The Self Destruction of Northern Nigeria
The Self Destruction of Northern Nigeria

Apology: A long read only for those who have the patience

“Our dried voices, when we whisper together are quite and meaningless as wind in dry grass or rats’ feet over broken glass” T S Elliot



1. Sheikh Abu Mus’ab Abd-al Wadud, the Amir of AQLIM offered to help the Muslims of Northern Nigeria with training, support and weapons in the context of their oppression in Jos and Maiduguri Boko haram incident of 2009. The message was delivered via multiple jihadis websites and forums to the Muslim in Northern Nigeria and was reported by Al Jazeera and Reuters.
AQLIM means Al-qaeda in the Land of the Islamic Magreb( Mauritania, Algeria, Mali, Niger)

2. Nigeria was cited as the most dangerous place for Christians in the world by the US Congress…

3. Some individuals both inside and outside the country are calling for both sides to be armed eg FFK and his likes

In the beginning

Since prior to independence, Northern Nigeria has been a theater of conflicts, from inter-religious , intra-religious , inter-tribal and inter/intra ‘only God knows what’. These conflicts laid the foundation to the current dilemma. As I write this, the future of Northern Nigeria is uncertain - a “long painful death by a thousand cuts” is what the region has been enduring since the 1950s.

Brief Timeline of some well known conflicts

1. 1950-1960s Political
2. 1980s Maitatsine-religious
3. 1987 Kafanchan- religious
4. 1990s Zangon Kataf, Tafawa Balewa, Kano –religious
5. 2000s-date Boko Haram, Kaduna religious and post election, Jos, Kano, Bauchi, Maiduguri, Adamawa, Yobe etc- religious, political and others

Northern Nigeria as a Pandora’s box

To the well informed, these conflicts are not merely historical; they tend to leave behind a signature for future references and politriking by both external and internal interest actors. These conflicts put us on the radar of those concerned as each and every event is meticulously documented for future analysis and exploitation by the powers that be.
Though conflicts are inevitable, the ones in Northern Nigeria should be minimized and pandora’s box that was opened initially need to be closed and the key thrown into the bottomless pit of the Pacific Ocean.

Consider point 1, 2 and 3 above; person from outside may not necessarily see the conflict on its own objective terms, but from a lens of interest. Even the issue of Boko Haram was a perfect excuse and tool in the hands of some shadowy actors that comprise of both external and internal. There was also a detailed chronological timeline of all the happenings that has led to the current fiasco, so it didn’t just appear from nowhere like abracadabra

Do Northerners Hate Each other?

I was on my way back from Sanga LGA of Kaduna state, when I stopped by the road side to buy yams. The lady selling the yam was a native of southern Kaduna. I paid for the yams, but jokingly asked her to give me some of the okra i saw with her;.. told her that I have no money to pay for it. What happened next baffled me! She packs nearly half a bag and said she has given it to me for free. I told her I was joking! She insisted that I must go with it while vehemently refusing a kobo from me. I worked with several of her kith and kinds and have never found something negative to say of them in terms of inter personal relationship between common people devoid of politics and religious issues. In the event that such issues are raised, their grudges are in the fact that they have been politically marginalized by my kind and that we view them as second class citizens in our respective domains. Nothing can be further from the truth, however, because in the past, before the mistrust and degenration of leadership in the region, that wasnt so and still stand with the majority of my people. The most important thing is for people to just respect each other ways and that is all.

It is my view that, ordinary Musa, Dikko and John don’t have problem with each other as human beings. There is something that is at play to which most people may not know. Let us begin to see ourselves as humans first, please.

Herdsmen and other Nigerian

The recent incident in Numan of Adamawa state and several of its like in the past use to really brake my heart. It has shown the extent and rate to which we are fast becoming the barbarians of Africa and Nigeria as in the banality of evil- reflected in conflicts after conflicts and nothing much we can do about it, but to continue living as if everything is normal when it is not. These are what bring about a continuos cycle of violence that we in the North should try as much as possible to put a stop to, and also educate other Nigerians that herdsmen are being wrongly framed for crimes they nothing about to foster ethnic disharmony further in the North. It shall also be known that almost on a daily basis, the fulani are a victim to something not of their own doing. Similarly the press is encouraged to be objective in their reportage of these issues. They shouldn’t be seen to be taken side in their reportage, and to be objective in issues that are most often times complicated.

Way forward

1. The level of disconnect between leaders and their followers in the North should be bridged

2. Clergies should be encourage to serve as vehicle for peace

3. Illiteracy and poverty should be minimized as most of these conflicts stem from that

4. Perpetrators of carnage should be punished to serve as deterrent to others

5. Objective press that reports it as it is without fear or favor.

Let us not allow fifth columnist to continue to sow seed of disharmony as it only profits them to see us backward and in perfetual state of conflict. Every conflicts in Northern Nigeria is an aha moment to many who wish to see us divided rather than united.

In Kunne yaji, jiki ya tsira!

Let there be peace my people.

http://abbasgarba..com.ng/2017/11/the-self-destruction-of-northern-nigeria.html?m=1

nice writeup

wow, bravo op. as someone who spent more than 14 years in the north (kano) when it was at its worst, I can say for all the religious and politically influenced violence I still can't hate the typical hausa man. the issue of boko-haram is of course something we should be concerned about, especially since it's glaring external forces are at play. when you think of their demands, they do not want money like most agitators so they can't be bought off, they want to establish a caliphate.just like Isis and I belive the only point they are willing to negotiate is how much land they'd have to be given. so sad that the Northerners have not decided to take this matter more seriously especially with the numerous cost of lives it has consumed.