By Dr Asika Adaisu
It has unfortunately fallen on us as a heterogeneous community. To tell a tale of a sad HISTORY. One whose end we don’t know but the present state Calles for Action – positive action , perhaps to right the wrongs of the past with the hope of salvaging whatever remains of the future yet to be…
Whenever I take even a careless look at the situation now existing between the MARGHI & SUKUR Communities in Madagali LGA I hardly come to any reasonable conclusions as to why or what is the humanly conceivable reason or the purpose of the war of ATTRITION that the Marghi folks of Madaglali have been waging against the SUKUR PEOPLE.?
There is no any conceivable reason because the two communities, even though they share the same Geographical location which is MADAGALI LGA. There is significantly great in balance of RESOURCES between the two of them. Material,Human,and otherwise. Though the SUKUR people can proudly boast of a RICHER History but that’s all about the only thing that the community have up it’s sleeves……
The MARGHIS are Better Educated, better placed in government, they’re Richer by far and more exposed to the outside world. That Two Marghi people became Governors within the span of two years bears eloquent testimony to the fact that Marghi, as a people are far ahead of the Sukur people. In almost all field of human endeavors….
Nevertheless the level of Animosity or jealousy generated by mere mentioning the Name Sukur to a marghi Man leaves more to be desired. It rankles my imagination….
Let me give you at least two or three instances
– there was a time I was traveling back to Yola and I met a check point where I had to introduce myself, which I did and the officer called on his commared who happened to be from the same Madagali. When the man discovered am a Sukur man his countenance automatically changed and turned hostile as if he realized I was some sort of a Criminal.
Another unforgettable experience I encountered was in an airport in ISTAMBUL on my way to Germany. When I noticed a Marghi man from his facial marks. I quickly accosted him with a wid smile and we started exchanging pleasantries. As soon I mentioned my Sukur Roots, I can never forget the revulsion that appeared on his face. Some how I was deducing something like how comes this Savage made it this far.
While this might be some isolated cases or some coincidence but many of our folks are experiencing the same everywhere with our Marghi brothers. The Marghis are so high, far in the air competing with the major ethnic groups in terms of individual and cooperate achievement in the country.The Sukur are still largely mountain dwellers, going about with sickles and hoes,largely Uneducated and poor. We are only harvesting our very first set of PhD holders, very few of us have gone overseas to study. Have never had any permsec, both at state or federal.
Yet this fledgeling community is the one sending Marghi Nation to uncontrollable Rage, always thinking as if some one is Right behind them and is about to pluck out from their grip some thing too dear,and precious.
I sometimes think the whole Marghi folks or at least most of them are suffering from schizophrenic INFERIORITY COMPLEX. Otherwise I cannot explain the reason for such a persecution for no just caurse.
When some years ago some polling station where to be created,the enumerators made sure even the few ones located in Sukur clusters bears different Names. For example Sukur settlement unit will bear the name Bebel 1& 2. Just to avoid documenting the Name Sukur. In Sukur Daurawa they’re placed under a minute Hamlet kilomiters away, this is how the people are either balkanized or disenfranchised, deliberately.
Sukur people are always denied employment at the local Government, they are always being sidelined conciously. We keep hearing things like we cannot permit a Sukur take over of Madagali. I once had something like ” we must never allow the actualization of Sukur agenda” I don’t know what sort of an agenda a weaker group can ever execute over a stronger one.
If there were to be an even balance of Power you may understand but in this situation nothing is even close balance. But the hatred and constant victimization is perfectly inexplicable.
It will interest readers to know that when the sign board for the world HERITAGE SITE was to be sighted, some Marghi elites were instigating their youth to protest the sighting of the sign board on Marghi soil…..I don’t know which one is Marghi soil over there.
We as a people are becoming increasingly tired of this unreasonable war of attrition against our people. Because we know that even if The Marghi Nation will go to sleep for the next Half century, they cannot be matched by the Sukur people…….
So we are asking,why the hate,why the persecution,why the marginalization…??
If it’s because of the WORLD HERITAGE SITE or our history,then, our answer is that it’s not our choice to be born Sukur people…..so can’t we just live and let live?
DR ASIKA NDAISU,PhD
WROTE THIS PIECE IN YOLA.
ADAMAWA STATE
THE VIEW AND THE OPINION IS SOLELY OF THE WRITER AND IT DOES NOT FORMS TGNEWS EDITORIAL NOTES
