Today my concern is with the fact that Arewa is bleeding and most of us are busy focussing of the vanity of Political control. Yes, political control is shear vanity. Vanity upon vanity. We are busy calculating power equation that may lead us to governing graveyards of our citizens rather than the citizens themselves.
Adams Oshiomhole wanted Obaseki to succeed him. Oyegun who was National Chairman of the APC wanted someone else. Adams had his way. Did he control Obaseki? No. Infact he was almost chased out of Edo state by Obaseki. Vanity upon vanity.
As National Chairman of APC the same Adams Oshiomhole was responsible for the enthronement of the party leadership at his ward, local government and state levels. Still it was the ward leadership that suspended him, and it was endorsed by the local government and the state leadership of the party. Vanity upon vanity.
I don’t want to say anything about the experiences in my state of Adamawa. Or even the mighty state of Kano. But please reflect and see. How many Political leaders have lived true to their terms of loyalty? It’s all vanity. Vanity upon vanity.
My concern today are the people we claim to lead. Are we sufficiently advancing their interests? Are we truly leading them? Are we concerned about their welfare and well-being? Are we working for them or pursuing our own vanities? We fight dirty for political power and control while ignoring the essence of power and control which the provision of a common good for the people. We simply pursue vanity. Vanity upon vanity.
Every morning you hear of people killed or Kidnappings along our highways. And you also read about people blaming the president or defending him. Is that all we can do. Is the president an octopus or a spirit. Can he alone no matter the enormity of his powers do it alone? No, he cannot. He needs us, he needs all hands on deck to sail the ship of state to safety. Agreed the buck stops at his table. But what of the rest of us? Does it mean we have no role to play in reducing the misery and Carnage in our communities? Yet most of us jus pursue vanity. Vanity upon vanity.
The president is just one person. Arewa is bleeding. Nigeria is bleeding. Where are the Governors, Senators, Reps, Ministers, House of Assembly members, Traditional rulers and title holders, down to our party leaders and our humble selves? What role are we playing in mitigating these unfortunate occurrences? Are doing anything? Is it good enough? Most of us are looking for cheap glory. Paying young persons to sing our praises on social media. Vanity. Vanity upon vanity.
If you think we at our levels as party leaders, as community leaders, as tittle holders, as opinion leaders and members of the elite class are powerless to contribute to finding solutions, then we are not sincere or honest. We can achieve a huge mileage by reconciling ourselves and our communities for a start and by reducing the harshness of poverty, hunger and misery in our communities. All these stupid divisions and the promotion of suspicions along partisan Political expediency, along ethnicity, religion or inter and intra community basis within our communities and the polity are helping fuel insecurity in the land. “Ai sai bongo ya tsage kadangare ke shiga” we may see these divisions as helping us win elections, but they are also destroying our land. We see the poverty, hunger and deprivations in the land as God sent. It’s a lie. Its self inflicted by our negative actions and pursuit of vanity. Vanity upon vanity.
Where are our political leaders? Where are our Imams and Pastors? Where are our Traditional rulers? Where are our Rich men and women? Now is the time to unite ourselves and unite our people against a common enemy. Arewa is bleeding. Nigeria is bleeding. Wake up to the reality of our situation. We are too divided, too aloof, too disconnected from our people to win their confidence and to win the war against the enemies we face. We have ceded too much space to our enemies such as insurgents, bandits, kidnappers, poverty, hunger and social inequalities. Rather we give greater premium to vanity. Vanity upon vanity.
Does it require the President to tell our elected and appointed leaders to visit and sympathize with us when tragedy befalls? Are we so fearful or heartless that we cannot on our own go? Haba jama’a why? Why are the same communities safe for us to visit and recieve Chieftaincy tittles and Awards but unsafe to go and commiserate with our people when tragedy strikes? Are we really concerned? Do we see our citizens as a conquered people? Why are we just interested in vanity? Vanity upon vanity.
Ahmad Sajoh
