Chimamanda Adechie was definitely not wrong when she said that paying attention to one side of a story denies you the real picture of the whole story. The time seems right for all to realize that the flow of information from one end to another in Nigeria and even the world at large is not in any way balanced. So too, it is a well known fact that bad news sell more, but the truth of the whole thing is that every state in Nigeria has her own portion of challenges to face, from armed robbery to hectic traffic, ritual killing, intricate lifestyles, kidnapping and various forms of gross immorality which are evenly distributed across.
Painfully, we do not seem to see all of these but one, the most discussed on TV shows and the most published on print media, insurgency. Even at that, we seem not to consider the fact that five abducted by Boko Haram is not worst than five dead in an auto crash on Benin -- Ore expressway, the same as 5 taken into hostage in Niger-Delta and scores who died in a collapse building in Lagos or ten killed for rituals in Ogun or Oyo states. Human lives and state of emotional being are involved here. Every state has her problems to contend with but if you say there is no challenge within your state, it simply means you are yet to identify some.
Then it makes you want to ask why the kettle would want to call pot black. Wole Ogunnaike, a Clergyman in Sabon Gari area of Kano State, recalled from 1990 how he witnessed series of riots in the state including the Reinhard Bonnke’s riot of 1991. He agreed that Kano has suffered from incessant attacks but was of the opinion that the state has always been able to recover from it all in a jiffy. Ogunnaike opined that life in Kano is not worst than it is elsewhere in Nigeria. His words, “The question people ask me each time I travelled down the South-West is, ‘How are you guys coping in Kano?’ and I also ask them, ‘How are you coping too?’ Then they say, ‘with what’ and I say, ‘with armed robbery, ritual killing, day-by-day stress from work and other road users? How are you coping with traffic in Lagos? How are you coping with immorality and all others including the almost free use of arms in the south?” Seeing insurgency in Kano and the north generally from a different angle to Ogunnaike’s, Abdul-Lateef Yusuf, Kano State Sales Manager, Floor Mills Nigeria Limited, believes that the effect of insurgency has reduced the inflow of people into Kano.
“You know population has a great impact on the commercial activities of Kano being that the state is known for trading of all sorts of commodities. If not for insurgency, Kano is relatively better than South-South or South-West in terms of peace except in areas outside the state,” uninspired Yusuf said while speaking from the business angle. “Therefore, I think it is everybody deciding what challenges to face according to where you choose to stay. This is because life its self is all about challenges, it only depends on the kind of challenges you want to contend with”, Ogunnaike added bravely. Recently some people who relocated into Abuja from Kano are now confused as to where is actually safe. I guess Lagos or Port Harcourt would be their next choice of safe haven.
However beautiful these places may seem, the kind of life lived in these said places is what a United Kingdom based Foundation, Walk Free Foundation, described in its 2013 Global Slavery Index as Modern day Slavery. A lifestyle where people hardly have time to attend to personal, marital and/or family issues due to the amount of hours spent on the road all on official duties. Painfully, Nigeria was mentioned among the Nations with highest indices alongside China, Pakistan, Mauritania, India, etc. I guess it is ok that Nigerians react to insurgency (which is almost normal in some other countries) in this manner because it is completely strange to both our cultural values and religious beliefs.
Suicide killing; no way. Of a truth, Kano state did face incessant attacks orchestrated by unscrupulous lazy elements who failed in their efforts to imperil her socio-economy. Yet, because the ancient city of many gates was attacked does not mean that the city exists no more or that human existence is now history. It may interest you to know that Kano state remains the Centre of Commerce that it has always been.
The tons of watermelon, carrots, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, sugarcane for large-scale sugar production all of which come from Kano are still being produced and transported to other states in good qualities and quantities. The commerce of the state is struggling to get back on its feet because while some people are backing out some are venturing in. Perhaps, with the entry of the South African retailer, Shoprite, into Kano, it could not have been otherwise. Shoprite in Kano is having the first outlet in northern Nigeria, as part of an aggressive expansion drive, disregarding wide-spread security challenges about the region.
Interestingly, about $20 million (that is about #3.2billion) sunk into that project which now poses as Nigeria's biggest. It is located in the new $110 million (about #17.6 billion) Ado Bayero Mall that took approximately three years to construct. Would any investor risk such a huge amount of money if the light at the end of the tunnel were not convincing enough? One more thing that would interest you is the fact that Governor Rabi’u Musa Kwankwanso is currently equipping tertiary institutions within the state with up-to-date facilities and granting free education up to university level to indigenes while non-indigenes too are being encouraged to study in the state. The Red Cap governor has concerned himself also with training and retraining of Teachers and Lecturers at primary and secondary school levels. Some people may have fled due to the unscheduled unrest yet some people are trooping in. I bet you that life in Kano is as normal as it could be everywhere else. I cannot wait to see the commercial giant of Northern Nigeria rise again.
David Lawal
davidblawal@yahoo.com>
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