A WAKE UP CALL
What happened in Kaduna, Kano and several other Northern States in my view though unfortunate, is an expression of a deep seated resentment between a largely poor, Uneducated youth, and a minority Thieving, Insensitive elite. The election results were, to my mind, a spark that happens to ignite the already charged, latent volatile and artificial 'Peace' that exists between the two groups. The youth are wallowing in abject Poverty and Illiteracy, while the elites, who are largely Politicians or/and Government contractors, are swimming in Billions of stolen money while conducting themselves with absolute impunity in the society. You can have a feel of the worth of the life of an average Northerner from the streets of Kano where Thousands of street kids swarm the streets under the scorching Sun begging, to the Hospitals where hundreds of poor people, mainly women and children swarm the four corners of our Government Hospitals with ailments ranging from the most Common, Malaria to the Most complicated in the form of Diabetes, Liver or Kidney Disease without even the minimum amount of Money to pay for registration card to see the Doctor.
Several people die needlessly because they lack N500 to buy Malaria disease while their neighbors spend Millions in needless house furnishings and exotic Cars! An average Northern business Man or Government official has made it mandatory to go on Umra(Lesser Hajj) to Saudi Arabia every month of Ramadan where we spend an average of 5000 US Dollars while our immediate neighbors lack the most basic of life's necessities! We ride the most expensive cars while these youth walk bare foot! The sons and Daughters of the few rich attend the best schools here and abroad while we hire the children of the poor as house helps! We have become our brothers silent killers instead of Keepers!
While we eat the best, the multitude of our people goes to Bed, or what is supposed to be a bed hungry. We wear 5 yard brocade that is equivalent to a poor man's annual income! We are religious without faith and compassion! The symptoms have manifested themselves yet we played the Ostrich! We always say God will make things right! We are hypocritical in everything we do. Our society is ranked the poorest in the Country. The large sea of youth, Male and Female have become huge consumers of Drugs. The rich among us don't have any idea what is called philanthropy while Civil servants and Politicians Steal brazenly with no one to hold them accountable! Everywhere you go people seem to be consumed by the craze of acquisition of ill-gotten wealth. They want to get money instead of making it! Majority of our religious and Traditional leaders have metamorphosed from being the Guardians and custodians of our religion and traditions into first class praise singers of Government officials and Politicians! We are a society that the only law that cannot be broken is the Law of Gravity! Every other law can be broken or bent depending on who you are. The average person cannot get Justice when his right is trampled on because the price is way out of his reach! Our leaders have long lost all shame and will at any given opportunity speak outright lies and try to portray them as the truth when everyone including them, knows they are lying. We have sadly; become a society where the end justifies the means! Where did we derail? Where?
I believe we went off track when we felt that anyone can go it alone; When we lost our sense of compassion as a people; When the leaders see themselves as Rulers who are above the law; When we downgraded education and upgraded Ignorance; When we jettisoned Justice and embrace Injustice. When we celebrate stolen wealth and abhor hard work. When we lost all sense of shame!
Buhari represents the opposite of all these elites, and that is why the poor will forever sympathize with him
whenever and wherever. To the poor in the North, he represents Hope, a key ingredient in our survival in this world. To the poor, Buhari symbolizes Justice, Truth and a bright future, something no one has offered them. To them Buhari is an embodiment of a Force that is capable of destroying all the evil forces tormenting them!
We need to wake up from this deep slumber and take our destiny in our hands. We need to be organized as a people to avoid this terminal disease called selfishness, which is certain to make us go extinct. We need to have a plan, strategy, common front, Goals! We need to devise a definite form of reward and punishment for anyone both from within and outside who threatens our common interest. We have to define what our common interests are and guard them with our blood. If you doubt this ask the Americans what they doing in Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Libya. We have to speak and act as a people. United we stand divided we fall! We need to define our Priorities and get them right. We need to set short, medium and long term goals and pursue them relentlessly. We need to invest massively in education. We need to identify our strengths and strengthen them. Vocations like Agriculture and Commerce. We need to elect ONLY those who are capable at all levels and shun mediocre whoever they are. Leaders MUST be held accountable by the people who elected them. Accounts of promises made by elected officials must be kept and should be the yard stick of measuring their performance.
Civil servants who live above their means must be made to account for their ill-gotten wealth. Impunity by anyone, no matter who he is, must not be tolerated. No one should be above the law. Justice must prevail in our society! We need to go back to the drawing board.This is a wakeup call!
Several people die needlessly because they lack N500 to buy Malaria disease while their neighbors spend Millions in needless house furnishings and exotic Cars! An average Northern business Man or Government official has made it mandatory to go on Umra(Lesser Hajj) to Saudi Arabia every month of Ramadan where we spend an average of 5000 US Dollars while our immediate neighbors lack the most basic of life's necessities! We ride the most expensive cars while these youth walk bare foot! The sons and Daughters of the few rich attend the best schools here and abroad while we hire the children of the poor as house helps! We have become our brothers silent killers instead of Keepers!
While we eat the best, the multitude of our people goes to Bed, or what is supposed to be a bed hungry. We wear 5 yard brocade that is equivalent to a poor man's annual income! We are religious without faith and compassion! The symptoms have manifested themselves yet we played the Ostrich! We always say God will make things right! We are hypocritical in everything we do. Our society is ranked the poorest in the Country. The large sea of youth, Male and Female have become huge consumers of Drugs. The rich among us don't have any idea what is called philanthropy while Civil servants and Politicians Steal brazenly with no one to hold them accountable! Everywhere you go people seem to be consumed by the craze of acquisition of ill-gotten wealth. They want to get money instead of making it! Majority of our religious and Traditional leaders have metamorphosed from being the Guardians and custodians of our religion and traditions into first class praise singers of Government officials and Politicians! We are a society that the only law that cannot be broken is the Law of Gravity! Every other law can be broken or bent depending on who you are. The average person cannot get Justice when his right is trampled on because the price is way out of his reach! Our leaders have long lost all shame and will at any given opportunity speak outright lies and try to portray them as the truth when everyone including them, knows they are lying. We have sadly; become a society where the end justifies the means! Where did we derail? Where?
I believe we went off track when we felt that anyone can go it alone; When we lost our sense of compassion as a people; When the leaders see themselves as Rulers who are above the law; When we downgraded education and upgraded Ignorance; When we jettisoned Justice and embrace Injustice. When we celebrate stolen wealth and abhor hard work. When we lost all sense of shame!
Buhari represents the opposite of all these elites, and that is why the poor will forever sympathize with him
whenever and wherever. To the poor in the North, he represents Hope, a key ingredient in our survival in this world. To the poor, Buhari symbolizes Justice, Truth and a bright future, something no one has offered them. To them Buhari is an embodiment of a Force that is capable of destroying all the evil forces tormenting them!
We need to wake up from this deep slumber and take our destiny in our hands. We need to be organized as a people to avoid this terminal disease called selfishness, which is certain to make us go extinct. We need to have a plan, strategy, common front, Goals! We need to devise a definite form of reward and punishment for anyone both from within and outside who threatens our common interest. We have to define what our common interests are and guard them with our blood. If you doubt this ask the Americans what they doing in Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Libya. We have to speak and act as a people. United we stand divided we fall! We need to define our Priorities and get them right. We need to set short, medium and long term goals and pursue them relentlessly. We need to invest massively in education. We need to identify our strengths and strengthen them. Vocations like Agriculture and Commerce. We need to elect ONLY those who are capable at all levels and shun mediocre whoever they are. Leaders MUST be held accountable by the people who elected them. Accounts of promises made by elected officials must be kept and should be the yard stick of measuring their performance.
Civil servants who live above their means must be made to account for their ill-gotten wealth. Impunity by anyone, no matter who he is, must not be tolerated. No one should be above the law. Justice must prevail in our society! We need to go back to the drawing board.This is a wakeup call!
Bashir Ishaq Bashir
Kaduna, Nigeria
19th April 2011.
Kaduna, Nigeria
19th April 2011.
bibashir@yahoo.com
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