The North East in 2015

In the eyes of many people, he does not just seem to know it, he relishes discussing it. From the streets of Europe and America, the canals of Vienna to the jungles of Africa, he talks about all with ease. He knows Nigeria too. The only thing is that he still mixes the northeast and […]

In the eyes of many people, he does not just seem to know it, he relishes discussing it. From the streets of Europe and America, the canals of Vienna to the jungles of Africa, he talks about all with ease. He knows Nigeria too. The only thing is that he still mixes the northeast and the rest of the north. The state capitals of the northeast include Maiduguri, Damaturu, Yola, Gombe, Bauchi and Jalingo and they are the six state capitals of the geo-political region. Once upon a time, the regional capital used to be Maiduguri. The state used to be called the North Eastern State. At the time there were only twelve states.
The north east has turned out to be the most backward part of Nigeria today. The entire region looks more like the battlegrounds of Mansa Musa. It is full of resources but overrun by Boko Haram. It has now been converted into a designated caliphate, or something less desirable. Believing that the region belongs in Nigeria is to have the imagination of Rip Van Winkle, he that slept for two decades.  
The region too has fallen asleep. Those who live there also do nothing but sleep. However they do that with an eye open because the insurgents are having a field day. In the northeast, governance is largely in abeyance. Taraba state for example is symbolic of the rest of the region. The governorship is a dead ball. It has been between two men for months. Adamawa has since become the constitutional laboratory of the country and there is Yobe, from where the Chibok girls were taken. Bauchi is the first battle ground where insurgency first set foot in 2009. Borno as we know it today is a no-go-area due largely to the fact that even the Commander in Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces fears for his life whenever he contemplates flying into the place. Indeed, in the Northeast region, life is anything but normal.
It is unkind to define that area as a part of civilized Nigeria. It has lost touch with modernity. It is doubtful if elections can hold there without risking or even losing precious lives.  No one can conduct any election there that is fair. Free elections are therefore virtually a mirage. Yet politics dominates the lives of the people and if you ask me, it should be dropped off the to-do list of the region until such a time that reality sets in and functionality takes over. People are dying by the minute. Children are starving, women are being raped the aged have no one to care for them, livestock is perishing and plants and weeds are drying off. Yet others are politicking.
Recognizing the huge population of the region that is at risk, the agricultural activity that is now in slow, the paucity of resources or the inapplicability of what is available, the insurgency which has elaborately been defined broadly as national insecurity, it seems daily like those who come from the region but live in Abuja have no love for their home. You owe a debt to the region that brings you to Nigeria, whatever your stock and to making you a part of this well endowed country which you have allowed to be destroyed.
Few regions can compare to the north east in terms of human and material capital and over time it has shown peaks of excellence over which its people can be very proud. The region has given its people an enviable education in spite of the challenges that existed at the time.
But while the people of the north east are pleased in themselves they have forgotten that the people that they left at home are churning out dunces who in two decades time will turn out to be clueless about the rules of engagement in civilized communities. All they will be able to remember will be war.
The last time I visited Yola the airport taxis were like the matatus of Nairobi. Simple economic activity like finding a decent business centre to photocopy a document was a herculean task. The tales families told under the moonlight have become recollections of epics of horror. Children did not play street football for fear of insurgents and women shielded themselves from strangers even if their message was love. I have never seen a people so terrified in their own backyard.
It is the same in all other parts of the region. Kabiru Sokoto was apprehended in Mutum Biyu, a dour locality in the middle of Tarana State. The small village would have been ravaged to shreds if he had been allowed to remain there. Everywhere is on fire and it has engulfed neighbouring vicinities.
Mubi was attacked a few days ago. It was once the economic hub of the region, towards the Cameroons, now it is at war. This economic calamity has stretched to Bauchi and Jos. A few days ago I was in both towns and in one of them all shops had shut their doors by eight at night while in the other there was not a decent place to purchase consumables.
It is scary how the north east is allowed to burn. It is scandalous that some of the intelligent security agents come from here. And it is curious that they have not shown any courage in challenging whoever is behind the insurgents. Should the people be allowed to perish or is the Lamido of Adamawa option to move away into Cameroun becoming a fall back strategy? It is harrowing to have a people run today, return tomorrow as a perpetual lifestyle. By 2015 the entire region would have been scotched and there will be no one left but ghosts and burnt bricks. It is time to stop the killing of defenceless people at once.

By Abdulrazaque Bello Barkindo

I know a political heavyweight who once said that he learnt geography the hard way but grew to love it anyway. In the eyes of many people, he does not just seem to know it, he relishes discussing it. From the streets of Europe and America, the canals of Vienna to the jungles of Africa, he talks about all with ease. He knows Nigeria too. The only thing is that he still mixes the northeast and the rest of the north. The state capitals of the northeast include Maiduguri, Damaturu, Yola, Gombe, Bauchi and Jalingo and they are the six state capitals of the geo-political region. Once upon a time, the regional capital used to be Maiduguri. The state used to be called the North Eastern State. At the time there were only twelve states.
The north east has turned out to be the most backward part of Nigeria today. The entire region looks more like the battlegrounds of Mansa Musa. It is full of resources but overrun by Boko Haram. It has now been converted into a designated caliphate, or something less desirable. Believing that the region belongs in Nigeria is to have the imagination of Rip Van Winkle, he that slept for two decades.  
The region too has fallen asleep. Those who live there also do nothing but sleep. However they do that with an eye open because the insurgents are having a field day. In the northeast, governance is largely in abeyance. Taraba state for example is symbolic of the rest of the region. The governorship is a dead ball. It has been between two men for months. Adamawa has since become the constitutional laboratory of the country and there is Yobe, from where the Chibok girls were taken. Bauchi is the first battle ground where insurgency first set foot in 2009. Borno as we know it today is a no-go-area due largely to the fact that even the Commander in Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces fears for his life whenever he contemplates flying into the place. Indeed, in the Northeast region, life is anything but normal.
It is unkind to define that area as a part of civilized Nigeria. It has lost touch with modernity. It is doubtful if elections can hold there without risking or even losing precious lives.  No one can conduct any election there that is fair. Free elections are therefore virtually a mirage. Yet politics dominates the lives of the people and if you ask me, it should be dropped off the to-do list of the region until such a time that reality sets in and functionality takes over. People are dying by the minute. Children are starving, women are being raped the aged have no one to care for them, livestock is perishing and plants and weeds are drying off. Yet others are politicking.
Recognizing the huge population of the region that is at risk, the agricultural activity that is now in slow, the paucity of resources or the inapplicability of what is available, the insurgency which has elaborately been defined broadly as national insecurity, it seems daily like those who come from the region but live in Abuja have no love for their home. You owe a debt to the region that brings you to Nigeria, whatever your stock and to making you a part of this well endowed country which you have allowed to be destroyed.
Few regions can compare to the north east in terms of human and material capital and over time it has shown peaks of excellence over which its people can be very proud. The region has given its people an enviable education in spite of the challenges that existed at the time.
But while the people of the north east are pleased in themselves they have forgotten that the people that they left at home are churning out dunces who in two decades time will turn out to be clueless about the rules of engagement in civilized communities. All they will be able to remember will be war.
The last time I visited Yola the airport taxis were like the matatus of Nairobi. Simple economic activity like finding a decent business centre to photocopy a document was a herculean task. The tales families told under the moonlight have become recollections of epics of horror. Children did not play street football for fear of insurgents and women shielded themselves from strangers even if their message was love. I have never seen a people so terrified in their own backyard.
It is the same in all other parts of the region. Kabiru Sokoto was apprehended in Mutum Biyu, a dour locality in the middle of Tarana State. The small village would have been ravaged to shreds if he had been allowed to remain there. Everywhere is on fire and it has engulfed neighbouring vicinities.
Mubi was attacked a few days ago. It was once the economic hub of the region, towards the Cameroons, now it is at war. This economic calamity has stretched to Bauchi and Jos. A few days ago I was in both towns and in one of them all shops had shut their doors by eight at night while in the other there was not a decent place to purchase consumables.
It is scary how the north east is allowed to burn. It is scandalous that some of the intelligent security agents come from here. And it is curious that they have not shown any courage in challenging whoever is behind the insurgents. Should the people be allowed to perish or is the Lamido of Adamawa option to move away into Cameroun becoming a fall back strategy? It is harrowing to have a people run today, return tomorrow as a perpetual lifestyle. By 2015 the entire region would have been scotched and there will be no one left but ghosts and burnt bricks. It is time to stop the killing of defenceless people at once.