An open Letter to the President of the Middle Belt Forum
Dear Sir,
One must begin by appreciating your efforts so far. We see you on TV, read you in newspapers and are always happy with the positions you take during your press conferences. You spend your time and resources representing us at regional block meetings. We are enamoured to you because you not only agree to do a thankless job, but you do it with all zeal, even when you know that some of the people whose cause you defend do not even know about you or even care to, clearly showing that they do not contribute to enhancing the struggle in any way. Thank God for your doggedness, for such is the way great leaders go about any cause worth fighting for.
However, we still feel we are in a rudderless ship, or, more appropriately put, in a ship where all the loud demanding and commanding voices exclude the mention of our berthing jetties, making us to always know that the outcome of the journey will not favour us. This is in spite of your great efforts. And this is because our situation is complex, at least for the now. We see ourselves through the lenses of our small ethnic entities instead of our large collective size; we think we do not have political weight and those we exist with always exclude us or our possible reaction in any deal; we are generally poor; we are multi-ethnic and multi-religious; we have over-bloated primordial differences that make us hate one another; and we have been set on confusion, without set goals. Our actions, understandably, have always been reactive, but it is time to use those situations that make us reactive to organize instead.
Duddud duddud dududud… is a deadly rhythm from a deadly weapon. It is the pouting sound of bullets from the AK 47 gun. It is a diarrhoea of bullets rhyming to create a pleasurable sound in the heart of the shooter and dread to the victim. Duddud duddud dududud is an imprimatur being carved on the impressionable minds of minors, ordered and supervised. Despite a lame attempt to deceive people by saying that it was AI generated, credible evidence shows that the video was made in 2019. So it must have been composed earlier and must have already been passed down to present day adults. The official rebuttal of the content, intent and impact of the video is a perfect and pleasant read to any visitor to northern Nigeria, but for those living there, we can only say ‘tell it to the birds’! It is a ring tone we are used to, and which, sadly, reactivates Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in many of us.
Duddud duddud dududud is a product of hatred indoctrinated over a long time. It has been music to some, and death to others. It has been an embarrassment to all lovers of peace, especially among Muslims. No honest leader, DSS personnel, civil society, etc, can say it is the first time they are hearing this. That is why, the young man from Maradun in Zamfara state leading the chants, Umar Ibrahim Gandi, whom everybody has distanced himself from, should be seen as innocent, not as a scapegoat. It may be professional laziness or timidity to stop investigations at his level. He chanted, the children chanted it, the person who taught him chanted it and those above that person sanctioned it. Sorry, sir, but we think your silence on this is loud, although we also think that it is because it is no news because it is commonplace.
Duddud duddud dududud is a sound we have chosen to ignore consistently to our peril. When we are not so killed physically, it shows itself in appointments, recruitments, representations, scholarship awards, leadership selections, contract awards, employments, etc. It has been expressed as systemic emasculation over a long time. So, even though it can go as one of those million things, it can be our wake-up call. We love the unity of Nigeria and it is one thing that compels this write up.
Sir, as you know, Nigerian unity, or one Nigeria, is best and ideal for us who identify as Middle Beltans. But you cannot always get the ideal or what you wish. So, we must prepare for an eventuality. Danger, lack, confusion, laid-backness, etc, are already upon us. We need to strategise to erase them. We also need to strategise for the said eventuality by bringing our people together and getting them think about it. You are already adept at this from your trans-regional negotiations. Please, make this happen at the home level. Let there be regular meetings of local leaders and occasional conferences for all.
Let’s get a map of who you represent, their profiles, and begin a draft of our own ‘we, the people ..‘document. We can begin to get things ready for that eventuality. Intentionally work on issues that make us feel amorphous and seek to find some amalgam, no, some diluent that can make us one by dissolving our differences. Because of your belief in one Nigeria and common-sense decorum, you have been quiet during elections while other people use the wedges that divide us to their advantage. Use the wedges too, sir.
Let’s float a political party and have no apologies for that. Others have done it before. That APGA does not have a presidential candidate in the next election speaks volumes. Just be bold to be sectarian; for now, it is necessary in Nigeria and other leaders are always voicing it. Whenever you hear that north is excluded, you know they do not mean us. Voice and question every political, economic, programmatic, policy or legal step that are inimical to our lives, prosperity and all. Make sure we are not forgotten in any discussions, for, as they say, if you are not on the table, you are on the menu. Or, since we already seem to be on the menu, shift us to the table. A middle ground can be that we have a nuisance value of some sort, so that anybody excluding or forgetting us will quickly remember.
Also, float a magazine and other information channels for us to ventilate our concerns and ideas. Find ways of harnessing our vast resources. Also find out how others in other countries, who are in similar situations like us, have solved their problems. If you haven’t yet done it, identify a think tank of people who are woke concerning our issues, not just influential people.
On insecurity, encourage members to not agree to be killed by anyone taking laws into their hands. You can call for constitutional amendments for gun ownership. Even though there are too many guns in the country now, the ratio of guns in the hands of evil people to that in the hands of their victims is one million to zero. Duddud duddud dududud in reverse sounds almost the same.
These suggested actions are part of nation building, and we have been unfair to the country to never have been contributing. I have made this letter public so that everybody will know our group-think and the suggestions are in no way prejudicial to your highly revered thoughts.
Thank you, sir.
Faithfully yours,
Tanimu dan Rabeh
• Rabeh, a medical practitioner lives in Abuja and sent this via WhatsApp. All reactions should be sent to everyday67ng@gmail.com.