10th May, 2011
The mindless violence that erupted in some northern parts of the country in the wake of the 2011 presidential election two weeks ago that saw incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan returned elected was not surprising even though unwarranted. Why the Federal Government didn’t see this and why the various security apparatus of this nation didn’t anticipate it still beats our imagination. Right from the outset, when key northern leaders started playing the ethnic card and throwing up ethnic jingoism, issuing veiled and subtle, and sometimes open threats under the guise of a phantom zoning formula within the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, all in a bid to ensure the north retains the presidency, keen observers saw all of this coming. That the President and Commander in Chief himself who was the primary target of this sectional ball game because of his southern minority extraction of the Niger Delta region, didn’t realise this and put in place appropriate measures to pre-empt and forestall this cruel violence that was to come in the event of his being elected, is a gross failure of leadership. This needless violence that claimed lots of lives notably youth corps members from the south serving their nation in the north could have been prevented.
The potential for violence in cardinal sections of the north is great indeed and it is a very volatile region in this country, prone to violence at the snap of the fingers. So very often, little things trigger off the violence in that region, and when that happens, buildings, churches, Christians, and southerners and very recently youth corps members are the major targets. Sometimes, what sets off the violent chain reaction is negligible. At other times, it could be traced to religious intolerance, agitation for land or communal and local political power, or even such mundane issues as the preposterous hatred for western education as exemplified by the Boko Haram Cult. Boko means education and Haram is something that is forbidden or a taboo that a Muslim should not do. So the Boko Haram Sect believes western education is forbidden or is a taboo. The amazing thing is that no one has been able to truly identify the root causes of all of these crises that have been bedevilling the north, since the birth of this nation. All we have heard is simply words and tough talk by government after government, with no concrete steps being taken to arrest this debacle, and as in other parts of the country, when the dust settles after any major crisis, it is back to square one; business as usual and there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel.
However, the break out of vitriolic violence in major parts of the north following the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announcement of the results of the presidential elections is a wakeup call to all stakeholders to critically address this recurring mayhem, for without doubt the violence did cast a dark spot on an election that was widely believed to be generally free and fair by both local and international observers.
For us at Conscience Reports, we decided that we must find out the root causes of recurring violence in the north, with a view to proffering lasting solutions, and so we drafted a team of volunteers living in the north to investigate and report their findings. Our volunteers’ team was drawn from Kaduna, Kano, Borno, Bauchi, Jos and Sokoto. Their findings are quite interesting indeed, but not strange:
First; at the root of the perennial crisis in the north is poverty and ignorance. The rate of poverty and the level of ignorance in the north are legendary. Sadly, northern leaders are either alienated from the longings and aspirations of their people, or they have chosen to simply ignore them by being nonchalant. We are more inclined to believe the latter because the north has controlled political power more than any other part of the country. In about 51years of Nigeria’s Independence, they have controlled political power for 38years. Moreover, of the 36 States in the country, the north has 19; they have more Local Government Areas as well. Not only that, since the return to Democratic rule in 1999, they have dominated the National Assembly as they control more seats in the Senate and in the House of Representatives, and since the real work of the National Assembly is in Committees, they control those Committees and they have more Chairmen and representation in the various Committees. The north equally controls the Local Governments Chairmen Association and the Governors Forum, whether the Chairman of the forum is from the region or not as they have 19 Governors in the forum out of the 36, and very often, the north vote in blocs wherever they found themselves. Yet, the bulk of the north lives in penury, despite all of the powers that their leaders wield. And the only reason this is so is because their leaders are so selfish and self-centred. In the last one and half decade, aside from the relatively new States of Jigawa and Gombe where the leaders there have tried to do something for their people, nothing much has happened. The whole of the resources accruing to that region are being wasted by these monstrous leaders, while their people wallow in abject poverty and crass ignorance. It is no wonder then that the people become a willing tool for thuggery and uncontrolled violence adverse to western education! Lack of purposeful leadership with no vision is the bane of the north and where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint.
Second; closely tied to the horrifying poverty and ignorance in the north is the deliberate propagation of the politics of religion and tribal sentiments by the elite of the north. Northern leaders capitalises on the poverty and ignorance of the people to stoke the embers of violence. They often feed the frustration of the people by telling those lies. And though Islam is not and never will be a violent religion, they indoctrinate the people on jihad and make them believe that those who are not Muslims are “Harnes†or “Infidels†who should be taken out. And for most Muslims in the north, anyone who is not in their religion is not different from a heathen, and so they regard them as unbelievers. For these ignorant people, they have been brainwashed that unless someone aspiring for political power is a Muslim, or one that is considered to be sympathetic to their cause, he must not be supported as he or she is not suited to lead. Not only that, they have also been made to believe that unless someone is of the same leanings as them, such a one should not be seen as one of their own. One other thing that points glaringly to the religious connotations of almost all conflicts that usually ends in violence in the north is the deliberate targeting of Christians and churches, whenever there is a conflict or crisis. For instance, in the recent post presidential election violence, at least 30 churches and several businesses, shops and patent medicine stores and pharmacies belonging to Christians mostly of southern extraction were burnt down around the Naibawa, Badawa and Badawa New Layout in Kano. And reports reaching us from Kaduna also indicate that the violence there might be far from over, as there appears to be dissatisfaction with the return of Governor Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa as governor elect in the just concluded gubernatorial elections by Muslim fanatics who say they don’t want him, a Christian to be governor. It is also a sad fact that most of the violent crisis in the north usually starts after a general call to prayers; it may be on Fridays or on any other day, but the point here is that it more often than not starts after a call to prayers. Oftentimes, such calls to prayers have nothing to do with the teachings and prayers inherent in Islam, but just the exploitation of the situation by a small but potent minority.
Third; intimately linked to the politics of religion and tribal sentiments is the setting up and running of “Islamiyyas†in the north. Islamiyyas are Koranic Schools where Muslim kids in the north are trained supposedly in the Koran and the teachings of Islam. The kids that are tutored in these Islamiyyas are often referred to as “Almajiris†and the teachers that run these Islamiyyas are known as “Mallamsâ€. It must be noted that the word Mallam could mean either a teacher or a Mister (Mr.) in the north. So when people call someone a Mallam, they are either addressing him as a Mister or a teacher. Most times, these Almajiris leave their homes at very tender ages and they are sent to these Schools for training on the Koran. So often; these kids are not even sent to the Islamiyyas within their immediate environment and they are sent there most of the times by their parents and guardians without resources because of poverty. Thus the kids in most of the Islamiyyas go hungry, live in poor and rat infested shelters not even fit for animals and have barely any clothing. Due to this undeniable fact, these kids or almajiris if you will; start fending for themselves from such young ages; they cater for themselves by either begging or doing all sorts of menial jobs. You can find them washing clothes, using wheelbarrows to carry loads, running little errands here and there just to keep body and soul. As a result, these shoddily run Islamiyyas become a haven for breeding disgruntled kids who resort to violence at the slightest provocation. They become pawns in the hands of cruel and inhuman politicians. Very quickly, we must add here that Islamiyyas are not limited to the north alone. They are indeed found in every Muslim community. Down here in the south, where there are substantial number of Muslims, there are Islamiyyas or Koranic Schools, although they might not be called Islamiyyas in the real sense of the word, but the way they are run and managed is quite different from the manner they are managed in the north. In the south, the kids that attend these Schools often attend, when they are through with their normal Schools and they usually attend in the evenings. But not so in the north, where the Islamiyyas in most cases are run as normal Boarding Schools, and the Almajiris that attend the Schools attend as Boarders without having even an opportunity to attend normal Schools because of extreme poverty. Up north, Islamiyyas are found in most Streets. It is in the Islamiyyas, that the Almajiris received most of their life training; they live in these Schools and feed there. Unfortunately, most of these Islamiyyas are not accredited, have only one or few Mallams who run the School, and they don’t even have a decent environment; in most parts, the Islamiyyas are mere open spaces with little or no covering, and this is where these Almajiris feed, sleep and grow up. Another big issue with the Islamiyyas is the training and orientation of the Mallams that run them; for the most part, the orientation of such Mallams is unknown. If the Mallam has very extreme or fanatical views, or if he is an Islamic Fundamentalist; then, it is most likely that he will pass such training and orientation to his pupils, the Almajiris, and because there is no standard or laid down procedure for regulating the Islamiyyas, there is no telling what really goes on within those Schools! Little wonder then that there are always Almajiris deeply found in every violent crisis in the north. It is equally instructive to note that whenever the Almajiris starts unleashing terror, one could see the Mallams and other notable elders within that precinct either watching or simply turning a blind eye without calling them to order; giving the impression that, they approve of their actions. Yet, the Almajiris holds their Mallam(s) in high esteem. In addition, it is some of these Almajiris that eventually grows up to also have their own Islamiyyas, and the cycle goes on. And the huge population of Almajiris in the north is amazing; about 10-15Million, and they are very young, often less than 20years-as the eminent Priest, Father Matthew Hassan Kukah of Kaduna recently said in an interview, the number is about 12-15Million, much more than the population of several countries. That is large enough, indeed to constitute an Army of dissatisfied, disillusioned and disenchanted Youths! This may also explains why the government hasn’t been able to make any arrest in any crisis year in, year out. Notwithstanding, we refuse to believe that these Almajiris always act alone and unaided. In short, they are not unified enough to act in isolation for they are like sheep that are not concerted and sufficiently powerful to act on their own. Someone, somewhere is always certainly behind them, yet the government hasn’t been able to do anything, because it chooses to turn a blind eye.
•Source: Conscience Report