Arewa, we complain too much! By Kadaria Ahmed

We need to quit the whinning, roll up our sleeves and get to work.!

Oh they are planning this , or they are planning that. When you were in charge, what did you do ? Are you only just realizing that we have been left behind?

Listen, if we are lucky, we get regionalization. Thats if we are lucky o. So let’s prepare for it and even worst case scenarios.

Sometimes, things like survival, need to be bigger than politics!

Alas, still Arewa does not seem to realise that, so here we are a basket case of a place. Blood is flowing all over our land, our children have no future. We won’t educate them.Hopelesss has led to epidemic level of drug addiction among those who should be our future. We are a beggar region that is now exporting this ‘laudable trade’.

Wai shin ko kunya ba muji?

We should be hiding our heads in shame. All of us but especially our elected officials and our politicians, across all parties. How are they still able to move around normally is beyond me.

But they do and in whats app group after whats app group, we wring our hands and lament, oh they are changing the law, oh they are doing this and doing that and speak in nostalgia about groundnuts pyramids.

Utter puerile nonsense!

When we had the power to negotiate a more strategic outcome for Arewa during the multiple constitutional conferences that took place, in the past , we didn’t.

I remember pleading with a rep of Arewa during President Jonathan’s constitutional conference to rally Arewa delegates to agree to reform of derivation in return for a marshal plan for Arewa across all critical sectors for the next 10-15 years, while we still had the ability to do so. He laughed in my face.

And here we are.

These are difficult times and they are going to get worse and there is no politiking our way out of this mess.

We have to do the hard work:

1. Stop the bloodshed. Stop listening to those who have convinced you it is possible to bloody your community to security and prosperity. Killing each other leads to death and scaring and bitterness. You can’t be shedding blood and think something good can come out of it. Impossible! Introduce local peace initiatives within your communities. It’s hard work but it’s important work. Only we can secure ourselves and I promise it isn’t by turning on each other.
2. Insist on law and order. This underpins all functional societies. Justice is foundational and a society without it will flounder. Ensure the administration of law and order is fair and so justice is for all, not those who speak your language , or worship like you do. For ALL! Gain trust for the process, it allows you to isolate terrorists and criminals so they can be arrested and prosecuted. Without justice, we have nothing.
3. Focus on education at primary level and skills acquisition for our teeming youths who have lost out on formal education. In the end it all boils down to livelihoods. Work on our economy, build infrastructure, regional grids, renewable power, agricultural value chains etc etc. It is not rocket science but it requires commitment to our communities and their survival and success. It requires an understanding that there are no short cuts we must do the foundational work.
4. If you genuinely believe that Arewa is being shortchanged at the Federal level, Organise. Always show up at these platforms where these things are being negotiated with a position that favours the region. Arewa members in NASS should have a common position when it comes to issues that pertain the region. And there are many other ways too. All these organisations that claim to represent and speak for Arewa, can we begin to hear your very loud voices beyond politics? Where is the blue print for ending the blood shed? For holding criminals accountable ? For holding elective officials accountable? For building back the northern economy, for building infrastructure? Where ?

Our issues are existential, it’s time to stop faffing around, blaming others and focus on the things that really matter, security, justice, education, the economy and a unified negotiating position when it comes to national matters. It is possible!