Dr. Pogu Bitrus is the National President of the Middle-Belt Forum (MBF). In this interview with Weekend Trust, he explains why the North has failed to develop over the years and how the challenges in the region can be addressed.
The North is experiencing difficult times; poverty, hunger and insecurity. What is responsible for this?
The answer is simple; the British came and discovered that our structure was similar to that of India and foisted on the country what they called, indirect rule, giving opportunities to the caliphate and the Sultanate of Borno in the North, to rule over people who were before the colonisation, independent nationalities within the Middle Belt and other areas of the North. That is one of the reasons we are not progressing.
These people who were predominately Fulani and Kanuri at the other end ensured that keeping the dominance and ruling over other parts of the country was of more importance to them than developing the country to the extent that whether it was creation of states when military leaders were in office, creation of local government, development and whatever; they always did it just to favour that domination, rather than building a North that is all inclusive and cohesive.
And because of that, over the years, people became conscious of what was happening and as people get more conscious, they continue to introduce other means of this domineering force. As long as these two groups continue to manipulate, using whatever means to dominate, rather than to develop, the North will never grow. Now, it is falling apart. I remember in 1999, they started saying those people in the Middle Belt, who are Christians, appointed, were not Northerners, Northerners were saying that. So, that is what has destroyed the North, and as long as this manipulation continues and they depend on some archaic teachings of dominance, it is going to explode or implode as time goes on. So the main problem is the legacy of the colonial masters; ensuring that some people dominate others through indirect rule; this brought us to where we are today.
You blame the colonial masters, but can you say the political leadership in the North has done enough to address the challenges over the years?
You see, when a mindset has been established, whoever comes into governance status or level, carries that mindset along and promotes and propagates it. So, many people around the country have been saying, ‘let’s forget about this local government system because it is full of imbalances’. Who did it? Leaders from the North; favouring some areas where they feel they, you know, are their people and forgetting about other areas where they feel those people don’t matter, giving lopsided vantage points to people and to areas and to tribal groups that continue to dominate others. So, the caliphate thinks, yes, we still have to maintain dominance over a territory they didn’t conquer even before the British came.
That is the commonality in the Middle Belt, because there are some maps in the early part of the colonisation showing areas that neither the caliphate, nor the Sultanate of Borno, had influence over. These are the people now calling themselves Middle Belters and the issue is, the Middle Belt struggle will continue. It is part of the geographical North, but psychologically, these people are saying, no.
Do you mean that one of the reasons the North is in turmoil is because the minorities are not carried along in the scheme of things?
Of course, yes. If people are carried along, will they complain? Right from the onset, the proponents of the Middle Belt struggle, they felt, yes, we are this thing, but we are different. We have been lumped together for political purposes of the British, because the Northern, the caliphate then, didn’t have the population to be able to contest favourably with the South-west and the South-east. And of course, the Middle Belt had to be used to buffer the North.
But along the line, as time went on, though the Middle Belters accepted fully and served for the North, right before and after independence, the far North continued to create that segregation. And gradually, the Middle Belters, the minorities of the North, that is the non-Fulani, Kanuri minorities of the North, then said, hey! wait a minute, we have to have our own portion of the cake. It’s an uphill task, but gradually, the Middle Belt is coming up.
- Northerners who can be listened to, are not showing up – Prof. Munzali Jibrin
- North is a victim of itself; solutions to its challenges lie within – Wazirin Katsina
How do we end poverty, hunger, insecurity and other challenges in the North?
People are greedy. Just imagine all of the economy of this country has been on oil. Gold was discovered in Zamfara, people have been mining, landlords, the big shots have been taking this. We don’t know what that gold is making as contribution to national development or the development of the North. They forget about developing the people, developing their communities, lifting people out of poverty because governance is not about just staying in office. That’s the unfortunate thing that is happening.
Let me just give you an example. Jonathan came in and started the Almajiri schools in the North. This man is not a Muslim, but he felt, we need to address this problem. Go to these Almajiri schools today. Who are there? Are there students there to add value to the teeming youths that are being produced in numbers? So, we are our problems because people are greedy and selfish, including the ruling class.
The National Assembly, as we are talking, we are debating the reality or the truthfulness or otherwise of what they collect at the end of the month. Some senators, members of National Assembly have come out to say, yes, this is what comes to my account every month. And then the collectivity of the leadership, is saying, no, it’s not true.
So, our problem is; we have leadership that is full of greedy people, selfish people, who only care about themselves.
So, the problem is; we have gotten it wrong. It started with the wrong foundation. We have to get back to where we got it wrong, correct the wrongs, and then the North can be a better place.
Is it possible for the North to still have the political unity that existed in the days of Sardauna?
The North can do whatever, can achieve whatever it wants to, as long as we sit down as equal partners and project ourselves as people who can, together make it happen. But this issue of, he comes from this nationality or from that nationality is a big problem.
So it is up to those people who have been riding their high horses to come down. And, you know, it has to be through sincerity of purpose. There are some people, whatever you tell me, or they tell me, I will say, my friend, be where you are. The issue is, when you start feeling you are the one who determines what should happen, there is trouble.
All countries that remained the way we are now have fallen apart. Look at Yugoslavia, they are also having some plurality like ours. They refused to say, hey, let’s address plurality. Where are they? They have fallen apart. So many countries have fallen apart. But there are countries that addressed their plurality, like India, like Canada, today, they are still standing and they are progressing.
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