By Showunmi Sholanke Ezekiel
I was discussing with someone recently in Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Bauchi where in-between our conversations he referred to this year as the year of corona instead of 2020. He went on to say as long as he sees Toyota corolla cars on the road, he will never forgive year 2020 for the mental, marital, social and financial damages he incurred this year. Our friend was to get married at the height of the pandemic in April when coronavirus drew the first blood in Nigeria.
After all the mouths he had made, the wedding was postponed indefinitely. This made him to pick a personal grudge against the year 2020. He had to continue to be bachelor for a foreseeable future.
To be fair to our friend, this year is one extraordinary year in which everything seems to be moving in circus just like the Israelites in the days of Moses, having a destination but no direction.
When it was about time for the Israelites to move forward, 12 men were sent by Moses to search out the land of Canaan and determine the potentials of the land they were to possess. You may call them ministers or envoys, or even intelligence officers, but they are ‘noble’ men deciding what should happen to an entire nation. Though they are few in number but the destiny of a directionless nation is in their hand.
We have no Moses in Nigeria during this Covid-19, or maybe our own Moses is in deep repose if we have one. But what we have seen are unpatriotic, opportunistic, dishonesty charlatans in leadership positions.
The mission of these spies or rather ministers is not to search the land, but to search out their own hearts. Are their hearts strong or weak? Closed or open? Focused on abundance or focused on lack? Is their heart a slave to fear or free from fear?
And the answer is as clear as daylight. Their hearts are closed. They are still in a default mindset of fear and lack. They are still unable to enter into the land and be “a free nation in our own land.” With such a view, they sentence the whole nation to stay in the desert. They will wander and roam in circles in this desert for 40 years until all the generation that came out of Egypt dies, until there is a new generation, a new mindset, a generation that can grow up to be free. Not slaves to fear of lack or external threat.
This typifies the Nigeria’s north-south imbroglio which continues to lead us circus. It is taking a quite unnatural turn during Covid-19 crises. The need to contain its spread by all means exposed our long-held north-south – two-countries bipolar – nature of our country. It revealed itself as closed mindset towards Almajiris, as these innocent children were used as north-south political pawn.
To the arrogant southerners, there are two countries in Nigeria: a ‘developed, civilised, topdog, first-world 21st century’s country’ in the south and an ‘underdeveloped, uncivilised, underdog, third-world 13th century’s country’ in the north. The south sees itself as the best intellectually, and sees the north as unintelligent and a cumbersome parasitic burden. Hence their rejection, nay, deportation of Almajiri children back to the north instead of welcoming them and help build a nation where peace and justice shall reign.
It is not too much for the southern leaders to accommodate and give these children free education for the sake of fatherland. Almajiri system will end when the south sees and accepts these children as fellow citizens. After all, it’s not the fault of the children. We should rather arrest and prosecute their destinies’ manipulators both in politics and the clerical.
The shameless north on the other hand seems unwilling or rather proudly reluctant to let go of this balkanised practice, turns her most valuable resources to an unsolvable national mathematical equation, the northern powers-that-be manipulate the children to become less than average individuals.
Leaders from both sides use almajiri as political punching bag, whereas almajiri system is the direct product of their seismic evil work and clear evidence of a failed country. One can only conclude that there’s a grand conspiracy by Nigerian elites against these children of circumstances. Almajiris are mere prisoners of conscience.
Thank God for coronavirus. The northern political rulers eventually had the gut – genuine or not genuine – to kibosh the malfeasance system which driving the glorious future of these children in reversed speed. A brilliant idea if I may say. And then, the southern hypocritical leaders began to cry wolf where there is none by refusing entry of these children into their ‘developed country’.
While the northern governors resolved to end the game, the real northern powers –that-be, the clerics, with some prodigal governors firmly opposed the move. A state governor where bandits currently hold sway openly approved of the system in his state. Whether that was foolishness, defiance, arrogance or wisdom, I don’t know, only he knows. This is no surprise as the almajiri system was to the political advantage of northern leaders from time immemorial. It is also what makes the clerics powerful even more than governors. They continue to compromisingly manipulate the destinies of the innocent almajiris for their own personal gain in the name of Islam. Hence, the system must not fail. The same rule that is being used on the Almajiris is also is use to shackle women and de-rank them to the kitchen, the living room and the other room.
Jesus Christ warns us that we should beware of the teachers and clerics of the holy laws. They like to walk around in flowing robes and turbans, and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the mosques and churches, and the VIP seats at events and occasions. They team up with politicians to devour widows’ houses, mutilate the children destinies, manipulate, cheat and menace themselves, yet for a show make lengthy prayers.
These evil clerics claim to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. How can you treat people like garbage and worship God at the same time? They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing good things for the future of these children and the country. You preach justice and fairness, and at the same time dish out injustice and unfairness to these children. As the saying goes, practice what you preach or change your speech.
I would that all write ups and researches on Almajiri be translated to Hausa and Fulfude languages and be circulated among the almajiris. Let’s start from there and see the natural change happening. There’s nothing good about Muslims hypocritically enslaving Muslims in the name of Islam, especially when the victims are young innocent children. In search of education and light you bake them to stack ignorance and a cult followers of your personal myopic doctrine instead of basic principles of Islam, while at the same time subjecting them to hard labour. Some of these madrasas are nothing but concentration camps.
We all must as a matter necessity – north and south – delete fears and prejudices about almajiranci from our hearts so as to reach a nationhood status. We need to consciously build a new mindset and fold off the old mutual suspicion. Only those whose hearts are open and immune to fear can enter the Promised Land, the Nigeria of our dream. To reach a nationhood status we must build the brotherhood and shoot down the default mindset of fear, lack and victimhood which has crashed our nation to the nadir of moral bankrupt. Almajiris are a generation that can grow up to be free if we mine them correctly.
Only free people can enter the Promised Land just as it was in the days of Moses.Only they will be able to get through the difficulties and focus on the good more than the bad. Focusing on the negative and the lack weighs everyone down into discouragement.
To begin to see the cup half full, and to be forgiven for having focused on the negative, we all must accept each other and make one another better. We can turn the almajiris to national asset if we decide to.
Showunmi Sholanke Ezekiel can be reached at [email protected]
