Is Northern Nigeria Not Nigeria? Why Bukola Saraki’s Approach Would Work Best

Editor’s note: Senate president Bukola Saraki’s recent visit to Maiduguri was met with equal doses of praise, criticism and suspicion. Commenting on the issue, the Naij.com contributor Lawal Sharafadeen says current politicians lack Saraki’s aspiration to identify with the people of Northern Nigeria, further alienating the region.

Senate president Bukola Saraki is received by residents of Maiduguri, Borno state, on Monday, August 3

Northern Nigeria is an autonomous division within Nigeria, a zone sitting geographically on 79% of Nigeria’s landmass, with above 50% of the population and about 400 ethnic groups.

So far, the zone has gone through the thick and tides of time, posing a big treat to its optimal capacity and overall survival.

Several studies sought an understanding of the numerous challenges ravaging the zone, ranging from high illiteracy levels standing at 70%, children’s immunisation against dangerous childhood diseases just around 10%, and the Boko Haram insurgency.

The North is thought to be religious, but the happenings point to an opposite direction. It is shocking that this same region that had produced wonderful Nigerian leaders of the past, like Sir Tafa Balewa, Umaru Dikko, Shehu Shagari, Sadauna and many more. What went wrong to have bestowed such a faith on this region? The Boko Haram insurgency might indeed be termed to be political in its design, but why would the people of the North allow Boko Haram infest so deep within their habitats?

Troubled life

Looking deep into the current situation in the Northern Nigeria, a careful observer will see a degradation and fallout of gross negligence of some sort by prominent statesmen who had allowed the aggressive nature of an average Hausa man escalate too far.

Other regions also play host to some civil unrests, such as the Ife and Modakeke fiasco, Offa and Erin-Ile battle, and Okene unrest to mention a few. But the point of interest in these civil unrests is that all prominent persons, such as traditional rulers and politicians whose regions were affected, immediately start cleanup programs so that such events are never to be witnessed ever again. They don’t leave things in the hands of faith and pure negligence, unlike most of their Northern counterparts.

Remembering the tragic past

Series of wars have broken out in the northern part of Nigeria. I am sure we will remember

— the 2000 Kaduna riots of 21 February – 23 May, when around 2,000–5,000 people died in what is believed to be religious riots between Christians and Muslims over the introduction of Sharia law. The start of the religious riots of the Sharia conflict in Nigeria;

— Yelwa massacre of February-May 2004, Yelwa, Shendam and Kano, where 975 were reported dead during religiously-motivated killings between Christians and Muslims;

— the 2013 Baga massacre of 19-20 April 2013, Baga, Borno, with a total of 228 were killed, while identities of the perpetrators remain unclear: some blame the Nigerian military while others blame the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram;

— Kaje civil unrest, and many more.

But after all these civil unrests, there have never been any orientation programs, or rehabilitation of the victims and participants. A young boy who saw killings of tens of people will grow up to become a wild animal.

We wouldn’t have been here had these Northern youths not been exposed to a wildlife right from their birth. A visit to the north will challenge one’s perception of what responsible parenting means in the North. One will see a pack of boys in their early teens, popularly called ‘almagiri,’ savaging around all for the purpose of surviving without any close understanding to what ‘good life’ really means and entails.

Who do we fault for the sorrowful and meaningless life these kids are subjected to? August 12, 2015, was the World Youth Day, and I ask what did the Northern youths celebrate? Is it the unproductive life they have inherited, or the shamble environment they now live in?

One with the people

The move by the Senate president Bukola Saraki in identifying with the people of the North by his recent visit to the zone and the call on international community to help rebuild the North is a step in the right direction which all stakeholders must take a cue from.

The North needs massive infrastructural development, but, most importantly mental rehabilitation to guide against another brutal killing sect in the future, we must be ready to capture the traumatized youths and re-orientate them.  The negligence of the past is exactly what led to the situation we are in right now.

Why has the North been so marginalized and dusted to the background of mental capacity-building where training of highly-educated and prosperous youths is energized and channeled to help their respective environment? This is another area the government must look into by making sure that Northern youths are trained to understand the beauty of staying alive and being purposeful and at the same time productive.

Sadly, the North, that had once been the economic hub of this great nation, is now being ravaged by war, poverty illiteracy, diseases, high infant mortality. And if the current happenings are not adequately managed to capture the victims in the nearest time, the North might just become a breeding place for a more sophisticated killing machine.

I beg to ask why kids from the North shouldn’t be able to compete with kids from the West, South, and East?

Is the North not Nigeria?

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