state elsewhere, say in Europe or the United States. That classical, textbook one-solution-fits-all approach exemplified by the Breton Woods institutions neither works well, nor even when they do, last long. One of the key missing links in the North — other parts of Nigeria are not exempted from this malaise — is that after Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, no one has been able to envision anything for the region. And so while the concept of a region continues to exist and even thrive in the subconscious of the average northern leader, its foundational and driving vision has been lost in the moraines of their undisciplined approach to life and politics.

    Unlike many other leading countries in the world, Nigeria does not have a unifying vision for the country. In the 1950s, regional leaders managed with varying degrees of success to enunciate regional visions. Those visions determined and shaped the kind of societies they wanted to establish and under what rules and laws they wished to build their economies and peoples. The visions circumscribed religious beliefs and practices, propelled education and healthcare services, and imbued both the peoples and leaders of the various regions with self-confidence, again with varying degrees of success. It was that vision, whether written or not, that carved the obtrusive northernisation policy of the eponymous Sardauna, helped him to run an inclusive northern government that saw Christians and Muslims rise to top positions, shaped his utterances, and allowed him to preside over a merit-driven, multicultural system that gave fillip to the region’s developmental quest.

    No one in the North today has the depth of understanding that the Sardauna had, nor his discipline. They not only misunderstood the revolt that ravaged the Northeast; indeed, they even fostered and misinterpreted it in its early years, exulting in Boko Haram’s promotion of injustice against other faiths, and revelling in the ethnic cum religious bigotry that is stymieing the growth, development and peace of the region. That lack of vision manifests in by-passing Christians and ethnic minorities on line for promotion whether in the judiciary or elsewhere, and somehow even justifying murder as an astonished and disgusted country witnessed in Kano last year. The North is overdue for soul-searching, for renewal, and for recreation along the lines of its founders whose sense of justice, fairness and equity the present regional leaders can’t match.

    The North is of course not alone in abjuring vision as a guiding principle of nation-building and development, but it is an exemplar. The hot and emotive talk by the governors and traditional rulers last Monday in Kaduna will remain nothing but gaseous talk until they go back to their roots and rediscover their own essence. Last Monday, after indulging in virtually futile rhetoric, the northern leaders seemed to have gone away with the impression that once the socio-economic indicators of the region were enhanced, peace and development would be restored. They are terribly mistaken. Let them first rediscover their roots, exhume their founding vision of a noble, just and tolerant society, if possible envision afresh a society that does not discriminate against any group or faith, and let them recognise and adapt to the changing global dynamics against which they have frittered away opportunities and resources.

    Northern leaders must stop pretending that their region is accommodating to all. It used to be; it is no longer so. As the controversial regulation enacted by the authorities of the Yar’Adua University in Katsina State banning any other faith group on the campus other than Muslim Students Society indicate, because they said no Christian group had asked for registration; as the deliberately botched trial of those accused of openly murdering a 74-year-old Igbo woman, Bridget Agbahime, in Kano last June shows; and as the dangerous display of ethnic exceptionalism by Fulani herdsmen and their political supporters also shows in kaduna thereby inspiring murderous rampage in Southern Kaduna and other parts of the country, northern leaders have their work cut out for them.

    Instead of living in denial, let them acknowledge that they have deviated badly from their foundations. Let them acknowledge the biases and bigotries that have been introduced into the body politic by known and shadowy figures. Let them recognise that they cannot gift the country what they do not have. One of the reasons Nigerian leaders since 1966 have been so unsuccessful is because their governments were not anchored on any great vision or ideology. The same malady afflicts the Buhari presidency even now. That same malady, of not standing for anything deep, noble and inspiring, is what would make last Monday’s gathering of northern leaders in Kaduna a waste of time. They will not be the first to so gather, nor will they be the last. As long as they deny reality, as long as they continue to subscribe to the inequities and injustices that engender revolt in their region, no meeting they summon, nor how long and intensive it might be, can create the peace they vaguely conjure.

  • Insecurity: North responsible for own woes, says governors

    Insecurity: North responsible for own woes, says governors

    Governors of the 19 Northern States and the Northern Traditional Rulers Council on Monday met in Kaduna telling themselves what can be regarded as the ‘bitter truth’ that the region was responsible for its own woes.

    The Chairman of the Northern States Governors’ Forum and Governor of Borno State, Alhaji Kashim Shettima said, north which is ‘Nigeria’s most thriving region’, has literally conspired against itself to be reduced to the laughing stock of the world.

    The Sultan of Sokoto and Chairman of the Northern Traditional Rulers Council, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III said hatred among northerners and the attendant violence are preached from places of religious worship, which he described as sad and worrisome to the traditional institution.

    Governor Shettima in his welcome address to the first ever joint meeting of the Northern elites under the auspices of the Northern Governors’ Forum, Northern Traditional Rulers Council, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Northern Elders Forum and others, said, Northern Nigeria today is blighted by a deadly (albeit retreating) insurgency, rural armed banditry, cattle rustling, ethnic and religious conflicts, the underlying causes of which are poverty, illiteracy, social exclusivity and severely limited economic opportunities.

    The Governors’ Forum leader said the core challenges in the region revolve around intolerance, absence of peaceful coexistence, poverty, illiteracy and lack of unity.

    According to him, “Governors of the 19 Northern States do recognize, respect and cherish the fact that while others serve for certain periods, traditional rulers mostly make lifetime commitments to the service of our communities. This naturally make Your Royal Highnesses very significant stakeholders in the affairs of Government across the 19 Northern States.

    “Even more crucially, it gladdens the heart to note that our traditional rulers have sustained the time tested and noble tradition of championing the causes of their people. To cite one example, only last week, His Royal Highness, the erudite Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi ll spearheaded the thought provoking debate surrounding the significance of the education of the girl-child and how it can positively impact the progress, development, prosperity, peace, security and stability of the North and, by extension, Nigeria.

    “This very fundamental debate bordering on the educational backwardness, pervasive poverty and underdevelopment as well as persistent insecurity of Northern Nigeria should not only form the underlying basis for holding this extraordinary meeting but must continue, in our enlightened self-interest as leaders, to perpetually preoccupy our our thoughts, plans, programmes and actions.

    “Managing multiculturalism and heterogeneity is a major challenge and indeed a litmus test for leadership, good governance and progress not just in Northern Nigeria but in the entire global society. However, as leaders of government, traditional rulers and community as well as religious leaders we must to unite to tackle the challenges that stare us in the face.

    “Like all the Northern Governors acknowledge, development is not just about building roads, bridges, houses or what we refer to as infrastructure and the provision of social services. Yes, these are very important, but then, there are pro-social livelihoods, peace and good life which are the fundamental attributes of meaningful existence.

    “Our core challenges in the North today revolve around intolerance, absence of peaceful coexistence, poverty, illiteracy and lack of unity. How can we address these critical concerns? We, the 19 Governors of Northern States believe that a gathering of some of the key leaders of the North, is more than able to provide solutions to our problems. As Governors, we are more determined than ever, to sincerely walk the talks generated from this important meeting.

    “There is no gain saying the North is a poor, pathetic shadow of its former self. A well endowed, promising geographic space which accounts for 70% of Nigeria’s land mass, up to at least 60% of its population, with huge solid minerals resources, with potentials for hydrocarbon resources, a growing mining industry, rich arable lands, a blossoming agro-industrial economy, Nigeria’s wealthiest region by GDP and the region with the brightest prospects for accelerated economic growth; in short, arguably Nigeria’s most thriving region, has literally conspired against itself to be reduced to the laughing stock of the world. Northern Nigeria today is blighted by a deadly (albeit retreating) insurgency, rural armed banditry, cattle rustling, ethnic and religious conflicts, the underlying causes of which are poverty, illiteracy, social exclusivity and severely limited economic opportunities.

    “The platform is also driving our ongoing commitment with General Electric for the construction of Solar power plants in five States within the North. Kurfi’s group is also going to drive some funding arrangements with financial institutions and development partners on key areas of Agriculture. Thankfully, Dr Kurfi himself is very keen about the north reclaiming it’s lost glory in cotton production and textiles manufacturing which was the predominant industrial activity in Northern Nigeria, as well as the creation of international markets for our farm produce with emphasis on value chain.

    “Our forum’s secretariat has furnished me with a note that gives details of problems confronting most parts of the North and even suggesting ways of addressing them. However, as my colleagues would say, there will be no point inviting Your Royal Highnesses and distinguished elders if we know the problems and the solutions to them. We will rather prefer to hear from you as we go into a closed door session. We look forward to valuable and free minded conversations that should focus on solving our challenges”, Governor Shettima stated.

  • Buhari has short-changed north—Ango Abdullahi

    Buhari has short-changed north—Ango Abdullahi

    The spokesman of Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF), Professor Ango Abdullahi has said that the north has so far been short-changed by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.
    Professor Abdullahi who was guest of Kaduna-based Liberty Radio Hausa programme, ‘’Bakon mu na mako’’ on Sunday noted that the north is not properly represented in the appointment of Ministers and in the distribution of capital projects in the 2016 budget.
    According to him, the north voted for Buhari irrespective of party affiliations and not necessarily for the All Progressives Congress (APC), because the Jonathan administration reneged on the power shift arrangement which brought President Olusegun Obasanjo to power in 1999.
    ‘’Buhari has been contesting election in the last 12 years. He contested on the platform of ANPP, contested again on the platform of CPC in 2011. In 2015, the north rallied round him because it was aggrieved over the decision of PDP to field Jonathan in spite of the obvious constitutional breach that another four year term for him would have imposed on the country.
    ‘’So, given the fact that northerners had resolved that power should shift to the north in 2015 and Buhari’s past record and personal integrity, the north rallied round in his support irrespective of party or religious affiliations,’’ Professor Abdullahi stated.
    The NEF spokesman said that the north was not given positions in the Federal Executive Council that are commensurate with its voting strength. He pointed out that the Ministries that have direct bearing on the economy, are not in the hands of northerners, adding that the Ministry of Agriculture is the only exception.
    Professor Abdullahi further said that the north only got 30% out of the capital projects that have been earmarked in the 2016 appropriation bill, adding that the North East, North West and North Central got 3%, 9% and 19% respectively.
    ‘’Imagine, the north east which was ravaged by Boko Haram only got 3%. In terms of recurrent expenditure which is mainly paying salaries and servicing the day-to-day running of government, the north is also short changed because as at 10 years ago, 0nly 18% of federal civil servants are northerners,’’ he said.