This is not the North bequeathed to us!
Iam deeply in pain and tormented over happenings in my region, Northern Nigeria, in recent years. In the past, Northern Nigeria was known for peace, tolerance and love for one another. We used to adore and respect one another. We were living with one another happily, providentially and contentedly. No gainsay or complaint against one another. We were harmonious, symphonious and in coherent and cohesive manner. That was why the region became the centre of attraction for influx and inflow of people from the other parts of the country, especially immediately after our independence and the civil war. Nay, it was even before our independence in 1960. We embraced and hugged one another and the other people coming to us. Northern Nigeria served as paradise and asylum for all.
I can recall during our childhood how we were playing together without irritation or disgust and visiting each other in our homes, attending the same primary school and secondary. No kind of negative sentiment in our minds for then we didn’t know religious discrimination or abhorrence.
After saying all these, I am asking us what is happening now. Why are all the things I mentioned above absent? Why are we enemies, antagonist and adversary falling apart?
Today we have become fighters and killers of one another. The peaceful, quiet, quiescent and calm Northern Nigeria has become a place for upheaval, turmoil and anxiety. Carnage and mass murders are the order of the day. Why is the other part of the country living in peace and constant development? They are also Muslims and Christians living together. They are progressing day after day while we are retrogressing. That part vehemently fights poverty while we are diving into it day in day out. That part is becoming more advanced in life and also more educated and enlightened while we are not. If one compares the North of this country to the South, in terms of developmental projects, the difference is wide and capacious.
All what one can see in our streets are bonds of beggars rambling and wandering. Even if one goes to the South, the beggars there are northerners. To my understanding, our politicians, some of our immediate past leaders and the present crop of our leaders must be held responsible for the mess.
Most of our politicians are not the persons who love, support and defend the North or her interests. They do not consider the region and their people as important worthy of regard or toil for their sake. All what they are after is their individual ego. They are persons who think, feel and have the will of distinguishing themselves from the others. They are men and women of self-esteem and self-image. They do not bring any development to their region apart from building personal houses and sending their children abroad for studies. In fact many of them are a disgrace to the North.
Sadly, the North is still lagging behind in the media space when compared to the South. Our leaders, the bigwigs or big shots and our well to do persons have done nothing in this direction. The South today has Channels TV, TVC, AIT, Silverbird, Galaxy and so on, but in the North how many do we have? Look again at the print media, we have only Daily Trust and Leadership as popular publications that do us proud while in the South you have a lot of them. That is why there is no need for me to count them here. Most of the media outfits in the South are antagonistic to the North; they are always bias in their news, but what can we do.
Thirdly, we the people of the North also have our personal problems, we are lazy, indolent and dilatory. Many of us live as parasites, depending on others. We do not want to work, as such how can we progress or develop? We are only good in sycophancy, boot licking, leading servile lives, and killing one another.
I like to advise our politicians to please stop playing politics with the lives of our people. Stop recruiting thugs to commit atrocities. Look at the killings all along and all these happen in our region, why? Many of our past leaders from the North are the source of our poverty and privation. One cannot see any son of the politicians and the high society being killed in any crises. These vicious people are always interested in keeping us constantly divided along religious or ethnic lines, so they can forge their way to the lofty positions and to their ill-gotten wealth.
Northern Nigeria was not a poor region. We were contributing about 60 percent to the inland revenue of this country after independence. Our industrial sector must be brought back and be revived.
In conclusion, I would like to draw the attention of northerners to the fact that even in the National Assembly most of those who do not contribute to debates and discussions are the northerners. They ask the others to sign the attendance for them, while they are busy travelling from one country to another. Northerners need you to lobby for real development projects and work for peace in the region. I call our electorate to stop sending illiterates and semi-illiterate to the National Assembly because they are affluent, for they cannot even talk during debates, talk less of defending our interests.