That the late Sir Ahmadu Bello (Sardauna of Sokoto) will be turning angrily in his grave or heaven about the current plight of Northern Nigeria is not a strange thing to imagine. Here was an elder statesman that saw to the rapid development of the region irrespective of religion, ethnic affiliation or gender. Under him as the premier of the northern region, there was development in all facets of progression. Like the late sage Obafemi Awolowo, development to the premier of northern region was synonymous to existence in itself. Under him, a university sprang up in Zaria, a polytechnic and various industries in Kaduna, diverse scholarships for educational attainment and an assured future for the region in Nigeria. Today the story is different and abhorring to all northerners and all Nigerians in general .In Nigeria, what constitutes a northerner? To some scholars, a northerner in Nigeria is anybody that is born in the northern part of Nigeria who has embraced the culture and traditions of the region. Thus the elder statesman General Yakubu Gowon is an embodiment of what a true northerner is having been born and brought up in Zaria even though originally from Plateau as well as other southerners born and bred in the north. Yet to some parochial others, a northerner is anybody who can speak Hausa language fluently even though not all people from the northern states of Nigeria can speak the language. To others ,the concept of a monolithic north does not exist in Nigeria. What then are the many travails of the north?
Firstly, it is the problem of education. This problem which was recognized nationally on the basis of educationally disadvantaged states was taken care of by past administrations through admission quotas allocated to the region and through the various schools of basic studies. Why then would a Shekau and his cohorts rise up in this generation to torment the north and Nigeria in general given this opportunity that would have captured him as a beneficiary? Similar programmes had been put in place and lately the Almajiri program of President Jonathan to address the educational lapses of the region. Without serving as a mouth piece of the same administration, nine out of the twelve universities established to resolve the imbalance in federal universities in all states of the country came from the region. So why is the region so educationally backward and in effect dragging the entire country in the reverse direction? Perhaps post-graduation employment would be the answer. For many graduates remained jobless many years after graduation nationally and therefore the incentive of citing new universities did not become an automatic carrot to bite. Like a professor in the Diaspora from the region once said: ‘’the system is mass producing graduates but not creating the requisite opportunities to absorb them’’. Again this is a national problem, but governments in northern Nigeria can create the opportunities to absorb northerners and other Nigerians for developmental purposes.
Secondly, it is the problem of transportation. Incidentally, the present Minister of Transport is from the north. Since the north has no sea ports and rather land-locked it must rely on the ports of Lagos, Port-Harcourt and Calabar. Moreover the population of the north has expanded considerably thereby putting pressure on our road networks for the conveyance of goods from the sea ports to the north. The goods are variable from consumer goods to petroleum products since our railroads are phenomenally only working of papers rather than on the tracks. A trip on the southwestern flank of the roads to the north will convince doubting thomases.This include from the Oyo city through to Ilorin, Jebba .Mokwa, Kaduna, Minna and Abuja. The roads are literally closed down by heavy haulage trucks especially at bad sectors of the road thereby increasing cost of procurement on the end users in the north. What business has heavy tankers conveying petroleum products on our roads when they can be conveyed by pipelines for refining in Kaduna and onward distribution at the NNPC depots? To the most ardent Jonathan supporter, a trip on the Oyo-Ogbomosho, Ilorin-Jebba, Mokwa and the other parts of the north will convince you about the slim chances he has in 2015 save for the minimal repair works going on there. This anger can be sighted in other parts of the country as well.
Thirdly, it is in the area of air transport. There are no cargo airports in the north and this explains why the roads are continually choked up to a gridlock stage. For if there were cargo airports in the north, most of the goods would be imported directly to the main cities and the heavy trucks blocking the highways would only have to convey the goods from the airport to their various destinations that would be nearby anyway. Who is then ready to rehabiliate the truck owners when the development comes? Water melon that is a delicacy in all parts of the country would be internally airlifted as much as other fruits and vegetables from the north to other parts of the country thereby making the roads free of traffic jam and prone to accidents. It also appears most northerners see themselves more in the light of the religion which they profess rather than as Nigerians thereby obstructing their collective need to demand for international airports that would airlift them to their various pilgrimages for spiritual rejuvenation and for cargo transport that would create jobs.
Fourthly, the north more than ever before faces the problem of security of lives and property. This is occasioned by the incessant boko haram attacks that does not spare anybody .The most recent is the Mubi and Gombe attacks with complete takeover of some parts of Adamawa by the insurgents. Most shocking is the fact that the sect leaders have a dream of leading Nigeria (not even northern Nigeria!).This shows that the sect has noticed a leadership vacuum in the north as provided by the late Sardauna of Sokoto which unfortunately cannot be reversed to the previous status quo. The north as we know it has been officially fragmented into different states created by the federal government with irreversible power affiliation to the old northern region. This is why the security arrangement is different in all states of the north and Benue for instance can order the evacuation of her students from Adamawa schools especially in Mubi for safety reasons from the rampaging and neurotic insurgents. This was unheard of during the days of the Sardauna when security was intact in the north.
Fifthly, the north faces the problem of trust among the various constituents. This is why you can hear of north-west, north-central and north-central that is all self-serving to politicians and the powers that be on paper. If you doubt this then you can look at the composition of those who welcomed IBB from his medical trip from Germany and begin to assess the cohesiveness of the north from there.IBB is a northern leader and elder statesman. While to some, north means majority and not minorities that are rising daily to be reckoned with, it is an instructive asset of support base for national leaders from minority areas. This explains why some northern minorities hope to retain power in 2019 when it may presumably return to the north. In order to solve the problem of trust, all differences must be put behind and this is quite a difficult task to be achieved although cleverly managed by the late Sardauna of Sokoto. It is said that the so-called Kaduna mafia that was politically inclined attempted to embody the Sardauna but failed woefully due to issues bothering on trust from the various components of the north. Based on this lack of trust, there is religious intolerance and suspicion as if they have not been co-habiting for several hundreds of years in the time past. This is adversely affecting the fortunes of the region as shown by the destructive activities of the radical Islamist sect, Boko haram.
Sixthly, unemployment and poverty remains very high in the region. Some blame it on neglect from past leadership of the country which was held in trust for many years in the north. Most industries in Kaduna and many parts of the north have remained closed down due to diverse problems. Textile industries that used to be one of the highest employers of labour in the north are also majorly shut. Poverty alleviation programs have remained a drop in the vast ocean of want. There is the need to support agriculture in the region in order to solve the twin problems of unemployment and poverty. This is the sorry state to which the northern region has been reduced to by these myriad of problems amongst others.
In conclusion, the north needs peace in order to develop competitively with other regions of the country. Boko haram is not the answer to the problems of the north; rather it is compounding it and must be ostracized completely and rejected. Northerners must begin to trust themselves the way the late Sardauna had faith in the development of the region. Parochial sentiments must be done away with henceforth and all northerners especially originally from the southern part of the country must be encouraged to come back to their roots to take the region and the country to the next level.
Emmanuel Tyokumbur. Department of Zoology, University of Ibadan. Email: emmanuel_tyokumbur@yahoo.com 07041466464 (Text only)
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