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Opinions and Analysis | |
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The
other day, a truckload of men from Jigawa State made it to Lagos as they do on
a daily basis in the constant flux of human beings in, around and outside
Nigeria and all over the world. For some reason, someone alerted the Lagos
State Government which swung into action and intercepted the truck. On board
were 123 men and 40 motorcycles. Upon questioning, some of the men - many were
teenage boys - said they came to Lagos for greener pastures, in other words, to 'hustle', as we Nigerians are known to do everywhere. The only problem is that
our hustle has no structure or class, is almost always after peanuts and we end
up falling into the underground economy. Some of the 123 men said they brought
their 40 'okadas' with them to do bike business in Lagos. The state
seized the bikes, stating that such means of transportation has since been
outlawed in Lagos.
A
number of my friends who bear tribal/religious affinity with the Jigawa 123
have taken umbrage. Abba Hikima and friends have taken Lagos State Government
to court, claiming N1billion on behalf of the 123 boys. The case is delicate,
and Lagos has to tread carefully because of PR blowbacks. The basis of the
claim however, is 'freedom of movement of Nigerians within Nigeria', and the
right laws have been cited. But for me, I make bold to say Lagos wasn't wrong
in finding out why a truckload of men/boys will happen on it on any given day.
People migrate everywhere within the country for business, educational, and
economic reasons. But the idea of men and boys moving in magnitudes should be
cause for concern for anyone, especially if we are running our nation the way
nations should be run. If for example, these men were moving with their
wives and families, it may not be a bad idea even though records should still
be kept to know who is moving where, for what purpose, and in order to make
adjustments that will allow for a balanced society. The fundamental flaw in
Hikim's case is that he and others assume that society is run in some sort of
fluidity that with no accountability. Our people say when we are weeping, at
least we should still be able to see our surroundings. The way most parts of
Nigeria has been managed today, with no documentation, is certainly one of the
reasons why we are still stuck in backwardness
And
so, before the right to free movement; is the right to a fair child care and
basic education from the state. We are talking here of a country where in many
parts, births are not registered, people don't know how many children they have
because some cultures forbid that you count your children, and especially in
states like Jigawa, Katsina, Kano, Yobe and others in the far north, there are
no real borders between us and our neighbors in Niger Republic, Chad, and
Northern Cameroun. In many of those societies, the concept of modern state is
still alien. Maryam Abacha has her university in Maradi, Niger Republic for
example, and I know many people from those states who feel more comfortable in
those countries than they feel in Abuja. Jigawa is a border state with Niger
and close to Chad. It is border with Yobe, where Boko Haram still has them on
tenterhooks. Between 50%-80% of those boys who came to Lagos standing in
a trailer, could have been from other countries. We saw how a man from Niger
Republic was able to come all the way to Lagos, breach our airport perimeters,
and climb into a plane's engine as it taxied on the runway!
We
have come to a point where peoples must take care of those in their charge. By
suing Lagos state on behalf of those boys, and making a major issue around why
a state will be worried that as much as it is trying to make life better for
its tax-paying, law-abiding, long-suffering inhabitants, undocumented,
untraceable thousands are pouring in daily who dive into the black economy - riding okadas, working as 'alabarus' in the markets, 'maibolas' (scavengers) or just being vagrants/vagabonds because their numbers outstrip
the availability of even these menial jobs, we are allowing the state governors
and leaders to get away with bad governance. We have heard many times,
governors alleging that their people are poor and ravaged with diseases because
of their (the people's) sins. Some mention fornication even while they are
completing their own hotels in Lagos, with bailouts meant for the people's
wellbeing. So I believe Hikima's suit may actually be inimical to the long-term
wellbeing and survival of the same people he claims to help. We need fair
education for those people, and maternal care, and documentation, and guidance,
and a chance to connect with and be useful to the modern economy. Indeed, we
need them to have a sense of allegiance to Nigeria. Yes. If any of those 123
were asked about what they think about Nigeria, chances are that MOST - raised
most probably as Almajiris - have no idea about loyalty to Nigeria. They
only understand their tribes and their religion. Nigeria does not exist - even
to a great many educated people anyway! Why then are we arguing about freedom
of movement for people who are supposed to be Nigerians but have no idea of the
concept of modern nationhood? Is Nigeria a nation, or a even country, beyond
the confines of government offices? I say those who really hate those boys are
those who use long grammar to deflect from what should matter most - that those
boys should have a better, structured life, not travel everywhere for odd jobs.
Let
me go over to South Africa.
Whereas
many of those who complain about the idea of RUGA at these delicate times (and
I have my clear misgivings about that concept), are also complaining about
xenophobia in South Africa, I am not one of those. Those who see it as odd and
unhealthy for Jigawa 123 to be dumped in a trailer into Lagos, hold
diametrically opposing views to the events in SA. See, we cannot approbate and
reprobate at the same time. I think the average Nigeria now needs to understand
quite a bit about Emotional Intelligence. It is the lack of it that shuts our
mind from seeing the effect of our actions. We don't see, and don't want to
see, how our actions impact on others. Imagine a country like South Africa,
built by the whites under the despicable practice of Apartheid. The whites have
used their knowledge, technology and yes, black labour, to build a first world
country in Africa. Other blacks from Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania, Zimbabwe,
Malawi, Zambia are rushing there because - as one of the Nigerians living there
said - even if you rent a single room, your standard of living is like someone
living in Ikoyi because of the infrastructure. The South African blacks are
fighting back under whatever pretext and of course these things spiral out of
control in the poorest areas. As I conclude this article, the native South
Africans have launched another protest to insist that foreigners (their fellow
black), must leave. Fundamentally, these events portend a great shame to black
people. And both sides - south African blacks and other blacks - are to blame.
I ask:
The
rhetoric from most Nigerians against black South Africans of recent is most
unfortunate, and shows how insensitive we are. I think we may now have reached
a denouement in this matter; a time to take decisive action. Even we will not
take what we are meting to South Africans. But we certainly aren't as violent
as they are.
South
Africa is a very high crime society. Just yesterday, another Nigerian was
reportedly killed in an unrelated case (some represent that it had to do with
drugs). South Africa is the only country I've seen, where armed robbers
hijacked a camera crew while on live broadcast! People kill for $5 in South
Africa. All these events show that we need to start appreciating our own
country. Many who emigrate to SA talk down on Nigeria and are not ready to
contribute anything to make their own country a better place. Some even call
Nigeria zoo. But you cannot leave a zoo and try to make a zoo of another man's
land.
What
is more? The idea of globalization increasingly looks like a scam. Globalization
is meant to be a scenario where factors of production - land, labor, capital
and entrepreneurship - move very freely. All the while, critics of
globalization noted that only capital and entrepreneurship, and to a lesser
extent land, seem to move freely. Capital was always in search of returns. Only
capital (through interests and returns) could add to and multiply itself. We
are only now seeing, that labor has not been and is still not allowed that free
movement; especially, cheap, raw labor. Only well-trained labour is welcome in
most countries, but we have to worry about brain drain.
Closing
Thoughts.
Nigerians
are not only running to South Africa, but basically everywhere else in the
world, and we say there is no problem at home. If there is no problem at home,
then people of other countries should be worried with the migration of
Nigerians. There was a time when perhaps 15% of the Ghanaian population came to
Nigeria - mostly men. Despite the fact that they came with skills and if you
find a middle-aged Nigerian with fairly good spoken English today he/she may
likely have been taught by a Ghanaian teacher, we ran them out between
1983-1985. The Indians also came around the same time, but left on their own.
More than 1.5million Ghanaians were chased out of here and we weren't
charitable to them. After all, they had done same to us on a smaller scale, in
1969.
The
clear bottom-line is that we need to get our pride back as a people. And the
first thing about getting that pride back - paradoxically - is that we need to
first show humility. Then our leaders must stop faffing around in their luxury
binge and see the revolution that is afoot so that they are not consumed by it;
and alongside them, many innocent people. Seeing SUVs being randomly attacked
during the week, I couldn't get it off my mind what happens when wild animals
like lions and tigers taste that slightly-salty human blood. Our street
urchins, who used to 'tuale' for big cars, seem to have lost their
innocence. Let us begin to think of the day when Nigerians will get their pride
back in countries like Gabon, Angola, South Africa, Libya, Malaysia, Ethiopia,
China, Thailand, Turkey, Greece, Italy and the rest of Europe, the Americas and
so on. We are despised in almost every country in the world. I see why. Most
people cannot see why we have such a huge challenge with corruption and our
leaders are the 'richest' in the world, while we run to their country to hustle
rather than fix our country. The other day we saw how congressmen sleep
in their offices in the USA, because they cannot afford rent in Washington,
while many of own congressmen own multiple houses in the same city! No, we
cannot dump our crap on other countries.
It
is beyond shameful that we are beset with bad, visionless leadership over the
decades and we are now as orphans all over the world, 'hustling' for survival,
with many of our youths doing some sort of crime or the other. Only two
weeks ago, the FBI bust a syndicate of 77 Nigerians who do cybercrime in the
USA. We have seen how our boys are being sold on the slab for $400 in war-torn
Libya, where thousands of Nigerians still troop to. We have seen the number of
our girls prostituting in Italy, Spain, Greece, Russia. So rather than
this international nuisance, we should be thinking of increasing the population
of our educated, smart folk who are earning top dollar plus respect, all over
the world too. Pleading free movement, for me is an irresponsible rhetoric. It
is the same theory being advanced by the supporters of the Jigawa 123, whom
rather than call the attention of the governor of Jigawa, are craftily
normalizing an abnormal situation, and kicking the can of illiteracy, poverty,
vagrancy, and low productivity down the road.
That
is how we always miss the point. This is the time for serious governance.
This nation is expiring. The bitter things we say about ourselves, the
tribal/religious/ethnic/clannish affiliations, which are deeper and more
entrenched than the loyalty to our Nigerian-ness, makes me wonder whether a day
will ever come, when this country will save itself from disintegration. Nigeria
is disintegrating. And no, restructuring will no longer solve this problem. It
is no wonder that none of these Nigerians in SA are willing to return home even
on a free ride. Rather than the vituperations and insults to our South African
hosts, we should bury our heads in shame as a people.
All
that sing-song about our sacrifices under Apartheid will no longer wash. We
have shown the world that we are free spenders anyway, and so are
under-appreciated. With this new onslaught, Nigeria should be ready to take a
decisive decision like happened in 1983-85. I don't see how we can insist on
leaving many of our boys in that country.
Our
focus should be further towards our true north. We must find how we can fix our
nation. Whether we are talking of Jigawa and the rest of Nigeria, or Nigeria
and the rest of the world, what we are getting here is serious feedback.
Nigeria is easily the most misgoverned country in the world. How long it'll
hold up hence, I cannot tell.
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About
the Author
Tope
Kolade Fasua is a Nigerian businessman, economist and writer. He is the founder
and CEO of Global Analytics Consulting Limited, an international consulting
firm with its headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria. He was the 2019 presidential
candidate of the Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP), which he founded. He
can be contacted via e-mail at ceo@global-analytics.co.uk
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