The View. |
It
was in those days when Nigeria was a beautiful country - a time when terrorism
was haram in our land and it was unimaginable to entertain fears of its
manifestations as we do today.
But
things are pretty much different today; and so bad that telling your loved ones
that you are traveling by road from Abuja to Yola is easily interpreted as a
derring-do. And, expectedly, returning the country to those days of peace and
unity (the very sacrament of the nation-state) has been a major campaign issue
for political office seekers since the turn of the new millennium.
A
twelve hour journey on the highway in Nigeria is another meaning of what a
stressful day could be. The roads are bad as usual and the security search
points after almost every five kilometer of the travel makes it all the more
daunting. But then, the sights and sound of the North is a warming reward. I
dare say that no other part of this country is as beautiful as the Northern
landscape. The tropical grassland of the savannah hemmed by the sprawling
mountains that form an interlocking pattern from the Plateau of Nigeria's
North-central all along to the plain desert of the North-East of the country
and into the Republic of Cameroon is one of the exotic beauty of the planet.
But
apart from the splendour of its natural beauty, life is pretty more hard for
the Northerner - perhaps more so since the past three years. Farmers till the
fields; menials sift the guinea corn from its trunk; motorists and hawkers ply
their trades on the highway. It is a fact check that there hasn’t been any
improvement in the lifestyle of the Nigerian, nay Northerner! If anything, it
is a story of next level of hardship and frustration.
Agriculture
is still very much agrarian. The major crop for cultivation is the guinea corn
and I could suspect this time of the year is the harvesting season of the crop.
While harvesting was taking place along all the farming fields we traveled
through, the middle men are busy buying off produce from the fields and
transporting the produce to a common collection center from where they will be
transported to the bigger city centers of Kano, Enugu, Lagos and the likes. It
was fascinating to have a brief encounter with the supply chain of the food
that we consume in Nigeria. It was also a moment to reflect on how the food we
dish in our luxury dining rooms are planted by farmers whose children do not go
to school, but are busy in the fields to plant the crops that our educated
children in the city will consume. If consciously or otherwise we deny the girl
child education, the society will give birth to a generation of human beings
who from day one of their birth will be national security risks!
Like
every other Nigerian, the Northerner is very hard working and wants the country
to work for her citizens. It needs a political leadership with a plan to build
the people and infrastructure; a leadership that is ready to pay a premium to
educate young people knowing full well that not getting an education is
actually more expensive.
For
sure, the North has a very rich history and that much was reflected in the
colourful turbarning ceremony of Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President of
Nigeria as the 7th Waziri of the Adamawa Emirate Council.
A
rich history isn't all what the North needs; it also needs a bright future.
Fortunately, the two leading candidates for the presidential election next year
are both from the North and it is therefore incumbent on leaders and opinion
makers in the North to support its best - one that has a clear vision for the
future, one who is able to also build the broken bridge of unity amongst other
geo-political zones and primordial identities in Nigeria.
Sanni,
a media practitioner wrote from Abuja following a road trip from Abuja to Yola
to witness the turbaning ceremony of Atiku Abubakar, Presidential candidate of
PDP as 7th Waziri of Adamawa.
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