After
the Chief Imam ended the prayer in the mosque, his deputy collected the
microphone and delivered strong worded condemnation on insurgents for
the killing of innocent people in the name of Islam. The deputy ended by
saying “terrorists will roast in hell-fire!”
Surprisingly, the Chief Imam retrieved the microphone from his deputy and declared to the bewildered congregation: “Salam
Alaikum. I am the Chief Imam of the mosque. The man who just condemned
Boko Haram ‘citizens’ is the deputy Imam and his house is the one
painted in white and blue behind the Emir’s palace by the right-hand
corner…”.
Sometimes the silence of
Northerners and Muslims over monumental atrocities being committed in
some parts of the North, is being viewed either as a sign of complicity
or endorsement of atrocities being perpetrated by insurgents. The
reality however, is that most of the victims of the attacks are actually
Northerners and many are even notable traditional rulers and Islamic
clerics who dared to condemn such activities just like the killing of
Emir of Gwoza.
On the contrary, challenges against complacency
should rather be directed at the political class who have the resources
and network to address the insecurity even during its infancy. It became
clearly evident that there was trouble earlier on when there was
proliferation of some groups that are now challenging our corporate
existence.
In a widely publicised article penned by this writer
in March 2006 during President Obasanjo’s era titled, “Killing in the
Name of the Devil”, which coincidentally was in response to an
ethno-religious crisis in Maiduguri, Borno State following a
controversial Danish cartoon, I pointed out that: “Probably out of fear
and to sustain loyalty of followers, some leaders adopt subtle approach
to comment on the mayhem instead of condemning it in the strongest
possible terms. The holy scriptures have several verses that denounce
those horrendous anomalies. Even our cherished cultures are rich in
expressions that could be deployed at this moment of tribulation and
vengeance.”
Few years later, precisely in June 2011, in an
article entitled, “Asari Dokubo: Another View on Boko Haram”, this
writer joined the maverick Niger Delta militant in total condemnation of
the extra-judicial killing of Mohammed Yusuf, his father-in-law and a
former Commissioner for Water Resources in Borno, Buji Fai, who were
murdered in cold-blood while in Police custody.
There is no doubt
that leaders from the North have failed to tame excesses and
recklessness of religious bigots and extremists, which have led to
insecurity in the region. Rather than wake up from their slumbers and
tackle the poverty, ignorance and insecurity in the region, some
Northern political class and elites, deliberately cover their failures
by spinning conspiracy theories that some groups and individual outside
of the region are instigating the atrocities. It will be difficult for
an outsider to manipulate a household whose members are disciplined and
in the right frame of mind.
There are various conspiracy theories
being parroted about the crises being engineered by outsiders against
the North and Northerners. This is a cheap argument that someone will
use Northerners to fight Northerners in the North where ringleaders and
arrested suspects are mostly Northerners without a trace of the
so-called outsiders or Southern collaborators. It is also doubtful if
top Northern security officers at the national level and commanders on
the battlefields will be willing tools in the plan to destroy their own
region. Could the so-called Northern conspirators intend to relocate to
the South after the total destruction of the North? Some conspiracy
theories don’t just make sense.
As Northerners, we should be wary
of those playing politics with the lives of our people and face the
real challenges of good governance. We should realise that only very few
states in Nigeria can survive without revenue from the Federal
Government in the name of the Federation Account. We should question our
leaders about what they have done with all the resources which are
meant to address the stark backwardness of the Northern region. We
should also urge them that rather than merely expecting monthly revenue
from cheap oil money, they should diversify and invest in the productive
sector that could improve the economic bases of their respective states
and make our people self-reliant and independent from revenue from the
central government.
Our leaders should also stop flaunting
ill-gotten wealth through accumulations of mansions and ostentatious
marriage ceremonies to the envy of the uneducated and poor in the
society which to some extent also provoke militancy.
We should
de-emphasise debate on imaginary conspiracy theories by being
constructive in our engagements as well as work on practical actions to
tame widespread insecurity presently threatening to completely destroy
our region. Our leaders should not exhibit traits that portray them as
overly ambitious and selfish. We can’t continue to remain silent when
these crises are raging and may consume everyone.
As a Muslim, I
believe Islamic leaders need to do more to promote and protect the faith
from activities of some followers that give a contrary image to the
Religion of Peace. Common sense dictates that Daawah or preaching for
good conduct and morality should start within by advocating religious
tolerance and peaceful coexistence so that our great nation will not
disintegrate by 2015.
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