Tyrants As Elders
by
Human rights activism in the North is different from that of the South. The agony, travails and dangers the few of us who choose to be different pass through is of immeasurable pains and incomprehensible and incomparable dimension. To differ or to say the truth is not viewed as a necessary ingredient of a society ambitious of progress.
It is rather perceived as a sort of devilry, sin or subversion against not the interest of the majority but against tin gods who subjugated the society, manipulate its opinion and thrive from its low level of literacy and modern political enlightenment. The Rakayadade syndrome in the North and the misinformed and misleading belief that elders or rather tyrants and their lackeys who parade and impose themselves as elders are beyond reproach or are considered infallible is a major obstacle that stifle the political and socio-economic development of the region.
"Hero" worship, idol pursuits and sustained and institutionalized cronyism and obsequiousness gave Nigeria's former military rulers from the North the insurance to "dominate" the country and pay leap service to the development of even the part of the country they came from. When of recent an oligarch confronted me to question why we are, according to him, 'insulting northern elders,'
I had to draw his attention to something he forgot to or ignore to understand: from Shagari through Buhari up to the last of them none of these yesterday's rulers, now "northern elders" has not accused his predecessor of allegations of corruption and embezzlement. Buhari's regime openly indicted the regime he overthrew as a thieving one. It was through IBB the nation confirmed a lot about how 'stubborn and isolationist' was Buhari, via Okigbo panel Abacha fell slightly short of tagging IBB as a swindler and a rogue.
And we all know that the chase and refund of Abacha's ill-gotten wealth started not with Obasanjo but with Abdulsalami's. When we only re-echo that these former rulers were rogues and never-do-wells how does it become offensive than they that set the precedence and alerted the nation.
If truly there is no ideological class and sectionalistic qualification for the tag of an elder, why are people like Balarabe Musa, Bala Usman, Samaila Maiadashi and other progressive minds in the North not referred to or recognized as northern leaders? Why must former dictators and their close beneficiaries in the feudal and traditional institutions reserve the appellation of leadership. Nigeria's woes are not caused or sustained by the geographical North or its people, the oppressed in the North, as wretched and exploited as they were and remain, so cannot be the architect of Nigeria's decades of political, socio-economic tragedies.
But 'the North ' cannot be exonerated in a political atmosphere where it consciously or unconsciously embrace, tolerate and endorse destructive and deceptive tyrants as its leaders. As long as 'the North' will not disown and disassociate itself from the corruption, abuse of power, denial of freedom and lunacy perpetrated by Nigeria's former rulers, then it must continue to carry the cross of blame. And our innocent plebs will continue to be target of ethnic irredentists and tribal warlord.
Over the years, and most particularly of recent, we that beg to differ from the political ennui, and suffocation. Those of us that disagree with the worship of mini-gods, 'unchallengeable idols and twenty first century sacred monks, have won for ourselves title ranging from the most impudent to the condemnable: "Anti-north," "Anti-Sharia," "Anti-Hausa-Fulani," "Agents of South-West" etc. The latest on this campaign is a sponsored leaflets and posters that were pasted on strategic locations in Kaduna that depicted us as such.
The paid rotters and goons doing that hatchet-man job can be ignored. Paid agents can only be used for such purpose but one thing they should always keep in mind is that the stipend they get for such idiocy can never free them from poverty, and most importantly we can never be silenced. But whoever wants to employ the services of hired assassins is free to do so while we wish him eternal existence on this earth.
Who is "anti-Sharia"? Is it those of us that only have our views to express on Sharia or is it former rulers that forgot 'Sharia' during their tenure of office and now want to champion it from the sitting room of their houses? Who is 'anti-North' is it the 'northern radicals' whose only weapon is their tongues and pen or is it the former rulers who forgot to develop the North, and now out of power championing 'northern interest.'
The late sage and the late Ahmadu Bello could not have been revered if they misused their opportunity to develop their communities while in office but chose to be critics and latter-day agitators when out of power.
The first step towards the political and socio-economic emancipation of the North is for our people to embrace the reality of change. The region must attune itself to the new order. It must conform to democratic ideals and recognize and respect the principles of the tenet of freedom. To do that it must not venerate past despots and revere anti-people religious clerics whose major preoccupation is spiritual consultancy for the elites. The oppressed in the North must start by pelting the leaders that wasted their time and opportunity.
Those who believed that the North is marginalized are at liberty to demand for a change in the spirit of democracy and the freedom it offers. But to believe that ex-tyrants should be at the vanguard to fight for 'northern interest' is equivalent to given famished Tigers custody of a herd of goats. Tyrants cannot be elders nor can they champion any cause other than use the 'cause' as a smokescreen to defend themselves.
It has reached such a crescendo that tyrants that parade themselves as elders are also elevated to the position of deity whereby a criticism against them is automatically considered as sacrilege. Those who thought that the garb of religion can give them the liberty to oppress everyone and eat their cake and have it are only wasting their time. We cannot be silenced nor cowed nor suppressed by that.
Shehu Sani
President Civil Rights Congress.