Dr Nuruddeen Muhammad
MBBS, MWACP, FMCPsych
Former Minister of State Foreign Affairs &
Minister of Information, Federal Republic of Nigeria
On
The occassion of the 30th anniversary of Jigawa State organised by the New World Initiative at the
Ahmadu Bello Hall, State Secretariat, Dutse, Thursday, the 26th of August, 2021
Salamu alaikum warahmatullahi taala wa barakatuhu
Dear brethren,
I am overwhelmed with an acute sense of various emotions as I stand here before your distinguished
selves to deliver this lecture. Emotions of joy, humility, pride and even apprehension. I am grateful
to Allah SWT and overly joyed to be part of this historic moment and humbled for my choice to share
this exalted podium with just a few other personalities out of the millions in Jigawa. While there
apparently are multitude of reasons to look at Jigawa over the last years and feel proud, there are
equally enough reasons to ruminate and get apprehensive about the future. Thankfully, that future
is what we are here to deliberate on. I would accordingly like to most profoundly thank and
congratulate the Premier of the New World Youth Initiative and team for this thoughtful, timely and
momentous initiative
Jigawa State was created on the 27th of August, 1991 by the administration of the former military
president Gen Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida out of the then Kano State that was only 24years old at
the time. So Jigawa is today 6years older than her mother when she bore her. We are therefore no
longer a new state by all standard definitions!
The New World, as Jigawa is prophetically called is 30yrs . It therefore means that the state, like all
other geopolitical entities must have passed through it’s mandatory learning curves in it’s quest to
firmly establish itself within the larger national ecosystem. The question today is, what should
Jigawa do differently in the next thirty years to truly live up to the true meaning of it’s pet name; The
New World?
Those who are 15 years today and can probably follow and comprehend what we are saying here
would be 45 years in the next three decades. Just like those of us in our mid forties would be in our
mid seventieth by then. And those at 30 and 20 today shall be 60 and 50 years respectively. I
therefore can clearly understand the sentiments when the conversation tries to concentrate on the
youths. Even though it is an established tradition to always link the youths with the future, the
youths must however know that, their older siblings, parents and grandparents are the torch bearers
of generations of enlightenment whose wise counsel, guidance, expertise, experience, wisdom and
sagacity are as more important than the youthful exuberance, energy, passion and the dynamism in
the youths
I accordingly wish to pay glowing tributes to all the great men and women who worked tirelessly to
realise the creation of Jigawa State, and bring it this far. Can we all rise to recite a silent prayer for
the repose of the souls of those among them who are no longer with us in this life and as a mark of
honour to all those alive wherever they might be this afternoon
The youths have a unique and strategic role in shaping their society and how this will eventually
influence and determine their existence in it. They accordingly need a sufficient grasp of the past,
with a clear understanding of the present, so as to have clear insights into that future. That way,
they can deploy specific demands and manifestos to not only achieve but also shape it. But before
that, first, who is a youth?
The 2009 Nigerian National Youth Policy defines the youth as all citizens of the Federal Republic
aged between 18 – 29yrs. I understand that the upper limit is now up to 35yrs. This effectively puts
all those within the standard youth range today within the Millennial Generation (the generation Y).
The Millennial Generation is defined in popular media usages as those born between the early 80s
and the mid 90s to early 2000s. The Millennials are generally marked by their coming of age in the
information age and are very comfortable in their usage of digital technology and social media. This
is very relevant to our conversation today, and we shall come back to it later.
The projected population of Jigawa is about 5.83Million with almost 70% of it under the age of 40.
This makes Jigawa the 8th most populous state in Nigeria.
This population is relatively young with a median age of about 18.4yrs. Ladies and gentlemen, this is
the classical textbook description of the youth bulge, and the we must square up to face it’s
attendant consequences on the economy, jobs, social services and security, as well as appropriately
position ourselves to reap and benefit from it’s enormous potentials
In all human societies, each generation as a distinct epoch would have it’s unique challenges, and
from that flows it’s unique roles and how history will both record and remember it.
The decolonisation struggles
Post independence Nigeria and Civil War
Struggles to democratise
States creations
What next for this generation???
Jigawa is part of what today is northern Nigeria. Hundreds of years before Nigeria existed, most, if
not all of the territory referred to as the North was an organised, competitive and industrious
society; first as largely the Hausa city states and later the Sokoto caliphate. We had a well organised
central governance structure with reliable mechanisms to support any system of administration. The
reason why the British creatively settled to colonise us indirectly through those awesome structures.
Our legal system was robust, well adapted and culturally compliant. Security was tight and everyone
was accountable and accounted for. The economy, heavily reliant on agriculture boomed. Our
ancestors traded far and wide; to the east up to the Mediterranean and up to the shores of the
Atlantic in the west. They settled and established prosperous communities that are still relevant till
date.
Scholarship was awesome. Volumes of sophisticated literature in science, medicine, sociology, law,
and family were produced by indigenous intellectuals for morethan 100yrs before the British arrived
in our shores. A dedicated system of education (the so called Almajiri system) was both cherished,
respected and protected by the establishment and the communities. It produced intellectuals and
philosophers of global reckoning, spread Islam and enabled a literacy system that was well on course
it was deliberately frustrated. The little scholars known as the Almajiris and their teachers were fed,
accommodated and respected by all.
The magnificent Badala/ Ganuwa is a testimony to the ingenuity of our forefathers. They carefully
built those tens of miles of imposing walls that could rival the pyramids of Egypt and the great wall
of china without earth moving equipment.
We had melted iron and aluminium to provide for both the defence, agricultural and domestic needs
of the society. We had ginned cotton and tanned the leather to sufficient levels that our colonial
lords didn’t meet us naked but proudly and appropriately clothed instead.
We were a proud and virtuous people, and to subdue us, the British had to fight acrimonious and
bitter wars with casualties on both sides!
Despite the confusion and near anarchy of the present, those proud values and virtues are still with
us. The people referred to as the Jigawans even in today’s Nigeria are still known for their modesty,
humility, honesty, respect, simplicity, honesty contentment, peacefulness and generosity. We aren’t
the most peaceful state in the country for nothing!
My story at the foreign ministry among the three ministers and four permanent Secretary
This is our heritage and collective history. We are a good people with a great civilisation who were
destined for even more greatness…
We must with all sincerity concede that the first two to three generations of Jigawans have done
their absolute best. I would want to say that they have done their very best in the best way they can.
I also strongly believe that they must have also responded to the challenges of their times in the best
ways possible, perhaps within the limits of their individual capacities, history, mind-sets and other
enablers, most especially technology and the information at their disposal.
Though it is true that things could have been much better, but it is also true that things could have
been much worse also. More schools have been built. Roads, bridges, and an airport have been built
across the state. More hospitals were also built and indigenous manpower provided. Transportation
is better and faster even if not safer. Schools, colleges and universities exist were none existed a
couple of years back. Today we have three universities, a degree awarding college of education,
State and federal Polytechnics, colleges of nursing and schools of midwifery and an informatics
institute.
In leadership opportunities, the youths of Jigawa have fared much better than those of any state in
Nigeria. The first executive governor of Jigawa State was Barr Ali Sa’ad Brinin Kudu, a talented lawyer
in his early thirties. Alhaji Ibrahim Saminu Turaki became a governor in Jigawa State when he was
barely 35yrs old. Turaki’s youthful energy and dynamism introduced the Senator Ibrahim Hassans,
who equally as a young man, was a commissioner, an SSG, a deputy governor. It was also the same
Saminu that identified the Hon Yusuf Maigaris. It was also the excellence, radical populism and the
progressive mind-set in Sule Lamido that identified and projected my humble self into the limelight.
Then enter the youth centric disposition of the incumbent. His Excellency, Alhaji Muhammad Badaru
Abubakar once confided in me in a private conversation that he wants to create a new generation of
leaders out of the Jigawa youth’s of today. There is no better testimony to this good intention and
consciousness in His Excellency than the Bala Chamos in our midst. I also understand that most of
your colleagues in the remaining 26 local governments are also young people. I would therefore
wish to at this juncture pay a glowing tribute to our leaders past and present in their individual
commitments in and passion for the growth of the Jigawa youths. I accordingly seek your kind
indulgence for a standing ovation in honour of these heroes!
I was discussing with a very senior elder statesman who actually wrote the memo for the creation of
Jigawa State about his experiences travelling from Jahun to Kano as a primary school pupil more
than 60yrs ago. He narrated how he had to trek to Kiyawa on foot to catch the Kano Maiduguri
bound trucks. I further appreciated their sense of accomplishment when my father told me that the
only doctor he had ever known from his primary school to early career were all whites. Over time, I
began to really appreciate that accomplishment they always radiate while marvelling at how far
things have gone for the better as actually genuine. That elder statesman has lived long enough to
have several options of good roads from Jahun to Kano. My father has also within lifetime saw not
only black doctors but also the reality of about three of his children as medical doctors. That
generation has every reason to feel accomplished and fulfilled.
But a generation that watched when the first car moved fast their communities may not be able to
conceive and deliver a speed train. A generation that knew only fax machines and typewriters may
not be able to conceive and deliver smart schools, smart learning and smart curriculum. My father
and his generation who had in their formative years thought only whites could be doctors may not
able to conceive a universal health coverage and let alone apply robots and artificial intelligence into
our healthcare. A generation that didn’t learn molecular biology and biotechnology in school may
not be able to conceive and deliver modern agricultural and food production practices. A generation
that had felt secured with the native authority police may not be able to respond to global terrorism
and translational crime. A generation that didn’t know codeine, rophynol and tramadol, will
naturally look helpless in the wake of drug crises of the magnitude that we face today.
Problems of the 2020s cannot be solved with the mind-sets, orientation and education of the 70s
and 70s. It is accordingly the sole responsibility of the youths, my generation and below, to draw
inspiration from our past history, understand the present difficulties, then imagine, plan and
consciously march into the future
But first, the very disturbing reality we exist today as a people;
- Security:
Though Jigawa State still may rank as the most peaceful in the country, the overall picture in
Northern Nigeria (including our immediate neighbours) over the course of the last four decades is
both scary and overwhelming. We have had the Maitatsine riots in Kano, Jimeta and Bulunkutu in
Maiduguri, tens, if not hundreds of major ethnic and religious riots, the Boko Haram terrorism,
Banditry and farmers/herders clashes and the kidnap enterprise.
Our borders are among the most porous and unprotected on earth. No reliable citizens’
identification and no national crime database. Intelligence gathering and policing are still very
rudimentary. Accordingly, bandits, armed robbers, terrorists, kidnappers and other forms of
organized criminals have taken over a significant part of the North. The morale, dignity and
competence of our police and other law enforcement officers is not on the national priorities list - Poverty:
We are currently so poor in Jigawa that those among us who are rich would have to run to Kano to
enjoy their riches. We also keep our best houses, investments, cars, and even favourite wives away
from the state. Poverty would have been the single most important unifier of our people if they only
knew!
Measured by the number of people who fall below a certain level of income. According to the world
bank, a person can be said to be living in extreme poverty if they live below the poverty line of
$1.90, which roughly is #693.5 per day.
Nigeria was to officially become the poverty capital of the world in June 2018 with 87 million people
living in poverty according to the world poverty clock. As at June 5th, 2019, the clock read 46.5%.
The United Nations Development Programme’s Multidimensional Poverty Index has indicated that
poverty is more endemic in the North West region of Nigeria. Out of the ten states with the least
MDI in Nigeria, eight are from the North; Sokoto, Jigawa, Yobe, Kebbi, Gombe, Kano and Katsina
Multidimensional Poverty Index tracks deprivation across three dimensions and ten indicators;
Health (child mortality & nutrition), Education (years of schooling & enrolment) and living standards
(water, sanitation, electricity, cooking fuel, floor & assets) - Education:
Northern Nigeria has one of the least net school enrolment in the world with an unusually high
gender parity against the girl child. The drop out rates for girls is also one of the highest in the world.
And at 10.3Million, the number of school aged children who are out of school in northern Nigeria is
highest on earth. Jigawa has about 775 thousand out of school children, the 4th largest in the
country. The morale, competence and dignity of our teachers isn’t on the national priorities list
anymore. All these are complicated by one of the least government expenditure on education as a
percentage of GDP - Health:
At 52yrs, the life expectancy in Nigeria is unfortunately the lowest even in West Africa. Infant, child
and maternal mortalities are one of the worsts in the world. Fertility rate at 5.5/woman is also one
of the highest in the world. So is the population growth rate at 3.2%/annum. We are among the last
remaining reservoirs of immunization preventable diseases, and other preventable non
communicable and communicable diseases like VVF and leprosy. And even in Nigeria, maternal
death, infant mortality, immunization preventable diseases, leprosy and VVF are essentially a
northern problem
In July, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) announced that 526 persons died from cholera
even as 22,130 suspected cases of the disease were recorded in 18 states and the Federal Capital
Territory (FCT) since the beginning of the cholera outbreak in 2021. Fifteen of the 18 states – Benue,
Zamfara, Gombe, Kogi, Sokoto, Bauchi, Kano, Kaduna, Plateau, Kebbi, Niger, Nasarawa, Jigawa, Yobe,
Kwara as well as the FCT – are all in the North. - Gender Issues:
Right to education
Of the 56.5 million young females not in school worldwide, 10 million are in Nigeria, and over 6.5
million in northern Nigeria alone. The numbers keep rising annually (UNDP & Women’s Right Watch
Nigeria
According to a Nigeria’s gender report in 2014, 62.8% of females are without education in the
NorthWest, 61.1% in the NorthEast and 38.8% in the NorthCentral. Infact, Kebbi, Sokoto, Jigawa,
Zamfara, Katsina, Bauchi, Yobe, Borno, Gombe and Niger have Nigeria’s worst girl child education
and highest illiteracy levels
According to the Women in Law and Development Africa, 45% of 15yr olds are married against their
resolve in the North of Nigeria, exposing them to high risk difficulties and even death during
pregnancy and of course child birth….(my story and Nicole at General Hospital Jahun) - Corruption:
Nigeria scored 27 points out of 100 on the 2018 corruption perception index by the Transparency
International. Corruption Index in Nigeria averaged 20.76 points from 1996 until 2018, reaching an
all time high of 28 points in 2016 and a record low of 6.90 points in 1996 - Drug Issues:
Northern Nigeria has one of the world’s worst cases of drug abuse with particularly young people,
including teenage girls and full time housewives worst hit. Availability of these dangerous drugs in
our neighbourhoods, alongside a corrupt, weak and inefficient law enforcement with absence of
modern rehabilitation services, combine to make the picture even more scary. This scenario causes
the proliferation of traditional drug and mental health healing houses across the region where
inmates live in cruel, debased and subhuman existence . Additionally, drug culture is an enabler of
crimes, affects health indices and destroys the economy. - Adult Destitution and the Almajiri Child
The sight of grown up adults and hungry, unkempt and barefooted children with their signature
bowls (the Almajiris) moving around our major cities is a permanent stain in the conscience of all of
us in northern Nigeria. And child bearing age women doing same, while carrying along their toddlers,
grown ups and babies is simply devastating. These are our people, who for reasons of diseases,
poverty, deprivation, ignorance and sometimes even lack of self pride engage in a behaviour that is
almost exclusively the preserve of our people. We are a people of great history, compassion and
Islamic civilisation. Children are protected human beings and The Holy Qur’an is a sacred book. How
then do we forsake the little ones among us who of all books study the holy book. There are
elements of injustice in the Almajiri enterprise; in one part to the children and on the other to the
Qur’an itself. How we grow this careless and still think we could curry Allah’s favour still baffles me.
Sheikh Uthman Ibn Fodio had famously said, “ a society can endure with disbelieve but not with
injustice”. The society of our forefathers that had respected the Quran and it’s scholars didn’t
witness as much fitnah as we witness today. The Shehu was right. We will never endure if we didn’t
change our ways - Competitiveness, Skills & Employability
Broadly speaking, we are generally not competitive with the south in so many fields of human
endeavours, and the honest truth is we don’t even desire to. But the reality is we can and we must.
Certain aspects of our history that could explain this mind set are long overtaken by history. Gone
are the days when Northern school leavers had employment opportunities waiting for them. It was
difficult for cultural reasons to get us to school. The only immediate attraction was the automatic
employment opportunities the certificates were to offer. Different examinations scores were
designed in favour of the Northern candidate to reflect this mind set and difficulties. While some
measure of affirmative action could be desirable and even beneficial in the short to medium term, it
certainly will continue to weaken competitiveness in the long run. Our brains are the same and we
can compete anywhere in the world. My medical degree and postgraduate fellowship certificates
aren’t quota based. I acquired them competitively. Same is true for anybody with any certificate
here. We must overtime begin to confront the mind- set that teaches my 13years old JSS 1 child that
he can actually get ahead of his southern friend with less grades. We must encourage them to
compete even at that level. This mind-set affects our skills content and employability. Thousands of
young southern NYSC members have created self employment opportunities up North while our
graduates wait endlessly for the few little paying public sector jobs that may never come - Environment; Sanitation, Deforestation, Desert Encroachment & Perineal Flooding
Annual flooding has become a permanent feature across our state most especially in the Ringim,
Dutse and Hadeja flood plains. Water is now in many areas of these plains as much of a curse as it is
a blessing. Hundreds of billions in farm produce and properties including sadly lives and livelihood
are lost annually without much end in sight
Nigeria looses about 0.6km annually to desertification, almost all of it in the North. Desert
encroachment is the primary cause of draught, leading to poor harvest, hunger, household poverty,
migration and conflicts. In the 60s and 70s up to the 80s, afforestation and general environmental
protection were top priorities. Where are the tree plantations around our major townships and
along the major roads also. Where are the shelter belts in bushes. What happens to the duba garis?
Where are they? Who did this to us? - Traditional & Religious Institutions
I make bold to say that Jigawa today probably has the most enlightened, patriotic and progressive
set of Emirs than anywhere in Northern Nigeria. But unfortunately, in areas of policy, governance
and overall social development these traditional institutions are more or less redundant and grossly
underutilised as is largely the case across the entire country. While at the same time we remain
totally ignorant and clueless of the utility of religious clerics, their places of worship, and the
opportunities both can offer for a positive social engineering. Today, our traditional establishment
and religious institutions are barely only tolerated for the fear of the political consequences of
totally neglecting them. - Unity of Purpose
I am ashamed to say that Jigawa is not united even when I have to accept the possibility that it could
be the fact. How people who almost appear the same in the way they look, speak, dress, eat,
worship, marry, celebrate, mourn, entertain and even bury their dead but yet allow themselves to
be bitterly divided by a very vicious elite class wallahi is beyond my comprehension. I was thinking
that even the crushing poverty that is so ubiquitous across the state should unite us. Because I can
understand if a people are divided between those who have and the have nots. How can we all be so
poor and yet allow those who keep us poor to steal even our unity?
Your Highness Sir, fellow participants, distinguished moderators, ladies and gentlemen, we must
respond to these uncomplimentary statistics with specific demands, clear manifestos, sound
strategy and progressive politics!
Dear Jigawa brethren, a new progressive activism would perhaps have to start. It shall be anchored
on sound philosophical, ethical and moral principles with clear ideological sentiments around –
universal freedom, rights, and equality of all men, right to life, free, compulsory and qualitative basic
education for all, universal health coverage, gender fairness and inclusion, social and economic
justice, child’s right, freedom of thought, association and conscience, cultural renaissance and
environmental renewal – that is reduced into specific manifestos as follows: - First, we must keep the peace in Jigawa by all means. The general security situation in some
of our neighbours and the across the region is of primary concern to us. Therefore the
territory referred to as the North of the Federal Republic of Nigeria must not be a hunting
ground for violent ideological extremists, murderous criminals gangs and other opportunistic
conflict entrepreneurs! Enemies of our people and the state must always go to bed with the
fearful certainty that our agents will get them anytime anywhere. This is nationhood 101! - Most of us were either too young or not even born to be part of the various struggles that
created Jigawa 30 years ago. But old enough to proudly stand as the children she struggled
to create as she clocks 30 today. This reality shall and must reflect in our total loyalty and
commitment to her. We accordingly have a simple but clear message to all those who still
think we are as divided as we used to be when this journey started thirty years ago; you
have lived your lives, please allow us just the unity of purpose to also build and live ours. - Our best brains must be recruited and compensated to teach from primary to tertiary levels.
An incompetent and poorly motivated teacher is a much bigger hazard to the society than
even an incompetent or poorly motivated doctor. While the doctor destroys one citizen at a
time, the teacher does that to an innocent multitude in their formative years, among whom
will be future doctors, teachers, judges and police. No society that is serious about it’s
development can tolerate as much indifference to the flight of it’s teachers and education as
we presently do!
Accordingly, the morale, competence, and dignity of our teachers are our top priorities.
Their recruitment, training, teaching aids support, remuneration and welfare system shall
aim to be world class. No much is too much for us to empower our citizens with knowledge.
Those who feel otherwise should reflect on the cost of ignorance instead! - All school age children must be sitted in classrooms. The Almajiri system cannot continue to
remain in it’s present form and direction. The Koranic schools are as important, if not more
and should be modernised through skills, numeracy and broader literacy addition to it’s
curriculum. All school age children shall have rights to a free, compulsory and competitive
basic education! - The girl child is a special child. Our noble Prophet Muhammad PBUH had, about 1500 years
ago strongly recommended educating the girl child, which he prioritized over and above the
boy’s. He (SAW) had empathised that educating a girl is like educating the Ummah.
Predictably, about two of his wives and a daughter were scholars of note. Nana Asma’u, the
daughter of Sheikh Usman Ibn Fodio was a writer, a philosopher, and a scholar in her own
rights. Who then do we look up to when our girls turn out among the least educated,
healthy and empowered in the world? This has to change! Where are our Nana Aishas AS
and Nana Asmaus - Our curriculum shall be totally overhauled and upgraded to make our people competitive
and match new global realities of access to information, globalisation, and exciting
breakthroughs in biotechnology, space technology, communications and robotic sciences.
This is the only way we can create a knowledge economy. An economy that is driven
primarily by the competence, skills and inputs of individual citizens. Knowledge economy
engages all citizens, multiplies employment and economic opportunities, shares prosperity
and ultimately reduces poverty and unemployment. In an established knowledge economy,
no citizen is left behind, let alone the millions and tens of millions! - Our people need to be healthier than they presently are. Women shouldn’t die as much
during childbirth and more of our children should be able to celebrate their fifth birthdays in
health and total wellbeing. Our life expectancy is embarrassing, just as are our doctor to
patient and nurse to patient ratios. We must totally and immediately eradicate diseases like
leprosy and VVF! - We must completely and immediately clean our neighbourhoods and streets of illicit drugs,
and establish modern and scientifically driven rehabilitation services for the multitudes that
are already victims of abuse and dependence. Drugs enable crimes and destroy the
productive base of the economy! - Agriculture, which employs majority of our people, contributes highest to our GDP and
directly determines our food security must rise above a 1000 years subsistence level. We
must inject knowledge, research, innovations and capital to completely modernise our
farming. Agriculture must evolve into a business backed up with actionable agro industrial
and commodity exchange blueprints. Agriculture is too important to our existence in Jigawa
to exist as it is! - We shall halt desert encroachment and stop excessive flooding as well. We must plant tens
of millions of trees over the next three decades to reclaim both lost lands and prevent
further desertification. Our major water ways should be dredged and dams created to
increase their water holding capacity. This is possible and we can! - We are due as a people for yet another comprehensive round of traditional and religious
institutions reforms. Some of the social and to an extent even the economic constraints that
ail our development in Jigawa could benefit from the reverence, stability, patriotism and the
solid network of our Emirs and their Emirates. So is also the case with, if appropriately
harnessed, the authority, legitimacy and knowledge of our Islamic Clerics and their pulpits.
Jigawa must create a future where these two institutions would play both predictable and
constitutionally guaranteed supporting roles in our social and development policies and
actions - We are bearers of a great heritage and history built on the principles of competitiveness, self
reliance, sound ethics and hard work. I shall be responsible for myself and only depend on
the state to the extent that it is it’s responsibility to provide me with opportunities. Begging
and destitution are neither part of my culture nor religion. Those who are truly weak and the
infirm shall the responsibility of the state. This is social justice! - We are solemnly committed to these principles and are disposed to pursue all necessary
legislative, administrative, political and social changes in Jigawa to the extent that it will
enable their implementation. No status quo is too sacrosanct to stand on the way of the
development of our people!
The Jigawa Of The Next Thirty Years
“…Jigawa today is probably among the five poorest states in the country with one of the lowest
literacy index ( third from the bottom in the WASSCE results for two consecutive years), high
maternal deaths and infant mortality. Seven hundred and seventy five thousand of our children are
out of school children, most of them unfortunately girls who shall bear the future generation.
We are among the top three states losing their land to desert encroachment with all it’s attendant
consequences on subsistence farming and animal husbandry (the two major drivers of our GDP),
food security and poverty. Family nutrition, dependency ratio and female literacy remain one of the
worst in the world.
With our population of about 6 million; 3 million of which are under 30yrs, reasonably educated and
capable, the youths in Jigawa can, in the next 30yrs, initiate a possible sub revolution that can
effectively change this sad reality and reverse the fortune of the state
Specifically, with an estimated landmass of about 22,410 square kilometres, adequate international
boundary, modern airport, about 250km of railway track, impressive road network, three new
universities, a teaching hospital, three polytechnics, an informatics institute, a historic college of
education, schools of nursing and health technology and a reputation for peace, Jigawa, can with
the right mind-set, daring ideas and patriotism generate a self sustaining prosperity compared to
many sovereign territories around the world.
It’s diverse and rich landscape comprising of all the savannah types (guinea, sahel and sudan),
expansive and extensive network of wetlands, bird sanctuaries, rock formations and planes can
provide Nigeria with a significant fraction of it’s food’s demand, earn foreign exchange, and host all
the cattle colonies in Nigeria. In fact, with such endowments, Jigawa is a potential international
tourism sensation that can support various chains of hospitality and agro allied based industries and
services
I am of the strong believe and conviction that our generation can, within our lifetime, realistically
deliver this ‘NEW WORLD’ at the national stage and launch it’s economy at both the regional and
continental levels.
All that is required in the short to medium term is the right collective mind-set and consensus,
strategic vision, clinical planning and deliberate political actions to completely modernise our
education, health, local economy and environment over the next 30yrs….”
To achieve all these, no resources, human or material shall be spared.
My fellow compatriots, these are possible manifestos for possible adoption as a generation. Our job
is cut out for us. It is our responsibility (just like our heroes past) to consciously organise towards
these very specific goals with clear ideological narratives, dedicated political mobilization and
sustained progressive actions.
But the big questions are; do we even behave as if we are aware of these possibilities? If we are
aware, are we ready to march forward? If we think we are ready, are we capable as a generation?
This now is the appropriate moment for an honest, frank and self critical assessment of ourselves as
a generation; - We are too selfish, ideologically incoherent and fragmented:
The generation that struggled for independence knew that while the end result of their struggle was
power and economic opportunities for most of them, what bound them together were however,
strong decolonisation sentiments, freedom for their people and even pan Africanism.
The civil war sacrifices were as much about one strong and indivisible black African nation than it
was about personal differences and ethnic sentiments.
Even the recent democratization struggles were as much driven by ideals of democracy, free society
and individual franchise as it was about power and its contest.
Unfortunately, we are too ideologically incoherent and fragmented and very selfish to pursue any
competitive and meaningful political movement.
What is our ideological and philosophical sounding board as a generation? Beyond asking the old to
leave and give us power, what higher ideals unite and propel us? - Organisational defects:
We are bad organisers. Very bad ones. My involvement in politics from the ward to the national
levels exposed me to the reality that politics is all about organisation. If one likes, one can spend a
whole life time agitating. But in the grand scheme of things politically, he might achieve little or
nothing if the traditional organisation bit of it is missing. My generation is all talk no organisation!
There are instances where people who didn’t pass through any formal training do much better in
organizing and executing political tasks - Finance and Logistics challenges:
Globally, coordinating successful political activities will involve a lot of resources. We just don’t have
those resources. No one will ever be generous enough to finance another’s political adventure.
Especially if he determines that the ‘other’ seeks to replace him.
Nobody will fund us but us! Every kobo counts and shall be volunteered. There is a serious power in
numbers. Presidents Obama of the USA and Macron of France were crowd funded by young people.
The sad reality here however is that even some of our young educated elements who are literate
enough to know how bad the status quo is would rather ask for what they will get out of the process
than what they will volunteer into it - Ethical & Moral Challenges:
No matter the sentiments my generation might have against those running the status quo, one
cannot take away their sense of purpose and responsibility towards what they consider a priority.
Perhaps because of the advantages of better education, purposeful mentoring and the exposures
they had, they come across as more hardworking, ethically conscious and disciplined than most of
our young people.
While we condemn corruption in the open, most of us secretly wish to benefit. We only seem to
gloat at corruption that we aren’t beneficiaries of. Money and patronage buy our loyalty. Greed,
envy, hate and jealously determine to a large extent our political attitudes and opinions especially
towards people of our generation.
We are deliberate in the use of our social media for all the wrong reasons. Even the holders of post
graduate degrees among can use their social platforms in very patronising ways for selfish ends - Emotional Intelligence:
We are too emotional. Our interactions on social media are literally hateful shouting marches. We
attack, disrespect and mock each others cultures, spirituality and ways of life generally.
There is even no universal and acceptable concept of what constitutes a major social affliction across
ethnic and regional lines. Words like Almajiri, Baby Factory Product, Boko Haram, Terrorist, Yahoo
Boys and other derogatory expletives are used to shout down the other not to establish any
consensus against the issues at broad and actionable levels.
Our public debates are essentially emotional sound bites around regional, sectional, religious and
tribal sentiments. This at best take our attention away from the real issues and eventually even
breed contempt and hatred among us!
But all hopes cannot be lost. The prospects are very bright if we choose to do all the right things, at
the right time and for the right purposes from today. The political space, much more than any other
aspect of our national life needs our fresh ideas and innocent minds.
First, we must quit the politics of next elections. The youths made so much noise in 2015, and by
2019 they almost run the political space into the frenzy of not too young to run. If no one is too
young to run, then the fact has always been no one was ever too to old run either. Such unrealistic
timelines and expectations only help to further portray us as an ambitious lot who seek power only
for the sake of power
The youths must learn to toil, organise, shoot blank, fall and rise again. We must never reduce this
generational call to any meaningless debate about ageism. It is not a ‘we’ the young versus ‘them’
the old in the context of age but the specific realities and roles expected of the two generations. We
need both the collective wisdom and accumulated experiences of the old to properly harness and
guide the energy, innocence and the modernity of the young
Good politics isn’t about the next election or grabbing power but organising a society and moving it
forward
And make no mistakes about it, the youth demography in Jigawa has all the progressive resources
and elements necessary to initiate these actions. Though they are presently littered across various
political, social and geographical divides and interests. They must eventually locate themselves, quit
shouting at one another and link up to disrupt this gory status quo.
This is what Development Politics is all about. It promotes big daring ideas, and ethical, moral and
intellectual competence. It must accordingly be able to mobilise and own it’s political resources. Set
the minimum standards of rights and obligations for both the elected leadership and citizens.
Finance it’s activities and sponsor candidates with specific mandates. Then monitor and enforce
compliance of same.
Ladies and gentlemen, this may be the hard way, but it is probably the only way to fix things around
here. It was done by other societies that may not even be as endowed. The older generations have
taken all the real political bullets, endured tortures and served the prison terms on our behalf.
Nobody is in prison today because of the political views they hold.
We are Jigawa Youths; a totally free, fully franchised, reasonably educated and technology enabled
citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the global community who must stand up to the
peculiar challenges and opportunities of our generation and time
We can start to stand from today, or tomorrow, next month, in a year’s time or even ten. But let this
generation never refuse to stand and deliver what both time and destiny demand of it. Because the
consequences of doing nothing is far more consequencial than doing nothing.
Idan kuma mu na ganin a haka za a ci gaba da zama, toh ga fili ga mai doki nan!
Ma’assalam
