New Wave of Activism – The Northern Nigeria Spring
It was Adams Oshiomole in his heydays as the Nigerian Labour leader that rather sarcastically referred to the then VP Atiku Abubakar as a new wave activist after he (Atiku) fell out with his boss OBJ and led the charge in criticizing government policies and actions.
Interestingly, little did I know he was going to be the forerunner of a new breed of activists.
As a country, we are in very interesting times; hardly do you wake up without a mind boggling issue to ponder upon. From terrorism related challenges to a shameless level of corruption.
Of recent, the issue of $9.3 Million confiscated in SA has been in the front burner of our now, one-day-one drama times.
My curious observation on the imbroglio is the fact that I noticed from social media that an overwhelming majority of the online activists that have really kept the embers of this particular issue alive and burning are my kinsmen from the northern part of the country.
This for me, is both exciting and worrisome. Exciting due to the fact that the entire country can be said to be unilateral and unequivocal in agreeing that bad is bad. Speaking out against issues is now the business of all, which is a drastic departure to what was obtainable. I am excited about this because it is currently about one of the few things that keeps us united as a people, speaking out against what is wrong. The other side of this is my primary motivation for writing this piece.
It is an acceptable fact that the north is lagging behind the other zones of the country in many ramifications. A while back, I saw a rather grim newspaper report that said out of all the candidates that sat for WAEC in an entire state in the north, in 2012 only 7 candidates got the minimum requirement of 6 credits and above, unfortunately that state is my own dear state! In general the illiteracy level is high. I don’t even want to consider street orchids, only visit a typical restaurant up north and see the way these guys are pouncing to drag the plate off your table to settle for remnants, haba! With all the farm produce and abundance of food in the north?!
Democracy is not about infrastructure but more about consensus, but we can use infrastructural development and improved standard of living as a fair basis to measure progress. I believe these outputs represent an obvious offshoot of consensus.
The questions I will like to ask is how much has the north developed since 1999? If you ask me, not much. Some potholes I know since 1999 are still intact till date! In some cases, only huge billboards of some Northern Governors are more in number and size than these potholes in the state they govern. Who exactly is to blame for this?
We have read, seen and heard reports of some of the northern governors investing in refineries, schools and some other ventures offshore, without doing anything meaningful in their states. In one of the states, just few months to the end of his tenure, one of the governors is seeking a N20billion loan, part of which will be used to build an airport! To put in perspective, 3 underutilised airports exist in same geopolitical zone, with an additional one less than 1hr 30 minutes ride to another neighbouring state. My worry is that how does this change the life of a farmer or an illiterate? Which I thought should be top most priority. The north has vast arable land and large man power as represented by census figures. This endowment notwithstanding, the north cannot boast of a well-known northern firm that sells branded food items in commercial quantity. I don’t know any beef processing factories in the north with all the cows, the tomato processing company that was attempted somewhere in the northeast died a premature death and despite all this beautiful fresh tomatoes you see on farmlands when you travel the vast lands of the north, we have not put this to commercial and developmental benefit. Again I ask, who is to blame? I know compared to what their counterparts in other oil producing states get, it is not much, but an average of N2B per month is not just for buying bikes, grinding machines and sending “party faithful’s” to hajj and Jerusalem. It can change lives when properly invested, in fact, one or two states in the north are already showing that!
My point here is this, why do we so easily turn our frustration to the “centre” when even bigger impunities are happening at our door steps? Do we need federal government to better apply our resources? Do we need them to hold our governors accountable? The funny part of all these is that even these Governors queue behind the public to raise “objections” about the excesses of the “centre”.
Dear activists, when last did you care to cry out about the impunity in your own state? Do you know the huge debt burden your state Governor has tied you and your generation yet unborn to? I believe you have better chances of affecting lives and pushing for visible improvements and changes in your state than shooting far, where you are likely to miss your target, instead of a point blank range where you are likely to hit the bull’s eye with one clean shot.
Or is this not about fighting corruption, entrenching good governance, accountability and visible improvements in lives?
There is a Hausa proverb that says “idan ka ga gemun danúwanka na cin wuta, ka shafa ruwa a naka”. It translates, when your brother’s beard is ablaze, rub water on yours.
In simple terms, you don’t blame “NEPA” for not giving you “light” in your area when you have not even wired your building and installed bulbs. Do the wiring and even the world will join you to fight “NEPA”.
In conclusion, dear activist, Charity begins at home.
S.M.A

This is Awesome!

For me, it is always an unfortunate scenerio to see citizens always venting anger against the centre thereby making them disillusioned to the 'excesses' being perpetrated by their lousy and ungodly governors.

The case is worse in some eastern state. No 1 example is Abia state. They blame the centre for not fixing their doors and yet they never ask their governor what happened to the "raw materials" from the centre.