SUN RISE AT DUSK IN SOUTHERN KADUNA AS NASIRU JAGABA-SOKAPU NATIONAL YOUTH PRESIDENT RESIGNS FROM KADUNA STATE CIVIL SERVICE.

By 

Victor Kwara.
Victorkwara34@gmail.com
07033760545 

“…I just tendered my resignation letter with Kaduna State government because my conscience leaves me with no other choice…so as to stand with my people…I call for radical departures from the destruction of Southern Kaduna…”  Nasiru Jagaba August 3rd, 2016.

    Imagine Nasiru Jagaba taking medicine when his household is sick! Most human actions or decisions are made in order to solve or create problems. Hence, it is a truism that there is no human act that is not worth interrogating as there always exist implications thereof, thus, failure to choose between two variables is itself a choice which is natural. Unlike animals, rational beings are bound to choose between two extremes. Human choices in themselves are meant for the common good or egoistic ends; hence, one good decision taken at the right time and place has the potency to make everlasting change as it affects the person and or his milieu. When an altruistic decision is taken by a leader, the led would enjoy a vista of hope, they would sleep with all eyes closed because they would be sure that they live in safe hands. Human societies are characterized by scandalous ethno-religious bigotry or extremism, political apathy, social insecurity, oppression, despotism, tyranny or capitalism in the guise of democracy wherefrom dearth becomes the reward of the led. In the midst of these, sane and sensitive leaders are identified because their actions and inactions are either meant for the common good or its revise. In contrast, when the political parlance becomes an organized investment where unquenchable and blind sycophancy to oppressive governments hold sway, good leaders are not hidden, a good leader has an incorruptible intellectual capital, he sees his subjects as ends in themselves, he is ideologically capricious, a good household manager who encourages division of responsibilities hinged on equity, justice and fairness, he commits the theory of divide and  rule to the flames which ends up in the redistribution of poverty and marginalization of the greater majority on account of the wrong policies and or decisions taken at wrong times, he does not kill happiness in the lives of the led.

    After reading the reactions of some Southern Kaduna brethren on the social media as Nasiru Jagaba resigned his appointment with the state civil service as silence for him was betrayal, I deduced that it was a tacit call for moral revolution in Southern Kaduna. After all, who is this man- Nasiru Jagaba whose resignation has attracted so much attention on the media? Skeptics, on hearing the name concluded that he is not a son of the soil, an alien because the name is strange in the zone. To those that may have been told that the young man hails from Kauru LGA perhaps would say, “can anything good come out of that place?” in anticipation to hear “all-too important” places like the core Southern Kaduna! And that he graduated from A.B.U Zaria with a B.Sc in International Relations would lead to a conclusion that “so they too go to school?”. Or better still, how did he emerge as the SOKAPU youth president?  The unbelievable of all would be that he resigned his appointment with the Kaduna state government and hence, the mother all of insensitive decisions of the century, but he told the world that his decision was informed by an inner voice calling him to stand by his people which any sane compatriot would find it a moral obligation to emulate because one day, dead or alive, man must naturally go back to his people, therefore, his decision is commendable not condemnable by social media adjudicators and prophets whose syllogism goes thus, he has needs and dependants, things are hard, soja come soja go, barrack remain therefore, he took a wrong decision! My take, Daniels have come to judge! Why taking panadol for his headache? E concern you?   Iya ruwa iya fitar da kai! Happy is he who studies the causes of things, he said he wants to be a voice. He has carved a niche for himself on the sands of time. 

As a graduate with the political science department, Nasiru might have seen what those in Plato’s Allegory of the Cave may not have seen; time though is a revealer as twist of fate is a fact of life. Nasiru wrote in his flyer while seeking for votes as the chair of SOKAPU thus “…we shall prioritize issues…and be a voice that (would) speak not only of our problems/challenges alone, but solution-driven…organizing regular political awareness campaigns and seminars for Southern Kaduna youth…youth should be organized and made to register with political parties of their choice with the orientation to promote Southern Kaduna agenda…”. For me, running and scratching of the buttocks is self-contradictory! He prayed in the flyer “let us give SOKAPU National Youth wing a better face”, or what do you feel? It is therefore my opinion that Nasiru Jagaba is a pace-setter in the leadership parlance. As he advocates for a moral revolution, his decision is plausible, two things can be deduced from his break with tradition, empathy and obedience to the voice of his conscience. What about you? I feel that generations after us would read about him. Who would read what about you? Perhaps Nasiru Jagaba was influenced by some social revolutionists whose precedents he admired.

The book Moral Revolution in Africa stages 1&2 by Bartholomew Ifemesia, written in 1985 reveals that our problems are aged-long, therefore, we know them, and our task should be proffering solutions to them. Nasiru Jagaba is “saddened and dissatisfied” with the status quo, hence the need for break with the tradition-a “radical departure from the destruction of Southern Kaduna” is a call for introspection, what a moral compass of our age! Perhaps he was guided by Thomas Kuhn’s assertion that “to break through in any scientific field is to break with tradition, with old way of doing things”, a need for being rational and critical about tradition. It was this critical and rational endeavor that helped the APC to get the nod of compatriots thereby ousting the then ruling party out of power, that is the power of paradigm shifts! Hence, “if you cannot beat or join them, you can step aside”. Change in itself is transitional, a process, it is not limited to a people, time or space, it needs continuity. It is instructive to remind those with a modest grasp of socio-political happenings to applaud Nasiru Jagaba for his boldness and kindnesses.  He called for a “precious return to the glorious past” hinged on the principles of equity, fairness, politics of all-inclusiveness and introspection. When Aristotle used the word stasis with Metaboli politicians, he implied change of the constitution, while Plato corroborated that “economic deprivation can cause (social) revolution. When Karl Marx wrote his Communist Manifesto, it was aimed at breaking from tradition, a reaction in 1915 by Kollen Horrace, Randolph Bourne and  Louis Adamic  to Americanization or the Melting Pot Theory which saw America as a Crucible was a call to break from tradition, Marcus Garvey and Malcolm X wrote for black liberation, Julius Nyerere’s Ujamaa was a call for a deeply felt obligation by people to care for their fellow men, Obafemi Awolowo’s Democratic Socialism and Mental Magnitude were propounded on brotherhood among men and an invitation for critical rationalism which Nasiru Jagaba calls “radical departure from the destruction of  Southern Kaduna”,  Secour Toure’s People’s Power was  a response to the socio-political happenings of his people in Guinea hence, a call for their liberation. Mrs. Rosa Parks, on December 1st 1955 chose not to “stand up” for the white co-passenger as a break with tradition and consequently, today, an afro-American is the occupant of the White House, America’s seat of power.  In the midst thirties, the black Africans who studied in Paris were driven by the need to assert their being that made them to conceive and birth the concept Negritude! From the foregoing, one motivating factor that informed these paradigm shifts was a break with tradition. Therefore, enumerating or highlighting these aged-long socio-political problems is like packaging or reassembling old facts, we have the moral responsibility to nip the menace in the bud before we get consumed by them.

So Nasiru Jagaba obeyed his conscience for the socio-political emancipation of his people! What a paradigm shift, and a call for national development. Who are these people? Big question indeed. They are called the Netzit people accustomed to helping political appointees to climb to the top but most times and unfortunately too, stones are thrown at them instead of social security, they vote and may not be voted for because some political demigods or Goliaths have claimed omnipotence in the art of governance, a band of few compatriots who decide the fate of the peasant majority who suffer and smile at the same time. Indeed, this is the picture of the Netzit, from Lisuru in Zangon- Kataf to Galadimawa in Kauru , down to Lagga in Lere, up to Aso in Jema’a, can the Netzit assert that they are in touch with the “basic goods of human flourishing?”

    What do we seek to benefit as Nasiru Jagaba resigns his appointment to “stand by his people?” what is so special in his resignation? What are the fruits of this bold step by a “saddened and dissatisfied” fellow Netzit? May his resignation never be in vain! Wait a minute; before you say amen, it should be a proverbial “sun rise at dusk” in Southern Kaduna. It is a key of good things to come, the survivability and sustainability of this dream depends on the response of the elites. To compliment household management as a panacea to our contemporary socio-political problems, Nasiru Jagaba’s resignation should teach us some moral lessons. It means that in collaboration with the mother SOKAPU, the youth wing should swing into action and avoid or compliment the market place (the media) where there are many voices, after buying and selling, everyone goes back home to count his/her gains and losses. I got this from Steven Kefas’ facebook wall, “…I received a call from a brother from a village we visited two years ago, a project we tagged V2V (village to village)…he asked me questions I could not answer…“ remember you guys opened our eyes to certain things…you told us never to sell our votes to the oppressors, you told us that you were not partisan…what happened that you guys never showed up again? The killings are still going on and you guys are keeping mute, the classrooms you guys took photographs of are still the same till date, our people still live in fear. Haba dan ‘uwa, ashe dama ku ‘yan siyasa ne tun dama…?”. This is revealing and a summary of what we had as (some among the) freedom fighters, of whom Zebrudaya said “moment of decision when man has to bow to naira! These same people may have sold their souls to the mammon for pecuniary reasons, they may be blinded by greed, seduced by materialism and overshadowed by suffocating quest for posts placing their personal interests above the common good. On the social media, dogon turanci and mutual blame game seem to be a hobby or rule of life.

Hence, we advocate for a rebirth, a team of a think tank comprising of technocrats whose prerogative would be to study our problems carefully and come up with solutions; it may called be NETZIT PATHFINDERS’ FORUM.  This is hinged on the fact that we seem to have lost our path, the ancient root is either missing or replete with filth, Judases or greedy vultures who have used our people as a means to their selfish ends, this new group would be saddled with the responsibility of healing our wounded hearts, it would be apolitical and not a parallel organ of the mother SOKAPU. This would essentially walk in order to work. Perhaps, this would bring about an end to the politics of inter and intra-ethnic chauvinism, we versus them, payback time etc that characterize the political parlance of Southern Kaduna  which has resulted to the divide and rule tactics and politics of non-inclusiveness, consequently, most  fellow Netzit area are living in perpetual slavery-like life-style. The Netzit Pathfinders’ Forum would look into the causes of these vices and proffer solutions to them through consultations, unbiased and true reconciliations where there is need, thank God; Southern Kaduna is populated by greater percentage of Christians. Antagonists may say this is not possible or a feckless nostalgia, no, it is a family affair informed by the emerging issues, we can judge our future by what we have passed through in the past-ethnicity leading to retrogression. Those who are benefitting from the old order may dismiss it while the greater impoverished Netzit compatriots would continue to ask or pray for a political messiah. This calls for a u-turn from the belief in the old faith of competition of ideas in the media and engage in mass education of the Netzit on the implications of our actions and inactions on future generations. By this, one can make a sigh of relief that Nasiru Jagaba would truly stand by his people even as he responds to his good conscience. The elites or mother SOKAPU have the moral responsibility to engage Nasiru Jagaba and his team under their guidance to reach out to the Netzit in more practical and altruistic terms. As Nasiru Jagaba obeys his inner voice, his inner man, the supreme court of God, there should be a workable synergy between the two bodies for the common good. This is to corroborate his assertion in his flyer “…we shall speak not only of our problems/challenges alone, but be solution-driven…” Since dogon turanci on the media seem to have failed in resolving our issues, let us try something different since change needs sustainability as a process. My friend once told me that “you cannot stay in Kaduna and claim to be fighting for the liberation of Southern Kaduna, come back home and feel the heat too”! I have not responded till today. The syings suna yi muna jin dadi, you must remain as slaves ad infinitum  are wakeup calls to all Netzit, the time is ripe for us to start flogging our consciences for posterity’s sake, if that would lead to the creation of an egalitarian society for the Netzit, why not give it a trial? I hope you too would resign from inaction? Nasiru Jagaba has written his name on the sands of time, a good precedent, what sort of legacy would you leave behind? This piece you are reading would remain in the archives; I hope you would resist any gag that would prevent you from standing by your people? Those at the “left wing should cross over to the right wing for a better and more formidable team would do the magic, this conclusion is premised on the fact that they at the left wing left a bad precedent, we still need them anyway, in every household, there are always the good, the bad and the ugly”. Obey your conscience!