Fifty years after his demise, statesmen, politicians and associates of the late Premier of the defunct Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello, converged on Kaduna, the political headquarters of the North, to celebrate his legacies. Correspondent TONY AKOWE reflects on the life and times of the nationalist politician, who was killed by soldiers on January 15, 1966.
Fifty years after the death of Sir Ahmadu Bello, the first and only Premier of the defunct Northern Region, leaders and people of the region still lament his passing. But, even those who benefited from the legacies he left behind have done practically nothing to ensure that those coming behind them also gain from these legacies. Instead, they have practically bastardised those legacies, majority of which are non existent today. Apart from the good name and virtue he left behind, there is almost nothing that he established, lived and died for that is still standing today.
Yearly, since he died during the first military coup in 1966, northern leaders have gathered to sing the praises of the man, Ahmadu Bello, while allowing the region to be more polarised and disunited. Did leaders of the north ever learn anything from these praises they tend to shower on the man annually? How have they applied the lessons they have learnt, if any, in building a hinted and developed North? These were questions begging for answers at the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of his death at the conference hall of Arewa House in Kaduna.
Incidentally, not many of the present day leaders of the north admit that they have not done well with the potentials left by the legend. Aside the New Nigeria Development Company that is still standing, but struggling to survive, practically all companies and institutions established by him have either gone under or have been taken over by the Federal Government. The Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and the Kaduna Polytechnic established by him have been taken over, while Bank of the North, Kaduna Textiles Limited, Gaskiya Corporation and the New Nigeria newspaper have gone under. Many have argued that the two institutions are still standing because of the take over by the Federal Government.
But, the Sultan of Sokoto believe that northern leaders and northerners should stop hiding under the shadow of the late Sardauna and take up the challenge of building the north of their dream. The Sultan said 50 years was too long a time to lament and hide under the shadow of the late Premier. He said: “I want to challenge all of us here to stop hiding under the shadows of Sarduana. If we want to see the north of our dreams, all of us here, the leaders and the led must all behave like Sardauna because if we have good leaders with a bad followership, we will still have problem and if you have bad leaders and good followership, you will still have problems. My quarrel is with the leaders of the north. You have a lot of problems in your hands. You came at a time when we don’t have enough resources. We have so many citizens who are jobless and want to live their lives. You have to provide for everybody. I challenge you to take up the mantle of leadership and face the challenge very well. See how you can create jobs for the teeming youths that are parading your streets with nothing to do.
“Anybody who has nothing to do and is hungry can be used for 10 kobo. We have written a lot of letters to the governors on this and we will follow up. The issue is that the millions of youths that are jobless must be engaged. How we do it is our own problem, because we have the people to do the job. So, I appeal to our governors to take up this very serious challenge and keep our children off the street and let them be useful to the society.
“There are so many important projects across the north which have been abandoned. How can we resuscitate them. For example, Ajaokuta Steel Complex. The Northern Governors Forum should take up the challenge and see how they can work toward the completion of that project, because it is capable of creating thousands of jobs for our people. Like I said, let us get out of the shadows of Sardauna. Fifty years is a long period and work with the principles he left for us which is work ethic and fighting corruption. All of us are either Muslims or Christians. These two religions never encourage corruption or bad governance. We talk of Sardauna legacies. As Christians and Muslims, where did we go wrong that we have ethnic rivalry and religous bigotry in the north. Christians and Muslims are killing themselves under one excuse or the other. If we want a true north, let us look back to see at what point we started derailing and from there, let us retrace our steps and let us move this north and Nigeria forward.”
Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima was concerned by the attitude of northern leaders to the unity of the north and the welfare of its people. Shettima said leaders of the region folded their arms when Boko Haram insurgents were killing and maiming people. The governor said Sir Ahmadu Bello would have behaved differently. He said: “The unity, solidarity and the concept of being your brother’s keeper left behind by Sardauna has been replaced by mutual suspicion and an intolerable attitude of nonchalance and total disregard to the course of our people. We in Borno are practically sad since that attitude eloquently manifested during early period of the Boko Haram insurgency, when the entire nation and majority of the northern states regarded the insurgency as merely a Borno affair. The Boko Haram insurgency has in fact brought to the fore, the fallacy of the so-called northern unity and solidarity.”
Minister of Youth and Sport, Solomon Dalung, was more direct in attacking northern leaders for living a life of lamentation instead of harnessing the legacies of the late Premier for the betterment of the north. Like many others who spoke at the gathering, Dalung sang the praises of the late Sardauna, but wondered why present day leaders of the north, especially the governors, cannot do what a single individual did for the north 50 years ago.
He said: “Sardauna was an individual. He led Northern Nigeria, which is now 19 states. But, today, we have 19 governors, yet they cannot govern the North. If Sardauna was going round to oversee 19 northern states and now, we have governors with smaller portions, yet they are nowhere to be found. It is unfortunate. The problem of the leadership in the North particularly and Nigeria in general is that there is a wide gap between the rulers and the ruled. Sardauna narrowed that gap. When Sardauna was alive, from this very place we are standing, he trekked down to the Mosque and while returning, he will visit houses greeting people until he comes back. How many of the Northern governors are doing that? How many political leaders are doing that today?”
While challenging northern elites to close ranks and fight a common cause that will be in the interest of the north, he said that the region should stop lamentation and forge a united front for the overall development of its people. He said: “From the presentations we have heard, it is still lamentation and lamentation. Fifty years after the death of Sardauna, Northern leaders are still lamenting. I think there should be a radical departure from lamentation to translation of the ideals of Sardauna into practical realities. I think the lesson we should learn from Sardauna is one. He was a detribalised leader. Though a Muslim, he travelled to Makkah with a Christian, Michael Buba. Though a Muslim, his close confidant was the Emir of Kagoro. Though a Muslim leader, he had so many Christians appointed into his cabinet and he carried everybody along. Sardauna is responsible for the education we are benefiting from today. The foundation he laid is what we are standing on and we have not added anything onto it. Even the unity he handed over to us, we surrendered it to ethnic and religious differences, that led to the balkanisation and confusion that have characterised the north.”
He advised northern leaders to desist from locking themselves away from the people who elected them. He added: “Anyone who does that should know that he will not be re-elected. We must not just talk about the virtues of Sardauna. Everyone here must go back and pick one thing to emulate from Sardauna. Me talking to you, I have picked mine and praying that God assist me to deliver it. It is not just about gathering always and exploring the virtues of Sardauna without anybody intending to emulate him.”
Former Benue State governor, Gabriel Suswam admitted that northern leaders, especially northern governors, have not lived up to expectation in terms of developing and uniting the north. He agreed that northern leaders failed to carry on with his legacies.
In the same vein, former Niger State governor, Muazu Babangida Aliyu, stressed that if northern leaders who came after the Sardauna behaved like him, “we will not be talking about corruption and fighting corruption.” Aliyu who led northern governors for eight years as Chairman of the Northern States Governors Forum said “there is nobody that loved northern Nigeria like Sir Ahmadu Bello. By right, after the election, Sir Ahmadu Bello would have been Prime Minister, but because of the love for his people and for the north, he opted to be Premier and asked his deputy to be Prime Minister of Nigeria. Many people will be wondering why we always talk about him. We talk about people who have done wonderfully well for their people, sacrificed their time and served selflessly. He has done so to our benefit. He introduced free education which many of us not only benefited from, but we were paid allowances to stay in school. Not only was the school free, we were paid to stay in school and that is one legacy that we must maintain. He was one leader that if he offends you, he will go to your house and apologise to you. He went round to understand the problems of his people and solve them. So, there was the need for us to launch a foundation to remember this wonderful person. Generosity is inherent in leadership. This is why some of us who have read our books properly, and have read our Quran and Bible correctly will appreciate that leaders must be tolerant and Sardauna was one. His honesty knew no bound. Many of us are aware that when he died, unlike many that we hear that in their accounts, you find several billions of naira which you can’t even believe, but in Sarduana’s case, he left a house in Sokoto, but his bank account was in red. Many people don’t know their history or their background. Many people don’t know that the problems of today were caused by today’s leaders because they do not have the understanding that the problem might have been lingering because people have not done anything about it. We need to let people understand, appreciate and correct their mistakes. If people behave like Sardauna in leadership, we will not be talking about corruption and fighting corruption today.”
