“The hands that tie up the hyena are
those that will free her.” Hausa Proverb
Senate President David Mark last week pleaded with
Nigerians not to lose faith in the indivisibility of Nigeria. He asked
constituents in his senatorial zone to pray harder and rally behind leaders so
that together leaders and led will overcome the nation’s current problems.
Senator Mark spoke two days after the Benue State governor Gabriel Suswan told
a church congregation that the dwindling number of Christian governors in the
North is a source of concern. He reminded them that the death of Sir Patrick Ibrahim
Yakowa and the hospitalization of the Taraba State governor has left him and
Governor Jonah Jang as the only two Northern Christian governors standing.
Those in the congregation not shocked by the statistics were jolted further
when the governor revealed further that he is himself an active target of Boko
Haram, and appealed to them to pray for him.
You could be forgiven if you thought that Suswan was
desperately diverting some of the limelight around a genuine national tragedy,
which was the death of Governor Yakowa, former N.S.A, Azazi and others.
Governor Suswam must really believe in the potency of prayers of simple, poor
folks, because to announce to a church congregation that a Chief Executive
Officer of a state is marked for elimination, and expect that prayers of church
goers will protect him shows profound faith. Its either that, or he is putting
himself forward as potential leader seeking political capital by involving the
most primordial and dangerous sentiments, and digging even deeper into the muck
of politics of fear which leaders like him now play. Either way, it is
surprising that the congregation did not scamper in fear of being around a
marked man, who, with all the paraphernalia for personal security, says he
needs them to pray for him as well.
In the same week that Suswam counted only two out of
19 Christian governors as if northern Muslims are to be held responsible for
Yakowa and Suntai’s fate, and listed himself among every Nigerian, Christian or
Muslim who is a marked target of the Jamaatu Ahlil Sunnah Lidda’awati Wal Jihad
(a.k.a Boko Haram), some sobering words also came from people who recognize the
value of being responsible. General Yakubu Gowon cautioned against insinuations
that the crash that took Yakowa’s life was anything but an accident. He said he
himself could have been on the same plane but for a change in flight
arrangements. The son of the late governor said his family had come to terms
with their father’s death as the will of God, and they see part of a greater
purpose in the desired unity of Kaduna State and the nation. Millions of citizens,
Christians as well as Muslims mourned the passing away of a governor who worked
hard to build bridges even in the face of forces that broke all his building
blocks before they even dried. The Izala movement postponed its meeting as a
result of his death. The Christian Association of Nigeria said it accepted his
death as the supreme act of God, and the South Kaduna People Union (SOKAPU)
prayed that God will grant the new governor the courage and wisdom to govern
the state.
The funeral of late Yakowa was a study in how nations
can capture defining moments even if fleetingly. It was a befitting farewell to
a man who courted and won the friendship and hearts of many Muslims without
being one; and who loved his Christian brethren without having that love fully
reciprocated. He played politics the way he thought it ought to have been
played. He attempted to build bridges neither side trusted or walked across. He
was a hero that was unheralded until he died.
Governor Suswam did a great disservice in mentioning
the name of Yakowa in the context of his pitch for local support using scare
tactics and base sentiments. Yakowa was not in his class, and even though he
did not have large multitudes following him around all his pet projects towards
building peace, he was very clear in his mind that neither Christians nor
Muslims will find peace in Kaduna State, or in Nigeria without working with
each other towards that end. He knew that it hurts Muslims that murderers of
innocent people in Zonkwa are walking free today, in the same measure he
encountered the anger of young people in Zonkwa when he went to condole them
over the killing of villagers last year. He knew that his unwieldy Peace and
Reconciliation Committee is seen largely as a token solution which could compound
the problem, but he pushed on nonetheless, in the belief that it was better
than doing nothing.
When President Jonathan, with refreshing candour
possibly triggered by the occasion, said last week that all Nigerian
politicians exploit religious and ethnic sentiments to divide Nigerians, people
like governor Suswan will be the first to come to mind. You would think that he
had heard of governor Suswam’s church speech when he also said at the funeral
of late Yakowa that elders should be wary of their utterances. He said
“utterances and words of elders are just like winds and waves that move, gather
momentum and cause destructive effects… whose end result cannot be predicted.
Responses of our young men and women are reflections of what the elders talk in
public and even in private.”
The hopes that the death of Patrick Yakowa will give
Kaduna State renewed impetus to find peace and economic progress will be
dampened by utterances such as those of the Benue governor. There are genuine
attempts to demonstrate that leaders can lead fairly and do justice without
necessarily being Christian or Muslim, in a nation where Muslims and Christians
live under the same objective conditions. But many politicians equate our
security and economic welfare with their faith. When they contest for power
using religious or ethnic sentiments, they alienate substantial portions of the
population which think those who emerge as leaders do not represent them. These
sentiments get narrower as competition from other politicians using the same
tactics close the space. Governor Suswam should be a veteran at this, having
been on the receiving end of Idoma hostility and complaints of gross
marginalization.
If this nation had a fail-safe reservoir of memories
of faultlines and flashpoints, it would accord prominence to the lessons behind
the violence in many parts of the north which greeted the announced results of
the 2011 presidential elections. It will also accord due significance to the
bitterness which still hovers around the presidency of Goodluck Jonathan and
many elected leaders. The clues behind these are within reach: they are the
dangerous pitch made to manipulate ethnicity, religion and region in order to
whip up sentiments against opponents. In most instances they worked. Today, the
Nigerian democratic system is full of embers which could ignite more fires.
No comments:
Post a Comment