ABU, A Living Legacy At 50 - By Bala Yahaya

One of the greatest legacies bequeathed to Northern Nigeria and by extension, the entire nation by the late Sir Ahmadu Bello Sardauna of Sokoto is the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria aptly and deservedly named after him.  Established in the year 1962, this great institution has served as a great citadel of learning, research as well as a veritable source of highly-qualified manpower not only for the region but for the country as a whole. From a humble beginning at inception with about 15 departments and 426 students, today the institution boasts of 12 faculties, 82 departments, a student population of over 50,000 and a post-graduate school, among many other such lofty attainments.

One of the major achievements of the institution is that it has succeeded in bringing higher education to the doorstep of the average Northern Nigerian. This is no mean achievement especially when considered against the backdrop of the wide educational gap between the Northern and Southern part of the country at independence.  Also as a Federal institution, ABU has accommodated and nurtured many students from other parts of the country thus further entrenching the Nigerian spirit in our youth.

Secondly as mentioned in the introductory paragraph of this piece ABU has played a critical role in providing the Northern region and indeed Nigeria with highly trained manpower.  The number of professionals produced by the giant institution that have carved a niche for themselves in different spheres of human endeavor cannot be quantified. For instance, the institution has produced accomplished doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, poets and vets among many other such professionals that have put Nigeria’s name on the global map of their respective professions.   In addition to this, the institution today arguably stands out as the highest single producer of current high profile political office holders in the country. By way of roll call, it was ABU that produced Vice President Namadi Sambo, and Governors Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa, Ibrahim Shema, Usman Saidu Dakingari, Isa Yuguda, Umaru Tanko Almakura, Ibrahim Geidam and Ibrahim Dankwambo.  The institution also produced former governors Donald Duke, Bukar Abba Ibrahim, Kabir Gaya, Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi, Ahmed Adamu Muazu and Ibrahim Shekarau.

Furthermore through its specialized research institutes ABU has played a very important role in advancing the frontiers of knowledge and finding time-tested solutions to problems with far reaching effects on the scientific, technological, economic, political, and socio-cultural development of the country.  For instance, the firebrand ABU intellectual tradition as carried on by the institutions’ outstanding scholars in the mould of the likes of Abdullahi Smith, Patrick Wilmot, Dr. Bala Usman, to mention but a few cannot be discountenanced when discussing the country’s socio-political evolution over the years.  Also through years of rigorous agricultural researches, great discoveries have been made that significantly contributed to the transformation of our hitherto basically subsistent agricultural system which forms the bedrock of the Northern economy into a fairly modern one.

Moreover through its post-graduate school, ABU has created a window for higher academic attainments for aspiring individuals which give further boost to professionalism and specialization in chosen academic fields. Apart from graduates of other universities who find themselves within its catchment, graduates of other higher institutions such as polytechnics also get the opportunity through the PG School to broaden their academic horizon by aspiring for higher degrees in their fields of specialization.  Through this, the institution greatly assists the region’s governmental, non-governmental and private organisations in meeting not only their middle level but also high-level manpower needs.

Having highlighted some of the great achievements of this equally great institution it is now pertinent to turn our attention to some of the most critical challenges bedeviling it and how they can be surmounted.  In its recent ranking of African Universities for 2012 released in July for instance, Webometrics, the online ranking agency, ranked ABU 76^th out of 100 leading African Universities with mostly South African Universities taking the lead.  Other Nigerian Universities that made it to the first 100 list include the University of Ibadan 45^th, Ilorin 47^th, Unilag 55^th, UNN 64^th, OAU 79^th, and Jos 88^th!  Whatever the shortcomings of the Webometric’s ranking criteria, this situation certainly calls for sober reflection as it shows clearly that our Universities are not favourably competing even in Africa let alone the entire globe! 

In the first place one of the major problems confronting ABU as an institution is underfunding. Because of the growing popularity of the institution among prospective undergraduate and postgraduate students and its ever-growing size, existing structures are been overstretched while many are outrightly obsolete. There is no gainsaying the fact that for the institution to favourably compete with its peers both at home and abroad there is the need to upgrade its research and learning facilities as well as its human capital to become up to date with global academic standards. This position was put more succinctly by the Institution’s Vice Chancellor who in a recent outing stated thus “ABU needs funds to replace and rehabilitate decaying infrastructure, teaching and research facilities. We also know that great universities are those supported by their alumni. A clear example is Harvard which is one of the richest universities in the world on the grounds that it receives over $50 billion as endowment fund from its alumni. I expect our alumni to emulate the BlackBerry founder who has alone donated over $250 million to his Alma Mata, Waterloo University. And with such support from our alumni, ABU will transform”.

With the caliber of ABU alumni some of whom were mentioned in the earlier part of this piece, I personally see no reason why ABU should starve. The alumni must see it as a personal challenge to come to their Alma Mata’s rescue especially at this very critical moment in its history.  It is also pertinent to call on especially Northern state governments who have immensely benefitted from Sardauna’s foresight to come to the rescue of one of his most enduring and beneficial legacies that remains the very pride of the region.  If for no other reason else, they must be eternally indebted to the institution whose products largely form the bedrock of their civil service all these years.

Also the ABU authorities on their own part must look into other areas of alternative funding. Nothing, for instance, stops the University from floating an institutional bond to raise long-term funds to finance its capital projects.  Also in deciding on such projects consideration must be given to provision of income-yielding assets that will serve as veritable source of continuous funding for the institution.

One last thing: ABU and other legacies of the great northern icon Sir Ahmadu Bello, like the Kaduna Polytechnic, Radio Nigeria Kaduna, ABU Teaching Hospital, Ahmadu Bello Stadium among many others should serve as living examples of what can be achieved with purposeful leadership.  Thus, our current crop of leaders who immensely benefitted from the foresight of the great legend must take a cue by initiating and executing meaningful projects that will outlive them and cast their names in gold.  The Sardauna example has shown clearly that leadership is not about amassing illegal wealth neither is it about driving in convoy of flashy cars nor living in state-of-the-art mansions. No, it is about service!

Long Live ABU!

Tsokaci Kan Batun 'Yansandan Jihohi - By Bala Yahaya

Daya daga cikin manyan batutuwan da suka kankane kafofin yada labaran mu cikin makwannin da suka gabata shi ne batun neman yi wa tsarin mulkin Nigeria kwaskwarima ta yadda zai ba jihohi damar kirkiro rundunonin ‘yansanda na kashin kan su.  An samu ra’ayoyi mabambamta daga muhawawar da ake ci gaba da tafkawa akan dacewa ko rashin dacewar wannan mataki. Alal misali, masu muradin ganin tabbatar wannan manufa ta kirkiro ‘yansandan jihohi na nuni da cewa hakan zai ba Gwamnonin jihohi damar karfafa matakan tsaro da kuma shawo kan rikice-rikice a jihohin nasu cikin hanzari ba tare da dogaro da Gwamnatin tarayya ba.  Su kuma wadanda suka saba wa wannan ra’ayi cewa suke yi yin hakan ba zai haifa wa kasar nan da mai ido ba musamman idan akayi la’akari da cewa abu ne mai sauki wadannan ‘yansanda su zama ‘yan bangar siyasa ga Gwamnatocin da suka kafa su wanda hakan zai basu damar tursasawa abokan adawar siyasa.

Bayan yin la’akari da wadannan ra’ayoyi mabambamta tunani na yafi karkata akan cewa rashin alfanun dake tattare da wannan shiri ya nunka alfanun dake tattare da shi.  Misali, sanin kowa ne cewa rashin adalcin tsarin siyasar mu yasa cin zabe a kasar nan ya ta’allaka ne kacokan akan zurfin aljihun mai neman mukami maimakon kyakyawar manufa ta ci gaban kasa da yalwatar arziki; wato irin shugabancin da ya kamata ya taimaka wajen rage matsanancin talauci dake addabar kasa da jama’arta, samar da ayyukan yi da kuma rage wagegen gibin da dake tsakanin masu shi da marasa shi. A sakamakon haka sai ya kasance ‘yan siyasar mu suna kwadayin kama madafun iko ko ta halin kaka har ta hanyar gwara kawunan talakawa da janyo hasarar dukoyoyi da rayukan bil’adama. Wannan shi ya jaza musu daukar nauyin ‘yan gani-kashenin-siyasa wadanda basu dauki ran bil’adama a bakin komai ba.

A kudancin kasar nan inda wannan kira na kafa ‘yansandan jihohi yafi samun gindin zama sanin kowa ne cewa suna da irin wadannan ‘yan bangar siyasa kamar kungiyoyi irin na OPC, da Egbesu Boys, da Bakasi Boys, da ‘yan a fasa-kowa-ya-rasa na kungiyar nan mai hakilon farfado da yunkurin tabbatar da kafuwar kasar Biafra wato MASSOB da kuma dimbin kungiyoyin ‘yan tsagerar yankin Neja-Delta masu tafka ta’addanci da sunan bibiyar hakkokin jihohi masu albarkatun man fetur. Anan jihohin mu na Arewa ma ‘yan siyasar mu na da nasu ‘yan banga da ke amsa sunaye dabam-dabam.

Bisa la’akari da wannan babu tantama akan cewa kirkiro ‘yansandan jihohi zai zama wata hanya ta halatta wadannan baragurbin kungiyoyi don kare muradun siyarsar wasu ‘yan tsirarun Jama’a. Kuma wannan tabbas zai haifar da tashin-tashina a cikin al’umma musamman idan aka yi la’akari da cewa galibin wadanda Gwamnatocin nan zasu dauka a matsayin ‘yan sandan jiha ‘yan barandar siyasar su ne.

Bayan haka bincike ya nuna cewa kusan kashi saba’in cikin dari na rigingimu tsakanin al’umma a caji ofis ake kashe su kimanin kashi talatin cikin dari ne ke dangana wa da kotu. To idan haka ne me kake tsammanin zai faru idan rashin jituwa ta shiga tsakanin Bahaushe mazaunin Legas and Bayarabe dan kasa kuma maganar ta kai caji ofis inda kusan duk Jami’an ‘yan sandan da za su yi hukunci kan batun ‘yan kabilar yarbawa ne; ko kuma a Sabon Garin Kano irin wannan rikici ya wakana tsakanin dan kabilar Ibo da Bahaushe dan gari?  A irin wannan hali zai yi matukar wuya a samu tabbatar da adalci ko kuma in ma an yi adalcin abokin shara’a ya yarda cewa lallai an yi adalci ba tare da nuna kabilanci ko bangaranci ba. Kada mu manta cewa wannan kasa ce mai cike bambamce-bambamcen addini, harshe, da asali wadanda abubuwa ne masu tasirin gaske cikin zamantakewar jama’a da yadda suke kallon al’amuran rayuwa.

Kuma ya kamata mu duba mu gani shin Gwamnatocin jihohin nan da ake magana akai suna da karfin tattalin arzikin da su iya daukar nauyin ‘yansanda na kashin kansu kuwa? Kada mu manta cewa kwanan aka yi ta dauki-ba-dadi tsakanin gwamanonin jihohi da ‘yan kungiyar kwadago akan batun mafi karancin albashi na Naira dubu goma sha takwas.  Galibin jihohin kasar nan sun ta koka wa kan rashin karfin biyan wannan tsarin albashi har ta kai wasun su ga yin barazanar rage yawan ma’aikata in har aka dage kan cewa sai sun biya. To yaushe wanda ke kukan targade zai nemi karaya kuma!  Sanin kowa ne cewa ayau akwai Gwamnatocin jihohin dake shafe watanni biyar zuwa shida ba tare da sun biya albashi ba. Me kake gani zai faru idan ka kwashe irin wannan tsawon lokaci baka biya mutumin dake da bindiga da doka a hannun sa ba? Tabbas wannan zai kara tsananta matsalar cin hanci da rashawa da karuwar manyan laifuka kamar su fashi da makami da ci-da-ceto a tsakanin al’umma.

Bugu da kari kirkiro ‘yansandan jihohi saboda sinadarin siyasar dake cikinsa zai kawo yawan korar horarrun ma’aikata a bisa dalilan siyasa. Wannan zai kasance haka ne saboda duk gwamanatin da ta hau karagar mulki burin ta shi ne ta samu Jami’an ‘yansandan da zasu taimaka mata wajen kare muradun ta na siyasa ko da kuwa yin hakan zai jaza sallamar ma’aikatan da ake ganin suna da alaka da siyasun adawa ne.  Idan aka fara yi wa sha’anin tsaro irin wannan rikon-sakainar-kashi tabbas al’umma zata shiga cikin rudani wanda ba zai misaltu ba.

Saboda dalilan da na ambata a sama da ma wadansu wadanda karancin wuri da lokaci ba zai bada damar a yalwata bayani akan su ba, ya zama wajibi ayi watsi da wannan gurguwar shawara ta neman a kirkiro ‘yan sandan jihohi.  Maimakon haka kamata yayi mu duba muga yadda zamu karfafa rundunar ‘yansanda ta kasa da muke da ita a yanzu don karkata akalar ta wajen yi wa kasa aiki cikin gaskiya, da adalci, da sanin mutuncin kai da kishin kasa. 

Daya daga cikin hanyoyin da za’a iya bi wajen tabbatar da wannan muradi shi ne ta hanyar cire akidar nan ta cin hanci da rashawa a tsakanin jami’an tsaron mu.  Samun hakan ya tabbata kuwa sai an koma ga tushe wato tun daga lokacin da za’a dauki dan sanda aiki.  Dole ne ya zama wadanda za’a dauka aikin dan sanda sune wadanda suka fi cancanta ta fuskar ilimi, kirar jiki, koshin lafiya, gaskiya, rikon amana da sanin ya kamata.  Sabanin haka ayau rahotanni da dama na nuni da yadda ake karbar makudan kudade a hannun matasa don shigar da su wannan aiki.  To a gaskiya wannan shi ne matakin farko na cusa akidar cin hanci da rashawa a tsakanin ‘yansandan mu.  Don kuwa kowa ya shiga aiki ta irin wannan hanya kokarin sa a koda yaushe shi ne ya zai mayar da kudinsa ya nunka maimakon ciyar da kasa gaba ta hanyar kare rayuka da mutuncin al’umma da dokokin aiki.

Bayan haka, zai yi kyau idan aka kyautata hanyar sadarwa tsakanin shugaban kasa da gwamnoni musamman akan al’amuran tsaro ta yadda zai zama su (Gwamnoni) suna da hanyoyin tuntuba na kai tsaye tsakanin su da shugaban kasa da shugaban ‘yansanda. Hakan zai bada damar dauka da kuma wanzar da matakan tsaro cikin hanzari a duk lokacin da bukatar yin hakan ta taso.   Kuma wajibi ne hukumomi su ci gaba da kiyaye hakkokin ‘yansanda ta hanyar biyan su wadataccen albashi kuma a kan kari.   Bugu da kari ya wajaba a samar wa ‘yan sanda wadatattu kuma ingantantattun kayan aiki na zamani.  Abin da matukar ban takaici ace a yau ‘yan ta’adda da masu aikata muggan laifuka suna da makaman da amon su kawai ya isa ya firgita Jami’an tsaron mu.

Haka zalika ya kamata aba ‘yansandan mu cikakken horo akan yaki da manyan laifuka ta hanyar leken asiri domin hakan ne zai basu damar bankadowa da dakile duk wani shiri na aikata laifi tun kafin akai ga aikata shi.   Cin nasarar wannan buri zai samu ne ta hanyar samar da kayan aikin yaki da manyan laifuka na zamani irin su na’ura mai kwakwalwa, da girke kyamarori masu nadar hotuna da bayanai a wuraren hada-hadar Jama’a.  Saboda haka dole Gwamnati tayi kasafi na musamman don samar da wadannan na’urori da kuma ba Jami’an tsaron mu ingantaccen horon da zai basu damar sarrafa su don amfanin kasa.  A wannan gaba kuma wajibi ne sassan tsara dabarun tsaron kasa na hukumar ‘yansanda su yi la’akari da karfafa dabarar yada ‘yansandan ciki a tsakanin al’umma. Wannan zai taimaka gaya wajen gano bata-gari a da kuma yin maganin su tun kafin su kai ga yiwa Jama’a illa.

A karshe, wajibi ne a ba ‘yansandan mu horo na musamman akan dabarun hulda da Jama’a. Ya zama dole ‘yansanda su siffanta da wannan kirari na su na “Dan Sanda Abokin Kowa”. Halin da muke ciki yanzu inda galibin al’umma ke yi wa ‘yansanda kallon azzalumai masu neman hanyoyin kuntata wa Jama’a dole ne ya canza.  Babbar hanyar canza irin wannan tunani shi ne ta hanyar kyautata huldar Jami’an tsaro da al’umma da shugabannin su.  Anan ya zama wajibi sashen hulda da Jama’a na hukumar ya samar da wani tsari na tuntubar juna tsakanin ‘yansanda da dattawan gari, shugabannin addini, shugabannin kungiyoyin matasa da na mata da na dalibai da dai sauransu.  Wannan shi zai bada damar hada karfi da karfe don yakar muggan laifuka a cikin al’umma. Dama ai ance hannu daya baya daukar jinka!

Yakowa's Adroitness - By Bala Yahaya

I write this piece today at the risk of sounding sycophantic and with a heavy heart over the last negative incidences in Kaduna State. The problem of ethno-religious conflagrations in Kaduna has become endemic with its attendant negative consequences of colossal loss of human lives and property. In most of the past crises the state government had been accused of not taking swift security measures to curtail escalation. The present government of Sir Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa however proves different in this regard. For just some few hours after the eruption of the last crisis evidence of government effort towards tackling it emerged. This significantly contributed to the swift control of the crisis.  Thus the state government deserves commendation in this regard.

Prior this, the government has demonstrated a clear sense of responsibility in citing meaningful projects even in traditionally opposition areas in the state.  This helps in engendering a sense of collective belongingness and allays fears of marginalization along ethno-religious and party lines.  Another befitting reference point in the Yakowa leadership style is the appointment of youth into key government positions.  This is a commendable gesture especially when viewed from the backdrop of the critical role of youths in the development process.  Also the government’s establishment of community interaction forums which create room for exchange of ideas among different ethnic groupings in the state is as well a step in the right direction.

Having identified a few of the bold steps taken by the Yakowa administration which can be described as the early signs of an adroit administration committed to achieving peaceful co-existence and meaningful development in a potentially volatile but highly endowed state like Kaduna, it is now pertinent to suggest ways of attaining sustainable peace in the state.

First and foremost any attempt at proffering solutions to the lingering ethno-religious tensions in Kaduna and indeed Nigeria as a whole must stem from the realization that the recurrent conflicts are only symptoms of other underlying factors which have their roots in both the social and economic conditions of the people. For instance, in his development theory, Dudley Seers theorized that the three major indexes of measuring development in any society entails a critical assessment of the levels of poverty, unemployment and income inequality.  It is factual today that these three factors are predominant features of our economy.

For example, Kaduna has been known as the industrial hub of Northern Nigeria where people flock from all nooks and crannies of the federation in search of greener pastures. This gave the state a very buoyant, enviable and self-sustaining economy. However, all these can today be described as past glory because of the collapse of the industrial sector in the state.  For instance, one of the largest employers of labour in Kaduna and indeed Nigeria is the textile industry which literally have its base in Kaduna but which today is in a state of total collapse going down with it thousands of jobs. 

Ibrahim and Okoruwa writing in the Sunday Tribune of 25/09/2011 on the plight of the textile industry in Nigeria stated that: The Nigerian textile industry was the second largest in Africa after Egypt’s in 1997, with over 250 vibrant factories operating above 50 per cent capacity utilization. Then, the local textile market had a share of about 20 per cent of Nigeria’s textile products with the balance of 80 per cent being imported.  As at 1980, the textile industry in the country could boast of over 175 textile factories, but today only about 25 are still producing, as most of them have closed shop.

This massive job loss comes with attendant consequences of rising poverty level which in turn geometrically increases crime levels and preponderance of moral vices like prostitution, adultery, dishonesty, and rapid collapse of the extended family system.  Furthermore and more unfortunately too, today unemployed youths have become ready tools in the hands of politicians, ethnic warlords, and terrorist organisations for entrenchment of their agenda which are often geared towards satisfaction of certain individual interests and to the detriment of harmonious communal co-existence and human progress.

To address this ugly trend it is pertinent that the government take proactive measures in addressing issues surrounding the collapse of our industrial sector.  In this regard, giant strides must be taken towards addressing the problem of epileptic power supply which remains the greatest factor militating against the growth and development of our industrial sector. Also other allied factors such as smuggling must be checked by ensuring that our porous boarders are effectively and genuinely controlled because the proliferation of foreign goods in our local markets has equally played dominant role in crippling our local industries over the years.  Furthermore, government policies must be geared towards deliberate creation of massive employment opportunities to accommodate our ever-increasing youth population.

The issue of income inequality is also critical in understanding the causes of social conflicts in our society.  Ours is a country in which the nation’s wealth is controlled by less than 10% of the entire population.  Thus while the majority wallow in abject poverty, the privileged few who happened to join the elite class through accident of birth, access to opportunities, superior educational/professional attainments, etc. engage in brazen show of affluence through use of state-of-the-art automobiles, opulent houses in choice areas, and access to sound healthcare and education for them and their wards.  Consequent upon this, public institutions/infrastructures are left in total shambles with the fortunes of the less-fortunate majority ever dwindling.  Unless deliberate steps are taken by the government to assiduously address this wide class difference, the society will continue to sit on a dangerous time bomb that can explode at the slightest provocation.

It is also pertinent that existing structures for interactions among community and religious leaders and their disciples be strengthened to create room for more understanding of the diverse socio-cultural and religious differences of the people that inhabit the country.  Such efforts will definitely help in fostering unity, understanding and mutual respect among the populace as well as contribute in allaying deep-seated mutual fears, suspicion and distrust.  Towards this end religious leaders on both sides of the divide must be enjoined to preach restraint, peaceful co-existence, maturity of conduct, and respect for values held sacrosanct by adherents of other religions.

Furthermore in a multi-cultural and religious society such as ours, vertical and horizontal balancing in government appointments and access to opportunities will serve as a stabilizing force for peaceful co-existence and political stability. This is because most of the problems that trigger social conflicts in our society today are rooted in official lopsidedness, highhandedness, and lack of due consideration of the structural composition of varying societal interests that have to be constantly pacified and addressed.

Moreover, social structures that play critical roles in shaping and reshaping of youth psychology must be given due consideration.  This is because the youth always form the basic agent for stoking the fires of ethnic hatred which ultimately leads to undesirable consequences.  Towards this end, the family, as the first agent of socialization has a critical role to play in instilling desired values of honesty, hard-work, piety, patriotism and fear of God in their wards.  Academic curriculums must also be redesigned to include courses that will redirect the thinking and character of our youths towards virtuous lines.  Furthermore, the curriculums must be enriched to include entrepreneurial studies that will enable graduates to become self-employed instead chasing too few or outrightly non-existent job opportunities.

Another critical factor that will also assist in engendering peaceful co-existence among the populace is a major change in the attitudes of our politicians in their quest for power. The political class must understand that politics is not a do or die affair. They should also realize that the whole essence of politics is about service and adding value to the society not causing havoc to societal fabric through untoward appeal to ethnic and religious sentiments.  They should equally realize that there can be only one winner in any contest be it political or whatever and thus learn to take defeat with equanimity and the victors, victory with accommodation for what goes around comes around!

Africa: Beyond the World Bank Presidency - By Bala Yahaya

The contest for the World Bank presidency has come and gone.  The American-favoured candidate, the Asian-American Jim Yong Kim got it, our own Ngozi Okonjo Iweala lost out. Pundits were of the view that Iweala was more eminently qualified for the post than Yong. One of the many arguments bandied for the superiority of Iweala, an economist by training, over Yong was her vast experience in the institution which she served for over two (2) decades, a career that climaxed with the holding of the position of the Managing Director of the Bank.  Compared with Yong who is a health expert, health issues being no less important index of human development, Iweala towers mightily above.

Also the fact that Iweala is from a continent that is bedeviled by serious underdevelopment issues, which the bank is said to be established with the primary aim of addressing in the first place, should ordinarily give her an edge over Yong after all it is said that he who wears the shoe knows where it pinches the most!  There is no doubt today that Africa is the home of poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, income inequality, increasing child and maternal deaths, massive corruption, gender inequality, among many other such ills.  Therefore, a World Bank president from a background characterized by these ills is most likely to be more proactive in addressing them or so it is thought.

It is also argued that the notable contributions of Iweala in negotiating debt relief for Nigeria during her reign as the country’s Finance Minister in the Obasanjo II administration, debatable in terms of tangible economic benefits to the country as it were, was as well a pointer to her vast experience in high level international financial negotiations, a skill that is not only desirable but also vital for success in such sensitive position as World Bank President.

Furthermore, the fact that continental politics and the quest for supremacy in the region between Nigeria and its archrival South Africa was set aside to jointly sponsor the candidature of Iweala made a very strong statement of the continent’s resolve to forge a common front for adequate representation in the World Bank based on strong merit rather than national sentiments.  Also the fact that the candidacy of Iweala received the blessings of many World Bank former employees and leading financial tabloids across the world is an eloquent testimony not only of her sterling qualifications as an experienced economist but also of her general acceptance across the globe.

It is thus, an irony that in spite of the picture depicted above, Iweala lost the job to a less qualified and equally less experienced contender just because he had the blessings of the sole super power and its allies in the European Union.

This incident once more brings to the fore the question of the very negative implications of Africa’s and indeed other third world economies’ association with these metropolitan financial institutions. It is on record that in order to address the lingering economic problems of the global south the trio of World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Trade Organisation (WTO) recommend or even out rightly enforce policy templates on these disadvantaged countries, policies that over the years proved to be cure worse than the disease.

For instance it is on record that one of the causes of the numerous socio-economic problems bedeviling Nigeria today have their roots in the adoption of the World Bank/IMF’s recommended Structural Adjustment Programme in 1986 under the General Babangida Administration.   This was a policy which focal points includes currency devaluation, removal of trade barriers, privatisation of public enterprises, removal of subsidies, less government participation in economic activities, etc.

It is on record that these policies played key roles in strangulating the country’s economy through destruction of its infrastructural and industrial base occasioned by harsh operating environment and unfair competition with imported goods from countries with cheaper production costs.  For instance, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) reports that: a total of 834 manufacturing companies closed shop in 2009 as a result of their inability to continue to cope with the challenges posed by the harsh operating environment in Nigeria. The implication of this according to Dr. Warea Thomas an economic analyst with UNDP is that “when a company stops operation, the workers there become the frontline victims. If 834 firms were officially given by MAN to have closed shop in 2009, it is easy to speculate that not less than 83,400 jobs were lost in that year alone; if we assume that they were all medium-size manufacturing firms, with each having 100 workers” (Punch Newspapers 31/10/2010 edition).

The negative consequences of this state of affairs cannot be over-stated.  For instance it is a fact that the collapse the nation’s industrial base is substantially connected to the soaring rate of unemployment and by implication rising poverty level and crime rates in the country which are major indicators of under-development.  It has equally led to the near extermination of the middle class with the nation’s abundant wealth concentrated in the hands of a few thus consistently widening the income inequality gap between the rich and the poor.

Furthermore, the World Bank and IMF policies have played substantial roles in the eruption and escalation of social conflicts in Africa which over the years have claimed many innocent lives and left countries like Somalia largely ungovernable and many others in total disarray. For example, in his work entitled “The Political Failure of Globalisation in Africa”, the late erudite scholar Professor Sam Aluko stated that “the 1990 Rwandan ethnic strife between the Tutsis and the Hutus was largely fueled by the collapse of the Rwandan economy under the tutelage of the IMF.”

Perhaps, the full implications of the Rwandan genocide are as depicted by wikipedia.com in its analysis of the conflict. It recorded that out of a population of 7.3 million people–84% of whom were Hutu, 15% Tutsi and 1% Twa – the official figures published by the Rwandan government estimated the number of victims of the genocide to be 1,174,000 in 100 days (i.e. 10,000 murdered every day, 400 every hour, 7 every minute). It is estimated that about 300,000 Tutsis survived the genocide. Thousands of widows, many of whom were subjected to rape, are now HIV-positive. There were about 400,000 orphans and nearly 85,000 of them were forced to become heads of families.

Furthermore the relationship between African and other underdeveloped economies and the entire imperialist financial architecture is designed to perpetually enslave the former through an interminable debt chain. Nigeria is a living example of this assertion. According to Aluko, “the total externally borrowed money by Nigeria was about $17.5 billion between 1978 and 2000.  Although $32.5 billion had been repaid to the external creditors between 1978 and 2000, Nigeria still owed the external creditors $28.5 billion as at the end of year 2000.  However, the IMF and World Bank had been contending that at the beginning of year 2001, Nigeria still owed $34.5 billion and not $28.5 billion and that Nigeria must reach accord with the London and Paris Clubs of creditors on the debt issue before any rescheduling or relief to her would be considered.”

The above are just a few of the very negative consequences of the influences of IMF, World Bank and WTO on third world countries in the light of which it becomes expedient for African countries to rethink their association with these institutions and chart a new course for realistic, home-grown development strategies that will see to rapid human progress in their territories.  Leaving these economies to the dictates of the ‘market’ has proved to be not only unrealistic but catastrophic as well.

It is a fact of history that America under President Franklin Roosevelt used the machinery of government instead of market mechanism to rescue its economy from the great depression of 1929 through the famous “new deal”.  In this deal government might was deployed to rescue America’s collapsing economy, to construct roads, bridges, dams, to provide stable electricity all necessary ingredients to industrial growth and expansion.  Moreover, in the wake of the ongoing global economic meltdown, why did the Bush administration inject billions of dollars to save America’s collapsing giant financial institutions, a gesture which extends into the present regime of Barack Obama? After all one thinks that what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander as well.

It is therefore self-evident that the collaboration by the western powers to foist a weaker candidate as the President of World Bank to the detriment of Africa’s more qualified and more experienced candidate is a strong demonstration of not only their desire but also strong resolve, to maintain stranglehold on these institutions as a lever for further entrenchment of their imperialist hegemony over the rest of the world. Not that Africa’s holding of the Presidency would have made much difference anyway, but it only goes to show that like in George Orwell”s Animal farm, in these institutions all animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.

Why Nagarta Radio Must Not Capsize - Bala Yahaya

One of the numerous disadvantages of Northern Nigeria within the geographical expression called Nigeria is the paucity of media i.e. both print and electronic.

As a result of this, the region has suffered serious blackmail over the years especially from the thriving press axis of Lagos/Ibadan which literally controls the nation’s media industry. Several attempts to establish respectable media outfits particularly newspapers that would also give a strong voice to Northern Nigeria in the country’s largely information-based politics and economics have grossly failed. The demise of hitherto promising outfits like the “The Democrat”, “Citizen”, and the “The Reporter” to mention but a few is a sad commentary any day. It has been argued over and over again that one of the factors responsible for the collapse of these all-important institutions especially at this critical period of our history is the poor reading culture in the region occasioned by mass illiteracy which invariably results in low patronage.

It is however an established fact that what the average Northerner lacks in reading culture is made up in an unsurpassed radio listening culture. There is hardly a home in Northern Nigeria in which there is no well-established culture of relying on the radio for information and entertainment. It is however unfortunate that even this very important weapon of information dissemination has been grossly neglected by our entrepreneurs and politicians leaving the industry in the hands of government which in turn use it as an instrument of propaganda and self-glorification. Thus the average Northerner left with no credible alternative takes solace in metropolitan media outfits such as the BBC, VOA, DW Radio and CRI among many other such stations. Even though it is a fact that these outfits provide a premise for opposition politicians in developing economies such as ours to air their views at the same time, some of their programmes are wrapped up in antics geared at the promotion and defence of their paymasters’ ideologies and views about world affairs which are often at variance with our inherited religious values, cultures and traditions.

It is in the midst of this difficult situation that an unprecedented, gigantic and praiseworthy initiative was undertaken by one of North’s prominent sons to provide an alternative indigenous and privately owned radio station that will serve as a springboard for the furtherance of Northern interest within the Nigerian polity. Since the station which operates on the medium wave band KHz 747 came on air, it has successfully carved a niche for itself as most radio listeners across the North see it as a credible option to the status quo of radio broadcasting in the region.

It is also on record that the success of the new outfit has a direct relationship with the steadfastness and total commitment of its pioneer General Manager Mallam Shehu Yusuf Kura who unreservedly brought his immense wealth of experience and long-established goodwill and reputation as a veteran broadcaster to bear on the new outfit. The introduction under him of popular programmes such as “Kowane Allazi”, “Duniyar Finafinai”, “Sira”, Kimiyya da Fasaha a Musulunci”, etc. no doubt added to the fame of the radio station for as it is there is something for everyone ranging from the youth and the aged, the male and the female, the learned and the unlearned, etc.

Also special features such as perspectives on the life and times of great Northern personalities like the Late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Mallam Aminu Kano and even the legendary Hausa Musicians like the late Dr. Alhaji Mamman Shata and Late Alhaji Musa Dankwairo all added spice to the station’s activities and contributed to its increased listenership across the region and beyond. Add all these to the variety of Ramadan Tafsirs which gives all Muslims a sense of belonging and commitment to the station irrespective of their sects within the religion as well as the Sallah interactive programme which assembles various artists whom listeners always long to see in flesh and blood.

Furthermore, as stated above, the ever-charming and magnetic voice of Yusuf Kura makes the station almost synonymous to VOA such that whenever the much-appreciated voice comes on air in programmes like “Kowane Allazi” you hear listeners stating with delight “Yau Na Kura ne da kansa!” (Today it is Kura himself that is presenting).

It is therefore with the deepest sense of displeasure that the teeming admirers of Nagarta Radio received the news of the feud between Kura and the Board of Nagarta which led to his relegation to the rank of General Manager (Operations) as reported by Leadership Newspapers which itself is yet another commendable initiative towards addressing Northern under-representation in the southern-dominated scene of Nigeria’s print journalism. It is therefore pertinent to at this juncture call on the Board of Nagarta to unreservedly forgive Kura for whatever “sins” he might have committed in the course of his stewardship as no one, except God is perfect. The fact that he sacrificed a well-paying job in the US to come home and nurture Nagarta to its present fame is a rare demonstration of sacrifice, brinkmanship, and sincere commitment to serve fatherland which must and should always be praised and encouraged. The success of Nagarta has always been a source of inspiration and pleasure to all Northerners that the age-long jinx against Northern private initiative in the media industry has been effectively broken. If therefore by any act of commission or omission Nagarta is allowed to capsize, posterity will never forgive us! 

Published on Gamji.com