This discussion, as usual, is not going to make me any more popular among the ruling elites, but the truth is that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the crowd that surrounds him, and most of the Northern elites are disastrous to Northern Nigeria and are a monumental failure to the citizens of the country. All of them would rather and do, work for themselves and the devil than for God, the nation, and the citizens they are supposed to serve. Hence the out-of-this-world corruption that has been their sole reason for acquiring mundane power in the country.
By Abdu Labaran
Unfortunately, most Northern journalists, especially the online variety, are not questioning the very bad situation in which the nation, particularly the North, finds itself. This is also an issue that would, no doubt, make me disliked by Northern online practitioners of the trade I profess to belong to. It is said, “Once a soldier, always a soldier.” To this end, I consider myself still a journalist, regardless of how long ago I might have retired from active practice of the profession.
Most Northern online journalists do not know how to analyze or criticize bad government policies, even if they are victims. All they are good at is praising governments by reporting positive news all the time, often for the obvious purpose of getting the proverbial “brown envelope.” What they fail to understand is that their colleagues from other sections of the country analyze and criticize any policy they think is hostile to their interests, and still make money, sometimes even in millions.
Take Mr. Segun Adeniyi, for example. He is a very successful journalist and writer from the southwestern part of the country and criticizes the President, his tribesman, for the catastrophic failure that he turned out to be. Look at one of his comments on the Nigerian President:
“While some may have ignored the fact that the economy has been handed over to the Lagos crowd on the pretext they have the expertise, the evidence of the last 18 months undercuts that concession. Maybe Nigerians would not have minded if these Lagosians (many of whom throw themselves around in Abuja with incredible arrogance) were performing. Unfortunately, most don’t even appear to know what they are doing. And the president himself seems detached from reality.”
Many South West media, including the online ones, do not spare the President; they seriously take him to task for leading Nigeria into the nightmare that it is today, even though most of them are based in Lagos, the home state of the nation’s number one citizen.
Still, many of their journalists are financially contented, with substantial patronage coming from Nigerians, many of them Northerners. Some of the Southern journalists working there can earn more money in one day than some of their Northern counterparts can make in one year.
The Northern online “journalist” has created many obsequious words to describe some actions of the so-called big shots in the country. The most memorable for this writer is the word “DONATION.” It is used mostly for the political elites, whether serving or retired, active or inactive in society. Every time such people give something, whether in cash or kind, the “journalist” calls it a “donation.”
Most of the time, what one hears or reads from some of these supposed journalists is the regular praise of their very oppressors, who “executed” this, “executed” that, “donated” this, or “donated” such an amount, and so on. But those who “executed” are not doing any favours that warrant praise; it is what they promised to do, anyway. And you do not “donate” to the people whose commonwealth was taken without their say. The “donor” is only giving back a negligible fraction of what he “made” to those who had the commonwealth in the first place.
But some of these “donors” were just as needy themselves before they were given government positions. After leaving office for whatever reason, they “miraculously” find themselves among the stupendously wealthy, obviously achieved at the expense of the citizens, whose commonwealth was mismanaged by its supposed protectors.
Their poor performance stems from the fact that possessing a smartphone automatically makes some people “journalists,” even if they understand nothing about the rudiments of the profession. But since journalism has become an all-comers’ profession, many flock to it to get rich quickly. Promoting one’s oppressors is certainly not the way to achieve this.
Not many online “journalists” would tell you that Mr. President used his seemingly bottomless pocket to buy his way to the Villa, which most of the Northern elites could not claim to be ignorant of. I am talking about the political and religious elites, the majority of whom work solely for their advancement (self-benefit, if you like). But for most citizens, his “electoral victory” has turned out to be what Nigeria’s abundant crude oil is to millions of Nigerians. The country is crude oil-rich, but most of the citizens wallow in abject poverty.
The President did not win in Lagos or some other southwestern states; he lost them to the opposition candidates of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Yet, a preponderance of his ministerial and other aides are from the same part that rejected him at the polls. Not only do his Lagos allies occupy more positions in his administration than any other ethnic group, but they hold the choicest appointments, heading all the commanding heights of the country’s economy.
As for the Northern elites, most of them would rather fight for themselves, not for the region or their people. The Northern region suffered a power “failure” for about 12 days, yet the so-called Northern power brokers were not seen or heard doing much about it at the time. Even now, when power has supposedly been restored, the supply is irregular: electricity is provided for only a few hours, then taken off for a longer period before it is returned for a similarly short period.
However, the Minister of Power, Dr Adebayo Adelabu, who has performed dismally, was still retained in the recent cabinet reshuffle by the President. It appears the power failure in the North was not due to bandits’ actions, as claimed by relevant authorities. His retention in the federal cabinet seems like a thank-you gesture for implementing a long-scripted plan.
The most pressing issue at the moment is the detention of 76 Northerners (many of them young boys, some as young as eight) charged with treason by the federal government. But for pressure from some humanitarian individuals and organizations within and outside the country, the children would have remained incarcerated as awaiting trial detainees in Kuje prison, where they were held for over three months. The Northern leaders did not consider the boys, including minors, too important to agitate for their release.
Even the “elected” members of the National Assembly (NASS) from the North were not proactive in the matter, as it does not involve the hefty pay they receive at the end of each month. A member of the Nigerian House of Representatives claimed that each of them received no less than half a billion naira (N500 million) in salary and allowances annually. And many of them are mere seat warmers who contribute nothing to debates in the bicameral federal legislature.
The youngsters were arrested in Kano State during the #endbadgovernance protest. Some of them appeared visibly malnourished when they were taken to court, where, adding insult to injury, they were given stringent bail conditions that even killers would not face. Each one was asked to bring N10 million and a guarantor on a federal salary of at least Grade 15.
In the days leading up to the #endbadgovernance strike, Mr. President summoned the Northern “movers and shakers,” mainly political actors, religious leaders, and traditional rulers, to a meeting at the Villa. At the end of the meeting, it was alleged that a large sum of money was given to each participant.
Although many Islamic clerics who attended the meeting denied receiving any money from the presidency, they nevertheless urged their followers not to participate in the expected nationwide protest. Even I agree that Islam does not condone protests or any form of insubordination to constituted authority. I agreed with them to the point of writing an article titled, “Count Me Out of The Planned Nationwide Strike.” Other Northern leaders, too, played a significant role in ensuring the strike’s failure in most parts of the region.
Meanwhile, the Inspector General of Police asserted that some of the detainees who fainted in the Abuja High Court were “faking” hunger to attract sympathy from the judge. The Police Force’s spokesperson added that even a seven-year-old could be arrested, detained, and tried for an offence.
If those arrested were from other regions of Nigeria, leaders from those parts would have trooped out to the streets, demanding their unconditional release.
None of the protest organizers are still in detention, to the best of my knowledge, for the IGP to allege that they were faking, or for the Force spokesperson to claim that a suspect can be arrested, detained, and tried even at age seven.
To be sure, Nigeria has never experienced such terrible governance and economic mismanagement as it does now. The country arrived at this point due to the corrupt and clueless leadership it endures.
Many Nigerians survive only because of the philanthropic gestures of some large-hearted individuals who provide free food and other assistance daily. May their fortunes increase manifold.
May God, in His infinite mercy, continue to bless Nigeria with more large-hearted people who are their brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, even after the extreme poverty is behind us. May He also rid the country of those responsible for creating this grim condition.
Labaran wrote from Katsina.
