Sir Ahmadu Bello: The legacy tattered

Not a disciple as such, but a scholar who wants to know how the Sarduna was able to unite 240 plus tribes of Northern Nigeria under one voice. Never has there been a ‘regional’ leader like the Sarduna nor will there be. But upon achieving so much for the North and paying the ultimate price, […]

Not a disciple as such, but a scholar who wants to know how the Sarduna was able to unite 240 plus tribes of Northern Nigeria under one voice. Never has there been a ‘regional’ leader like the Sarduna nor will there be. But upon achieving so much for the North and paying the ultimate price, it suffices to say that the North would have treated the memory of this great leader with reverence…… but was I wrong how naive I was!

Recently and yet again, I was at the Arewa House in Kaduna to visit the residence of the revered Premier. Great, the residence was fixed up, with a new coat of paint and roof, even the roads were done! But I wanted to see history not history literally “whitewashed”. I wanted to see where he sat, where he worked, what he wrote, what he wore, what he drove etc. I did not want to see a house hurriedly fixed and the bullet holes covered on the insistence of some prodigal sons of the Sardauna to whom bullet holes were “too painful” (not my words) to see. His   bloodied clothes were hurriedly bundled to Sokoto for “religiously it was wrong to have put them on display” (again NOT my words).

I wanted to see and feel the bullet holes and blood on the walls. I wanted to see the bloodied clothes he wore when life left him. I wanted to feel his pain. I did not expect that the prodigals would not even have the courtesy to cover the slab where the Sarduna and his wife were found, with even ceramic tiles much less a marble slab. The area where he was said to have died is now a restaurant! His family quarters a PG Hostel!

As irritated as I was, I was very pleased that the museum has at least preserved some of his artifacts and pictures. The folks that showed me around mentioned their unhappiness in the way the blood, bullet holes and clothes were “disposed” off. They too had a sense of history, a sense of reverence for this Northern star and all he stood for.

My mind started to ponder, here was a man who could have become Prime Minister but rather chose to stay and lead his home. Here was a man that used all the savings from the salary accrued to him to open a bank (Bank of the North) for the benefit of his beloved North. He pushed his people to join the military despite obvious deficiencies. He formed the New Nigerian Newspapers so that his people had a voice. He encouraged girl child education, formed a university to cater for the educational needs of the North and in fact provided for the students such that they studied in comfort. He got the so called “minorities” close to him so that bridges could be built along the regions and religions of the North. He knew that the diversity of the North was its strength.

But what happened, his prodigal sons made sure they systematically destroyed all he stood for. Bank of the North was sold just because the Northern states could not support it with funds. Someone used his own funds to build this bank and the Northern leaders decided that perhaps the funds were better spent in buying palaces in the UAE or the UK, than supporting the whims of a drowning bank…. Legacy tattered.

Sameer [email protected]