On Saturday, 29th October 2011, an event took place at the Banquet Hall of Arewa House, Kaduna that was significant in many ways. It was one of the best attended events at a venue which has come to be associated with the life and times of the late Premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello, and it is quite possible that the organizers of the event had its symbolic relevance in their choice of a venue. It attracted the cream of the northern christian community including Generals Yakuba Gowon and T.Y Danjuma, Professor Jerry Gana, Bishop Mathew Hasan Kukah, and an impressive representation of the elite of the christian community. It was obviously intended to be an event to make a statement about the contribution of the northern christian community to national development, and to celebrate its unity and roots through the life of one of its distinguished members, Professor David Adamu Baikie. The event was also well attended by the cream of the northern muslim community, politicians, traditional rulers, senior government officials, friends and former colleagues of Professor Baikie, his considerable number of former students, and simple folk who just wanted to be part of an event which celebrated a Nigerian who lived a life of service and excellence. No less a figure than the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, and a Kano prince, Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi delivered a lecture which raised major issues in the management of public resources and the funding and quality of education in Nigeria.
On the whole, the event, during which the autobiography of Professor Adamu Baikie was presented, was well-organized and must have achieved its objectives. It helped the respected international academic and his family to celebrate his 80th birthday with hundreds of friends, colleagues and admirers. He had the rare opportunity to make public his own life in his 733 page book. It provided a rallying point for northern christians to rediscover their roots and history, in a nation to which they gave a lot more than their numerical strength would otherwise have demanded. It was also an opportunity for the Wusasa pedigree to be reinforced by other northern christians, with what appeared an intention of staking the claim that northern christians in today’s Nigeria have acquired a major political clout. But above all, it was an event that reminds the nation that it is fast losing its rare asset in people like Professor Adamu Baikie; people who spend entire lives solely in service of their fatherland. It put forward a man who was a Vice Chancellor in two Nigerian and a foreign University, and who today lives a contented life in the only house he has in Zaria. It was a celebration of the life of a man who touched lives in profound and life-changing manners as a teacher, administrator and community elder; who has roots in Kano, Zaria, Lokoja, and just about every part of Nigeria, and whose life was a study in how hardwork, discipline and the love of God can overcome all odds.
But the event was also significant in the way it opened up an argument over the manner northern christians see themselves in contemporary Nigeria; and how they perceive other, non-christian northerners. In a way the argument was also the only dent on an otherwise happy and well-attended event. In the course of reviewing the book, Bishop Kukah had highlighted Professor Baikie’s narrative that he had come top of a shortlist of three candidates elected by the Senate of the Ahmadu Bello University for the position of Vice Chancellor in 1978. Professor Baikie says on page 417 of his book that for some strange reason, his nomination which went to the University Council was not approved. Instead, he received information on television that he, along with Dr Mahmud Tukur and Professor Umaru Shehu were appointed to the Universities of Benin, Lagos and Nsukka respectively. Bishop Kukah made much of the failure of Professor Baikie to be appointed as Vice Chancellor; and linked that failure with a recent controversy around another Professor from southern Kaduna State who was alleged to have been shortlisted as first for the position of Vice Chancellor of A.B.U, but was denied the position on grounds of his faith and ethnicity. The Bishop lamented what he saw as the clear hands of religious prejudice, and regretted that the failure of Professor Baikie and other prominent Christians in the past to stand up against injustices is still haunting northern christians today.
Perhaps predictably, given the large presence of contemporaries and colleagues of Professor Baikie from the old A.B.U days, this episode in the book which was highlighted by Bishop Kukah caused much stir in the hall. Bishop Kukah had left the hall when another former Vice Chancellor, Professor Ango Abdullahi stood up to complain over what he said was a re-writing of history and a falsehood in the claim that Professor Baikie was denied the position of Vice Chancellor of A.B.U because of his faith. The mixed audience which until then was enjoying the outpouring of encomiums from muslims and christians, and which was even moving beyond Bishop Kukah’s review was stumped by the vigorous repudiation of the claim, and the manner it was given prominence in the review by the new Bishop of Sokoto Diocese.
The argument over the claim that a little over 30 years, a northerner was denied what he deserved on the grounds of his faith will find resonance in the context of a north today in which faith-based politics has assumed an unprecedented place. For those who are looking for clues over the current weaknesses of the north, the event will represent evidence of the widening gulf between christian and muslim northerners. Northern christians have made huge contributions, far in excess of their proportional size in numbers, to both the north and Nigeria. The longest serving Vice Chancellor of ABU was Professor Ishaya Audu, and he laid quite possibly the strongest foundations for the development of A.B.U. into a world-class university. Many others have left their marks in academia, in politics, in the military and in other sectors. They were as northern as their muslim kith and kin, and by almost all accounts, they were treated by leaders then as valuable assets and as equals. Their fortunes rose and fell with the fortunes of the north in Nigeria, and much of the south of Nigeria was largely oblivious of serious differences between muslims and non-muslim northerners.
The north, and indeed Nigeria, is of course much more complex than it was 30 or 40 years ago. State creation has given rise of additional political influence of northern christians, and in States with mixed faith populations, religion has become a major factor in the politics of power and economic resource allocation. Recurring crises arising form competition for more political power and economic resources have taken up religious characters, and the faith of northerners has now become a defining element of their fortunes in many parts of the north. In Plateau, Kaduna and Borno States and many other parts of the north, being Christian or Muslim is a valuable currency, or a virtual death sentence. In the last 25 years, thousands of northerners have died in the hands of fellow northerners in the name of religion. The two communities have drifted apart, but they have nowhere to go. They live behind political and economic barriers, or behind security check-points, waiting for the next round of conflict to scamper away, or take up arms once again.
This is the context in which the presentation of Professor Adamu Baikie’s book was made. The current state of politics in the north was evident in the high visibility of much of the northern christian elite at the event. It was evident in the large turn-out of muslims; in the polarization of the audience around the sensitive allegation of religious bias against even from elders like Professor Baikie, or even the lighthearted but symbolically important arguments over whether he comes from Kano or Kogi States.
There will be many who will say that if elderly northern christians like Professor Baikie who should provide bridges and inspiration for the muslim and christian northerners to re-discover their organic unity can fall prey to the sources of division and bitterness which divides the north today, then there is very little hope that the current generation will go beyond them. The north is only as strong as the unity of its people, and its weaknesses which are being exploited both by northerners who ride to power and wealth through the exploitation of faith, as well as other regions which exploit its heterogeneous nature will be paid for by all northerners when they are challenged by a Nigerian State which is fast fragmenting.
The political and economic poverty of the north will be compounded by increasing disunity among its communities. Its destiny is currently being determined by small people with little vision and a large appetite for self-glorification. Its clergy have assumed very influential roles in the direction and content of its politics, and has squeezed the political space further. Between petty leadership which merely gulps the little resources which northerners need for education, health and development, and the encroachment of the political space by people who have lots of power but little responsibility, the fortunes of the north are fast dwindling. It will be tragic if its considerable asset of northern minorities now pitch their tents in isolation, or in terrain which will be as hostile to them as it will be to northern muslims. No northerner needs further qualification than the place of his birth and the legacies of his ancestors. None should feel he has to play second fiddle to another northerner, no matter what the circumstances. There should be no terms or conditions for being a northerner, but unity has to be the product of hard work, sacrifice and justice. What the north needs is to produce a leadership which can provide this; because without it, its christians and muslims will all be victims.
On the whole, the event, during which the autobiography of Professor Adamu Baikie was presented, was well-organized and must have achieved its objectives. It helped the respected international academic and his family to celebrate his 80th birthday with hundreds of friends, colleagues and admirers. He had the rare opportunity to make public his own life in his 733 page book. It provided a rallying point for northern christians to rediscover their roots and history, in a nation to which they gave a lot more than their numerical strength would otherwise have demanded. It was also an opportunity for the Wusasa pedigree to be reinforced by other northern christians, with what appeared an intention of staking the claim that northern christians in today’s Nigeria have acquired a major political clout. But above all, it was an event that reminds the nation that it is fast losing its rare asset in people like Professor Adamu Baikie; people who spend entire lives solely in service of their fatherland. It put forward a man who was a Vice Chancellor in two Nigerian and a foreign University, and who today lives a contented life in the only house he has in Zaria. It was a celebration of the life of a man who touched lives in profound and life-changing manners as a teacher, administrator and community elder; who has roots in Kano, Zaria, Lokoja, and just about every part of Nigeria, and whose life was a study in how hardwork, discipline and the love of God can overcome all odds.
But the event was also significant in the way it opened up an argument over the manner northern christians see themselves in contemporary Nigeria; and how they perceive other, non-christian northerners. In a way the argument was also the only dent on an otherwise happy and well-attended event. In the course of reviewing the book, Bishop Kukah had highlighted Professor Baikie’s narrative that he had come top of a shortlist of three candidates elected by the Senate of the Ahmadu Bello University for the position of Vice Chancellor in 1978. Professor Baikie says on page 417 of his book that for some strange reason, his nomination which went to the University Council was not approved. Instead, he received information on television that he, along with Dr Mahmud Tukur and Professor Umaru Shehu were appointed to the Universities of Benin, Lagos and Nsukka respectively. Bishop Kukah made much of the failure of Professor Baikie to be appointed as Vice Chancellor; and linked that failure with a recent controversy around another Professor from southern Kaduna State who was alleged to have been shortlisted as first for the position of Vice Chancellor of A.B.U, but was denied the position on grounds of his faith and ethnicity. The Bishop lamented what he saw as the clear hands of religious prejudice, and regretted that the failure of Professor Baikie and other prominent Christians in the past to stand up against injustices is still haunting northern christians today.
Perhaps predictably, given the large presence of contemporaries and colleagues of Professor Baikie from the old A.B.U days, this episode in the book which was highlighted by Bishop Kukah caused much stir in the hall. Bishop Kukah had left the hall when another former Vice Chancellor, Professor Ango Abdullahi stood up to complain over what he said was a re-writing of history and a falsehood in the claim that Professor Baikie was denied the position of Vice Chancellor of A.B.U because of his faith. The mixed audience which until then was enjoying the outpouring of encomiums from muslims and christians, and which was even moving beyond Bishop Kukah’s review was stumped by the vigorous repudiation of the claim, and the manner it was given prominence in the review by the new Bishop of Sokoto Diocese.
The argument over the claim that a little over 30 years, a northerner was denied what he deserved on the grounds of his faith will find resonance in the context of a north today in which faith-based politics has assumed an unprecedented place. For those who are looking for clues over the current weaknesses of the north, the event will represent evidence of the widening gulf between christian and muslim northerners. Northern christians have made huge contributions, far in excess of their proportional size in numbers, to both the north and Nigeria. The longest serving Vice Chancellor of ABU was Professor Ishaya Audu, and he laid quite possibly the strongest foundations for the development of A.B.U. into a world-class university. Many others have left their marks in academia, in politics, in the military and in other sectors. They were as northern as their muslim kith and kin, and by almost all accounts, they were treated by leaders then as valuable assets and as equals. Their fortunes rose and fell with the fortunes of the north in Nigeria, and much of the south of Nigeria was largely oblivious of serious differences between muslims and non-muslim northerners.
The north, and indeed Nigeria, is of course much more complex than it was 30 or 40 years ago. State creation has given rise of additional political influence of northern christians, and in States with mixed faith populations, religion has become a major factor in the politics of power and economic resource allocation. Recurring crises arising form competition for more political power and economic resources have taken up religious characters, and the faith of northerners has now become a defining element of their fortunes in many parts of the north. In Plateau, Kaduna and Borno States and many other parts of the north, being Christian or Muslim is a valuable currency, or a virtual death sentence. In the last 25 years, thousands of northerners have died in the hands of fellow northerners in the name of religion. The two communities have drifted apart, but they have nowhere to go. They live behind political and economic barriers, or behind security check-points, waiting for the next round of conflict to scamper away, or take up arms once again.
This is the context in which the presentation of Professor Adamu Baikie’s book was made. The current state of politics in the north was evident in the high visibility of much of the northern christian elite at the event. It was evident in the large turn-out of muslims; in the polarization of the audience around the sensitive allegation of religious bias against even from elders like Professor Baikie, or even the lighthearted but symbolically important arguments over whether he comes from Kano or Kogi States.
There will be many who will say that if elderly northern christians like Professor Baikie who should provide bridges and inspiration for the muslim and christian northerners to re-discover their organic unity can fall prey to the sources of division and bitterness which divides the north today, then there is very little hope that the current generation will go beyond them. The north is only as strong as the unity of its people, and its weaknesses which are being exploited both by northerners who ride to power and wealth through the exploitation of faith, as well as other regions which exploit its heterogeneous nature will be paid for by all northerners when they are challenged by a Nigerian State which is fast fragmenting.
The political and economic poverty of the north will be compounded by increasing disunity among its communities. Its destiny is currently being determined by small people with little vision and a large appetite for self-glorification. Its clergy have assumed very influential roles in the direction and content of its politics, and has squeezed the political space further. Between petty leadership which merely gulps the little resources which northerners need for education, health and development, and the encroachment of the political space by people who have lots of power but little responsibility, the fortunes of the north are fast dwindling. It will be tragic if its considerable asset of northern minorities now pitch their tents in isolation, or in terrain which will be as hostile to them as it will be to northern muslims. No northerner needs further qualification than the place of his birth and the legacies of his ancestors. None should feel he has to play second fiddle to another northerner, no matter what the circumstances. There should be no terms or conditions for being a northerner, but unity has to be the product of hard work, sacrifice and justice. What the north needs is to produce a leadership which can provide this; because without it, its christians and muslims will all be victims.
The selective amnesia of Prof. Ango Abdullahi and Dr. Hakeem Baba Ahmed is typical. While the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto was very emphatic and unambiguous in his assertions on the role of religion in the power play surrounding the attainment of the exalted office of the VC in the ABU, the Zaria princes of Abdullahi and Ahmed would rather have northern Christian academics lick their collective wounds in stoic silence and calm indifference despite their merit and suitability.
ReplyDeleteThe religious circumstances surrounding the exit of Professor Ishaya Audu and more importantly the raging and protracted Sharia controversy during the then Constituent Assembly all combined to rob Prof. Adamu Baikie his well deserved appointment. 1978 was not the best of times for northern unity especially with the well sustained and largely divisive and deliberately skewed editorial opinions of New Nigerian and Radio Kaduna arising from the shoddy military judicial process in the secret trials of the Abisoye panel, the subsequent public execution of mainly Christian northerners and the unwholesome flimsy implication of General Yakubu Gowon that remained legally unproven right up to his “pardon”.
What became known as the”kaduna mafia” was back in 1978 a band of like minded but committed northern Muslim intellectuals and remnants of the regional privilege of the first republic rising or retired in mainly government and military circles but strenuously working to undo the Wusasa pedigree.
In 1971 the so called Public Education Edicts were approved for the 12 states of Nigeria by the Gowon administration to take over missionary schools from “voluntary agencies” to combat “sectionalism, religious conflict and disloyalty to the cause of a united Nigeria”. Yes, the General was a product of early missionary education but diluted with the northern unity Barewa College old boy network. He simply did not see the big picture and was caught up in a complex web of “Jacob’s voice and Esau’s hand” conspiracy.
It is that type of “northern unity” that symbolizes a continuous flow of elite benefits to a certain majority at the detriment and utter disregard of northern Christians Prof. Abdullahi and Dr. Ahmed promote and want sustained. The Bishop and Prof. Baikie’s reference to the events of 1978 represent a new thinking that is pricking the conscience of our more and considerate Muslim brothers in the northern project.
There are various strands of northern Christians all diverse. There are those from an Islamic background and those from an animist background. Those that received religious and moral instruction from the missionaries and those that became Christian after Independence under another reality. With diverse issues and challenges many along ethnic faultlines but no thanks to the likes of Prof Abdullahi and Dr Ahmed and what they represent all band together in a collective minority and oppressed status.
AHMED YAHAYA-JOE,
WUSASA,ZARIA.
Unfortunately for Yahaya-joe the hyphen in his name does not unite him with his Cristian "brother" in Osun. while Muslim north face challenge of loosing the support of the dominated Christians, they can till rely on their number as a tribe. i don't see Yahaya with his hyphen feeling safe in case of an unfortunate crisis in Enugu. The stigma is all above Niger river are Hausa. i think we all need one another
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