By Aliyu Aliyu
Sports:In which aspect of sports do we excel? Is it football,
basketball, track and field events, gymnastics, combat sports? Oh! I
forgot Polo – the sport of the princes and royalties of the north. While
they play polo with aristocratic gusto, shouldn’t we wonder how many
names it has put on the world‘s sporting map and how many jobs it has
created? How many of our potentials are playing the world’s greatest
game in England, Italy, Spain and others either in professional leagues
or junior /feeder teams awaiting discovery and making money along the
way? Need we ask how many lives the western union transfers of Mikel Obi
touches or those of Osaze Odemwingie? Or the impact of Kanu‘s Heart
foundation on kids who would have long died unsung? Recall names like
Hakeem Olajuwon, Michael OlowoKandi, Mary Onyali, Falilat Ogunkoya,
Segun Toriola, Bash Ali, Uche Chukwumerije etc ? Do they sound northern?
Literature, Arts, and Music: Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe exist in a
class of their own In tota fine erga omnes et omnia. (for all
purposes, in regards to all and everything). Whether loathed, genuinely
or enviously admired, the duo have occupied their places on the throne
of Nigeria’s literary scene and the global honours list. With them as
pioneers, there can be no other firsts. Other torch bearers include,
without diminishing the status of those unmentioned here, Cyprian
Ekwensi, Ola Rotimi, Niyi Osundare (whose poem) is going to be read at
the London Olympics. Of the latter generation, who else would have won
the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and Orange Prize for fiction other than
Chimamanda Adichie ? Who else would have won the Dorothy Sargent
Rosenberg poetry prize (2008) and the Arts & Culture Award [CNN
African Journalist of the Year Awards (2009)] other than Tolu Ogunlesi?
Who else would have won the Young Global Leader (YGL) 2012 other than
Simon Kolawole? Nigerian writer and blogger, Teju Cole, has recently won
this year’s Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award for a ‘distinguished’ first
book of fiction in far away London and the list goes on and on. Who wins
the NLNG prize for science and literature yearly? When these awards
take place, where are the northerners?
Which songs do the DJs and Radio presenters across the north play?
Seal, Lighthouse family, Dr Alban, Sade Adu; P- square, Whiz Kid,
Davido, Wande Coal, T Y Bello, Mo Cheddah, 9ice, Asa, Brymo? When the
likes of Femi Anikulapo Kuti set the target of a Grammy for himself
where are the northern artistes and performers?
Do names like Bruce Onobrakpeya; Fred Okon Archibong; Muraina
Oyelami; Yusuf GrilloYinka, Bridget Nwanze, Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy; Bisi
Fakeye; Yinka Shonibare; (Arts ); Sunmi Smart Cole, George Osodi; Emeka
Okereke, Jide Alakija, Yetunde Ayeni-Babaeko (Photography); Chinwetel
Ejiofor, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje; Sophie Okonedo , Rick Famuyiwa
(Hollywood) ring silent bells in the ears of the north? Even the
popular
Argungu festival, the endless Durbars, the countless investitures are photographed,exhibited and promoted by non- northerners!
Advertising: Who handles the advert portfolios of the blue chip
companies or better still the “Fortune 100” companies in Nigeria
?Whether through mainstream advertising channels or social media
platforms? The advertising moguls are certainly not northerners yet MTN,
Airtel, Glo, Etisalat, Nokia, Samsung, Indomie, Coca-cola, have their
products on gigantic bill boards across the length and breadth of
Nigeria yet no northerner thinks it is a worthy niche. The billboards
are even now going digital and perhaps in no time to touch screens and
the north will most certainly not be there.
Who else would have established the Orange Academy (touted as
Nigeria’s first and perhaps only school of practical brand advertising)
other Kenny Badmus; and of course how many northerners are students of
the academy?
Health Care:I am yet to see that world class hospital in every sense
of that word world class in northern Nigeria. With common cold or slight
back aches, our elite can afford to dash to Egypt, Europe and America ,
yet no single moneybags has had the initiative or patriotic zeal to
build any kind of world class hospital specialising in at least one
area of medicine
whether Ophthalmology; Cardiology, Nephrology, Plastic,
Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery. It could even be a hospital
specially dedicated to women or children attracting the best doctors
from all over the world; and over a period of time they would have
trained our indigenous doctors on the job. By so doing, they would not
have to fly their kids to France to treat common cold.
Why has the Yar’Adua family not established a pericadiatis centre in
Katsina, or of such heart related diseases? Why has IBB not established a
cancer research centre in Minna or Asaba? Perchance alternative therapy
could hold the key to unlocking the cure to the disease
where orthodox medicine has so far not. If our elite and nouveau riche are not
establishing such hospitals, why are they then not sponsoring students and
giving out research grants to crush the frontiers of knowledge ‘beyond the
utmost bound of human thought’?
Motherless Babies Homes/ Hospices/ Special needs schools:I know not a
world class motherless babies home, a hospice or special needs school
in the north. How are such children brought up and catered for? Does
anybody ask these questions among our elite?
Do they care? Do they, while feasting on their assorted cuisines
during Christmas, and Eid (sallah) banquets give a damn about the
welfare of these categories of people in the north?
Almajiri as a way of life :The likes of Dr. Aliyu Tilde, Dr
Galadanchi and a number of northern intellectuals have done varying
degrees of work on the almajiri phenomenon. The blue prints and
commentaries are all out there but I cannot help but be amazed at the
sustenance and perpetuation of the system in its medieval state. The
failure of successive governments of the north to see the existence of
the tsangaya system as needful of integrative reforms with mainstream
western education as is obtainable in countries like Saudi Arabia,
Kuwait, Qatar etc. is completely incomprehensible. How could they not see the impending disaster?
How could such a system exist till this day that disconnects a child
from his parents at such a critical stage of his formative years and
expect him to come out whole? Like I pointed out to Dr Galadanchi during
one of his visiting lectures in ABU, a child who has not been shown
parental love and nested in the warmth of a home cannot give it. I am
a very strong believer in the psycho-emotional and psycho-social
workings of human beings as it affects their personality traits and
social interactions.
Of Beggars, the Physically challenged and bequeathing a legacy of
poverty: Is the north the only region that has physically challenged
people? Obviously not! But how is that it is northerners that are
begging their lives away from Sokoto to Lagos; from Maiduguri to Ikom;
from Zamfara to Aba etc? Is it any wonder that the almajiri system
offers an elementary apprenticeship in begging for alms? With no
formal education or life skills, employability is very limited for this
category of people. Coming out of such a system, a pyramidal structure
of the northerners outside the region presents the first-tier level base
of the north’s blighted exports who end up in places like Lagos, Port-
Harcourt, Aba, Onitsha etc as cobblers (shoe shiners) manicurists and
pedicurists, water vendors [(mai ruwa), porters (mai kaya / dan dauko)],
in the markets and motor parks, garbage collectors (mai shara); or as
hawkers of sugarcane, carrots, tiger nuts (aya) and other such things.
The second tier levels who earn a more decent income than the first
are the categories that end up as gatemen (maigadi),unperturbed by the
sweeping wave of the private security industry. Since his occupation is
more of a sedentary one, he is more often than not permitted–
implicitly or explicitly- to run a makeshift kiosk to sell trifles
ranging from tom-tom, cigarettes , sugar , to kolanuts and bitter kolas.
Others in this category include suya and kilishi merchants, okada
riders, tanker drivers, cattle and sheep barons, tailors and embroiders
(I have deliberately avoided the use of the expression “fashion
designer” to qualify them which I shall explain later on.)
The third tier levels are the few men and women working in
essentially government establishments like Nigerian ports Authority
(NPA), Nigerian Maritime and Safety Administration (NIMASA), Military
formations, Police and other security establishments, Customs,
Immigrations, NDLEA, NTA, EFCC, VON, FAAN, CBN, SEC, NSPMC, NNPC, DPR,
ECOWAS, and the like. Then those that work in the blue chip companies
like Exxon Mobil, Shell, MTN, Ericsson, Chevron, Saipem, Sahara,
Halliburton, Dangote, BUA, MRS and the likes. The informal cadre in this
tier captures the bureau the change Alhajis, and the few auto dealers.
I met a physically challenged fellow who came to study law in ABU a
couple of years ago. Although wheel chair-bound, he had the heart and
spirit of a long distance runner. I taught another in one of the primary
schools in Bida and was impressed and encouraged by his determination
and dream. But the question is how many northerners who are physically
challenged have not resigned to a life of begging? As I write this,
there is in UNILAG a visually impaired man pursuing a Master’s degree in
law (LLM). With two degrees in his kitty (a B.A in English and an LLB)
he is a sound lawyer that knows his onions and quite an engaging
speaker. Another interesting thing about this lawyer is that he has
another friend who is his computer programmer who is equally visually
impaired; who installs softwares on his computer and updates programmes.
In 2010, Ayoola Efunkoya, a virtually impaired student graduated as
the best student in the Department of Mass Communication, Unilag. Ever
heard of Dr Ife Akintunde, J.D Matthew Olaiya? How about Cobhams Asuquo
(award-winning musician, producer, and songwriter), Cosmas Okoli, a
wheel chair bound motivational speaker? In LASU is a wheel chair bound
surgeon. Sheikh Abdullah ibn Abdulazeez ibn baz was blind yet rose to
become the first
Vice Chancellor of the Islamic University of Medinah and later Grand
Mufti of Saudi Arabia. So how is it that the entire army of persons with
disability (and sadly even able bodied men and women) should, as a
career, take begging to such obnoxious and incomprehensible levels even
when Islam, the religion of the majority of most of them frowns at it?
Where in God’s name are the world class schools in the north to cater
for kids with disabilities? Where are the special programmes directed at
them?
Contemporary and Futuristic Engagements:
Who else would have championed the cause of climate change and
desertification if not Newton Jibunoh. Newton Jibunoh it was who in 1965
at the age of 27 crossed the world’s largest desert (via the Sahara
desert) alone.
He has had expeditions from London to Lagos and Lagos to London; all
by road in a passionate attempt to create awareness on the issue of
desertification. His ‘’Desert Warriors’’ reality TV was initiated to
stimulate youth participation and bequeath an enduring legacy to fight
desertification. He has carried out sensitization and tree planting
tours in Kano and other places.
These were not established by the region’s cash Alhajis and retired
Generals or even its professionals even when we are the ones most
threatened by the impact of the raging desertification. It was Newton’s
idea; solely his. In furtherance of this paradox, the 2010 third edition
of the conference on climate change in Lagos had desertification as one
of its themes. It did not hold in Yobe, Borno or Sokoto, it held in
Lagos and the last time I checked, Lagos was not in remote or immediate
threat of desertification yet she attracted professionals and experts
from all over the world to come and brainstorm on the issue. How many
northern Governors were there? Where are the SL Edus of the north, the
Nnimmo Basseys, the Desmond Majekodunmis, and the Tunde Akingbades?
In other parts of the country, all sorts of groups are formed to
draw government and even international attention to the groups interest,
hence it is not unusual to hear of Albino groups coming together to
protest against discrimination (and their agitation has recently made
JAMB consider giving them extra time during its exams), market women
associations, landlords’ associations, etc where issues of common
interest can be discussed and which in real terms is able to draw
significant attention than they would as individuals. These associations
are also political rallying blocs. Who says the Iyalajes in Lagos don’t
have a say in the ACN government?
Despite the age long dominance of northerners in the cattle
business, no animal rights’ activist has come out of the region to fight
for the rights of animals that are most often than not cruelly
transported throughout the length and breadth of this country; and
tormented before their eventual slaughter in the most furred and
undignified abattoirs our local governments parade everywhere.
The Diasporan Alliance
All sorts of Nigerians in the Diaspora associations exist all over
the world; from U.S. to Britain to Germany etc. Some of them have even
established NGOs in London like Shola Lana of Nexgen. Northerners are
neither the brains behind the formation of such groups nor the forces
that propel them. Why bother?
Miscellaneous
Who are the dealers of electronics, phones, computers, milling
machines, generators, and boutiques even in the heart of Kaduna, Sokoto
and Kano? Who are the imports and exports barons, spare part dealers,
building materials merchants, pharmacists and drug merchants? Who are
those that dominate the printing industry from Kaduna to Zaria thorough
Sokoto to Bauchi, Zamfara etc?
Do northerners parade the best of machinists, technicians, radio and
TV technicians, auto mechanics, master welders, carpenters and
exquisite furniture makers? Is dry-cleaning, fumigation, industrial /
large scale cleaning our turf? In the fashion arena, the most
innovations, the daring designs, the creative and contemporary designs
in the fashion industry are not from the north. How on earth could they
be? Our tailors and dressmakers have remained tailors, nothing more. Not
a single one of them has taken his / her expertise to the next
redefining level and become fashion designers with brand identities both
at home and abroad. Not like those of Dakova; Frank Oshodi; Tiffany
Amber; Deola Sagoe ; Tsemaye Binitie; Mike Asikolaye, Mudi (Fashion
Design) Adebayo Jones, etc and hence my initial avoidance of the usage
of the term. Not even our famous Bukar zanna / Kube caps nor the Muhadu a
banki or Marufiya versions can be pinned to a designer north of the
Niger.
Are our caterers and event managers in the north the pace setters in
the field? Are we the most sought after chefs in Sheraton, Transcorp,
Le Meridian, Oriental or Protea hotels? Do we run the most successful
hotels in any part of the country?
On a tragic note you may remember the heart-rending story of little
Pwashikai Nideno, the five-year old miracle baby whose vagina and rectum
were mutilated and left to die in a pool of her blood in Dong Village,
Adamawa State. Hospitalised at the Yola Specialist Hospital, all she
needed was five million naira for a vaginoplasty operation in Egypt – a
procedure to reconstruct her private part and rectum.
Pwashikai’s case put Adamawa State government to shame; put the
entirety of its political gods to shame; its women folk without
exception and by the same stretch of culpability the entire northern
region. But the gold medal should go to the first ladies of Adamawa
State (all four of them) and the deputy governor’s wife. In this regard,
the newspapers reported: ‘’ ...the wife of the Adamawa State governor,
Binta Nyako, was one of the contributors. She donated the sum of N50,
000 when she visited Pwashikai at the hospital... in company of the
association of international female lawyers. The wife of the Adamawa
State deputy governor, Bala Ngillari, also made a cash donation of N50,
000 when she went to see the little girl. “If Pwashika was the
biological daughter of the first and second ladies of Adamawa State
would a paltry N50,000 (which does not even equate the worth of their
jewelry) be the best they would do for her? If they could not go the
whole hog to give N5, 000,000 to a dying baby, could they not use their
clout and ’’political goodwill’’ to marshal the millionaires’ wives of
Adamawa and women of goodwill there to save a life? Was it not a
motherly call? Ironically, the largest donation came from an individual
in Lagos who insisted on remaining anonymous!
Recognitions and Awards:
Since its inception in 2005, the future awards have drawn the
world’s attention to a crop of emerging youngsters in Nigeria but then
how many northerners make the cut? How many of our people make the cut
at the Thisday awards, Silverbird, The Sun, Media Trust, Leadership etc?
In Conclusion
Viewed from this prism, would it not be safe to conclude that poor
may after all be a euphemism to describe the parlous state of our
calamity? Is this how Allah destined it? Or to my Christian brethren
north of the Niger, is this how Jehovah, Elohim, or Yesu Almasihu
decreed it? Between 1931 and 1945, Japan occupied China and humbled them
as a result. In 1945, Japan was brought to its knees by the bombing of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki; yet from these ominous recesses these countries
rose to become global powers today. Were countries like Singapore,
Indonesia, Malaysia and the likes not written off as having the remotest
prospects of gargantuan rise as evident today? Despite all of the bleak
and gloomy prophecies, they rose to become great nations the world
admires and doffs its hat for today.
The north and indeed Nigeria can learn a lesson or two therefrom. I
am not a self loathing individual; and my disquisition doesn’t in any
way attempt to promote sectionalism nor regionalism, far from it, I only
wish to draw the attention of a slumbering people to the “very minute”
details that actually make the whole worth calling whole after all.
What is it exactly that drives the peoples of the South-East, and
South-West to dare and to achieve? Are they wired differently? So why do
we settle for less? Shall we turn to science, eugenics, religion or
even superstition for answers? But while we are at it, the fundamental
questions still stare us in the face: Who made the north poor? James
Ibori, Peter Odili, Dipreye Alameyesiagha,or Lucky Igbinedion? What
strategies are being put in place to get the north out of this poverty
trap both at the level of governance and at the individual/group
intervention levels?
We can choose to remain in the back seat or choose to move ourselves
by the bootstraps. We can begin the redemption now or wait till some
distant future to earn for ourselves a place of respect – a place where
we are not viewed as savages and with this much disdain – a place where
we can compete and contribute to the sustenance, peaceful co-existence
and prosperity of the one and only country we have and truly love –
Nigeria.
• Concluded.
Saharareporters
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