Piece of Peace: 2015 Elections

“Don't gain the world and lose your soul, wisdom is better than silver or gold.” ― Bob Marley

The die has been cast, the drums have been rolled out and the dancers have already taken the centre stage. It is a very rough road that leads to Armageddon and some may never even reach there. We have crossed this bridge before and it was not an easy way to Terabithia. General elections in Nigeria are very serious business – too serious to be left in the hands of politicians alone. Since another general election is just around the corner, it is time for me to pen down my piece of peace (#PieceOfPeace).

In the past few weeks, political parties were preoccupied with party primaries across all level of governance. Party tickets have been won and lost. The winners are engulfed with joy and they are looking forward to form more alliances ahead of the February general elections, while some losers are still aggrieved, dissatisfied and angry. Some are even looking for ways to cause chaos during the elections. Only a few of them understood the real meaning of sportsmanship in politics and that brings us to where we presently find ourselves. Many politicians in Nigeria are very selfish and they are always ready at any given time to do whatever it takes to get elected. The life of the poor in our society and the peace of the nation mean nothing to them in as much as the elections did not go in their favour. The opposition will do everything within their arsenals to muscle their way into power, while the incumbents will also use all armaments to keep power. All the dirty tricks in the books will be deployed by all and at the end of the day they leave blood in the streets. Oh yes! We have crossed this bridge before and it never leads to Terabithia.

Picture Credit: 2face Idibia

The 2011 general elections was marred with wide spread post-election violence in some sections of the country. The Federal Government constituted a twenty-two man committee headed by a Minna-based former Grand Khadi, Sheikh Ahmad Lemu. Nobody was in any doubt when the highly respected Sheikh presented a very meticulous report with insightful recommendations on how to forestall future occurrences. But very typical of this administration, the report, just like many other committee reports before it, was dumped in a shelf somewhere in a corner of Aso Rock villa. No surprise that nobody heard anything about the Lemu’s report or its recommendations that was submitted to the current president. Ironically, this and many other good intentioned works for promoting peace and religious understanding earn the Sheikh; the 2014 King Faisal Prize at the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Since then many things have change in this country. The Fulani man carrying stick before is now carrying gun. The repentant Niger Delta militants carrying guns before are now warship importers. The Boko Harams carrying AK47 before are now controlling Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) and the Ombatse militia of Nasarawa state are now gun runners. Our territories have been annexed by religious extremists that claimed to be fighting for Islam. Weapons, weapons, everywhere, but not enough for the Army. Of great concern are the recent serial jailbreaks that took place at different locations in the country. The pattern of these prison breaks have political colouration written all over them. Everyday there is a terror story in Nigeria and no one is feeling secure. Unfortunately, the government of the day has its priorities and providing security to the citizenry is not at the top of their scale of preference. Winning election and retaining their offices is all they have ear for. At the top of these all we are facing a general election in an uncertain, insecure, vulnerable and defenseless situation. 

It is important to point out that no politician is worth dying for and no one deserve to die because of an election. Rewind: actually, not even an ant deserves to die because of an election. I also believe that the security of lives and properties of the citizenry is the responsibility of all, but the bulk lies on the table of the Commander-in-Chief and the Executive governors of the states. History shows that the utterances of some political gladiators during electioneering are clear pointers that motivate violent tendencies in the electorates. Therefore, it is high time we start holding our leaders responsible for their unguided utterances in the run-up to elections. The way and manner some electorates easily become willing tools for political manipulations to cause violence during or after elections calls for a serious concern. It still beat my imaginations that in this year and age some people still participate in political thuggery without their political godfathers and their children leading the way in the streets. It is totally against the law of fairness for politicians to incite the masses to kill themselves on the streets during elections while their children are sent to the most expensive schools abroad studying. Indeed, common sense is not always common.

The politics of tribe, religion and region is a very sensitive thing to play with in Nigeria, but unfortunately that is what the politicians are using to divide us. The moment any of these is mention, we quickly loose our senses. We quickly take sides depending on which side of the argument we come from. The election is just around the corner, but no one is discussing issues yet. No one is discussing the peace and security of the electorates before, during and after the elections. As far as I am concern, the security of lives and properties of the citizenry is far more important than the value attached to winning elections. Without peace and security in the nation, there will be no country to rule.

Let us be our brother’s keepers and let’s shun any act of violence that will jeopardize the peace and tranquility of the nation. Vote wisely because your vote is your right. This is my #PieceOfPeace.

Complement of the season and God bless Nigeria.

Shafi’i Hamidu wrote-in from the Federal University of Technology Minna.

Twitter: @shafiihamidu

FaceBook:  Shafi'i Hamidu

PUBLISHED IN:
1.  Indepth Africa, "Nigeria 2015 Elections: Piece of Peace", 28/12/2014

2. Nigerian Tribune, "Election 2015: Nigeria’s piece of peace", 07/01/2015

3. Peoples Daily, "Piece of peace: Thoughts on the 2015 election", 01/2015

4. The Nation, "2015: Nigerians need peace", 28/12/2014

5. Daily Post, "Piece of peace – 2015 elections", 26/12/2014

6. Abuja Voice, "Piece of Peace: 2015 Elections", 26/12/2014

7. Abusidiqu, "Piece of Peace: 2015 Elections", 26/12/2014

8. Skytrend News, "Piece Of Peace For 2015 Elections", 27/12/2014

9.  PointBlank News, "Piece of Peace: 2015 Elections", 27/12/2014

10. The Will, "Nigeria 2015 Elections: Piece of Peace", 30/12/2014

11. Opinions, "Election 2015: Nigeria’s piece of peace", 07/01/2015

12. Elombah, "2015 Elections: Piece of Peace", 26/01/2014

Half-free is Never Freedom – To Whom It May Concern

“If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” ― George Washington
 

I wish to have titled this piece ‘In Defence of John Danfulani’, but I understand that the gentleman in question had filed a lawsuit in the Industrial Court and I have no intention of tampering or pre-empting a judicial proceeding. Therefore, my piece is more of an advice to anyone or any organ of government that wish to be used to intimidate any citizen into silence by fiddling with his or her basic right to free speech. The freedom of speech is an absolute state to fully express thoughts and there is no such thing as being half-free; it is either you are free or not free.

The ability to come out openly and voice out the concerns of your people is not only bravery, but it is also a right that everyone must enjoy. It is about calmly speaking the truth when everyone else is silenced, when the truth cannot be expressed. It is about speaking out with a different voice, risking the wrath of the state and offending everyone, for the sake of the truth, and the writer’s conscience. For many a time, when I listen to some political sycophants speaking with the caution of trying to please a master, I wish for an alternative voice. Danfulani has consistently provided that voice, especially for the people of Southern Kaduna. He has fearlessly expressed himself writing from the good, to the bad and everything in between. Whether his style is likable is not what is important; the pivotal point is he says it the way he sees it, and in most cases, that is the true reflection of the feelings of his people. I wonder why we keep missing this point. Therefore, before I proceed with my submission, permit me a space to turban on your platform Dr. John Danfulani as the Sarkin Yakin Samarin Kudanchin Zazzau.

I read with great concern a news article, in some of the Nigerian media outlets, a story that says the poor lecturer had been served with a warning letter by the Council of his University i.e Kaduna State University (KASU) for allegedly denigrating in the social media the Visitor of the University who doubles as the Governor of the state, Alhaji Mukhtar Ramalan Yero. At this point, I wish to state that I do not know Dr. John Danfulani beyond what I read of him on the cyberspace and I have never seen him or met him anywhere. At the same time, I do not know any of the Council members of KASU. I do not need to know any of them. But I feel an urgent Zazzau intervention is required before the issue takes the usual political turn between the two major political divides in the state. This warning must not be allowed to stand for many reasons. In the first place, was Alhaji Mukhtar Ramalan Yero been criticized in his capacity as a Governor of the state or the Visitor of the University? If it was in his capacity as a Governor, then there is no case and KASU should not even dabble into it. The gentleman is a patriotic and concerned citizen of the state who has all the rights to say all that are needed to be said to make sure the state was being run properly. On the other hand, if the criticizing was directed to his office as the Visitor of the University, as alleged, the gentleman still has right to criticise the office as a dedicated staff of the University, because no office is above criticism. Even if the criticism is directed at his person, KASU Council still has no business in it, because it should be the responsibility of Alhaji Ramalan Yero to take-up the matter himself. In any case, why are we even afraid of criticism?

Yes, I understand that speaking the truth to the powers that be sometimes requires wisdom, but everyone is different and we all have different ways of expressing ourselves. Therefore, what is important is the wisdom of the reader to separate the grains from the sand; the wisdom of the reader to separate the message from the messenger.  The wisdom of the reader to challenge the idea put forward by the writer intellectually wherever opinions differ. But most importantly is the wisdom of whosoever is concerned to act based on the positive criticisms until there are no more loopholes for the critic to criticize. In other words, action speaks louder than the voice.

The University don is a political scientist by profession and he has a Ph.D to show for it. It is normal for a political scientist to comment on political issues around him, not even when he sees it as a community service. By the way, community service is one of the essential components for an academician to get promoted into the Professorial cadre. In his quest to liberate his Southern Kaduna people from political slavery, many power brokers have in the past come under the hammer of his mighty pen. Some of which includes the Senator representing his constituency at the national assembly, the Southern Kaduna political elites, the first republic northern elders, some sycophantic Southern Kaduna youth movements and also the state and federal government security apparatus for their lackadaisical attitude towards the protection of lives and properties in the state. He has never shied away from condemning any perceived injustice including the ones done on adherents of other religions, like the recent killings of Shi’at people in Zaria. In all these, we never heard the voice of KASU council restraining him or any other person. Therefore, it is ironic how they suddenly found their lost pen to prevent him from commenting on their almighty Visitor. In the words of Neil Gaiman: “if you don't stand up for the stuff you don't like, when they come for the stuff you do like, you've already lost.”

KASU is a new state-owned University, but the decision of Danfulani to take-up a career as political scientist came even before KASU was established. Therefore, any attempt to send him into political hibernation is ill-conceived and cannot stand. It is a very bad precedence that KASU is trying to start, especially on many of us that work in various institutions in Nigeria and wish to chip in one or two pieces of advice to our leaders. This miscalculated warning is already breeding more political enemies to your Visitor than friends. And believe me, it is also projecting your institution in a very bad light. My advice to the council of every newly founded state university is that they should try and concentrate on the development of more Danfulanis by sponsoring many of their staff to obtain higher degrees and clear the bottom-heavy staffing system they always run. Dabbling into politics by an institution of higher learning is definitely not the way to progress. 

God bless Kaduna State,

God bless Nigeria, amin. 

Shafi’i Hamidu wrote-in from the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.

Twitter: @shafiihamidu

FaceBook:  Shafi'i Hamidu


PUBLISHED IN:
  
1. Leadership Newspaper, "Half-free is Never Freedom", 18/08/2014  

2. Blue Print, "My advice to Kaduna varsity",  25/08/2014

3. The Nation, "Kaduna varsity erred on Danfulani", 18/08/2014 

4. CEDRA, "Half-free is Never Freedom – To Whom It May Concern", 26/08/2014

5. The Will, "HALF-FREE IS NEVER FREEDOM – TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN", 21/08/2014

6. Point Blank News, "Half-free is Never Freedom – To Whom It May Concern", 18/08/2014  

7. Sky Trend News, "In Defence Of Free Speech - The Case Of Kaduna State University", 20/08/2014

8. Abusidiqu, "To Be Half-free is Never Freedom – To Whom It May Concern", 18/08/2014 

9. Elombah, "Half-freedom is Never Freedom – To Whom It May Concern ", 18/08/2014

10.  The Abuja Voice, "Half-free is Never Freedom – To Whom It May Concern", 18/08/2014

11. The Paradigm, "Half-free Is Never Freedom – To Whom It May Concern",  18/08/2014

12. The Niche, "Half-free is never freedom – To whom it may concern", 24/08/2017 


13. Universal Reporters, "Half-free is Never Freedom – To Whom It May Concern", 18/08/2014

14. African Outlook, "Half-free is Never Freedom – To Whom It May Concern", 18/08/2014

15. Nigerian Daily Newspapers, "Half-free is Never Freedom – To Whom It May Concern ", 24/08/2014