By Ibrahim Dan-Halilu
Every true Northerner should be happy about the
renewed efforts to restore peace in the defunct northern region of which
General Yakubu Gowon ably supported by other former heads of state and the
current Vice President, is the arrowhead or rather the chief host.
This piece may be on the web either on the day
the conference kicks off or a day after. But I believe it will still serve
the purpose for which it was produced. I intended to use this medium to
appeal to the conveners, to those formally invited to speak, and to those
that will be present at the event without being invited.
I have no inkling what format the conference
will adopt in presenting the various divergent positions of the people of
northern Nigeria . I don�t know whether it is the first phase of the much
talked about Sovereign National Conference but its sponsors, the nineteen
state governors, used semantic to hoodwink the ordinary Nigerians that are
against a SNC. But what I do believe is that all the contending issues that
agitated the minds of some �rebels� to call for a SNC will feature during
the Kaduna conference because they form the basis of whatever negotiations
the conferees will arrive at in the end. There is no way the people of
Plateau will accept the Hausa-Fulani as indigenes, if their kith and kin in
other parts of the North will not be accorded same status with the
aborigines.
As a concerned citizen of northern Nigeria I
have written two strong articles on the road map to peace in northern
Nigeria . Both had been published on Gamji website early this year. The
first titled �Northern Unity Summit: Is it Really Necessary,� was a reaction
to the first summit organized by northern governors few weeks before
Governor Joshua Dariye was suspended. In it, I sought to offer a way out of
the communal crises that engulfed the North for over two decades. I
expressed my reservations for the summit because I felt the governors have a
forum at which they meet every month to discuss common problems and concern.
Despite the monthly forum the governor s had not been able to intervene in
the Plateau crises or even advise their colleague to face his
responsibilities seriously.
The second article was published after the
suspension reacted to various hate mails and distorted articles disseminated
to the public regarding the history and geography of Plateau State by those
sympathetic to both the protagonists and the antagonists in the crises.
Captioned �Plateau Crises: An Addendum,� tended to situate the genesis of
the crises in Plateau state appropriately. I pointed out what needed to be
done to restore peace not only in the Plateau but also all over the country.
I warned of the possible hijack of the first
summit by politicians or seekers of political offices to sell themselves to
the electorates. I hope the second summit that is taking place from December
1-2 is not an attempt to display the bogey of northern political hegemony. I
hope it will not be a kite thrown up to the contenders of presidency in 2007
from other parts of the country. A kind of warning signal being sent to them
to appreciate that the north is regrouping into one hegemonic entity to
recapture power. My fear is being aggravated by the news that some people
are trying to pressure General Yakubu Gowon to contest the presidency in
2007 and another angle to the story suggesting that the conference is
organized to appeal to some primordial but predetermined sentiments and make
other northern contenders to the coveted seat to step down for general
Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida. I hope this conference will be a genuine sincere
move to pursue the cause of regional peace. If it were so, then half of the
solution to the problem has been found. Where then is the other half? How do
we address the contending issues without inflaming tension and engendering
violence and mutual distrust?
As far as I am concerned the agenda for lasting
peace and for political and economic progress in northern Nigeria lies in
three key factors. First, is addressing youth unemployment through economic
empowerment, job creation and institution of a comprehensive social security
for the weak. The nineteen governors that initiated the conference must make
a resolve to devote a significant portion of their revenue allocation to
economic empowerment for the teeming youth, aged, widows and divorcees. They
must come out with a beautiful blue print for reviving our agricultural
sector, giving the youth vocational training in mechanized farming,
manufacturing, tailoring, wielding, carpentry, vulcanizing, and other
trades. The idea of giving motorcycle loan to the youth is not a good one
because the transportation business itself needs to be modernized so that
our major means of transport will be the railway not road.
The logic of empowering the youth is that
politicians and other disgruntled elements that are bent on causing trouble
will not have ready market to recruit those they will use to foment trouble.
The second item that should be on the agenda of
the conferees is the controversial question of who is an indigene of a
place. We all agree that this is not a constitutional issue even though some
provisions of the constitution have contributed to this confusion. But the
issue of federal character is not mutually exclusive. It is open to
interpretation by the state governors and local government chairmen because
the definition of an indigene is a function of citizenship not the other way
round. If a Nigerian stays in place and performs all his civic
responsibilities including payment of tax, nothing differentiates him from
someone whose parents were born in that place. In fact, he may be more
productive to the community than many of the aborigines. So, why segregate
against him because of where his parents come from? I believe the first
culprit in destroying the northern unity is this INDIGENESHIP! We must find
subtle way of addressing it.
In my view, the best way is to adopt the policy
of �Do unto others what you want others to do unto you.� The nineteen
governors should be bold enough to delete such concept as state of origin,
local government of birth as matters of state policy. All northerners should
be treated equally in appointment, recruitment to federal services and
offices, and to public offices in the states in so far as they are
registered indigenes of those states NOT indigene by birth or parental
background. Secondly, the governors should also take full control of all
land in their territory, and allocate it equitably to whoever is qualified
without regard to the background of his parents or himself. With the Land
Use Decree Act still in our statues, it is ludicrous for any community to
claim ownership of land and declare others settlers simply because they have
no land. My belief is that Nigeria is one of the few countries in the world
where citizenship is determined by land ownership. Perhaps, many of us will
have no state we can call ourselves if land is to be the defining factor of
who is a citizen.
The third and equally important factor is
religious intolerance. We must fight this monster through enlightenment. The
conveners of the conference should talk to religious leaders to understand
the importance of moderation, changing roles of institutions. Instead of
being confrontational or dissipating energy and resources on competition for
political appointment for their members or opposing the demands of members
of other faiths, which most times are genuine and fair, religious groups and
association should be sensitized to seek better roles like agitation for
reforms, partnerships in education, entrepreneurship and economic
activities. They should channel resources and make cases in our various
legislatures for reforms to address the problems of street begging, child
abuse, girl-child hawking, prostitution, and improper dressing code. I
believe Christianity and Islam have more things in common in moral training
and piety than areas of conflict as their adherents present them to public
arena.
The conferees need to call religious leaders to
order to understand that building religious empires in this century is
utopian. Even Iran and the Vatican that are models for most of our religious
communities, have accepted this reality. In Iran , the spiritual leader
oversees only the aspects of enforcement of Sharia code in accordance with
the Qur�an and Sunnah. There is a prime minister that serves as the
political head of the republic. He receives foreign visitors and transacts
business of diplomacy, trade and commerce with other world leaders. The same
thing is obtained in the Vatican . The Pope exercises his sovereignty on the
Vatican only from where the entire Catholic community is administered on his
behalf. But Italy has a political head that signs treaties with other
nations and transact daily business of governance. We cannot do otherwise.
My conviction is that there is no way we all can belong to the same faith.
The Qur�an has stated it categorically in Suratul Kafirun (The
Non-Believers). �To each has his religion. One will not worship what the
other worships.� This is a universal norm that is entrenched in all holy
books. We should leave it as such.
Besides the three key agenda I mentioned, the
fundamental thing that will make the reforms possible is change in attitude
by all and sundry because even if there is a shift of policy and amendments
of laws, things may not be as we want them to be unless we change our
attitude to one another. All Northerners must resolve to make the reforms
work. The must make compromises and adjustment of demands that are necessary
for rebuilding a new northern Nigeria , a new Nigeria .
Let me sound a word of caution to both the
conferees and those that will implement their recommendations. In every move
they make to improve relations between their neighbours and brothers, there
are fifth columnists both within and outside the geo-political entity called
north. Some of them are part of the problem because they hate the existence
of a monolithic North. They hate northern unity of purpose. All hands must
be on deck to make the project work for the future of our children and for
that of generations yet unborn. I wish you all a successful deliberation.
Ibrahim Dan-Halilu
10 Alkali Road Badarawa - Kaduna
