SonOfThePlateau:
NYSC FOR ONLY MIDDLEBELT/SOUTHERN NIGERIANS ??
A few months ago, we all received the sad shocking news of five youth corps members who perished on their way to Katsina state from Uyo, Akwa Ibom state. Four of them were natives of Akwa Ibom while the fifth was from Imo state.
Some few years ago, I was posted to serve in Kebbi state and I was residing in Rivers State at that time. I had to spend two days on the road to reach Kebbi state.
On my way, I met with and travelled with many dozens of Southern/Middlebelt Nigerians who were navigating their ways to different parts of the Core-northern region. Some to Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, Yobe, Kano, Jigawa e.t.c. Most of them have never gone beyond Abuja in their entire lives.
Luckily for me, I had friends from Kebbi south, and as an Indigene of Plateau state, I could understand Hausa' language, so I got the perfect description to easily navigate my way to the camp at the Fulani dominated town of Dakingari.
Many Southern Nigerians and some people from Benue- Kogi who have no knowledge of Hausa' or any friends from Kebbi state to make inquiries from had to spend 3-4 days just to get to the camp because they have no clue of the region or language and hence some of them were misdirected.
On their arrival, some of them were already sick, others were shabby looking and seriously fatigued.
Now, the idea of NYSC is not such a bad thing in spite of the terrible traveling experience corps members encounter sometimes. This is because NYSC was proposed for greater National integration.
The only problem I have with this scheme is that the corps members of Core-northern (Hausa' fulani Kanuri) origin do not pass through the same experience and rigours that the Middlebelt and Southern Nigerians go through.
I have lived in different cities and towns of Southern Nigeria for so many years and for once, I have never come across any Hausa' fulani or Kanuri muslim youth corps member. Most corps members serving in Southern Nigeria are still Southerners and Middlebelters. Most of my family members, relatives and friends from Plateau state were posted to serve in the South-east and South-South. I am the only one who was posted to the Core-north to serve.
While in the Kebbi state camp, I also noticed that 90% of the corps members there were people from the South and Middlebelt. This was also the same scenario based on the feedback I got from friends who went to other core-northern states for youth service. The whole thing did not just add up.
Now here was what shocked me the most while I was at the Kebbi camp.
There were announcements for those who wished to redeploy. I went to the queue for redeployment and to my greatest surprise, I saw Core-northerners too on the queue. They wanted to redeploy to Kano, Kaduna, Katsina and the most shocking of all, Sokoto state! I couldn't fathom how someone redeploys from Kebbi to Sokoto state. It is just like redeploying from Anambra to Imo or from Ondo to Ekiti.
Kebbi and Sokoto are neighbouring states for God's sake and the distance from the camp to Sokoto city was about two hours. Simply put, these people wanted to do their youth service in their streets or in their father's compound.
Most Southerners do not even think of redeployment if they are posted to states within the South or their geo-political zones. This is in spite of the fact that the journey between some southern states like Lagos to Cross river can take an entire day.
Many Southerners stayed back in Kebbi without redeployment and some did not even go back home on a visit till after the entire service year. Some still stayed back in Kebbi even after service and continued contributing immensely to the state.
This is something that is almost impossible to imagine among the Core-northerners (Hausa' fulani and Kanuri muslims). We regularly hear of corps members all over the country who are awarded for the immense community development projects they embark on. I have hardly come across a typical Core-northern name like ABDULLAHI YUSUF or FATIMA MUSTAPHA attached to such projects. It is either that person is from the South or the Middlebelt part of the country.
It seems almost impossible or unimaginable in Nigeria that a Fulani or Kanuri lady from Jigawa state will graduate from the University and be posted to Arochukwu town in Abia state, Ikirun town in Osun state, Oghara town in Delta state or Ogbadibo town in Benue state where she will reside for One whole year, immerse herself with the natives and the Yoruba, Igbo, Urhobo, Idoma culture, at the same time executing developmental projects in these communities.
However, go to Daura in Katsina state which is a stone throw from Niger republic, you will find Southerners and Middlebelters there doing exactly as described above.
My own uncle from Plateau state was awarded among the best ten corps members by the Enugu state government in 2007 due to the immense developmental projects he carried out while serving in a village in Enugu state.
So, the question now is WHO IS FOOLING WHO in this country of ours?
Now, some may say the Core-northerners are not well represented in the NYSC scheme due to their lower level of tertiary education. This is somewhat true. However, among the over 1 million Nigerians who graduate from tertiary institutions every year, at least 10% (over 100,000) of them are Core-northerners. There are hundreds of thousands of Core northern students across tertiary institutions in the core-north. So, it would still not be a reason good enough.
These are some of the reasons why I, who was formerly a very patriotic Nigerian completely lost hope and faith in this terrible country called Nigeria. This is because I clearly discovered that the existence of Nigeria is based on deception, fraud, lies, manipulation and injustice.
In 2011, dozens of youth corps members were killed across Core-northern states by pro-Buhari mobs when Buhari lost the elections. This was just because they are not of Hausa' fulani extraction and as young patriotic Nigerians they decided to obey and serve their father land in any part of the country.
This case is only but a few among many other terrible experiences Southern and Middlebelt youths have faced while serving in Core-northern states.
If Gbenga, Chioma and Esosa can travel as far as Jibia, Daura or Gashua at the boundary with Niger republic in the semi desert climate for days just to serve a fraudulent Nigeria. Why dont we ever see Zubairu and Zainab using canoes and speed boats to cross the rivers and creeks in order to serve Nigeria in Ilaje, Ogbia or Opobo in Southern Nigeria ??
Yet we will always see names like Alhaji Aminu Abdullahi talking about keeping a UNITED NIGERIA on national television.
If you are from the Middlebelt/Southern Nigeria and you can positively relate to the content of this article, you can kindly search for, like and share this article from the Facebook page (Noah K. Son_Of_The_Plateau).
God bless BIAFRA
God bless ODUDUWA
God bless KWARARAFA (Middlebelt)
God bless the Middlebelt/Southern union.
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Noah K. Son_Of_The_Plateau Do proper research before making a conclusion |
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