BOKOHARAM: THE CONSEQUENCE OF A DECISION MAKING OF THE NORTHERNERS.

BOKOHARAM: THE CONSEQUENCE OF A

DECISION MAKING OF THE NORTHERNERS. --Tunde ADENUGA

What goes round comes round as the old saying claims. It is only left for those concerned to take the bull and the course of their region by the horn if the nation Nigeria must remain one as we hypocritically profess. The foundation of the persistence menace popularly called Boko Haram was laid in Nigeria long time ago, right from the era of indirect rule by the British. When a philosophy is championed out of selfish interest and ignorance without craving for what is substantial and the consequences that we may all have to live with for the rest of our lives, everyone would be in danger just as we are experiencing today as a people.

When a man decides to hang on a high tension cable or

the cable accidentally drops on him, I do not think the resultant effects of the two scenarios would be different from each other. It is a lesson for the current generation to learn from, so that we do not raise children that will pronounce curses on us in our graves.

In one of my recent general evening discussions with some great minds, one of them raised a point, that, “Nigeria is what it is today because of the collapse of our family system and value”. To buttress his point, he said, " If every family adequately monitors the growth and development of every child, we will not be where we are today as a people". That was right! Wasn’t it?

My problem is this. Is it possible to have a Nigerian society, in which no parent would be found culpable of this? I think the Norwegian Rambo and the Colorado James Bond in Norway and the United States about two years ago can stand as witnesses to this. Or how do we explain a scenario in which some children properly trained and brought up by responsible parents, worshipping in the church and some wrong set of children popularly referred to as Boko Haram, will go in there and blow them up? Does that not tell us that focusing on your own kids alone without making sure your far and close neighbors do same for their own kids, doesn’t guarantee their safety? Do not let me bore you with philosophies. Let us treat the real issue here.

When Nigeria became a republic in 1963, all leaders and advocates of independence, Chief Obafemi Awolowo for the Yoruba race, Dr Nnamdi Azikwe and Tafawa Balewa for the Ibo and Hausa respectively, were leading their own regions with different ideologies even though they professed to be one Nigeria. So, there was a need to put structures in places. The issue and format of educating their people were phenomenons that actually divided the Centre. This balled down to passion, interest and cost? How much would it cost? Should it be free? Where would the fund come from and to what level? These were some of the questions raging in the air especially among the Eastern leaders. Majority of the Eastern leaders thought they could not really run free education in their region based on reasons relatively obvious and best known to them all. These reasons were not too far from the challenges of funding and lack of clear understanding of what the decision making at that point in time held for their region in future and the nation as a whole. The conclusion reached then, directly and indirectly has a bearing on the state of development in their region today. Be it human or infrastructure.

An average Easterner does not go beyond a primary level of education except if his parents were a bit learned that they would encourage him to have a secondary education especially among their male folks. They had this notch for trade and they encouraged their wards to follow suit as it is quite obvious in their styles today. They were hard working, egoistic and would never want to beg as it is common among the Northerners on the street of Lagos. I am not nullifying the fact that some of them could be too desperate in their quest for wealth to the point of engaging in shady deals. Mind you, these vice is not peculiar among the easterners alone. The point here is that, their attitudes towards education have an impact on the well-being and development of their region today. Even though they may profess to have gotten the money and resources to make their lives worth living, but the statistics is obvious for us see. How are their colleges ranked among the Nigerian schools? How many professors can they boast of? Check the industry there etc. But I see a great and developed Eastern region in the next few decades as a result of their desperate quest for education in the last ten years. Their University Matriculation Examination applications and performance statistics among the three tribes have proven this beyond every reasonable doubt in both home and abroad.

Let me assess the South Westerners a bit under the leadership of Chief Obafemi Awolowo. It was not that the Yoruba leaders didn’t have their own challenges at arriving at the consensus of free education, but one man stood his ground for what he believed with his influence and charisma. The resultant effects of that decision are what we are seeing today. It is obvious in their reasoning and general wellbeing. The best colleges in Nigeria today are in the west. The only Nobel laureate in Nigeria is from the west. Majority of the private colleges in Nigeria are owned by the westerners, the GDP of Lagos alone can take care of about ten states in the North put together and it goes on like that. They have their own challenges as well such as lack of unity and one voice, betrayal etc. But the part I am dwelling is the direct impact of education in their well beings today.

But the way of the majority of the northern leaders was quite different. Everything happening in the north today was as a result of their decision in the past. Anytime you feed on people's ignorance for your selfish interest, you will surely pay the price. This started far back in the era of indirect rule by the British. You could see that indirect rule succeeded well in the north unlike what happened in other regions especially among the Ibos, which it was a total failure. This eventually led to the Aba women riot in 1927. By upbringing and general orientation, an average Mallam is loyal to his superior. I do not have any problem with that. What actually buttressed this in them was their religion ethics, culture and religion, which some of their children are professing in wrong ways today in the name of Boko Haram. When their contemporaries were sending their people/wards to formal schools, they were strictly sending their own kids to Arabic schools. I am not against the Arabic knowledge. But any knowledge that is not balanced is dangerous. It will be better if it is not encouraged in the first place.