Sardauna, Mwadkwon and Plateau crises
In the interview, Hon Mwadkwon said that “What led to the killing of the two lawmakers and others in Plateau state was the statement made in 1960, during the Independence most especially to the Hausas and Fulanis by Ahmadu Bello and this statement was replicated some years ago by the Tribune Newspaper where he said […]
In the interview, Hon Mwadkwon said that “What led to the killing of the two lawmakers and others in Plateau state was the statement made in 1960, during the Independence most especially to the Hausas and Fulanis by Ahmadu Bello and this statement was replicated some years ago by the Tribune Newspaper where he said Nigerian should be seen as the estate of their grandfather, Usman Dan Fodio and that they must have control over Nigeria.” (See page 17 of Thisday Newspaper of September 6 2012)
Mwadkwon could not state where and when the late Sardauna did make such statement or the edition of Tribune Newspaper in which the so called statement was replicated. One could have dismissed such statement as an adult manifestation of guilt or a process of reducing emotional tension by reliving in speech the experience that caused the tension.
Unfortunately, both the message and the messenger represent the sickening paranoia attitudes of a certain ethnic and sectional drum beaters in the country. It is disheartening that such contrived and fictional lies can be rehearsed by a supposed lawmaker just to smear the image of Hausa Fulani.
The patent hatred harboured by the likes of Mwadkwon are the primary reasons why the crises in Plateau defy solutions. It has its root in the paranoid attitudes of its leaders who are unfortunately the cause of their self inflicted injury.
The late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello was a venerable leader, a unifying force, an epitome of trustworthiness, morality, rectitude whose legendary achievements and sacrifices have been widely acknowledged around the world. Comparison between elephant and mosquito defies any logical ground of analogy.
Let me refer Mwadkwon and his co travellers to the statement made by Chief Sunday B. Awoniyi, the late chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), who was a District Officer (DO), Senior Assistant Secretary (Security) in the office of the Premier and Secretary to the Executive Council in the Northern Regional Government of the late Premier, Alhaji (Sir) Ahmadu Bello, among other administrative duties and responsibilities he discharged then. He said this in a tribute to Sardauna on 14th January 2006.
“He was a workaholic. He loved the country and the people. And his concentration on the North, to bring up the North quickly, was his way of working for the unity of the country, because he believed that the North must be got into a position of competitive parity with the rest of the country if there was going to be peace and unity He had no moment for himself. It was work, work, work.
“He respected human beings, no matter your origin and your religion. He trusted you as an individual not as somebody who belonged to a certain religion or to a certain place where their politics at that moment happened to differ from his own politics. I was the Secretary to the Executive Council of Northern Nigeria. I wouldn’t normally have qualified if it was on the basis of my religion, my tribe or my ethnicity. He did not care. He just demanded your quality. Your talent was what mattered to him.” The above testimony speaks for itself.
Among those who worked with the great the Sardauna, and who are neither Hausa nor Fulani, include: Michael Audu, Wazirin Shendam who held a powerful position of Minister under the Sir Ahmadu Bello. Peter Achimugu, another minister in the Northern Regional Government of Sir Ahmadu Bello; Abdulrahaman Okene; Professor Ishaya Audu, Sardauna’s personal physician, Amb Jolly Tanko Yusuf, the list is endless.
Indeed, the late Sardauna as northern leader gave scholarship to Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan to read Christian Theology. And in 1962, when Onaiyekan did excellently well in the West African School Certificate Examination, Sardauna personally visited the young man to congratulate him.
It is also on record that Sardauna gave money to Sunday Awoniyi to purchase his first bible. This is why notable Christians like Gov Danbaba Suntai of Taraba State still accord the late Sardauna high degree of respect.
If these developments happened when Hon Mwadkwon was too young to appreciate them, they have been widely documented for him to read and understand.
Therefore, the linking of plateau state crises to an un-existence statement is the highest display of ignorance by someone who should be in position to knows the difference between a pig meat and burukutu.
I therefore called on all plateau leaders and other relevant authorities to call the likes of Hon Simon Mwadkwon to order so as not to inflame the current security challenges facing in the country. The likes of Hon Simon Mwadkwon should stopped looking for scapegoat and instead look within for the cause’s o perennial crises in Jos.
Danbaba Marafa is Magajin Gari Sokoto and Grand Son of Late Sardauna, Sir Ahmadu Bello.