Allah yabaku musamu

Socrates, the greatest philosopher of all time, was also said to be the most hated man of his time in Athens.

Socrates was accused of cruelty and corruption of the young people of Athens by spreading ideas that challenged and questioned everything about everything. He was eventually condemned to death by a popular court. Not only that; he was sentenced to die by his own hand. He chose to die by consuming a portion of hemlock. 

Hence, Socrates, one of the most consequential minds produced by human civilisation, met his end.

The past few days have seen so much controversy over four federal government tax reform bills currently before the National Assembly.

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But why is this issue so controversial at a time when Nigerians are not only being asked to bear a lot but also at a time where most Nigerians know they do have to bear a lot to get out of the doldrums?

Nigerians went to war in 2012 when the FG decided to cut down its share of petrol subsidies and begin the transformation of the Nigerian economy to a productive instead of an unsustainably consumptive one. Almost everyone resigned to the fate of expensive petrol once it was announced.

Back to Socrates. To his detractors, Socrates was not doing anything dangerous. He asked questions, he spoke to everyone, to nobles, to ordinary citizens, to young people.

His questions, in their frankness and simplicity, demolished the certainties of his interlocutors, forcing them to console themselves with the emptiness of their own certainties, with the incoherence of their reasoning. He was teaching them to doubt. Socrates was a very uncomfortable character with the doubts he instilled.

He had the audacity to expose corrupt politicians and false teachers who, believing they know, boast false truths and false knowledge. That is why he was sentenced to death. He was a threat to the status quo, a danger that must be eliminated. During the trial, Socrates did not want to repent or beg for mercy. He refused to even ask for help from an orator, or their version of our lawyers. Why? Because according to Socrates:

“You cannot use your rhetorical art by playing with words, charming the crowd, perhaps lying, even if my life is at stake.”

Intelligence and responsibility are uncomfortable, this is what the trial against Socrates teaches us. The masses want illusions and not truth, they want to be flattered in a few words. It was quite amusing listening to a certain “gayu-gayu”, the urban northern youth, that is—talking up the Northern elite who are finally standing up for the North by standing firm against the proposed reforms. Apparently, he didn’t even know the basics of the proposed reform but just knew it had something to do with more money coming to the North. I must confess that even I don’t know where the rabbit hole ends with regards to the combined impact of the four bills in the years to come, so we can even reduce the argument into a particular sound bite… more money, more attention to the North.

Now, Tinubu is not the Socrates of this story. Reality is. And we may end up not only executing this reality, by strangulating it by its own hand… and then perpetuating the Allah yabaku musamu culture.

Here, Socrates means reality, and this Socrates may end up being banned, ostracised, despised, because he disturbs the sleep of the masses, questions authority, and reveals the deceptions of institutions. But Socrates was eventually vindicated by time… (I’ve heard from more than one Muslim cleric that Socrates might have been one of the prophets of Islam not mentioned by name in the Qur’an) reality will also be vindicated by the same token.

With a predominantly agricultural economy and lower industrial activity, the Northern establishment seems to fear that the North may end up contributing less to the tax pool and receive smaller disbursements and that’s understandable.

But at what cost would acting on that fear come? Northern Nigeria, or at least what is known as the core north happens to be the most unproductive part of the country economically. As it is, it is crawling with not only homeless children and almajirai, but young people of better means, who are perfectly fine with being bottom feeders. In Kano, in Sokoto, in Gombe and in Minna, the dusk gathered after maghrib is accompanied by almajirai singing the “Allah yabaku musamu” songs while the “gayu-gayu” chorus the same at the nearest livewire. The phrase “Allah yabaku musamu” roughly means, “may Allah provide for you, so we can also be provided for”. That is, may Allah supply us through you.

 If the interests of northern leaders are to preserve the union, then this union must be made viable. The immediate interests should not override the strategic interests of the Nigerian project because, all said and done, the interests of the Nigerian state are also the strategic interest of the North and should, therefore, supersede the immediate material interests of northern polity. This union must be by consent and this consent will naturally only materialise if the interests of both sides are fairly represented.

Indeed, the views being espoused and alarms being raised about the North being short-changed expose the reluctance of the northern elite to embrace progress through economic policies that the current situation demands.

Our part of the country is saddled with governors who spend more time in Abuja and overseas rather than actually governing their states. And do you know why? Because they’re also running from the Allah yabaku musamu horde back in their states.

Narrow political interests should not frustrate laws that may invigorate the tax system and reduce dependence on oil revenues that are subject to increasing uncertainties and making the North even poorer. Basically, we have nothing going on in the North and that is our own fault.

I am by no means suggesting that the North should be ready to accept a bad deal… but it should be ready to accept a fair one even if it is against its immediate interests. Yes, the North participated in the development of the revenue sources the South has and we should therefore get a share.

But it is about time we stopped praying to God to bless the South so that we are, therefrom, also provided for. It is high time we started working on developing the northern economy, and it is of course fair to expect the active participation of the South in that adventure as well. They owe us that much.