North: Where rulership and penury reign concommitantly
By Nigerian, true and true.

THE Guardian Newspaper of Tuesday August 7, 2007, carried a caption "Governors, Emirs decry poverty in the North. The article was the summary of a series of meetings held by the 19 Northern State Governors and later with northern traditional rulers.

I read the article with great interest. I am a Nigerian, though not from the Northern part, but one who has high regard for any Nigerian of Northern origin. I lived in so many parts of the North and I must confess that they are really very good people. To me, they are hospitable people.

Unfortunately, just as these leaders of thought did mention, the situation in the northern part of this country demands serious attention. If any one is to tackle the situation, there must be a comprehensive arrangement. This must start with education. Education is the best commodity to be given to man. I would advise that the educational system should be revolutionised. The gains of this may not be immediate, but it is about the only remedy to the situation. According to an educational survey, most of the northern states are classified as educationally disadvantaged states.

The purpose of education is not to get money but knowledge, which would enable man think correctly, make correct judgments, understand the signs of change and embrace and adapt to changes. How can one survive in a technologically driven economy without being literate? It is said that one perishes without knowledge.

It is good to borrow a leaf from the works of Chief Awolowo. He gave the Yorubas education. He identified the relevance of education early enough and ensured his people embraced it. Today, they are reaping that fruit which seed was sown years back. What we are seeing today in the North is the fruit of seeds sown long before now.

Empowerment is another factor that needs to be considered. It is obvious that qualitative education is very expensive. This makes only those with sound economic power to afford qualitative education. This is also lacking. This lack therefore recycles poverty. The poor know that education is good and relevant they also can not send their children to school. This may suggest that what the parents suffered the children may also experience.

Nigerians from the Eastern region saw that they were economically handicapped after the civil war and they devised survival strategies. One of the strategies they devised was the "system of master - servant relationship". This system involves some one who has not got sufficient funds to start a business to go to another to serve him for a period of time. Some spent four to five years in this relationship. many of them are wealthy today.

They went deep into commerce. Before one could notice what was happening, they have gotten hold of economic power. I may not mean having so much but one can hardly see a family without one or more graduates in the East. Infact, the east has been in the fore-front of education in recent times. Almost every family can boast of some one whose business assets are worth over a million. They are so skilful and enterprising that wherever wares are displayed, there is a possibility that there is an Easterner around.

Another issue that needs to be seen from a very real perspective is the Northerner's system of domestic management. Most times, it is the men only that bear the financial responsibility. Considering the economic situation in the country today, any family that is planned on a single source of income would definitely find things difficult.

Regrettably, the region has been greatly blessed with leaders. These highly respected people have not really made much impact in the lives of others. There are a good number of Nigerians of Northern origin who can use their influence to bring multi-billion naira investments to the region. The fallen groundnut pyramids can still be resurrected; while livestock farming which today is being done in a subsistent way can be mechanised.

Direction should also be looked at very critically. There should be systems that direct people. Such should take into consideration contemporary issues. Today, so many Nigerians are millionaires by acting in home videos. Many of them are non-Northerners. I personally would provide support in any way I can, to see that whoever is challenged in any way is helped out. Governors, Emirs, the people themselves, may your dreams come to fruition.

A real patriotic write-up there, Xris74. One can not truly know the real meaning of poverty in Nigeria until one pays a visit to the North. It is very pathetic that the so called almajeris are left to fend for themselves without any source of income. There in the north, one would see little girls selling bean cakes (they call it Kose) and in her trail would be like fifteen to twenty other children holding bowls of different sizes hoping that whoever buys bean cake from the hawker would also buy for them. A very pathetic site. Another thing I observed in the north is that these little girls hawking all sorts of wares are also sexually abused by men who are even older than their fathers. This is a fact.

Their believe of marrying early is a major obstacle for them in attaining good education. In many instances, girls who are about twelve to fourteen years and who are still in elementary schools are withdrawn for marriage. During the military era, there was a particular governor that encouraged all these "baby-mothers" to continue their schooling even with their babies strapped to their backs yet that innovation failed. I also know that at a time, students of their Schools of Preliminary Studies (schools where students who failed their WASCE go for the purpose of retaking such exams) get bursaries/scholarships from their state governments. I am not sure if this has had much impact.

Another issue rightly pointed out by Xris74 is that of a family having just the husband as the only income earner for the whole family. I think religion plays a big role in this system. In some parts of the north and in many families, the wives are kept at home as "women in purdah" (kules). They are hardly allowed to venture outside. This is done to prevent promiscuity among the women but in the reality some of the women are still promiscuous. Ironically, in some other parts of the north, it is the women that work while the men just roam the streets.

It is a shame that a region that has produced majority of the rulers in this nation is still so backward. It only points to one fact that the rulers have only been interested in themselves and their immediate families. They deliberately keep these people down so that they can be used for whatever selfish desire they have.

I think the time has come now for the government to develop some policies that will make it compulsory for the people there to go to school and the government should also be ready to spend money in this regard.