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.
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 organised 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 monthy forum the governors 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 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 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 which took place some weeks back was 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 was 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 the conference was a genuine and 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 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, welding, 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 second is the 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 a 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 19 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.
The third and equally important factor is religious intolerance. We must fight this monster through enlightenment. Instead of being confrontational or dissipating 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 associations should be sensitized to seek better roles like agitation for reforms, partnerships in education, entrepreneurship and economic activities. 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.
Religious leaders need to be called 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 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 transacts daily business of governance. We cannot do otherwise. My conviction is that there is no way we all can belong to the same faith.
Besides the three key factors mentioned, the fundamental thing that will make the reforms possible is change of 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. They must make compromises and adjustment of demands that are necessary for rebuilding a new northern Nigeria, a new Nigeria.
Dan-Halilu writes from Badarawa, Kaduna.
