ONCE UPON A TIME……. By Ahmad Sajoh Once upon a time there was a country called Nigeria. It was a country with a sense of decency, with morals, with cherished values and it was full of peace, and harmony. It had a diverse population with different ethnic Nationalities and languages. It coined national ethos around its diversity. In its National Anthem it said “though tribe and tongue may differ, in brotherhood we stand.” One of its most cherished clichés was “Unity in Diversity”. It was a land most people were proud to call “our own dear motherland” Again that was in the country’s anthem. And it had leaders who were decent, honest, visionary and indeed morally upright. In that beautiful country one could live everywhere and be accorded the respect of an indigene. It was in that country that Umaru Altine a Northerner became the first Mayor of Enugu in the East. It was in that beautiful country that a Mr. Gowon from Angas tribe in Plateau Area, found himself in Wusasa Zaria gave birth to a child, named him Yakubu and raised him to become Head of State. It was a country that provided no barriers to success. Economic forecast placed that country on the same pedestal with China, Korea, Malaysia and other Asian Tigers of today. Alas that was not to be! It was in that country that one Salihu M B migrated from Kano due to persecution as a NEPU activist; he settled in Mubi and became one of the delegates that negotiated the unification of Northern Cameroons with the Federal Republic of Nigeria as a leader of that territory. In that country, children of poor people, orphans and other less privileged children of society had opportunities to realize their full potentials and fulfill their aspirations. No potential was limited on account of parents’ poverty or social deprivation. Everyone gets quality education at affordable rates. Jobs came by merit and not sold to the highest bidder. It was a country where simple, humble and responsible people ruled honestly and with the fear of God. It was a country where the Leaders had Pan-African vision. They were not clannish. They ventured into territories outside their ethnic enclaves. They saw the bigger picture, they planned on a wide horizon and they operated in inclusive circles. They were leaders not rulers. They had no fears or misgivings about the nation they ruled or the people whose interests they administered. Within their fellow country men and women, they swam like fishes in water. When they visited, everyone comes out to receive them. They had confidence and not complex. They had goodwill and not just good fortune. They organized the affairs of state and not agonized over failures they or others were responsible for. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe was called Zik of Africa. When he set up his Newspaper, it was called “The West African Pilot”. Yes, Zik was an African Leader. He was not a village champion from Onitsha. He almost became the Premier of Western Nigeria; even though he came from the east. He was Pan-Nigerian and Pan-African. Due the fact that his goal was service, he never developed an ambition that relegated the interest of the country to the background nor assumed a role that subsumed the greater interest of the nation. He accepted a humble role first as Governor-General and later non-executive President. He was dignified both in service and his private conduct. Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was a humble teacher with a beautiful voice. He was called “The Golden Voice of Africa”. He was Head of Government in that beautiful country. Yet he travelled low keyed. He used commercial flights most times and lived in simple houses. He owned no mansions. He built bridges of Unity both in the physical sense and in political terms. His household was occupied by people from all Regions and Sections. His cabinet and even his personal staff were made up of persons from all the sections of the country. In fact his ADC was from the Eastern part of the Country. He shared everything he had with his relations, staff and neighbors. By the time he died, he had no property, no mansions and no money in the Bank. Obafemi Awolowo was the greatest visionary to inhabit that great country. Some described him as the “Best President the Country never had”. Yes, the man was a selfless visionary. He provided Free Education to the Western Region. Today, that Region is miles away from other Areas in terms of education. At a point in time, statistically speaking, there were more Secondary Schools in Ibadan town alone than in the whole of the then Gongola state which is now Adamawa and Taraba. When he was asked how he intended to provide Free Education to the whole country, he simply said he will cut over 50% of the expenses of the STATE HOUSE and plough it into Education. To prove Awolowo’s vision right, just take a look at our National Budgets over the years and you will understand what the old sage meant. I have always tried to tally the allocations for the State House under various sub-heads and what I see are areas taking large chunks of resources for functions we could easily do without. This did not start with the present regime. It’s been on for quite some time. Equally, take a closer look at the Budget of the National Assembly. You will realize that it is more than twice the requirement for the provision of functional education in the country. We seem to spend more money on governance than on the essence of governance which is providing Service Delivery to the citizens. This has been the bane of this country since we lost that Beautiful Country that is now history. In that beautiful country was a man called Ahmadu Bello the Sardauna of Sokoto. The government built a very good house for him. It was meant to serve as his official residence. That house will only serve as servant Quarters for today leaders. He took one look at it and said “Anyone hoping for a house in the hereafter cannot live here”. Oh death! If he had lived long, what would he have said about the extravagant and criminally bogus mansions today’s leaders live in? He lived all his life as the most powerful man in the country in a two-bedroom house. He died without a Bank Account. Not a Foreign Account but no account at all. He was simple, humble and peaceful. For him the entire North was his home, his concern, his focus and pride. He made sure that wherever a Northerner lived was home. Kaduna which was the Northern capital was home to all. Kano was the commercial capital and it was equally a home to all. Ahmed Aruwa was a distinguished Senator of the Federal Republic and a top political leader in Kaduna state. His parents are from Hadeja in Jigawa state. Abacha Maiduguri was a wealthy merchant who settled in Kano. His son rose to become Head of State as General Sani Abacha from Kano. Two other persons whose parents are from other parts of the north became elected Governors of Kano State. Once upon a time, neighbors were neighbors, friends and brothers. No one was called a settler or an indigene. It was “though tribe and tongue may differ, in brotherhood we stand”. It was truly unity in diversity. Parents catered for all children in the neighborhood. I wonder how many children grew up in our house when I was a kid. I wonder how many children my father nurtured and paid their school fees when I was growing up. And truly not all were from our home town or even tribe. Some were Christians and not Muslims. We still relate with them as brothers till date. We feel pained when ethno-religious bigots and mistrust crept into the lives of our country today. With that we lost that beautiful country for good. Oh God! Help us regain back our lost country, at least for our innocent kids. Unfortunately for most of my readers this week, what I have written is just another story. It is another tale. Did it really happen? Was there a country like this in the past? Did we have such selfless leaders in our country? Yes. Once upon a time…… Ahmad Sajoh wrote from Dougerei Jimeta-Yola.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 11:26:11 +0000
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