In recent years, I have lost the strength to argue when issues of Nigeria are being discussed. Why? I'm simply tired. Tired and disheartened. Whenever one gets even an iota of hope, all you need is a conversation with a certain group of people. To hear of and see the waste of our resources by those "up there" is enough to make one lose all hope in humanity.
Have you ever woken up, gone the whole day with no meal because you couldn't afford it, absolutely none and no respite on the horizon? Have you ever come across one who has no food to eat, no WATER to drink? I haven't but heard stories directly from those who have. There is a lot of suffering in this Country called Nigeria. So much gut wrenching suffering. I have not travelled this Country of ours much so I might not have the right to make this statement but I say it nonetheless; the kind of Poverty in the North is unsurpassed. Unsurpassed and accelerating at an alarming rate. Unfortunately, there is no end in sight because we are just notches on a long tug rope contest started by our former Northern leaders and being ably sustained by our current crop of ogas at the top. As I see it, a lot of the problems of the North are directly related to two things: A lack of formal education and a ridiculous sense of entitlement.
Recently, I was back home for a turbaning ceremony which brought a lot of the extended family together. It broke me to see cousins I used to play with in secondary school looking like shadows of themselves. Everyone had a story of hardship or suffering to share, discontent to air and of course the obligatory gossip and bitterness. Watching them and listening, tears kept coming to my eyes. Almost all of them had dropped out after secondary school. Some never even finished. Was it the cost? No. A general lack of interest which was apparent since childhood. The thinking of
a: If I have a relative who can "dash" me money then I'm good because I'm his responsibility. What he does for his wife and children, he MUST do for me. Right. The height of entitlement.
b: Marriage is the only worthy goal. I will live off the man because I then become his sole responsibility.
What they often fail to realise is that in most cases, you get what you deserve, what you have positioned yourself for. While its true that not everyone is born lucky, sometimes, you have to make your break. Reach higher. We have a vicious circle in the North with so many going uneducated, because their parent's parents used to hide them in huge water urns so that the local authorities could not send them to school so of grew up with no formal education, no hand skills, no livelihood except for a penchant to sit out in front of their houses and talk. Most of them in turn could not afford to educate their children which has been passed down. I really don't think anyone reading this and not from the North can say the percentage of their extended family without jobs, livelihood AND a formal education exceeds 60-70%. Where I come from, its the norm, not the exception. Those who were forced to go pass through secondary school unable to articulate a simple proper sentence in English. Infact, even their thinking in their native language lacks strength. I remember a few years ago, I had a cousin staying with me. She had been under the care of my Mum for years with so much effort being put into educating her but it was always a battle. I was appalled when she, an SS2 student then, couldn't do Primary 1 child's homework simply because she couldn't read the instruction. A one line instruction. She at least will be made to get into a higher institution, thereby granting her some level of freedom in future.
Already, I'm tired of this rant. It solves nothing, changes nothing. While our leaders still think that education a people can cause them to reach above themselves and revolt, the common Northern man shall continue to suffer, be downtrodden, for both faults of his and those beyond him. The wheels keep turning, the poverty keeps being passed on. Backwardness reaches new heights. One day, the leaders shall also cry for what they failed to do.
I leave you with a little story; On thursday morning, I was on the highway when the car developed a fault of sorts. car started spluttering and slowly came to a stop. Driver barely managed to get off most of the main road before it died. As this was happening, a man, probably in his late 40s or early 50s had been walking on the pavement. He passed us, stopped, then turned round. He stood watching us, on my side of the car while the driver managed to coax the car completely off the road. I sat in the car, using the phone, trying to get some help. After a couple of minutes of me being on the phone, he went round to the drivers side and started asking for money! I absolutely lost it. I told him off, maybe too strongly, but I di. Asked if he had anything wrong with him, he said no. Asked if he could see I had a problem. He said yes. Goodness! Suffice to say, he left after offering a load of apologies.
Did I mention he was a Hausa man? No? There you have it.
Have you ever woken up, gone the whole day with no meal because you couldn't afford it, absolutely none and no respite on the horizon? Have you ever come across one who has no food to eat, no WATER to drink? I haven't but heard stories directly from those who have. There is a lot of suffering in this Country called Nigeria. So much gut wrenching suffering. I have not travelled this Country of ours much so I might not have the right to make this statement but I say it nonetheless; the kind of Poverty in the North is unsurpassed. Unsurpassed and accelerating at an alarming rate. Unfortunately, there is no end in sight because we are just notches on a long tug rope contest started by our former Northern leaders and being ably sustained by our current crop of ogas at the top. As I see it, a lot of the problems of the North are directly related to two things: A lack of formal education and a ridiculous sense of entitlement.
Recently, I was back home for a turbaning ceremony which brought a lot of the extended family together. It broke me to see cousins I used to play with in secondary school looking like shadows of themselves. Everyone had a story of hardship or suffering to share, discontent to air and of course the obligatory gossip and bitterness. Watching them and listening, tears kept coming to my eyes. Almost all of them had dropped out after secondary school. Some never even finished. Was it the cost? No. A general lack of interest which was apparent since childhood. The thinking of
a: If I have a relative who can "dash" me money then I'm good because I'm his responsibility. What he does for his wife and children, he MUST do for me. Right. The height of entitlement.
b: Marriage is the only worthy goal. I will live off the man because I then become his sole responsibility.
What they often fail to realise is that in most cases, you get what you deserve, what you have positioned yourself for. While its true that not everyone is born lucky, sometimes, you have to make your break. Reach higher. We have a vicious circle in the North with so many going uneducated, because their parent's parents used to hide them in huge water urns so that the local authorities could not send them to school so of grew up with no formal education, no hand skills, no livelihood except for a penchant to sit out in front of their houses and talk. Most of them in turn could not afford to educate their children which has been passed down. I really don't think anyone reading this and not from the North can say the percentage of their extended family without jobs, livelihood AND a formal education exceeds 60-70%. Where I come from, its the norm, not the exception. Those who were forced to go pass through secondary school unable to articulate a simple proper sentence in English. Infact, even their thinking in their native language lacks strength. I remember a few years ago, I had a cousin staying with me. She had been under the care of my Mum for years with so much effort being put into educating her but it was always a battle. I was appalled when she, an SS2 student then, couldn't do Primary 1 child's homework simply because she couldn't read the instruction. A one line instruction. She at least will be made to get into a higher institution, thereby granting her some level of freedom in future.
Already, I'm tired of this rant. It solves nothing, changes nothing. While our leaders still think that education a people can cause them to reach above themselves and revolt, the common Northern man shall continue to suffer, be downtrodden, for both faults of his and those beyond him. The wheels keep turning, the poverty keeps being passed on. Backwardness reaches new heights. One day, the leaders shall also cry for what they failed to do.
I leave you with a little story; On thursday morning, I was on the highway when the car developed a fault of sorts. car started spluttering and slowly came to a stop. Driver barely managed to get off most of the main road before it died. As this was happening, a man, probably in his late 40s or early 50s had been walking on the pavement. He passed us, stopped, then turned round. He stood watching us, on my side of the car while the driver managed to coax the car completely off the road. I sat in the car, using the phone, trying to get some help. After a couple of minutes of me being on the phone, he went round to the drivers side and started asking for money! I absolutely lost it. I told him off, maybe too strongly, but I di. Asked if he had anything wrong with him, he said no. Asked if he could see I had a problem. He said yes. Goodness! Suffice to say, he left after offering a load of apologies.
Did I mention he was a Hausa man? No? There you have it.
