By Samuel Luka, Bauchi
The immediate past national president of Sayawa socio-cultural organization, Zaar Development Association (ZDA), Barr. Istifanus Bala Gambar has expressed concerns over the escalation of division among his kinsmen in recent times.
Gambar who was speaking to some selected newsmen at his GRA resident on Wednesday said that only panacea to the factors causing the division is dialogue among the people.
He described the current disunity among the Zaar people as a very unpalatable news in the history of his kinsmen.
“We have never been that too divided as a community where we are factionalised, enmity and internal division and squabbles has escalated to a level that we are witnessing today where brothers stood to fight one another”, Barr. Gambar said.
According to him, the current situation where brothers raise against one another within the Zaar nation calls for concerted effort to put an end to it with a view to fostering development within the community.
“When I was the leader of that Community that spanned for a decade, ten years exactly, we have never witnessed such a scenario, a crescendo of crisis of such magnitude whereby the community has gone into flames, is a sad development”, Gambar said.
He maintained that even before he became the national president of the organization, previous leaders of the ZDA have not witnessed such conflict that has virtually grounded the community.
“This problem has not only affected our community as a people and I think the larger people are beginning to be amazed because we were a united Community”, he said.
“We pride in our motto that says ‘Sorgha Nambong yitud lhbah? literally meant ‘can a single broom sweep? That is together as one, we are connected to one another and that is what our forebears bequeathed in us but unfortunately, now we are divided”, Barr. Gambar lamented.
Speaking on why Sayawa people who have been known as peace loving tribe have now turn against itself, Gambar said, “you know if you go through history lane, the most powerful kingdoms are not conquered by external aggression, especially those that have established themselves across the globe”.
He added: “but when you have internal division, acrimony and bitterness, personal interest that comes to bare the overall or general Community, you will now begin to see the kingdom getting weakened, that is what has exactly happened in our community, not the common interest”.
He emphasize that the current disunity among the Sayawa people is as a result of personal interest where a group of people decided to ignore what actually binds the community together.
Barr. Gambar who disputed assertions that the crisis in Zaar land was due to political interest by some of her elites, said, “I totally disagree with that assertion, that is my own personal opinion. The nitty gritty of the key issue that has happened in our community are foundamental issues that we classified as the non negotiables in our community, it is the struggle about what our forebears fought about for generations for years, for decades. And what are the issues? Our quest for freedom, our quest for self rule, this has been the issue”.
He said that the late Sage of the Zaar nation, late Baba Peter Gonto fought for the collective interest of the entire Community.
“I am even lost when people talk about political interest. But when you are talking of politics in the ways of the legendary, our icon the Baba Gonto, the sage, he fought for common interest of the community. If any Zaar son is promoting the interest of collectivism, I call it the classical Baba Gontoism philosophy that we all imbibed”, Bala said.
