North: The Beginning of the Mess

Also published in DAILY TRUST

 

About two hundred years ago, Sheikh Abdullahi bin Fodio; the renowned genius brother of the legendary 19th century reformer Sheikh Othman bin Fodio wrote a poem lamenting how the then elite of what now largely falls within northern Nigeria began to abandon the ideals of the Sheikh Othman-led revolution, which had entrenched social justice and indeed established a civilized and efficiently functional empire in the region and beyond.

Incidentally, Sheikh Abdullahi bin Fodio outlived many of his colleagues in struggle, who had led the revolution e.g. his brother the leader of the revolution Sheikh Othman bin Fodio. He therefore witnessed how the subsequent generation of elite began to neglect their moral and leadership responsibilities.

Tempted by the combination of enormous socio-political influence, which they enjoyed as emirs, religious clerics, judges and community leaders, the then generation of the Othmaniyya empire elite began to gradually revert back to the status-quo of pervasive moral decadence, social injustice, economic exploitation of the vulnerable, corruption and tyranny, which the Sheikh Othman-led revolution had brought to an end.

It is pertinent to note that, in the course of his revolution, Sheikh Othman bin Fodio would appoint a learned Islamic cleric of repute and integrity (notwithstanding his lineage or any other irrelevant factors) as emir of any domain he conquered. That policy saw the ascension of hitherto barely recognized individuals to the emirate of various domains conquered by the Sheikh. Incidentally, ever since then their descendents have monopolized and turned it dynastic and hereditary.

Anyway, back to the point, Sheikh Abdullahi bin Fodio composed the poem in Arabic, which was the official language of the empire. And though I translate it into English, the original Arabic stanza format is not literally reflected in the translated version due to linguistic constraints; it goes as follows:

“My colleagues have passed away and left me alone amidst bloody liars who claim what they never do, pursue their self-indulgence and neglect all their obligations”

“Though they are actually clueless, and don’t pursue knowledge either, yet everyone of them seems contented and proud of his own prejudiced views”

“In the course of his pursuit of self-indulgence, he abuses his kinship, insults his friends and prefers reckless money accumulation over his own relatives”

“They don’t care about mosques and schools let alone the issue of struggle for justice”

“Their only concern is to rule over the people and the land in order to accumulate wealth and enjoy high status”

“They adopt non-Muslims’ attitudes and names, and appoint clueless people to top positions”

“Their life is all about having concubines, expensive dresses and horse-riding within cities not battlegrounds”

“They accept inducements in the form of gifts, share loot, collect bribe and indulge in excessive fun”

“Leaders are clueless of what to do, yet they keep distance from the ordinary people”

“They evade justice, breach trust and ally with the enemy out of cowardice”

“They are too many in the positions of influence and befriend morally bankrupt people, while the good ones out there are few”

“They enslave people and sell them off, some of them are found in markets disguising as leaders and judges while in reality they are mere rogues”

“I am sure if they don’t repent and reform they will definitely fight one another in battles one day”

It is obvious that, such criticisms might be termed too harsh nowadays; however in  olden days when conscience was sincere enough anyway, Sheikh Abdullahi bin Fodio expressed his lamentation that way.

In any case, the similarities between those olden days’ northern elite and the contemporary northern elite are quite obvious, only that some stuff mentioned by Sheikh Abdullahi bin Fodio have undergone huge technological improvements, likewise some concepts have now assumed different meanings. For instance, “horse-riding” now means cruising in very expensive cars while “concubines” now mean mistresses.

Also in the positions of influence, traditional establishments have been replaced by modern institutions headed by various government functionaries, even though the traditional establishments still wield some influence indirectly anyway.

However, the remaining picture as depicted by Sheikh Abdullahi bin Fodio is exactly what presently plays out, in fact it is even worse. For instance telling lies is not only normal but has been literally integrated into leadership and management skills under various names and pretexts.

Similarly, telling something and doing exactly the opposite, and/or claiming credit of what is not done and nonchalant attitude towards obligations, are all considered part of political pragmatism and leadership experience.

Also the attainment of a position of influence is considered the ultimate goal justifying whatever means leading to it. This is of course due to the enormous power and wealth necessarily associated with it.

Merit is hardly if at all considered in appointments especially the so-called political appointments, which see the rise of barely literate people to sensitive positions of power. Bribes, kickbacks and inducements circulate in the corridors of power in the name of gifts.

The obvious cluelessness of the leaders has rendered them effectively confused, yet out of sheer arrogance they avoid the common people lest they tell them the truth. They encourage impunity, breach of trust and are subservient to their enemies out of fear about the fate of their positions. They also subject their subjects to modern slavery by depriving them of the basic needs of life befitting human beings.

From the foregoing one can easily conclude that ever since the era of Sheikh Othman bin Fodio, there was hardly if at all a whole generation of northern elite that was patriotic or responsible enough. The fact is that, over the several decades since then, the good elements amongst them have always represented a microscopic minority.

This is contrary to what we have been made to believe that, the past generations of northern elite were saints of sorts. After all, most of the people who have either by commission or omission engineered the region’s socio-economic and political deterioration over the past thirty years for instance, are presently glorified and celebrated as statesmen and elders. While the few who had performed quite patriotically are either hypocritically celebrated occasionally or are even hardly remembered for that matter.

After all, I am sure that in the next decade or so, most of the current largely clueless, corrupt and incompetent northern elite, will equally metamorphose into statesmen and elders, to whom references will be made in terms of patriotism, competence and sacrifice to the region and the country at large, as the cycle of hypocrisy continues.