THE NORTH UNDER SIEGE, BY PROF MAIWADA

On the occasion of ten years of the Boko Haram insurgency (2009-2019), a senior academic colleague at Bayero University, the soft-spoken and gentleman Professor Danjuma Maiwada ([email protected]) of the Faculty of Education, and a reader of this page, sent to me an opinion piece on the plight of this our Northern Region. Prof Maiwada, who […]

On the occasion of ten years of the Boko Haram insurgency (2009-2019), a senior academic colleague at Bayero University, the soft-spoken and gentleman Professor Danjuma Maiwada ([email protected]) of the Faculty of Education, and a reader of this page, sent to me an opinion piece on the plight of this our Northern Region. Prof Maiwada, who is an authority on Islamic Education among other sciences, titled his think-piece “Northern Nigeria Under Siege: Insurgency, Kidnapping and Drug Peddling”, where he argues that Arewa is tragically suffering from triple calamities from quadruple or more angles. My takeaway from this thesis from Professor Maiwada is that the will of our political leaders should be ‘married’ to the know-how of academic researchers to fathom ways out of the conundrum. His piece:

“For a decade, the geographical entity known as Northern Nigeria has been bedevilled by the triple evils of insurgency, kidnapping and drug peddling. Insurgency is commonly attributed to incessant violent attacks by ‘boko haram’ on communities in North-East of Nigeria, particularly Borno and Yobe States. The kidnapping menace preceeded cattle-rustling in Zamfara State before escalating to other states in the North-West Zone, particularly Sokoto and Katsina States. Drug peddling is the third sad misdeed perpetrated by opponents of the citizens of the region as evidenced by seizure of large consignments of drugs destined for the region.

“In this essay an attempt is made to discuss these happenings with a view to sensitizing the enlightened citizens to act towards overcoming the devastating menaces.

“Insurgency in North-East zone of Nigeria, started not long after late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua moved to contain militancy in the South-South Zone of Nigeria through his famous Amnesty Programme. Unexpectedly, ‘boko-haram’ emerged in the North-East geopolitical zone of the country. Some theories have been advanced regarding sponsorship of the ‘boko-haram’ terrorists.

“The first theory attributed sponsorship of the terrorists to some persons who unwittingly sought to rival the South-South militants so that they too could benefit from amnesty. The second theory claims that ‘boko-haram’ was government-sponsored, by a clique some in government and some out of it. The third theory was postulated by the immediate past President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, who attributed ‘boko-haram’ to the opposition party with a view to undermining the credibility of his government.

“It is difficult to attempt a critical analysis of the theories without recourse to case files of captured suspected ‘boko-haram’ terrorists who are now in custody. Hence one could only make a generalized statement on the emergence of the ‘boko-haram’.

“The North-East Zone of Nigeria, particularly Borno and Yobe States, was the home of boarding Quranic Schools popularly known as ‘tsangaya’ which had existed for over a century. They had a very advanced network (zawiyya) that connected each school with the others. The emergence of global terrorism, attributed to Al-Qa’ida, frightened anti-terrorism groups that embarked on destruction of the ‘tsangaya’ schools so as to forestall linkage to Osama bin Laden’s famed and infamous outfit.  It is alleged that some of the students of the ‘tsangaya’ formed the ‘boko-haram’ to fight those they perceived as having destroyed their schools. This accounts for the fact that their first targets were Nigerian Police Force and Nigerian Army. The attacks on UN Office in Abuja and subsequently on institutions of learning in Kano lend credence to this view.

“The kidnapping phenomenon in Zamfara State of the North-West Zone of Nigeria was preceded by cattle rustling and sporadic attacks on villages. The attackers run and hide in forests soon after their attacks. Subsequently they transited to kidnapping people for ransom and the phenomenon spread to Sokoto and Katsina States. As this has been a recent happening, it is alleged as the handiwork of governments’ opposition as retaliation. There are allegations too concerning involvement of politicians as those responsible for kidnapping people whose body parts are used for sorcery.

“Drug peddling in Northern Nigeria has been and old menace. Northern youths are targeted by the perpetrators with the intent of destroying their psyche and preventing them from attaining good education. Opponents of Northern Nigerian citizens have been the identified culprits through seizure of their drugs in trucks, lorries, cars and other consignment-bearing vehicles by Customs and other security officers. Availability of drugs has heightened drug abuse, particularly in Kano and other capital cities of states in Northern Nigeria. Advocacy against it must be intensified and citizens should report peddlers to security officers. The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) deserves commendation for its good work resulting in several arrests of the drug peddlers.

“Northern Nigeria, as it is today comprising the three geopolitical zones of North-West, North-Central, and North-East. Has more than a fair share of the crises bedevilling Nigeria and West Africa. In each of these three Zones there has been a seeming ‘allocation’ of incessant crises of one sort or another ranging from ‘boko-haram’ insurgency in the North-East, kidnapping in the North-West, and armed conflicts between communities in the North-Central, particularly in Benue and Plateau States, and between farmers and herders. Will it not be concluded, therefore, that Northern Nigeria is under siege?

“In the light of this sad and tragic conclusion, it is recommended that the Northern States’ Governors Forum (NSGF) should commission research into these phenomena. Civil Defence groups should be mobilized to strategize in confronting drug peddling while the military intelligence needs to mobilize towards confronting kidnapping. The military are already involved in confronting insurgency and have recorded substantial successes. Extensive advocacy and sensitization on drug abuse must be intensified by institutions of learning and civil society groups.”

That was Professor Maiwada’s postulation. And it has been supported times without number on this page.

If the Federal Government and its security machinery are doing the job of ridding us of Boko Haram (which, after ten years is only ‘downgraded’ and not eliminated), the other ‘Maiwadian’ Calamities of Drugs and the Destruction of Tsangaya System of Education (which now is identified as the Almajiri Phenomenon), we Northerners must just wake up.

This page had once called on the elite of Arewa to come together as a bloc to prevail on the Northern Governors to muster the political to end these crises – and it can be done. Pan-Arewa, the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) and even those Arewa October Youths (they of the Counter-Biafra Action) must just have to collaborate and do something in unison, for once. We just have to do it, and may Allah make it easy for us, amin.