Simon Kolawole Live!:
Introspection. That’s one very scarce commodity among Nigerian politicians. When they gather at regional level, what you normally hear is lamentation about how they have been cheated in the Nigerian federation. You never hear them say: “How culpable are we in the condition of our people?” When Northern leaders gather, they spend hours lamenting how they have lost out of power and why they must regain control of Aso Rock as soon as possible. None of them will say: “Gentlemen, one of us donated N17 billion to Olusegun Obasanjo’s third term agenda. That is enough to sink 40,000 boreholes and eradicate the incidence of cholera that kills thousands of our people every year!”
When Yoruba leaders gather, the topic is always “true federalism”. I’m an advocate of true federalism, but I’m not sure that is why the primary schools or hospitals are in such deplorable condition. They will never ask themselves if they are giving the best they can with the resources currently at their disposal. In the South-east, Igbo leaders often complain about how “we have been conquered as a people” and I have had to ask myself: how did Biafra manage to build refineries and manufacture bombs? Was it with the help of the Nigerian state? Who says Abia State government cannot turn Aba into Dubai without spending one kobo from the Nigerian state? Politicians never ask themselves these questions.
In the Niger Delta, resource control became such a sing-song that I was forced to use my calculator to compute the amount of money going into oil-producing states (without resource control) and what we can really cite as achievements. Bayelsa State, for instance, is the smallest state with the smallest population. But it has consistently been in the top three in terms of federal allocation receipts in the last 10 years, yet you cannot point to any transformation in the lives of the ordinary people. So while people are shouting about resource control, no-one is ready to look inward and say: “But is this all that we can give to our people under these circumstances?”
You can imagine my surprise, then, at the frank self-assessment offered by Senate President David Mark at the Northern peace conference organised by the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) in Kaduna last week. I found his soul-searching questions on the issue of Boko Haram very, very frank. It was one of the frankest I have ever heard from a Nigerian politician discussing the state of the union. Attacking the “conspiracy of silence” that has pervaded the atmosphere as Boko Haram continues to kill innocent citizens in the North, Mark made his points in a series of posers.
Hear him: “Will this conference avoid what may be regarded as sensitive issues and not discuss them? Will we be able to condemn current degree of insecurity in the North occasioned and heightened by Boko Haram? Are we afraid to openly condemn Boko Haram either for political reasons or out of fear of possible attack by the sect? How can we keep quiet when a group begins to propagate the ideology that Western education is Haram? Western education today remains the pivot of development.
“Have we forgotten that evil thrives when good men are silent? A Northerner killing a Northerner, a Northerner maiming a Northerner, a Northerner disrupting business activities in the North, a Northerner destroying property in the North and so on and so forth cannot be helping the Northerner by any stretch of imagination. When is the North truly North? Is it when the interest of a few but vocal group is met? Is it when the interest of a select religious group is met? Is it when a section of the North is satisfied? Or is it when the interest of the common good of the North is addressed?”
Many commentators and opinion leaders, especially in the South, have been asking why Northern leaders are not coming out vociferously to condemn Boko Haram. The silence is being interpreted in many ways. The most frequent interpretation, judging by the comments I hear all the time, is that the leaders tacitly support the militant group in order to scare other parts of Nigeria out of the presidency in 2015. In fact, a variant of this argument says some Northern politicians are stoking the Boko Haram flame to make the country ungovernable for President Goodluck Jonathan after losing out to him in the “zoning” game. Those who support this argument interpret the silence as consent or complicity.
A second argument, raised by Mark, is “fear”. Are Northern leaders silent because they do not want to be the next victims of Boko Haram? If we take a closer look at the sect—even though it claims to be waging a war against Christians—we would discover that Muslims have been at the receiving end, especially in Maiduguri. They have targeted many top Muslim politicians, the climax of which was the killing of a Borno governorship candidate, Modu Fannami Gubio. They sent threat messages to Northern Muslim governors. Former governor of Borno State, Senator Modu Sheriff, placed an advert in the newspapers, indirectly apologising to Boko Haram for any offence he might have committed against them. He is reportedly the “most wanted” target of the group since they fell out after years of alleged romance.
When Governor Rabiu Kwakwanso of Kano State recently criticised the group, he was forced to make a volte-face. He quickly condemned the police for arresting Boko Haram members. He apparently feared for his own safety. A highly respected Islamic cleric, Jaafar Mahmud Adam, was assassinated in 2007 obviously for disagreeing with Boko Haram over their anti-Western education stand. He was said to have argued with them, using the Holy Qur’an and the Hadith, that there was nothing wrong in seeking knowledge that is not based purely on Islam. He was said to have parted ways with the sect’s leader, Mohammed Yusuf, because of this. Jaafar was subsequently murdered by unknown persons inside his mosque in Kano. Maybe experiences such as this have scared Northern leaders from publicly condemning Boko Haram.
Nevertheless, silence is not the best way forward. We need to tackle this menace from all angles. The security forces must work harder and smarter, round the clock, round every nook and cranny, adopting conventional and unconventional strategies, to contain this group. The local communities must be tutored on security awareness. Political and religious leaders must be active as well to salvage the fortune of the region. The North, according to local and international statistics, has a lot of work to do to battle poverty in its midst. All facts point to the dire state of development in the region. There is no denying this. This violence will only worsen matters.
Speaking at the same conference, Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State said: “Of the ten states in Nigeria with the highest incidence of poverty, eight are in the North, where more than three quarters of the people live below the poverty line. And today, Jigawa State, with only five per cent of its people living above the poverty line, is Nigeria’s undisputed leader-state in the poverty pack. Other indices tell an even more pathetic story. On girl-child enrolment as an indicator of educational progress, for instance, while both South-West and South-east have an enrolment rate of 85 per cent each and South-South has 75 per cent, the North-west has 25 per cent while North-east has only 20 per cent. Of the students who took the National Common Entrance Examination in 2011, 16,050 of the 62,682 were in Lagos State, while Kebbi State had 83 registrants, and Yobe State had only 74!”
How sad. How worrisome. These are damning figures that should make Northern leaders stand up and speak up as Boko Haram continues to ravage the North, scaring businesses away from the region and destroying the little infrastructure on the ground, some of which were built by the late Premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello. What a shame.
And FourOther Things...
ACN's Dangerous Gambit
The raucous campaign by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) against the nomination of Roli, wife of Chief Bode George, as a representative of Lagos State in the National Population Commission (NPC) is a dangerous gambit. Grace Bent, a Yoruba woman, was an Adamawa senator on the strength of marriage. Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, from Delta State, was nominated for ministerial position from her husband’s state of origin, Abia, in 2003. I know that ACN is trying to get back at George, a long-time foe of ACN in the state. So I can understand the politics at that level. However, there's something discomfiting about waging a war against an Itsekiri woman, given the age-long cultural-cum-political affinity between the Yoruba and Itsekiri. How would the late Pa Alfred Rewane, a loyal servant of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, feel that a fellow Itsekiri is being campaigned against in Lagos on the basis of state of origin? And ACN chieftains, who say they are progressives, should ask themselves: what would Awolowo do?
The raucous campaign by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) against the nomination of Roli, wife of Chief Bode George, as a representative of Lagos State in the National Population Commission (NPC) is a dangerous gambit. Grace Bent, a Yoruba woman, was an Adamawa senator on the strength of marriage. Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, from Delta State, was nominated for ministerial position from her husband’s state of origin, Abia, in 2003. I know that ACN is trying to get back at George, a long-time foe of ACN in the state. So I can understand the politics at that level. However, there's something discomfiting about waging a war against an Itsekiri woman, given the age-long cultural-cum-political affinity between the Yoruba and Itsekiri. How would the late Pa Alfred Rewane, a loyal servant of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, feel that a fellow Itsekiri is being campaigned against in Lagos on the basis of state of origin? And ACN chieftains, who say they are progressives, should ask themselves: what would Awolowo do?
Daniyan's Demise
When Chief Silas Bamidele Daniyan, the Ojomu of Mopa, died on Tuesday, I jokingly said the last of the Okun titans was gone. Daniyan was for several years a fierce political adversary of the late Chief Sunday Bolorunduro Awoniyi, his townsman. Daniyan was private secretary to Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe as Governor-General of Nigeria, while Awoniyi was private secretary to the Premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello. In political contests, Daniyan was always bested by Awoniyi, who though not as rich, was a grassroots strategist. My grandmother was loyal to Daniyan while my grandfather was with Awoniyi. It was fun, in the days of open ballot system, seeing my grandmother queuing behind SDP posters and my grandfather behind NRC posters at the same polling station. And both were living under the same roof!
When Chief Silas Bamidele Daniyan, the Ojomu of Mopa, died on Tuesday, I jokingly said the last of the Okun titans was gone. Daniyan was for several years a fierce political adversary of the late Chief Sunday Bolorunduro Awoniyi, his townsman. Daniyan was private secretary to Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe as Governor-General of Nigeria, while Awoniyi was private secretary to the Premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello. In political contests, Daniyan was always bested by Awoniyi, who though not as rich, was a grassroots strategist. My grandmother was loyal to Daniyan while my grandfather was with Awoniyi. It was fun, in the days of open ballot system, seeing my grandmother queuing behind SDP posters and my grandfather behind NRC posters at the same polling station. And both were living under the same roof!
Wanted: Anti-adultery Bill
I have been watching with amusement the enormous emotions we have been dissipating over the same-sex marriage bill before the National Assembly. (Ironically, we already have the Marriage Act in our statutes which defines marriage as between a man and a woman. So the new bill is nothing but superfluous.) I am repeating my challenge to the lawmakers to pass an anti-adultery law, punishable by 14 years in jail. God hates adultery as much as he hates homosexuality. God hates lying, so we need an anti-lying bill that will send people to 14 years in jail for lying to their wives about where they were last night. And what about an anti-greed bill, to checkmate the indiscriminate increases in allowances of lawmakers while the ordinary people cannot eat good food and professors cannot earn good pay? God hates greed too, you know. Hypocrites.
Politics and Death
My predecessor as THISDAY Editor, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, has fulfilled a promise he made to me in 2007. He had been approached to be presidential spokesman when Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar'Adua was preparing to assume office. Adeniyi turned down the offer. He had asked me what I thought about it and I had encouraged him to turn it down (personally, I don't like politics and political appointments, so I'm forever the wrong person to ask for advice!) However, in a sudden twist, he was called by Yar'Adua himself. As I watched Adeniyi's "horrified" expression, I knew something had changed. As soon as he got off the phone, he told me it had become impossible for him to turn it down. We spoke at length and he promised he would keep a diary and write his experience after coming out of government. On Tuesday, we will gather in Abuja to launch "Power, Politics and Death", his account of the Yar'Adua years. It's a promise fulfilled.
I have been watching with amusement the enormous emotions we have been dissipating over the same-sex marriage bill before the National Assembly. (Ironically, we already have the Marriage Act in our statutes which defines marriage as between a man and a woman. So the new bill is nothing but superfluous.) I am repeating my challenge to the lawmakers to pass an anti-adultery law, punishable by 14 years in jail. God hates adultery as much as he hates homosexuality. God hates lying, so we need an anti-lying bill that will send people to 14 years in jail for lying to their wives about where they were last night. And what about an anti-greed bill, to checkmate the indiscriminate increases in allowances of lawmakers while the ordinary people cannot eat good food and professors cannot earn good pay? God hates greed too, you know. Hypocrites.
Politics and Death
My predecessor as THISDAY Editor, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, has fulfilled a promise he made to me in 2007. He had been approached to be presidential spokesman when Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar'Adua was preparing to assume office. Adeniyi turned down the offer. He had asked me what I thought about it and I had encouraged him to turn it down (personally, I don't like politics and political appointments, so I'm forever the wrong person to ask for advice!) However, in a sudden twist, he was called by Yar'Adua himself. As I watched Adeniyi's "horrified" expression, I knew something had changed. As soon as he got off the phone, he told me it had become impossible for him to turn it down. We spoke at length and he promised he would keep a diary and write his experience after coming out of government. On Tuesday, we will gather in Abuja to launch "Power, Politics and Death", his account of the Yar'Adua years. It's a promise fulfilled.
Email: simon.kolawole@thisdaylive.com
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