Starting with the man in the mirror
And the blame game begins. The winners saying it is the losers who caused it by instigating their followers, and the losers saying it is the winners who caused it by rigging and triggering a spontaneous reaction from those who rejected them. Whoever caused this wanton destruction and bloodshed, I am sure that no side […]
And the blame game begins. The winners saying it is the losers who caused it by instigating their followers, and the losers saying it is the winners who caused it by rigging and triggering a spontaneous reaction from those who rejected them. Whoever caused this wanton destruction and bloodshed, I am sure that no side is celebrating. If anything, both sides of the divide, Christians and Muslims; northerners and southerners; PDP stalwarts and opposition candidates are all engaged in commiserations and condolences today. This is because the violence was evenly spread, the victims cutting across all major divisions, as these true stories below will soon demonstrate.
A Nigerian in diaspora came all the way from his overseas base to register ahead of the elections in January. This patriotic Nigerian returned again with his equally patriotic wife in April to cast their votes. A staunch supporter of the retired General, this Kano man in diaspora naturally voted for the CPC. While driving round the ancient city last Monday, he came across these protesters. When they stopped him, they were not interested in who he was or who he voted for. They only saw in him an oppressor because of the car he drove. They asked him and his wife to vacate the car while they vandalised it and reduced it to a scrapheap. It didn’t matter to them that he felt as much pain as they did at the General’s loss of the election.
In another part of town, a lady was driving to a different destination. She was accosted by these rampaging hoodlums who ordered her out of her car. When she exited and handed them the key, the only thanks she got were comments that her husband had stolen their money to buy the car for her. Right before her eyes, this lady watched while her car was set ablaze. It didn’t matter to them what party she or her husband supported. To them she deserved her travails because she drove a good car.
Yet another unlucky Kano resident was on the road when she encountered these protesters. A married woman with impeccable moral credentials, when the hoodlums took her key from her they were verbally merciless. They asked whether she was one of those kept mistresses of big men and before she could answer, they ordered her to go back to her ‘big men’ and request for another ‘big car.’ Then they set the car on fire.
Note that not one of these victims was asked what party he belonged to or even what his religion or tribe was. In fact unconfirmed reports say that three cars belonging to a CPC chieftain were destroyed by these rampaging in youths in one of these North-western states. All these point to the fact that these protests are not politically or even religiously motivated, they are rather motivated by the simple economics of the protesters existence. Maybe these poverty stricken, ill-bred and uneducated youths had really hoped for a change in their misery if the CPC had won, but by the time they took to the streets, all they were after was to hit back at a society that has failed them. Hence their choice of targets. If they were only venting their grievance at the outcome of the elections, they would have done so without resorting to violence and arson.
When I wrote a letter from Sardauna (‘A memorial Foundation for me? No thank you’ October 24th 2009) I had told northern governors that the recurring problem of sectarian violence in the region is the result of nothing other than their neglect of their youths. When you leave an important and sizeable portion of the population poor, uneducated and having no hope for the future, what do you expect them to do other than be a menace to the society? These are young men living on handouts from parents or relatives, who are generally idle and are sometimes into drugs. With no bright future to look forward to, they feel they have nothing to lose when they take to violence. And who was it that said ‘beware of the man who has nothing to lose’? Because such a man has nothing at stake, so he can stake everything to reach a certain goal.
What the unfortunate events of the past week call for is for all of us to pick our mirrors and start with the face we see. Politicians, public office holders, civil servants, retired or serving soldiers, medical personnel, journalist or businesspersons, we all have to look closely at ourselves in order to make a change. The late singer Michael Jackson put it well when he sang:
I’m starting with the man in the mirror,
I’m asking him to change his ways…
If you want to make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself and make a change
When we drive round town in our air-conditioned vehicles every day, how many of us notice the young men playing football in the dirt-strewn pitch from very early in the morning when our own children are comfortably in school? How many of us notice them still loitering around in the evening when we return, probably courteous enough to even send us wave or a ‘ranka/ki ya dade’ sign while we drive past them to our respective homes. Did it ever occur to us to wind down our glasses and call them over to ask why they are not in school, or what they do for a living?
Isn’t it time you stop by at your alma mater, now roofless and windowless, with the pupils learning under the trees, to ask the headmaster just what you can do to change what you saw? Yes, we are mostly tempted to say its government work and they should do it, but what stops you from doing what is right if you can afford to? I doubt if there is a Northern governor today who went to school from the earnings in his father’s pocket, but if most of them are so short-sighted that they begrudge the next generation what they got for free, should you join them? Look at the successful, well-educated man/woman you see in the mirror and tell him/her that he/she must make a change.
How much will it hurt if you were to set aside just ten per cent of your overseas children’s school fees to offset the school fees of young relatives and neighbours who had to drop out because of that very reason? Surely to help carve a brighter future for these youths is much healthier for your society, and safer for your privileged children than ignoring them to become hoodlums and armed bandits? For sure no one will remember to pray for you because of how much was spent on your daughter’s spectacular wedding or what quality of foreign souvenirs were shared to those who attended but no one whose son or daughter you helped to educate, or provided with worthwhile employment will ever forget your good deed.
Unless we are ready to look at ourselves in the mirror and think deeply on how to tackle the problem of underprivileged youths in our society, we can’t hope to see an end to youth restiveness and sectarian violence. But if we resolve to make this post-election violence the last of such unfortunate incidents, then we must look around us and see how we can rehabilitate, educate and employ the abundant manpower that’s in these Northern youths. The time to decide is now.