THE SPATE OF INCESSANT KILLINGS IN THE NORTH, NO PRESIDENT CAN EASILY STOP IT!

– IT IS AGELONG, HISTORICAL AND TRADO-CULTURAL IN NATURE. IT IS A SOCIAL SPORT AND A WAY OF LIFE IN THE NORTH.

 

Just as it is now in the time of President Buhari, so it was since the days of Lord Lurgard as the Governor General of/in Nigeria. So it was in the days of Gowon, Shagari, Babangida, Obasanjo, Abdulsalami, Yar’Adua, Jonathan, and so shall it continue to be in that part of Nigeria, until the North itself decides to do something realistic about the peculiar nature of that social orientation and trado-cultural way of life.

 

When a social menace is about the way of life of a people, who is that President or governor, who can magically or easily do anything to stop it?!

 

So, I am not one of those, blaming President Muhammadu Buhari for still struggling with it, because I know he can’t easily stop it. I am so convinced, he can’t!

 

Anytime there is peace in the North, it is probably because the North is on killing and attacking break; it is the time of Ramadan, the holy fasting period or that region just doesn’t want to kill.

 

Anytime the North wants to kill, it would always kill – Killing is a way of life and the social sport of the people of the Northern part of Nigeria!

 

It didn’t start today. It has been historically age-long and has been there even before my family ancestors were born – It is a way of life in that part of Nigeria.

 

It has been living with Nigeria since the time of Uthman Dan Foidio and Lord Lurgard et cetera.

In 1989, an uncle, the man who was sponsoring my education, was brutally slaughtered along with his four male children in the Kawo Kaduna Sangokataf riots of that year.

 

That is one of the many killing carnages, which have wasted lives and destroyed families in that part of Nigeria over the many years. That incident happened about 31 years ago and up till now, it is still about the same stories of daily occurrences and recurrences of deliberate and calculated attacks and spilling of human bloods in the North.

 

THE SOLUTION:

The North should allow the like of the former Emir of Kano, Lamido Sanusi Lamido, to continue to initiate or goad the revolution to continue to re-educate the North; re-orientate the North; reform and refine the way of life of the North; re-engineer the social way of life of the North and generally re-build and re-position the North for better socio-economically acceptable civility as well as ideal politico- modern and trado- cultural way of life.

 

That is the solution or else, no president has ever been good enough to stop it, and I bet you, no president would ever be good enough to stop it in Nigeria.

 

We shouldn’t forget that Bokoharam, ISWAP et cetera wars have been running and wrecking killing havocs in Nigeria for more that 11 years already and still without an idea of when it would end. And predatively it has been like that, even before these needless wars were officially declared on Nigeria in the year 2008.

 

President Muhammadu Buhari is their own son in power, if his government has been struggling to stop the series of wanton killings especially in that part of Nigeria since the 5 years he has been fighting the senseless and unwarranted war, then who will?!

 

Who is that President that would be good enough to stop what is the normal way of life of a people as magically and as easily as that?!

 

Who?!

Hear Lamido Sanusi’s response on the issue, when he visited his friend, Governor Elrufai, in Kaduna few days ago:

“The spate of killings in Kaduna predates the time of this present governor. It has been here for a long time. So, this governor cannot be blamed for the recurrence of the age-long menace here in the North. He is not the one who brought it and so, should not take all the blame for the re-ocurrence of the situation …”

 

I agree with him. He was right!

 

I insist, to kill; to harass; to maim; to babarically spill bloods and to incessantly promote unwarranted socio-religoius and banditry mayhems et cetera in the name of God knows what reasons, is more like the social sport in the North and the peculiar way of life of the people of that part of Nigeria.

 

It is historically agelong and ever prevalent. No President and his service chiefs have been able to successfully and completely stop or change the disturbing situation and I won’t be part of those, blaming President Muhammadu Buhari for still struggling with the situation. I know he can’t easily stop it.

 

Change this President and his set of service chiefs and bring in the new ones to continue to confront the perennially precarious situation, to me, it is never going to change the situation. Or how many service chiefs have the previous Presidents changed in the past, did it stop the menace?!

 

Uthman Danfodio brought it; Lord Lurgard approved it; Sir Amadu Bello couldn’t stop it; Gowon couldn’t; Sagari couldn’t; Obasanjo couldn’t; Babangida couldn’t; Abacha couldn’t; Abdulsalami couldn’t; Yaradua didn’t live enough to stop it; Jonathan couldn’t, now, another illustrious son of the North is the President, yet his government is still struggling for the past 5 years now to find a solution to the barbaric menace.

 

If the North wants to kill, it would kill and no president and his security personnel, no matter how good they might appear to be, would be able to stop the region.

 

Killing is a way of life in the North!

 

KEY LESSON IN THE SITUATION:

If it is possible, let us stop slaughtering and spilling the bloods of life animals indiscriminately around the humane sensibilities and social orientation of our children in Africa, lest they keep living or grow up to have little or no value for human and animal life.

 

If all what is dominantly in the socio-cultural and economic way of life of a people, is to keep exposing the orientation of their children and citizens to the skilful use of dagger, sword, knife and other dangerous weapons to slaughter or kill this or that as part of their socio-economic survival on daily basis, there is no way what has been happening in the North, won’t perennially continue to be like that.”

 

Olukayode Salako.

#EducateTheNorthTodayAdvocacy