Lalacewar Ilmin Gaba da Sakandare a 1984
Na Aliyu U. Tilde
Jama’a
Ina Kwananku?
Mutanen wannan dandali uku suna bi na bashin abuwa hudu, na sauke daya jiya na maganar fara tara bayanai kan wadanda ke batawa Najeriya suna a waje ta hanyar aikata laifukka. A kan wannan, jiya na nemi wadanda suka sa kansu su aiko da wasu bayanai. Madalla sun ko aiko. Saura biyu:
Aiko da Lik’en malafa (file attachment) na hoton dajin Falgore da na yi wa Urwatu da mutanen dandali don ba kowa ya iya budewa ba. Wannan ban sami damar yi ba don ban gano inda komputa ta take ba. Ina jin tana Bauchi. In na je anjima zan lika, ISA. Ku ci gaba da mun hakuri.
Bayani kan JAMB da na ce zanyi ranar Asabar din can in mun fito daga fili. Muhawarorin da muka yi ta yi da zuwa Abuja da kuma kasala sun sa ban iya yin hakan ba a kan lokaci. To amma gobe ko jibi sakamakon jarrabawar JAMB din zai fito. Kuma ya zama wajibi in cika wannan alkawarin ko ana ha maza ha mata don iyayen yara da su kansu yaran su amfana. Wannan yaya da matukar muhimmanci kowa ya karanta.
Zancen yadda ilmin gaba da sakandare ya fara tab’arb’arewa a 1984. Wanan dagangan na jinkirta shi don a samu fahimtar juna kan yanayin tattaunawar. To ina ga wannan fahimtar ta samu yanzu, kuma shirye nake in baku ku sha.
Gata nan gata nan ku:
FARA LALACEWAR ILMIN GABA DA SAKANDARE A 1984.
Kafin mu shiga wannan maudu’i (topic), ya kamata mu yi waiwayen abun da ya kawo wannan maganar.
Na shigo zaure ne na samu matasa suna ta tada jijiyar wuya a kan yadda suke shan wuya kan abubuwa da dama tunda aka yi manna (posting) abunda Col. Hamid Ali ya ce. Har wani ya kawo zancen wahalar samun shiga (admission) makarantu sai dai in kai dan wani babba ne. Ya fadi yadda aka kwace masa shigarsa zuwa sakandare aka baiwa dan wani mai hali. Hedmastan sa har ya yi kuka, ya ce ya yi hakuri.
Wannan labari ya motsa zuciyata, sai ko na kad’a baki na ce: “Kun ga, mutanen k’arni (generation) na ke da laifi. Mun more abubuwa da yawa amma mun kasa baiwa na bayanmu wadannan abubuwan. Na yi ta sharhi har na gutsura musu nawa labarin yadda na wuce sakandare daga kiwon shanu, har na je jami’a ba tare da na san kowa ba, muka sha lagwada, muka yi karatu gwargwadon abun da ya sauwaka. Na ce ba zan fadi sauran ba don in na fada, wallahi ‘yan bayanmu za su tsene mana.
To sai matasan nan suka shiga “intifada” kan shugabannin yanzu, su kai ta jifa, suna cewa su suka jawo wannan. Farfesa Abba Gumel nan ya shigo, ya dau shugabanni (na “siyasa da gargajiya”) shi ma ya jefa cikin tukunya farfesunsa, ya k’ara wuta. Nan ma a garin sharhi, sai na sa baki na ce, “A’a. Ba yanzu abun ya fara ba. Mu koma baya kamar shekara ashirin da takwas. Ga cizgen (quotation) matanin (text) abun da nacewa Farfesan a cikin baka (quotation marks):
“Ironically, har Shagari ya bar mulki abubuwan nan were intact kamar a education sector duk da cewa kowa ya san ba za su ‘dore ba saboda UPE na Obasanjo da ya dorawa sector din nauyin da ba zai iya dauka ba. Buhari shi ya fara dakatar da wannan tsarin lagwada a makarantun GABA da sakandare. Ina malamin jami’a a lokacin. Kuma a gaskiya in na fadi abinda su Buhari suka yi wa musamman higher education a k’asar nan, za a ga bak’ina kwarai da gaske. Don in gaskiya ta shafi Buhari, sai dai mutum ya yi shiru. Ba zai fada ba don gudun gurguwar fahimta da cin mutunci.
“Amma a takaice, babban kuskuren da Buhari ya yi shi ne na dakatar da komai a wadannan makarantun, komai na gaya maka. Da Babangida ya zo sai ya dawwamar da wannan dakatarwar har sai da komai ya lalace, har zuwa karshen mulkin Abdulsalami. Buhari a lokacin da kyakkyawar niyya ya dakatar da komai a kasar duk da cewa yin haka ba shi ne mafi dacewa ba. Kuma aka gamu da rashin sa’a mulkinsa bai d’ore ba har ya ga illar abun ya gyara da wuri.”
To fa! Fadin Buhari ke da wuya, kamar yadda na zata, sai mutum biyu suka yi caa a kaina, duk da cewa abunda na fada daidai ne, kuma na nuna ladabi ga Buhari sosai da adalci a cikin maganata kamar yadda mai karatu ya gani a cizgen sakin layi (paragaraph) biyu din can. Sauran mutanen zauren suka ce, sam, in ci gaba, in fede biri har wutsiya, su suna son su amfana. Kuma har yayana Ibrahim Sanyi Sanyi (amma na shaida zafi garai walla!) ya ce ai tunda su ne shugannin wannan zaure (na Raayi) ba za su bari wani ya ci mun mutunci ba. Na ce, “To. Zan yi anjima.” To tunda na ga wurin da zafi a lokacin, sai na dakata tukun.
Wannan itace shimfidar da na so yi don kar mu mance da abun da aka d’ora zancen a kai, musamman ga wadanda basu biyo hirar (thread) tun farko ba. Yanzu sai mu mike da tafiyarmu. Amma kafin nan, ga kashedi irin na Bawa a wakar Bawa Direba ta Shata, da suka isa inda gada ta karye musu, kuma bayan bawa ya tada mota, ya sa giya zai tsallake gadar:
“Sai yaf fito yal leka
Yana, “ku zauna daidai
Kowa ya rirrike bodi
Kowa ya lura da benci
Don kar in ja ku ku fadi
Kowa na ja shi ya fadi
Ko ya mace ba komai
Sarki yake k’aunata
Kun san ina son Shata
Ban son ya fad’i ya karye
Idan ya fad’i ya karye
Abun yanai mani ciwo
Don banda mai mani waka.”
Ya ce da mu, “k’a, kun shirya?”
Nai wub, na ce, “Mun kimtsa.”
Bature sai yan nok’e
Yai wub ya rungume Shata
Yana ta zunduma zagi:
“Kai mutumin banza ne
Kai sakaren wofi ne.
Ka za ka ce mun shirya?
Kasa ya ja mu ya badda?
Ga kau gada ta karye?
Koko giyarka ka shawo?
Ka ce da shi mun shirya?
Ka sa ya ja mu ya badd(a)”
A’a ba giya ba na shawo
Zato nake mun shirya
Na ce da shi mun kimtsa.
Bature tsoro yaj ji
Don shi yana yin sallah
Duk wanda ke yin sallah
Ko bai da tsoron kowa
Yana da tsoron Allah
Tsoron azabar Allah
Ni kau da ban taba sallah -
Ba, sai na d’auki kirari:
Duna Uban-Alkali
Mamman na Bilkin Sam(bo)
Mai shan giya na ‘yar maigoro (?)
Hayee da seeti Baawa na Laaraba.”
Ni ma Ali Gadanga Kusar Yaki, Mod’i boodi magani rewdu, Mai Jan hali ‘dan Nana, zan tsaya a nan in tambayi wadanda muke wannan motar dandali ko sun shirya. In akwai “Bature” a cikinmu da ke son ya koka, zan bashi dama ya koka, kafin in ci gaba. Ha in sha ruwa.
Na gode.
Aliyu
Lalacewar Ilmin Gaba Da Sakandare daga 1984 (2)
Na Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde
Yan Najeriya sun shiga shekarar 1984 da Murnar juyin mulkin da aka yi a ranar karshe ta shekarar 1983, in ban mance ba. Akwai k’aulani akan wadanda suka shirya juyin mulkin da dalilansu, kuma ko wanda aka mikawa shugabancin k’asa bayan juyin mulkin, watau Manjo-Janar Muhammadu Buhari, ko yana cikinsu ko baya cikinsu.
Koma me ke gaskiyar maganganun, tabbas mu ‘yan Najeriya mun yi murna, in ka ture bakin cikin da wadanda suke damawa a mulkin siyasar da aka juye, d’aba’an (naturally). Ba a jima ba aka ce Buhari ne aka baiwa shugaban kasa. Irinmu da muka dandana mulkinsa yana gwamnan Jahar Arewa Maso-Gabas a lokacin Murtala nan da nan muka san cewa gari ya waye wa Najeriya. Balle da ya yi jawabi wa jama’a. Nan da nan k’asa ta rude da murna.
To da su Buhari suka zauna kujerar Mulki, irin zama na Iya Lamarana, sai suka Ankara cewa halin da kasar ke ciki ya wuce duk yadda ake tsammani. In wadanda suka shirya juyin mulkin sun aza za su hau kan mulki ne su yi sharholiya, watau dababar korar biri a gindin kanya, to sun yi kuskure da suka kira Buhari suka bashi mulki. Don ko tafiya bata yi nisa ba abubuwa suka fara cutura tsakaninsu. Dama d’an Kwairo ya ce cikin wakar Hasan Usman Katsina:
Ga kare da kura
Ga bunsuru da rago
Ance sun kama hanya…
Buhari da mataimakinsa, Manjo-Janar Tunde Idiagbon, da ministoci da gwamnoni dayawa su kam sun dukufa wajen gyaran k’asa. Sun iske taskar gwamnati shal, ba ko kwandala saboda dalilai biyu: mummunar faduwar kudin man fetur da rashin tsari na tattali a gwamnatin tarayya don bacin rana.
Kafin su Buhari su shigo, su Shugaban Kasa Shehu Shagari sun fara kokarin daukan matakan matse bakin aljihun gwamnati. Don haka sun fito da matakai na rage yawan abun da gwamnati ke yi na sauwaka rayuwar ‘yan Najeriya. Wadannan matakai a lokacin ana kiransu “austerity measures”, watau matakan matsi.
To in kun tuna nace har su Buhari suka zo abubuwa dangane da ilmi a gaba da sakandare suna nan tsab (intact). Wannan haka ne musamman ta fannin tsari, don babu wani abu da ‘yan siyasa suka dauka a hukumance wanda ya takaita ingancin ba da ilmin a wadannan makarantun duk kuwa da cewa an fara aiwatar da “austerity measures.”
Ga abin da na sani a Jami’ar Ahmadu Bello inda na yi dalibta, da Jamiar Sakkwato a lokacin inda na yi koyarwa.
Malamai suna nan isassu, dakunan bincike (laboratories) na nan makare da sinadarai (reagents) da kayakin bincike (equipment), kowanne sashi (department) na da library dinsa gami da mujallu (periodicals and journals) bila adadin. Kuma babban dakin karatu kamar Kashim Ibrahim Library shake yake da sabbin litattafi da mujallu a kowanne fanni, kari kan abun da ake da shi a sassa. Hakaza, a dakin sai da litattafai (bookshop) na jami’a, akwai kowane sabon littafi mai muhimmanci a fannin da mutum yake karantawa.
Haka kuma malamai na nan makil, kowa ana biyansa albashi mai tsoka. Suna zuwa taron karawa juna ilmi (seminars da conferences) akai akai, ana basu abubuwan jin dadi kamar bashin mota, da sauransu. Sannan don a samu ingantaccen ilmi, da yawa daga cikin malaman daga waje suke, sannan ‘yan Najeriya a sabbin jami’o’I ana turasu kasar waje, su tafi har sai sun digirgire (PhD).
Mu kuwa dalibai kome na nan ba a soke ba: Ana wanke mana kayan sawanmu duk sati, ajewa kawai za mu yi a bakin kofa, za a zo a dauka a goge a dawo mana da shi. Gwamnatocin mu na bamu kudin karatu (scholarship) akai akai. Mu dalibai muna tafiya yawon k’arin fahimta (excursion) har Tekun Atlantika inda za mu yi kwanaki a kan ruwa muna bincike kan kifaye da halittun teku, da Dajin Yankari, da sauransu.
Abinci hukuma ce take shirya shi a dakunan cin abinci (dining halls), don har muka kare a 1982 ba mu san girki b. Su famfon shayi na nan ko baka da kudi za ka je dining hall ka sha shayi ko kofi da madara da suga, kyauta. Kofi kawai za ka dauka a gefen randa mai famfo, ka bude famfon ka cika kofi da shayin, ka je ka zauna ka sha. In ko kana da kudi, wanda duk daliban Arewa na da su isassu a lokacin, to ai abinci ba damuwa (issue) ba ne. Sam. Da kwabo hamsin (50k) za ka ci abinci wanda wallahi ko gidan minista yau aka girka wannan abincin an yi kokari. Mu kam yanzu ana ganinmu kamar masu kudi, amma duk da haka bama iya ciyar da iyalanmu irin wancan abincin.
To zaka je dakin abinci (Dining Hall), ka samu kalan abinci uku ko hudu ko yaushe. Sai ka cewa mai sa (serving) abincin irin wanda kake so. Sai ta shak’e maka faranti (plate) da shi. Sai ka wuce gaba wajen mai miya da nama, ko kaza in ranakun kaza ne. Ita ma ta zuba maka isasshen miya da nama manya akalla biyu. Amma har hudu ma za ta sa maka in kuna shiri. Sai ka wuce karshen layi ka dau cokala irin wanda kake so, da kofin ruwa. Kaje ka zauna. In da safe ne ko yamma, kamar yadda nace, sai ka wuce ka je famfon shayi ka cika kofi daya ko biyu ka dawo ya fara aikawa da d’a’ami. Kana ci da abokinka, kuna hira. Mashaallahu. Duniya ta yi kyau. In an jima sai ka je kiyosk ka shakata ka wanke cikinka da yoghurt, ko Caprisonne, ko Fanta ko Koka-kola masu sanyi, da sauransu. Ga kiyosk nan facaca a kowane lungu a jami’a. Ni kam ma har abun ya shafi karatu na don har yau in cikin nan yayi tanki, ai sai barci. Wai “dankauye ya shiga alkarya”, in ji Abubakar Ladan:
Ga riga na diban hakki
Ga kantar daud'a ba wanki
Sai ya hango mai alkaki
Ya kira ya saya ya ci yai tanki
Gagon sai ya ji yana hakki
Daga bukka ta ruga, yau an kai ga jami’a ana shan Koka-Kola da Caprisonne da kaji da kwai da koda, ai ka san lallai “dan kauye ya shiga alkarya.”
Haka dai, haka dai. Ba shakka ko a 1982 wahalhalun da rashin kudi a aljihun gwamnati sun fara kunno kai. Duk abinda ake shigowa da shi musamman na abinci ya fara samun tangarda lokaci lokaci saboda rashin sa a cikin gari, ba saboda rashin kudi ba ko wai an soke. Na gaya muku karancin shinkafa da ta addabi kasar har ta sa muka yi zanga zanga a 1981. To haka yawan abincin an rage facakarsa ba kamar da ba. Amma dai akwai shi.
Ta fannin abubuwan da suka shafi karatu kam kamar yadda na zana komai tsab (intact), har muka gama, har muka fara koyarwa a jami’a a 1983. Wannan kuma shi ne muhimmi. Admissions duk ana samu cikin sauki. Da dai sauransu.
Haka ‘yan siyasa suka bar manyan makarantu, k’ila don suna jin tsoron tab’a su saboda rikici duk da cewa kasa ta fara daukan matakan tsuke bakin aljihu.
To amma da soja suka shigo, sai suka nuna har jami’o’i ma sai an tab’a su. Ga yanda abun ya canza daga dadin da na zayyana muku a sama zuwa wuyar da ake sha yanzu.
Soja? Soja na gomna marmari daga nesa. Na gwamna birgimar hankaka. Ai a cikin karamin lokaci suka sa Najeriya a hanya. Shiru kake ji. An yi irin ta Sayyidina Umar da wani sahabi da ya nuna mamakinsa da ya je gidan Umar ya iske Umar na wasa da yaransa. Sai Umar ya ce, kai ya kake yi in ka je gidanka. Sai ya ce, yana tsammani Umar zai yi murna da haka:
“Iza dakhaltu baiti
Ikhtafaz zahir
Wa sakatan nadiq
Wala takadu tasma’u fil baiti illa Hamsa.”
Wai
In na shiga gidana
Na bayyane sai ya buya
Mai magana sai yayi tsit
Ba abunda za ka ji a gidan sai rad’a.
Atake Umar ya sauke shi daga mukaminsa. Ya ce, “in baka da tausayin iyalinka, yaya za ka ji tausayin al’ummar Muhammadu?”
Ba abunda sojojin suka bari basu gyara masa zama ta hanyar da suka fahimta. Kowa tsoro ya kamashi. Yan siyasa duk an kama an garkame. Masu kudi haka, da yawa. Wannan ya sa an yi kowa ya shafawa kansa ruwa. Yan jarida aka sa musu takunkumi. Wurin fa ya zame “la takadu tasma’u fil baiti illa Hamsa” da gaske.
Malaman addini ma da suka yi jarumta suka fara suka saboda ana yin abinda ya sabawa sharia kamar tsare mutum sannan a fara neman laifinsa, sai aka ja musu kunne. Wasu ‘yan jarida biyu da suka nuna taurin kai su ma aka aika da su gidan yari, tuni. Wadanda suka nuna tawaye irin gyauron Maitatsine a Barno da Gombe da Yola, tuntuni aka shafe su, wasu ma ba da hakki ba tunda wadanda aka tura su nuna musu matsayinsu ba lalle ne su kiyaye da hakkoki ba. Kamar dai yadda ku ke gani yanzu game da Boko Haram. Gemu ya zame laifi. To haka tsangayoyi da dama suka shiga tasku. Wasu malaman allon ma dalilin ajalinsu ke nan.
A gwamnatance kuwa sai aka dau matakin tsai da duk abubuwan da ake shigowa da su in ba sun zama dole ba. Kwangiloli duka aka dakatar da su. Zan kawo misalin zuwa aikin Hajji a lokacin.
Da farko dai sai soja suka ce ba za a je ba don, a fadarsu aikin hajji sai da hali, "limanistada'a ilaihi sabila." To babu halin, in i su, tunda babu isassun kudaden waje. Da akA koka da yawa, sai suka sassauta. Suka ce to an yarda za a je, Amma za a rage yawan mutane saboda karancin kudin canji. Ina Jin mutum 100,000 suka je a 1983. To don a Samu hanyar zabar Wanda za su je bias adalci, sai aka hana zuwan yara, da masu ciki da sauransu. Kuma aka ce a manyan ma sai Wanda aka yiwa jarrabawa aka samu ya san kaidojin Hajji din. Ina tuna Jin Marigayi Kalarawi (Rahimahullah) watarana yana cewa har shi ma sai da ya bayyana a gaban komiti suka jarraba shi a Kano. Da aka kai masa tambayar farko, akace, "Farillan alwala nawa ne, Allah shi gafartawa Malam?" Kalarawi sai ya harzuka, ya ce, "Dubu ne."
Wannan dakace ya shafi ilmi a jami’o’i sosai. Na farko dai wasu jami’o’in ma kacaukau aka dakatar da su aka maida su tsangayoyi karkashin manyan jami’o’i. Kamar Jami’ar Abubakar Tafawa Balewa a Bauchi wacce aka mayar karkashin Jami’ar Ahmadu Bello, a Zaria. Wanda kawai suka sha su ne tsoffin jami’o’i da wadanda aka kafa a 1975.
To a cikin jami’o’in kun san akwai abubuwa da dole sai da kudin kasar waje. Alal misali, biyan malamai ‘yan waje, da zuwa kosakosai da tarukan karawa juna ilmi, da sayen mujallu da litattafai da kayakin bincike da sauransu. Wadannan kuma su ne ginshikin ilmin a manyan makarantu. In aka tsai da su, to fa, dole karatu zai raunana.
Haka ko aka yi. Tura kudi gida ya fara yiwa bak’in malamai wuya. Sai suka fara zare jiki. Wadanda kuma zamansu ya kare, sai sabonta kwangilar koyarwarsu ya fara zama da wuya. Mujallu kuwa aka dakatar da odar sabbi. In kunci sa’a kun yi doguwar oda a da tun zamanin Shagari kamar na shekara uku haka, to sai ku ci gaba da samun mujallu zuwa iyakar waadinku. Amma duk odar da wa’adinta ya kare, a kashi 90 cikin 100, ba a sake odar su ba sai bayan shekaru da yawa.
Ni a kan wannan ganau ne ba jiyau ba don lokacin ina koyarwa kuma ina dalibta. Don haka na san lokacin da aka aikawa duk sassa a Jami’ar Sakkwato cewa su zabi mujallu biyu ko uku kawai a fanninsu, su aikawa hukumar gudanarwar jami’a, sauran ashirin ko talatin kuwa a dakata tukuna. Da ni aka yi wannan.
Don haka da na dawo Msc a farkon 1985 a ABU inda nayi digirin farko, samun sabbin mujallu fa ya gagara sai dai k’alilan. Wanda ke son tabbatar da haka, yana iya zuwa dakin karatun jam’i’a mafi kusa a gunsa, ya duba mujallu nawa aka shigo da su a wannan lokacin kuma ya gwada yawansu da na shekarun baya. Aha. Don kar wani ya ce zuki tamalle na ke yi. Na samu wasunku yara ne na saki baki ina shirgata.
Rayuwar dalibai kuwa abubuwa cikin karamin lokaci fa suka fara canzawa, canjin da har yau ba a kuma komawa gidan lagwadar jiya ba. Nan da nan aka dakatar da dafawa yara abinci a dining hall. Ba zan san a wane wata ba ne takamamme (exactly). Amma na san ko da na dawo Msc a farkon 1985 don nayi jinkiri kadan ban dawo da abokai na ba tun 1984 saboda tunanin zan yi shi a Sakkwato, na samu wasu aka baiwa dakunan abincin haya su rika yin abincin da suka ga dama su sayar a yadda suka ga dama. Wata “Maman Kudi” muka samu a Umar Suleiman Hall, ABU. Abincin Yarbawa ne, wallahi yaji, kuma gaya kawai. Sannan kudin N1.00/plate.
In an bi wannan sigar, haka komai ya canza. Dakunan bincike suka fara rashin kayan bincike, malamai ba fita waje a yi karatu da sauransu. Dalibai wahala ta fara yawa. Sai hayakin risho ke tashi a kowane daki. Sauran abin da ya faru har zuwa yau kun fini sani.
To ba za a yi batun bacin ilmi idan ba a ambaci yadda matsalolin da aka samu wajen shigar dalibai (admission) ba. Ko da na koma yin PhD a 1988, gaskiya dalibai sun yi yawa a azuzuwa. Da mu shida kawai muka karanta B.Sc Botany a 1982 a ABU, amma a 1988 ba za ka rasa dalibai akalla sittin ko fiye da ke fita ba kowane shekara. Kafin a jima, sun kai daruruwa. Kayan aiki da malamai kuma basu kai na da ba. Wannan matsala ce saboda da aka dakatar da abubuwa da yawa, ba a dakatar da karuwar daliban da ake d’iba ba. Haka ya jawo kara lalacewar ilmi.
Daga nan, malamai ‘yan Najeriya suka yi ta barin jami’a suna komawa gwamnati, sannan suka yi ta fita waje aiki da sauransu. Wadanda suka rage a aikin jami’a kuwa sun ga tasku. Don har kusan karshen mulkin Babangida, ba a kara albashi ba bayan naira ta fadi warwas. Munga tasku. Muga samu mun ga rashi. Ta leko ta koma. Ni kam a 1993 sai na ki komawa koyarwa a jami’ar sakkwato da lifi (study leave) na ya kare. Don haka kana iya cewa kanka tsaye Dr. Tilde na cikin malaman da suka gudu daga koyarwa a jami’a (runaway academics). Na yarda. Duk da cewa abubuwa sun fara kyautata yanzu, komawa zai yi wuya. Sai dai a je a koyar don raha da nishadi kawai kamar yadda abokai na da yawa suke yi.
Ina ga zan tsaya a nan wajen bada k’issa ta. Sai dai kafin in barku, ya kamata in yi wani tsokaci daya ko biyu.
Na farko, su Buhari da kyakkyawar niyya suka dau matakin dakacen nan, suna fata da zarar abubuwa sun kyautata, sai a ci gaba da yin duk abun da ya kamata. Ko kadan ba su yi niyyar abun ya dauwama ba. Hatta dawowa mulkin farar hula, na sha jin na kusa da shi suna cewa suna da tsarin mai da mulki hannun farar hula amma sai abubuwa sun inganta kuma an gama dora kasar a kan turbar gaskiya. Wannan dole a fada don kau da mummunan zato wanda abokan gabar siyasar su za su yi wuf, su cafke su yi ta zargin su.
To, sai aka samu rashin sa’a. Mulkin Buhari bai dore ba. Tafiyar ta yi wabi. Aka yi wa Buhari juyin mulki a watan Agusta, 1985, bayan wata ashirin kawai da karbar mulki. Gwamnatocin da suka karbe su a gaskiya yana da wuya a karesu don an samu damar dawo da abubuwa da yawa amma aka kasa. Allah dai ya kyauta.
Na biyu, shi kansa matakin dakacen nan, a fargar jaji (watau with benefit of hindsight”), kuskure ne. Shi Buhari, da irin su babana Dr. Mahmud Tukur wanda shi ne Ministansa na Kasuwanci (commerce) da Masana’antu (industry) suna da halin filani na dogaro da kai da jurewa wahala. Kanda sun takaita wannan halin Zaman daji da suka gada a rayuwarsu ta kansu ne, to wannan daidai ne abun yabawa. To amma a mulkin mutane, ana bukatar sassauci a wasu abubuwan.
Kan da sun dau halin hausawa, da sun san cewa mulki da kasuwa a wannan zamanin dole sai da bashi in abubuwa sun kakare. To amma su a maimakon su dau bashi koda don su gudanar da muhimman abubuwa kamar na kiyaye ingancin karatu a manyan makarantu, sai suka gwammace su k’i karbar bashin, musamman ma da ya ke bashin yana da ka’idoji da ruwa. Kamar yadda na ce, da sun dau bashin da ya fi, kamar yadda muke ganin kasashen duniya suke yi yanzu da suka shiga halin karancin kudi.
Wani zai ce ai daga baya an d’au bashin, me ya tsinana? Banbancin shi ne kanda su Buhari ne suka d’au bashin da bani da shakka za su yi amfani da shi yadda ya kamata. To amma wadanda suka biyo bayansu ba su yi kamarsu ba. Su ma akwai irin nasu kamun ludayin (approach) ga mulki. Amma dai inaga an yi ittifak’i cewa gwamnatocin bayan yakamata a ce sun yi fiye da abin da suka yi. Su ma ba su sake kallon makarantu da idon rahama ba. Haka dai, haka dai.
A karshe, dole in ce gwamnati na da wahala kuma jama’a da yawa ke taruwa su yi ta. Amma ga al’ada, duk abin da aka yi, mai kyau ko mummuna, shugaban kasa ake jibgawa. Kuma dole ya yi hakuri da haka. Babba juji ne. Wannan bita ba niyyarta ba ne yin cikakken sharhi kan abubuwan da suka lalata ilmi gaba daya. A’a. Mun kawai duba juyin da aka samu ne a 1984 wanda kuma ya dawwama kusan har yanzu lokacin da dambun ya yi yawa.
Kurungus!
Na gode Allah da ya bani damar cika wannan alkawari. Da fatar an amfana. Allah ya sa taimake mu gaba daya.
Haza wasalam.
Aliyu
Bauchi
30 March 2012
Friday, March 30, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Discourse 342. Professor Itse Sagay on Derivation: A Conflict Between Language and Status
Discourse 342
By Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde
Professor Itse Sagay on Derivation: The Conflict Between Language and Status
Those who read Law in Nigerian universities know Professor Itse Sagay very well through his numerous textbooks especially on constitutional law. Personally, I have not come across an author on law like him. My thumps were always up whenever I read any of his books as a student of law.
I have had contact with him when I was writing a column on the back page of ThisDay way back in 2003. He was very delighted with my piece: Professor Sagay, Buy the Bride a Single Bed, whoch i wrote in reaction to his argument on a "double-decker" federalism. Though I was arguing for federalism on behalf of the North in that article, the respect I had for Professor Sagay had to guide my diction such that my rendition easily became exceptionally polite.
But like Dr. Tilde, Professor Sagay too is human. Even as one of the best brains that Nigeria ever produced, the Professor has recently been slipping down from the statesmanship and moderation which his intellectual position heavily demands from him to something less emulating to me. In the following passage, he was quoted speaking like when his student Dr. Tilde abandons caution in defence of the North or his Fulani herdsmen, or like Dokubo Asari in defence of a south-south 100% oil derivation. Listen to my esteemed Professor:
“I have been following the debate like others; unfortunately, those who speak on behalf of the Niger Delta on the issue have failed to hit the nail on the head. They should be bold enough to ask their northern colleagues, where does the nation’s revenue come from - instead of caressing the issue rather cautiously.
"The northern part of this country does not contribute anything to the national purse. If the area that produces the resources has just a token of 13 percent, the remaining 87 percent is free gift to the entire nation, particularly the North that has nothing to show for its existence. At the Political Reform Conference in 2005, we went to the Federal Ministry of Finance to get figures and facts about what each of the zones contributed to the commonwealth. What we saw was amazing; the North-West brings nothing, the same with the North-Central and North-East. The South-East and South-West brings minor but the South-South contributes 91 percent.
"The posture of the northern governors is the height of ingratitude and insult on the people of the oil-producing areas because they would have been bankrupt if not for the revenue that has been accruing to them from the proceeds of oil and gas.
"This is a wake-up call on the people of the oil-bearing region. For instance this is the time to come together and fight intellectually for the anomaly in the uneven allocation of oil blocs in the country. You will observe that because of the long stay of the north in power at the centre, they manipulated the process and cornered these blocs to the disadvantage of the south; today, you have all juicy oil blocs in the hands of the north. Now that Jonathan is there, I would not want to sound being immodest by calling for a revocation of the blocs allocated to the northern businessmen, but from the look of things, they have decided to take the entire South for a ride, so Jonathan should ensure that he corrects this imbalance by allocating more oil-blocs to people in the South to make up for the inequity in the sector." (from a posting made by Bunyi Fatoye-Matory in 'Yanarewa Yahoogroups, but originally written by one Enyimba Himself enyimba1ofaba@aol.com)"
All of a sudden the South-south, emboldened by the Jonathan Presidency and the oil resources from its region, has decided to take the whole North and its people for an enemy. And simply because of what northern politicians and Jonathan have done in the PDP, or for what its governors have said recently on reviewing the revenue allocation formula, every northerner deserve a target of their invectives and unrefined language: "North that has nothing to show for its existence." Haba, my Professor. This is sinking too much. This must not be your words.
As long as such unguarded attacks on the North would come from people like Alhaji Dokubo Asari who are at the bottom of the society's intellect, they would not even ruffle a feather of a bird in the North, much less stir a concern among its people. But when the cream of our society like Professor Sagay joins in the fray, then there is concern for worry, not for the North but for the country and South-south in particular for some few simple reasons that I will pause to dwell on now.
People at the level of Asari may have no idea of the intricate linkages and mutual dependencies in the life of a nation. All they may know is the garbage that the North is a parasite: it brings nothing to the federal coffers, as reflected in the 'evidence' of Professor Sagay - "the North-West brings nothing, the same with the North-Central and North-East. The South-East and South-West brings minor but the South-South contributes 91 percent." we can always pardon Asari. He is not an economist, neither is he a professor, not even in dream. His greatest achievement known to Nigerians is that he was a Niger-Delta gangster.
But Professor Sagay knows that federal purse is not the only wealth of Nigeria and neither is oil even its most important commodity. The North is simply not just a bunch of parasites that produce nothing before, now or in the future. It is not also a portion of the country that owns nothing. It all depends on what economic index one is looking at. I make bold to say that to the ordinary Nigerian, including such Nigerian in the Niger Delta, resources other than oil count more to his economy. Take the daily earning of any ordinary Nigerian in Calabar, Sokoto, Ogbomosho, Maiduguri, Umuahia or Jos. How much of it was the trickkle that reached him from oil?
Let me make it clear that owenership of oil bloc does not concern the ordinary Nigerian in the North or south. Until now, I only knew TY Danjuma among Nigerians who own oil blocs. And if Jonathan allocates all new oil blocs to Niger Deltans I will not object to that. In fact, I will support it because one can argue that they are the legitimate owners of the land above. In any case, what better right does a Hausa, Yoruba or Igbo have over such blocs than a Niger Deltan? Moreover, that does not affect the commission that goes to the purse of the federal government.
My only concern here is that when Jonathan makes that allocation, I can swear by my honour that none will go to reputable people like Professor Sagay. Most of them will go to militants like Asari and Tampolo that the President is so scared of. We are witnesses to bow he is awarding them billions of naira contracts and even conceding the security of our maritime domain to them. These militants are the layest curse of the Niger Delta and Jonathan is incapable of facing them.
The second thing is on the value and nature of oil itself and which people make so much fuss about. No one is saying oil is valueless. In Nigeria it is used in the last four decades especially to finance government projects, institutions and salaries. Most of its revenue however is pilfered by the elite or wasted to the extent that many analysts have arrived at the conclusion that it is a curse. The fact is that with or without oil, Nigerians will continue to exist and run governments in one form or another, as they did before the discovery of oil and as they will do for thousands of years after the now precious south-south oil has finished or the commodity has ceased to be relevant as a source of energy.
I just wonder how the ephemeral nature of oil has escaped the notice of the Niger Deltans. People like Asari speak as if the commodity will be here or relevant forever. Nigerian reserves are not bottomless. Even Saudi Arabia does not think of an infinite reserve. Oil will finish or cease to be relevant within the next 70 to 100 years. Europe is busy renting swathes of Sahara desert in preparation for its future energy supply from harvesting the sun while some people here are speaking of oil as if it will remain forever.
And few of them who are aware of this fact miss the point when they argue that they must be allowed its monopoly in order to develop their region better in preparation for the day when the oil would not be there. Again, foul. They think that what the oil will accord them in the next 30 to 50 years is enough to last them until the end of time. They are not thinking of many generations ahead.
The majority think of now. The few cautious ones think of only one or two generations ahead. Fewer still, whom we have not heard yet since the inception of this debate, think of generations two hundred or five hundred years ahead. They forget that investing in one corporate Nigeria and consolidating linkages with its various peoples is wiser than clinging to a commodity of limited lifespan.
A person from Calabar, for example, who cares for generations of Niger Deltans five hundred years from now will dispassionately examine the Nigerian atlas and see the size of the North and its unending natural endowments vis-a-vis those of his zone. He will bring forward in his intelligent mind what is permanent and what is not in the dynamics of human needs and economy. Such a mind would not fail to reach one inevitable outcome: the North that is 3/4 of the entire Nigerian map, with its diverse people, mountains, rivers, flat arable land, minerals, culture, etc, is an asset to this country in the long run and not a liability. Such a wise mind will not fail to align will whoever inhabits that massive land for the sake of his future generations. The role which the North played in making him the owner of his zone will not escape his memory. And when he hears the Asaris among his people generalize that the Northerners are ungrateful when their governor's call for a review revenue sharing formula or whatever, he would not join them but quickly caution them against using foul language in their objection.
If the shortlived prospect of oil would call the Niger Deltans to caution, the shorter tenacity of Jonathan presidency should lead them to humility. They do not have the numbers to rule the country forever. At most, 2019, Jonathan must give way to somebody. And whatever the intrigues, in a democracy the numbers of the North will not remain irrelevant forever even in a restructured Nigeria. Power has a way of misleading the mind to the illusion of confusing the moment with the future. The indiscrete mind will see the former as permanent and the latter irrelevant. But suddenly, time with its flying nature soon awakes him to the reality of facing the future he ignored and the consequences of his unguarded past.
Perhaps, it is in realization of that awaiting reality that ethnicists like Professor Wole Soyinka revived the clamour for a sovereign national conference. They want a weak future federal government, not the powerful one that Obasanjo or Jonathan has enjoyed. Are they not returning us to the same federalism which agitators against Hausa-Fulani hegemony were happy to desecrate in 1966?
I cannot hold brief for Nigeria, nor am I in position to speak for the North. But some things are pretty clear to me. If what we have said above about the life of nations is true, I think its people should have nothing to fear even in event of a breakup. Many of them would prefer that because they are tired of the underdevelopment of the region as a result of our focus on oil, the laziness it engenders and the corruption of life it enforces. Those that may object to a break up would be those among the elite who partake in looting the treasury, oil magnets and the corrupt among governors, politicians and businessmen.
The ordinary northerner cannot be intimidated by the ongoing noise. He remains calm. He is not afraid of the future as much as he is displeased with the present. However, one thing is sure: When push comes to shove and the country is divided, his condition in the long run will not be worse than that of other regions. In fact, what he needs to succeed would not be oil but a restoration of the system that will ensure transparency in governance, rule of law and equal opportunity. Oil should be the least concern of the North. It can extract it according to need from the Chad and upper Benue basins as Chad and Niger have started doing while the people would focus on more important aspects of life. But I do not think we need to go this far. For me every part of Nigeria is an asset; its diversity of peoples and resources are an asset, not a burden if we will be patient enough to harness them as other nations have done. I have argued this at length in Nigeria Between Marriage and Divorce (see link below)
Let me put everything in a nutshell by way of analogy. The relationship between the parts of any nation is simple. It is based on sharing, as expressed in every living system. How would the brain function without importing glucose which it consumes more than any other organ but of which it does not produce even a molecule? How would the rest of the body function if the brain hoades the information it processes after the sensory organs have come to it, cup in hand, with the raw data they acquired begging for directives that will rescue the body? Can the liver monopolise the food it processed at the expense of other organs or can the heart refuse other organs blood? Any contemplation of these selfish actions means destabilization of the body or even its instant death. Now, is it such destabilization and death that some of us wish for Nigeria?
I think in this art of nature there are templates for us to copy when we form organizations and systems like Nigeria. However, they are templates which cannot be read by opportunistic thugs and criminals but by great minds like those of Professor Sagay. That is why when the great speaks with the tone and substance of the base and lowly, it instigated a deep melancholy in me that I could not contain, but was compelled to share it with my esteemed readers in the imperfect prose that characterize my reflections on the problems of my country as my stammer makes my speech pitifully ineloquent to my listeners. In doing so, I was less eager to point at the error of my mentor than I was saddened by the statements accredited to him. In all my days as a student of law, I always enjoyed looking up to his towering figure. He must not force me to look down upon him in the domain of national discourse when he dwarfs his intellectual might to the level of the likes of Dokubo Asari.
Bauchi,
12 March 2012
Related articles
1. Nigeria Between Marriage and Divorce
http://fridaydiscourse.blogspot.com/2010/05/discourse-287-nigeria-between-marriage.html
2. Professor Sagay: Buy the Bride a Single Bed
http://fridaydiscourse.blogspot.com/2010/05/professor-sagay-buy-bride-single-bed.html
By Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde
Professor Itse Sagay on Derivation: The Conflict Between Language and Status
Those who read Law in Nigerian universities know Professor Itse Sagay very well through his numerous textbooks especially on constitutional law. Personally, I have not come across an author on law like him. My thumps were always up whenever I read any of his books as a student of law.
I have had contact with him when I was writing a column on the back page of ThisDay way back in 2003. He was very delighted with my piece: Professor Sagay, Buy the Bride a Single Bed, whoch i wrote in reaction to his argument on a "double-decker" federalism. Though I was arguing for federalism on behalf of the North in that article, the respect I had for Professor Sagay had to guide my diction such that my rendition easily became exceptionally polite.
But like Dr. Tilde, Professor Sagay too is human. Even as one of the best brains that Nigeria ever produced, the Professor has recently been slipping down from the statesmanship and moderation which his intellectual position heavily demands from him to something less emulating to me. In the following passage, he was quoted speaking like when his student Dr. Tilde abandons caution in defence of the North or his Fulani herdsmen, or like Dokubo Asari in defence of a south-south 100% oil derivation. Listen to my esteemed Professor:
“I have been following the debate like others; unfortunately, those who speak on behalf of the Niger Delta on the issue have failed to hit the nail on the head. They should be bold enough to ask their northern colleagues, where does the nation’s revenue come from - instead of caressing the issue rather cautiously.
"The northern part of this country does not contribute anything to the national purse. If the area that produces the resources has just a token of 13 percent, the remaining 87 percent is free gift to the entire nation, particularly the North that has nothing to show for its existence. At the Political Reform Conference in 2005, we went to the Federal Ministry of Finance to get figures and facts about what each of the zones contributed to the commonwealth. What we saw was amazing; the North-West brings nothing, the same with the North-Central and North-East. The South-East and South-West brings minor but the South-South contributes 91 percent.
"The posture of the northern governors is the height of ingratitude and insult on the people of the oil-producing areas because they would have been bankrupt if not for the revenue that has been accruing to them from the proceeds of oil and gas.
"This is a wake-up call on the people of the oil-bearing region. For instance this is the time to come together and fight intellectually for the anomaly in the uneven allocation of oil blocs in the country. You will observe that because of the long stay of the north in power at the centre, they manipulated the process and cornered these blocs to the disadvantage of the south; today, you have all juicy oil blocs in the hands of the north. Now that Jonathan is there, I would not want to sound being immodest by calling for a revocation of the blocs allocated to the northern businessmen, but from the look of things, they have decided to take the entire South for a ride, so Jonathan should ensure that he corrects this imbalance by allocating more oil-blocs to people in the South to make up for the inequity in the sector." (from a posting made by Bunyi Fatoye-Matory in 'Yanarewa Yahoogroups, but originally written by one Enyimba Himself enyimba1ofaba@aol.com)"
All of a sudden the South-south, emboldened by the Jonathan Presidency and the oil resources from its region, has decided to take the whole North and its people for an enemy. And simply because of what northern politicians and Jonathan have done in the PDP, or for what its governors have said recently on reviewing the revenue allocation formula, every northerner deserve a target of their invectives and unrefined language: "North that has nothing to show for its existence." Haba, my Professor. This is sinking too much. This must not be your words.
As long as such unguarded attacks on the North would come from people like Alhaji Dokubo Asari who are at the bottom of the society's intellect, they would not even ruffle a feather of a bird in the North, much less stir a concern among its people. But when the cream of our society like Professor Sagay joins in the fray, then there is concern for worry, not for the North but for the country and South-south in particular for some few simple reasons that I will pause to dwell on now.
People at the level of Asari may have no idea of the intricate linkages and mutual dependencies in the life of a nation. All they may know is the garbage that the North is a parasite: it brings nothing to the federal coffers, as reflected in the 'evidence' of Professor Sagay - "the North-West brings nothing, the same with the North-Central and North-East. The South-East and South-West brings minor but the South-South contributes 91 percent." we can always pardon Asari. He is not an economist, neither is he a professor, not even in dream. His greatest achievement known to Nigerians is that he was a Niger-Delta gangster.
But Professor Sagay knows that federal purse is not the only wealth of Nigeria and neither is oil even its most important commodity. The North is simply not just a bunch of parasites that produce nothing before, now or in the future. It is not also a portion of the country that owns nothing. It all depends on what economic index one is looking at. I make bold to say that to the ordinary Nigerian, including such Nigerian in the Niger Delta, resources other than oil count more to his economy. Take the daily earning of any ordinary Nigerian in Calabar, Sokoto, Ogbomosho, Maiduguri, Umuahia or Jos. How much of it was the trickkle that reached him from oil?
Let me make it clear that owenership of oil bloc does not concern the ordinary Nigerian in the North or south. Until now, I only knew TY Danjuma among Nigerians who own oil blocs. And if Jonathan allocates all new oil blocs to Niger Deltans I will not object to that. In fact, I will support it because one can argue that they are the legitimate owners of the land above. In any case, what better right does a Hausa, Yoruba or Igbo have over such blocs than a Niger Deltan? Moreover, that does not affect the commission that goes to the purse of the federal government.
My only concern here is that when Jonathan makes that allocation, I can swear by my honour that none will go to reputable people like Professor Sagay. Most of them will go to militants like Asari and Tampolo that the President is so scared of. We are witnesses to bow he is awarding them billions of naira contracts and even conceding the security of our maritime domain to them. These militants are the layest curse of the Niger Delta and Jonathan is incapable of facing them.
The second thing is on the value and nature of oil itself and which people make so much fuss about. No one is saying oil is valueless. In Nigeria it is used in the last four decades especially to finance government projects, institutions and salaries. Most of its revenue however is pilfered by the elite or wasted to the extent that many analysts have arrived at the conclusion that it is a curse. The fact is that with or without oil, Nigerians will continue to exist and run governments in one form or another, as they did before the discovery of oil and as they will do for thousands of years after the now precious south-south oil has finished or the commodity has ceased to be relevant as a source of energy.
I just wonder how the ephemeral nature of oil has escaped the notice of the Niger Deltans. People like Asari speak as if the commodity will be here or relevant forever. Nigerian reserves are not bottomless. Even Saudi Arabia does not think of an infinite reserve. Oil will finish or cease to be relevant within the next 70 to 100 years. Europe is busy renting swathes of Sahara desert in preparation for its future energy supply from harvesting the sun while some people here are speaking of oil as if it will remain forever.
And few of them who are aware of this fact miss the point when they argue that they must be allowed its monopoly in order to develop their region better in preparation for the day when the oil would not be there. Again, foul. They think that what the oil will accord them in the next 30 to 50 years is enough to last them until the end of time. They are not thinking of many generations ahead.
The majority think of now. The few cautious ones think of only one or two generations ahead. Fewer still, whom we have not heard yet since the inception of this debate, think of generations two hundred or five hundred years ahead. They forget that investing in one corporate Nigeria and consolidating linkages with its various peoples is wiser than clinging to a commodity of limited lifespan.
A person from Calabar, for example, who cares for generations of Niger Deltans five hundred years from now will dispassionately examine the Nigerian atlas and see the size of the North and its unending natural endowments vis-a-vis those of his zone. He will bring forward in his intelligent mind what is permanent and what is not in the dynamics of human needs and economy. Such a mind would not fail to reach one inevitable outcome: the North that is 3/4 of the entire Nigerian map, with its diverse people, mountains, rivers, flat arable land, minerals, culture, etc, is an asset to this country in the long run and not a liability. Such a wise mind will not fail to align will whoever inhabits that massive land for the sake of his future generations. The role which the North played in making him the owner of his zone will not escape his memory. And when he hears the Asaris among his people generalize that the Northerners are ungrateful when their governor's call for a review revenue sharing formula or whatever, he would not join them but quickly caution them against using foul language in their objection.
If the shortlived prospect of oil would call the Niger Deltans to caution, the shorter tenacity of Jonathan presidency should lead them to humility. They do not have the numbers to rule the country forever. At most, 2019, Jonathan must give way to somebody. And whatever the intrigues, in a democracy the numbers of the North will not remain irrelevant forever even in a restructured Nigeria. Power has a way of misleading the mind to the illusion of confusing the moment with the future. The indiscrete mind will see the former as permanent and the latter irrelevant. But suddenly, time with its flying nature soon awakes him to the reality of facing the future he ignored and the consequences of his unguarded past.
Perhaps, it is in realization of that awaiting reality that ethnicists like Professor Wole Soyinka revived the clamour for a sovereign national conference. They want a weak future federal government, not the powerful one that Obasanjo or Jonathan has enjoyed. Are they not returning us to the same federalism which agitators against Hausa-Fulani hegemony were happy to desecrate in 1966?
I cannot hold brief for Nigeria, nor am I in position to speak for the North. But some things are pretty clear to me. If what we have said above about the life of nations is true, I think its people should have nothing to fear even in event of a breakup. Many of them would prefer that because they are tired of the underdevelopment of the region as a result of our focus on oil, the laziness it engenders and the corruption of life it enforces. Those that may object to a break up would be those among the elite who partake in looting the treasury, oil magnets and the corrupt among governors, politicians and businessmen.
The ordinary northerner cannot be intimidated by the ongoing noise. He remains calm. He is not afraid of the future as much as he is displeased with the present. However, one thing is sure: When push comes to shove and the country is divided, his condition in the long run will not be worse than that of other regions. In fact, what he needs to succeed would not be oil but a restoration of the system that will ensure transparency in governance, rule of law and equal opportunity. Oil should be the least concern of the North. It can extract it according to need from the Chad and upper Benue basins as Chad and Niger have started doing while the people would focus on more important aspects of life. But I do not think we need to go this far. For me every part of Nigeria is an asset; its diversity of peoples and resources are an asset, not a burden if we will be patient enough to harness them as other nations have done. I have argued this at length in Nigeria Between Marriage and Divorce (see link below)
Let me put everything in a nutshell by way of analogy. The relationship between the parts of any nation is simple. It is based on sharing, as expressed in every living system. How would the brain function without importing glucose which it consumes more than any other organ but of which it does not produce even a molecule? How would the rest of the body function if the brain hoades the information it processes after the sensory organs have come to it, cup in hand, with the raw data they acquired begging for directives that will rescue the body? Can the liver monopolise the food it processed at the expense of other organs or can the heart refuse other organs blood? Any contemplation of these selfish actions means destabilization of the body or even its instant death. Now, is it such destabilization and death that some of us wish for Nigeria?
I think in this art of nature there are templates for us to copy when we form organizations and systems like Nigeria. However, they are templates which cannot be read by opportunistic thugs and criminals but by great minds like those of Professor Sagay. That is why when the great speaks with the tone and substance of the base and lowly, it instigated a deep melancholy in me that I could not contain, but was compelled to share it with my esteemed readers in the imperfect prose that characterize my reflections on the problems of my country as my stammer makes my speech pitifully ineloquent to my listeners. In doing so, I was less eager to point at the error of my mentor than I was saddened by the statements accredited to him. In all my days as a student of law, I always enjoyed looking up to his towering figure. He must not force me to look down upon him in the domain of national discourse when he dwarfs his intellectual might to the level of the likes of Dokubo Asari.
Bauchi,
12 March 2012
Related articles
1. Nigeria Between Marriage and Divorce
http://fridaydiscourse.blogspot.com/2010/05/discourse-287-nigeria-between-marriage.html
2. Professor Sagay: Buy the Bride a Single Bed
http://fridaydiscourse.blogspot.com/2010/05/professor-sagay-buy-bride-single-bed.html
Monday, March 5, 2012
Short Essay 27. JAMB Should Defy Boko Haram
Short Essay 27
By Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde
JAMB Should Defy Boko Haram
The News Agency of Nigeria yesterday reported the Registrar of JAMB, Professor Dibu Ojerinde, saying that it will cancel the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in volatile states of Northern Nigeria if the Boko Haram attack on primary and secondary schools in Borno State continues. “The Board will be left with no option”, he said, “than to tell candidates to go elsewhere to write the exams if schools which serve as centres will be attacked.”
The report appears contradictory, making me believe that NAN did not get its facts right. Consider another statement it reported from the Registrar:
“When we reviewed the situation in volatile states, for instance Borno, we realized that some of the schools are being bombed but our investigations showed that only primary schools are affected and not secondary schools.”
By this statement, to my understanding, the Registrar did not rule out JAMB holding examinations in those states. After all, UTME examinations are held in secondary schools. Primary schools hardly have the large space facilities that JAMB needs.
I am not accusing NAN of crying wolf where there is none; after all, it is a reputable news agency on which our media houses depend as a veritable source of news on a wide range of domestic affairs. I only think the Registrar should be clearly understood on this important subject matter that will affect the future of hundreds of thousands of our children.
Despite the contradiction in the report, I still felt it is worth making a short comment on the matter.
I understand the concern of JAMB. As any prudent agency would aver, it does not want its indiscretion to result in the death of Nigerian children and staff of the Board. The Registrar deserves our commendation for this foresight.
In the event that the unexpected happens and attacks secondary schools in the next two weeks before the exams, I still feel that JAMB should not contemplate canceling the examination but go ahead to plan its execution and taking the necessary precautions. The UTME examination is too important to be brushed aside for the scare of an anticipated attack by Boko Haram. Canceling the examination will cause so much pain and complications in the learning career of the candidates and compound the admission exercise of higher institutions to which the affected states are catchment areas.
JAMB should go ahead with its plan due to two reasons.
One, I am inclined to believe that Boko Haram will not attack these centres when the examinations are holding. To be fair to Boko Haram, the sect has always maintained that it does not target civilians but security and law enforcement personnel. It has repeated this time without number. And if we can remember, its leader announced in his second video broadcast on Youtube that the group will start attacking ‘boko’ schools after an alleged attack by JTF of a Qur’anic school in Maiduguri, an allegation that JTF quick to refute.
So far, Boko Haram has attacked four primary schools. But in all the attacks, no life was lost because the group refrained from carrying out the attacks during schools hours when it will lead to deaths and casualties to the civilian pupils and staff. With this record, it is clear that Boko Haram is targeting infrastructure, not the pupils, of the primary schools. Doing otherwise will contradict its claim that it is “working for the interest of the ummah”, as its leader Shekau would put it. JAMB examinations, therefore, are very unlikely targets of Boko Haram. Relax your mind, my Professor Ojerinde!
Two, if I am proved wrong and Boko Haram attacks secondary schools during schools hours – something I still believe is not in tandem with its modus operandi – JAMB should still go ahead with the examinations but make adequate security arrangements for their safe conduct. A number of measures would be necessary.
First and foremost, JAMB should liaise with the JTF and the state government to study the situation and look into the necessary measures for safe conduct of the examinations. Fortunately, the examination, unlike NYSC, is not protracted; it takes only few hours. The military and other agencies can mobilize a substantial number of personnel to each centre.
To ensure that the centres are not blown off a night or so before the examinations, law enforcement personnel need to be posted there early enough. Then on the day of the examination, the schools or the neighbourhoods where the centres are located should be adequately manned. In fact, the entire state could be placed under curfew that Saturday for the period the examinations are conducted. These measures are necessary especially for town like Biu, Bama, Uba, Gwoza, etc.
If it proves to be too difficult or risky to hold the examination at the various centres in Maiduguri town, there is still a better option than to “tell candidates to go elsewhere to write the exams.” The authorities should think of pooling the centres into one for candidates within Maiduguri town. The University of Maiduguri would be a suitable site. It has many theatres and lecture halls that can accommodate the candidates. The university community should make do with the inconvenience of few hours to enable its prospective candidates sit for the matriculation examination.
I think a combination of statewide curfew and shifting the examination to the university for candidates in the capital, which is the epricentre of Boko Haram attacks, will be the best.
If all the above fails and JAMB insists that the fear of Boko Haram is the beginning of wisdom, and only after having obtained a red card from JTF, then I would suggest that candidates from Borno State should be given a waiver by JAMB such that they can be admitted on the basis of post-UME tests in the institutions they applied for in addition to their fulfillment of WAEC/NECO requirements. Skipping JAMB itself would not matter much since in most universities passing the post-UME test is as important, if not more important, than passing JAMB.
Finally, I call on Borno State government to take this issue seriously. Its candidates and indeed the state cannot afford to miss UTME examinations. Boko Haram may be here next year also. Does that mean that my Kanuri brothers will continue to miss UTME and universty admissions indefinitely? So instead of running away from the problem, it must be handled now. The government must do whatever it takes to ensure that JAMB is convinced on the security of its centres in the state. It must not sit back and see the twelve years it invested in its candidates washed away by the fear of a Boko Haram attack.
Bauchi
5 March 2012
By Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde
JAMB Should Defy Boko Haram
The News Agency of Nigeria yesterday reported the Registrar of JAMB, Professor Dibu Ojerinde, saying that it will cancel the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in volatile states of Northern Nigeria if the Boko Haram attack on primary and secondary schools in Borno State continues. “The Board will be left with no option”, he said, “than to tell candidates to go elsewhere to write the exams if schools which serve as centres will be attacked.”
The report appears contradictory, making me believe that NAN did not get its facts right. Consider another statement it reported from the Registrar:
“When we reviewed the situation in volatile states, for instance Borno, we realized that some of the schools are being bombed but our investigations showed that only primary schools are affected and not secondary schools.”
By this statement, to my understanding, the Registrar did not rule out JAMB holding examinations in those states. After all, UTME examinations are held in secondary schools. Primary schools hardly have the large space facilities that JAMB needs.
I am not accusing NAN of crying wolf where there is none; after all, it is a reputable news agency on which our media houses depend as a veritable source of news on a wide range of domestic affairs. I only think the Registrar should be clearly understood on this important subject matter that will affect the future of hundreds of thousands of our children.
Despite the contradiction in the report, I still felt it is worth making a short comment on the matter.
I understand the concern of JAMB. As any prudent agency would aver, it does not want its indiscretion to result in the death of Nigerian children and staff of the Board. The Registrar deserves our commendation for this foresight.
In the event that the unexpected happens and attacks secondary schools in the next two weeks before the exams, I still feel that JAMB should not contemplate canceling the examination but go ahead to plan its execution and taking the necessary precautions. The UTME examination is too important to be brushed aside for the scare of an anticipated attack by Boko Haram. Canceling the examination will cause so much pain and complications in the learning career of the candidates and compound the admission exercise of higher institutions to which the affected states are catchment areas.
JAMB should go ahead with its plan due to two reasons.
One, I am inclined to believe that Boko Haram will not attack these centres when the examinations are holding. To be fair to Boko Haram, the sect has always maintained that it does not target civilians but security and law enforcement personnel. It has repeated this time without number. And if we can remember, its leader announced in his second video broadcast on Youtube that the group will start attacking ‘boko’ schools after an alleged attack by JTF of a Qur’anic school in Maiduguri, an allegation that JTF quick to refute.
So far, Boko Haram has attacked four primary schools. But in all the attacks, no life was lost because the group refrained from carrying out the attacks during schools hours when it will lead to deaths and casualties to the civilian pupils and staff. With this record, it is clear that Boko Haram is targeting infrastructure, not the pupils, of the primary schools. Doing otherwise will contradict its claim that it is “working for the interest of the ummah”, as its leader Shekau would put it. JAMB examinations, therefore, are very unlikely targets of Boko Haram. Relax your mind, my Professor Ojerinde!
Two, if I am proved wrong and Boko Haram attacks secondary schools during schools hours – something I still believe is not in tandem with its modus operandi – JAMB should still go ahead with the examinations but make adequate security arrangements for their safe conduct. A number of measures would be necessary.
First and foremost, JAMB should liaise with the JTF and the state government to study the situation and look into the necessary measures for safe conduct of the examinations. Fortunately, the examination, unlike NYSC, is not protracted; it takes only few hours. The military and other agencies can mobilize a substantial number of personnel to each centre.
To ensure that the centres are not blown off a night or so before the examinations, law enforcement personnel need to be posted there early enough. Then on the day of the examination, the schools or the neighbourhoods where the centres are located should be adequately manned. In fact, the entire state could be placed under curfew that Saturday for the period the examinations are conducted. These measures are necessary especially for town like Biu, Bama, Uba, Gwoza, etc.
If it proves to be too difficult or risky to hold the examination at the various centres in Maiduguri town, there is still a better option than to “tell candidates to go elsewhere to write the exams.” The authorities should think of pooling the centres into one for candidates within Maiduguri town. The University of Maiduguri would be a suitable site. It has many theatres and lecture halls that can accommodate the candidates. The university community should make do with the inconvenience of few hours to enable its prospective candidates sit for the matriculation examination.
I think a combination of statewide curfew and shifting the examination to the university for candidates in the capital, which is the epricentre of Boko Haram attacks, will be the best.
If all the above fails and JAMB insists that the fear of Boko Haram is the beginning of wisdom, and only after having obtained a red card from JTF, then I would suggest that candidates from Borno State should be given a waiver by JAMB such that they can be admitted on the basis of post-UME tests in the institutions they applied for in addition to their fulfillment of WAEC/NECO requirements. Skipping JAMB itself would not matter much since in most universities passing the post-UME test is as important, if not more important, than passing JAMB.
Finally, I call on Borno State government to take this issue seriously. Its candidates and indeed the state cannot afford to miss UTME examinations. Boko Haram may be here next year also. Does that mean that my Kanuri brothers will continue to miss UTME and universty admissions indefinitely? So instead of running away from the problem, it must be handled now. The government must do whatever it takes to ensure that JAMB is convinced on the security of its centres in the state. It must not sit back and see the twelve years it invested in its candidates washed away by the fear of a Boko Haram attack.
Bauchi
5 March 2012
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