I was livid when I heard former governor Fayose’s diatribe against the North and how we’re responsible for the world of economic troubles President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (PBAT) is facing. I had composed a virulent rejoinder and somehow I didn’t get down to scribbling it. Then I heard his brother reminding him of the number of children from their own father’s house and I was pacified. But then I’ve had cause to reflect on what he said in the light of the riots that have broken out in the North.
The looting, attack on public and private property, burning of both public and private property, bombs going off, along with the robbing and defacing of a mosque and, of course, a church too; I saw the worst of Arewa on full public glare. Fayose’s words haunted my thoughts and I felt the sweats of shame fill my forehead. Have we become so barbaric and out of control? The Arewa that we are all so proud to call home?
What was on display is just about an accurate illustration of how our society has fallen off from the moral and religious values we so pride ourselves in. Our decorum has hit the floor, the corruption in our society has hit the roof, our moral values have evaporated into thin air, and we are in our worst cultural decline. The culture of Islam that has guided our people has fast become an identity only on our lips and not in our deeds. We say the salam on our lips and carry war in our hearts. We have abandoned the ways of Allah and the teachings of the prophet of Allah (SAW) and have erected devil’s workshops in each and every of our backyards.
We have bred terrorists who maim and kill with reckless abandon. We have groomed an army of terrorist informants and terrorist apologists, and today, even some lecturers in higher institutions are part of the terror trade. Family members plot with terrorists in favour of ransom. Babies are dumped in university hostels and gutters around town. Our men and women are into intoxicants obtained from syrups and other harmful drugs. Prostitution and homosexuality are almost in every home.
Our leaders steal publicly and are celebrated publicly. Our traditional institutions have long been desecrated and are now less than even the ceremonial structures they were reduced to ages ago. Our Ulama are facing their own desecration and disrespect from the umma. Our leadership crew is rudderless with everyone trying to steer himself into one advantageous position or the other. Our elders lack the altruism that was handed over to them by their forebears. We have derailed far away from the cloud of providence that used to guide and protect us.
The Arewa landscape is littered with thousands of ex-this and ex-that. Presidents, ministers, governors, defence chiefs, permanent secretaries, directors, heads of MDAs, and, of course, business moguls. But these are only litters as they have not nourished the landscape altogether, to build the much needed prosperity for the Arewa citizen. They are few and far between ivory towers that have not given back to the society in general. If they have, it has not been adequate. Northern elite have watched the decay and rot in Arewa foment into the present day astronomical proportion.
The North has had its fair share of power, including in the last eight years, yet the landscape has become more impoverished. How? By building few and far between ivory towers only. The remaining terrain remains famished. The millions of out-of-school children, millions of unskilled youth, and millions of unemployed youth are becoming an army without a commander-in-chief. This uncontrollable army will not watch those ivory towers revel in glory while they live in squalor. They will bring them down along with every other thing else. To them, raising Russian flags is some kind of identity, as they aren’t even aware of the ramifications of it all.
Is Arewa going to conscientiously wake up to this challenge, and begin the reform of its society and its people? Do we still have leaders from within us, that can rally round, round up our human and capital resources, and harness them for the betterment of Arewa in general? Are we going to holistically and transparently fight terrorism or are we going to keep covering for each other and continue deceiving ourselves? We have a list of our problems, alongside a list of answers too. When are we going to cross-match them? If we do not get rid of these self-inflicted problems, then they will be the end of us. Are we ready, or is life for the Arewa elite just about power and self-aggrandisement? Of what use is the power if it cannot be useful to the people? Our most pertinent problems have not been solved by power, so it must be solved by something else. Now is the time.
If the northern elite cannot put things aright in Arewa, no one will do it for the region. Our destiny is in our hands. For decades we have wandered like a sheperdless flock, grazing freely over lush plainlands, without a care in the world. On our way back, it is not so lush. It is time to be creative and more productive. Socialism is being taken over by capitalism the world over. So, only the strong survive and only the wise excel. The siesta has got to end. The slumber has gone on for too long. It is time to wake up to our responsibilities as leaders of this rudderless flock, thanks to our mistakes and mis-steps.
The tough economic decisions are being faced by every region of the federation. Still, food is cheaper in the North than down South which is a no brainer. We are badly hit because we are least prepared. We are least prepared because we have been in slumber for too long. Wake up, Arewa before it is too late. If there is another wave of these riots, there will be no Arewa left. If we do not stand up to help ourselves, even God will not bother. Or, are we waiting for PBAT to become that northern leader that will salvage the North, which all our previous leaders were not able to do?
Tahir is Talban Bauchl
