Walking down the street home, I was thinking of so much, I usually worry my self sick about the state of things, and it frustrates me that I can’t really do much. You could say I am utopian in nature, I like to keep an optimistic mind at all times, even in the most difficult and frustrating of times, you cannot take my positivism away. I mean, if you are a Nigerian-based optimist, you are possibly one of the best around the world. Maybe that’s why amidst these hard times in Nigeria I pull through more easily.

On approaching our house, there were a blind old woman and a little girl standing in front of my house; it was obvious they were beggars; a common sight in northern Nigeria. As I started to look for loose change in my bag, the words from the old woman’s lips startled me. She said “young lady may Allah give you wealth so I can get from it” (Allah ba ku mu samu). Maybe a lot of us might not understand the deeper meaning in this statement. (It isn’t that I haven’t heard this before, I have heard so many times but it is just that this time around I listened more carefully, it just pressed a button hard inside of me!)

We often find ourselves in situations of helplessness, which I believe is a condition when one is without the ability to do something different to change a position, or when we are given no help. This I believe most of us have experienced personally or collectively. But, this old woman’s statement did not carry with it helplessness, but hopelessness, an incurable one at that, given no reason to expect good or success. A total loss of faith in what is yet to come, for a blind person in Nigeria, that may not be unusual, because people with vision 20/20 don’t feel any better, but I find it unacceptable that the 10 year old girl re-echoes the same mantra as the blind old woman!

Unfortunately some Nigerians don’t see themselves as mere mortals anymore, I often wonder how our leaders sleep at night, they create so much insecurity for Nigerians and yet they think they can sleep. “Pickin wey sey im mama no go sleep, im too no go sleep”. My lecturer Dr. Mohammed Wader says, “if you create order you will see order, if you create disorder you will see disorder” similar to the saying “what goes around comes around” -these are words that we often take for granted, believe me; nothing can be truer.

I asked the old lady never to say such a thing, we are all equal, and I said to her and the little girl, as I dropped my alms in the trough she was holding. We might not be equal in possession of material things, but the dignity and self-respect of an individual cannot be taken away, unless he/she gives it away. If one is not blessed materially, it doesn’t mean one is no more human. She might not have understood my words, or I might not have really considered what drove her to say those words perpetually. The stack truth is that this woman is speaking for millions of Nigerians in various parts of the country. Millions of our country men and women trapped in a time-space warp.

Islam for instance, has a solution for these societal problems, of bridging the gap between the rich and the poor; it is called ZAKKAT, (compulsory giving of alms to the needy), I also live in a region with a large population of Muslims.   But it is not about Islam alone or giving of alms, it is more about the greed that propels those in whose frontage majority of the paupers queue on a daily basis catching their spits and rubbing it on their skins. How much can the loose change from the gaudy multi-millionaires in our midst bridge the rich-poor divide? Largely though, aren’t we all beggars in this place. Don’t we beg for everything from water to security and electricity? Don’t we beg to be given admissions to universities even when we make far more than cut-off points? Don’t we beg to keep our jobs in the banks by wearing push-up bras so that the male customers and the randy managers can be kept happy? Don’t we beg the police to release innocent citizens from their jail cells; don’t we beg for our salaries from governors whose children live and school abroad; don’t we beg for everything?

In the midst of all these, some of individuals from some region keep campaigning to rule this country, with no manifestoes, no programs, no promises but a claim to their right to be leaders based upon a secret agreement in somebody’s hotel suite in Abuja?

 I don’t have anything to say to Nigerians, but “ if person say e go give you clot wear, make you look the one wey dey im bodi so you go no which kind clot to expect”. The person who has made the most positive impact on his family, community and nation is the one who truly deserves the leadership. It should never be the guys who worship money on the alter of greed, not those who call the name of Allah (God) to fool you and I, not those who come from the region or ethnicity of the barbarians, if our votes ever count, not again!!!

 The past few weeks Nigeria has witnessed two assassinations Funsho Williams and Ayo Daramola. And Nigerians are making noise all over the place about how unjust and insecure the Nigerian policing and judicial system had become as if they suddenly found out. Two deaths of highly placed Nigerians and the media won’t touch any other news, paying so much attention to political assassination of two people like nothing else is going on in this chaotic nation. I don’t blame Nigerian politicians for feeling high and mighty, we gave them that leverage to feel too important. And we ignore the fact that death is death, whether it is that of a rich or of the poor.

 Do you know how many people die in Nigerian hospitals daily, because they can’t afford medicine or due to wrong prognosis or diagnosis? Do you know how many families go to bed hungry, families with children as young as the age of two, I mean mothers who beat their empty pots to sing their hungry kids to sleep? Do you know how many students; tomorrow’s leaders die on these bad Nigerian roads- between Abuja Township and Gwagwalada where my school campus is located? Do you know how many friends I have lost, who on their way to school died, because the driver was trying to ‘dodge’ a big pothole? Do you know how many Nigerians have died from hunger and starvation, outbreaks of ‘small time’ diseases like Cholera and Co.?

 I am not implying that all politicians are bad or that anyone should be assassinated while we keep quiet, there may be some who are really out to make a difference, but there are issues that need more of our attention which rolls by unattended to until they become huge disasters in our neighborhoods. We should be paying attention to, what happens to the average Nigerian regarding his /her basic needs, what happens to matters concerning the majority, what happens to innocent children and abused women, what is going on with the justice system, how we can rectify the problems of the policing, how far we can decrease the level of ignorance, all of these keeping in mind the truly deprived. That is, if we are truly for humanity.  Not wasting time paying attention to politicians, who have invested in their today not in Nigeria’s future, carelessly looting public funds totally insensitive to where it might lead all of us. Theirs are souls, sold to the Devil, certainly not a future to look forward to, hence why they make the lives of Nigerians miserable.

 Who will create all these hardship for Nigerians and expect to live in peace, nature has a way of getting even. A country that is lead by usurpers, political vampires that have sold the past, present and future of our generation, it is so pathetic that we have fallen victims to their dirty games, the worst part is we don’t know to whom our future has been sold, whether the Paris club, World Bank, London club, Former Military Generals Club, or most recently the “Chinese credit club” or the Devil, who knows? We want our future back and we will surely get it back!

 There are two types of worlds, one world that recognizes intuitive brilliance and talents in its people and strive to develop it, meshing such qualities with the right jobs and opportunities, a world that rewards it people for a good deeds and punishes them for a bad ones, a world that appreciates her peoples worth and allows freely the independence of exploration and human development, a world that takes as her sole responsibility; given hope to all and sundry.

Another world, which I am unfortunate to be part of, recognizes the potential of its people and strives to undermine it, a world that the first survival tactics is corruption and bestiality, where its people are made to believe that to move forward we have to pull others backwards, a world were parents set the worst examples for their children to follow. A world were everyone complains of the deteriorating condition of things, yet attain a position to make things better, and do worse than those before them, a world were yes; to a certain degree ‘growth’ is attained, but development a mirage, in a simple verdict, a world of “arrested development”

 The good thing is that there are people who want things to be better, not just for themselves but also for others. There are people who want to contribute their quota to our nation building, promoting growth and development, and also men and women who have made their distinct contribution to our nation so Nigeria can be better, but these people efforts are suppressed by our negative attitudes, average Nigerians want change, but detest the process and discipline it takes to achieve the change. We persecute the bearers of truth and shun them even when we know deep within them will lead us to the Promised Land. To be disciplined and principled is a hard assignment for people that have been cultured that the cruel and corrupt way is the only way.

 We cannot force people to change, but we can persuade them to see reason, to be rational in making decisions. To foresee a change that they will partake in, a change that implies we should all pick our brooms and sweep Nigeria clean, rid it of all ills and then start to rebuild our nation devoid of all negativity, a nation that will carry everyone along, regardless of tribe, class and religion.  A Nigeria in which the old woman begging for alms will not only get loose change in my bag but provoke me into changing her social condition and that of the 10 year –old little girl whose future is doomed to leading the blind grandmother to no where in particular!

Robot  Villager

# 1 Walking down the street home, I was thinking of so much, I usually worry my self si...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 25.08.2006 21:54

Bulama

# 2 Good article! Always something refreshing and challenging. Where do you pick your titles from? Just curious! Posted by Bulama| 25.08.2006 22:18

Matata

# 3 Great article Halima! You have a way of getting us back to the basics. You are indeed a deep thinker. I hope and pray University of Abuja and indeed all the other universities in Nigeria breed more minds like yours. Keep being optimistic - the strength of your positive thinking and many others that love Nigeria shall win the day! Posted by Matata| 25.08.2006 22:48

katampe  Villager

# 4 I thank you Halima for your article .You a breathe of fresh air from women lost in the kleig lights of western civilization who promote phallus emasculation while at the same time crying in their bedrooms and craving for relationships of "white" black Nigerian men that would never materialise. You keep showing us what a young and perceptive woman can bring to the table without rancour between the sexes and without debate on who is superior.In your latest posting you have turned into an artist that has turned our everyday experience into tool to nudge us to look at our hopelessness so we can effect a lasting change. We have been handed a "loose" change in our new place of abode so we can eat three square meals a day and feel good sometimes , although we are ill suited here.I hope someday we will be bold enough to go back home or better still effect real change where we are best suited, and that is home. Thank you for your refreshing insight. Posted by katampe| 25.08.2006 22:58

Gorimapa  JJC

# 5 Yours remain an art and science of deep thinking and challenges. You tell stories that we can all relate to or go back to remember in our various backyards, homes, towns and villages. The most relevant things have been said in your article. There is always a lot to learn from you. Thank God for your literary and conscientous presence! Posted by Gorimapa| 25.08.2006 23:08

emj  Villager

# 6 Do you know how many people die in Nigerian hospitals daily, because they can’t afford medicine or due to wrong prognosis or diagnosis? Do you know how many families go to bed hungry, families with children as young as the age of two, I mean mothers who beat their empty pots to sing their hungry kids to sleep? Do you know how many students; tomorrow’s leaders die on these bad Nigerian roads- between Abuja Township and Gwagwalada where my school campus is located? Do you know how many friends I have lost, who on their way to school died, because the driver was trying to ‘dodge’ a big pothole? Do you know how many Nigerians have died from hunger and starvation, outbreaks of ‘small time’ diseases like Cholera and Co.? I am not implying that all politicians are bad or that anyone should be assassinated while we keep quiet, there may be some who are really out to make a difference, but there are issues that need more of our attention which rolls by unattended to until they become huge disasters in our neighborhoods. We should be paying attention to, what happens to the average Nigerian regarding his /her basic needs, what happens to matters concerning the majority, what happens to innocent children and abused women, what is going on with the justice system, how we can rectify the problems of the policing, how far we can decrease the level of ignorance, all of these keeping in mind the truly deprived. That is, if we are truly for humanity. Not wasting time paying attention to politicians, who have invested in their today not in Nigeria’s future, carelessly looting public funds totally insensitive to where it might lead all of us. Theirs are souls, sold to the Devil, certainly not a future to look forward to, hence why they make the lives of Nigerians miserable. Who will create all these hardship for Nigerians and expect to live in peace, nature has a way of getting even. A country that is lead by usurpers, political vampires that have sold the past, present and future of our generation, it is so pathetic that we have fallen victims to their dirty games, the worst part is we don’t know to whom our future has been sold, whether the Paris club, World Bank, London club, Former Military Generals Club, or most recently the “Chinese credit club” or the Devil, who knows? We want our future back and we will surely get it back Halima---another nice and well articulated article. We at times loose focus of that which is before us, and chase after crumbs/shadows. Instead of seeking the real enchilada, we all sortta give up and become complesant. Allah sai bamu ba ki Posted by emj| 25.08.2006 23:09

Anon  Villager

# 7 Thank you for this article Halima. I read you articles at NVS very often and I have become an avid fan. I make sure that my two older daughters read your articles as well. You are articulate, intelligent and provide new ways of thinking about our problems and subtle ways of suggesting change. Please keep it up. We need more people like you. It is ironic that many like me learn more from you, than your brother from the north who uses this forum to pass out insults like irredentism and accuse everyone else except himself of racism at every given opportunity. Thank God for persons like you who bring hope and affirm the belief that we can all work together as a people and save this ailing nation from dying. Please keep it up. Never stop writing and keep engaging everyone positively. You'll go far in life. Many blessings. p.s. My daughter has decided to register at NVS as well so that she can email you and send you a private message. She is fascinated by your articles. Posted by Anon| 25.08.2006 23:53

ITOOKNOW

# 8 Simple! Very original and direct.Rich with philosophical messages for meditation. Endoscopically pictured our land and people. Very important deduction made: someone must not be a PHD holder to be a good teacher. I like that, and I love you! Posted by ITOOKNOW| 26.08.2006 06:35

Marie-Jay ABRAXAS  Villager

# 9 Hello-o-o-o-O, my baby sister, Señorita Halima Sadiya Mamud (Ms.)! Quite frankly, I am kind of gravely concerned about what I perceive here as the unacceptable face of benign parochialism, generously garnished with undisguised sugar-coated, sleep-inducing male chauvinism, so lavishly displayed with unrestrained relish by almost all the commentators before now. I hope you are also fully aware, my baby sister. I beg make you shine ya eye well-well! Ba gejiya. Ba kud’aya. No shaking! Like you very rightly pointed out, we may not be able to compel people to change, but we must continue to persuade them to see reason, regardless of ethnic, sexual, socio-economic, or spiritual bias. Certainly, like you, I too also look forward to a Nigeria in which that old woman begging for alms will not only get some loose change from her more fortunate compatriots, but also incite their consciences into changing her abject long-term hopelessness into something really good and sustainable. More grease to your em …errr…em …ahemmm, ojare. (You know what I mean.) Muchas gracias, mi hermana chiquito. POST SCRIPT: Hey, Chief, (or Mr. or Mrs. or Ms.) Anon! I hope you are not your daughter! Bye-bye. Posted by Marie-Jay ABRAXAS| 26.08.2006 06:40

Dragon

# 10 Points clearly articulated. I agree with you on all fronts Halima. Its depressing indeed and is rather difficult to sit back and think our way out of this quagmire of sorts. One moment you start thinking we are getting things right; next moment you cannot even fathom how wrong it all started from. Personally, I think Nigerian leaders lack the will to sustain right policies. By this I mean making concerted efforts devoid of explosive antics to progress good ideas down the path of the people to whom change is intended. For those who come in with 'good' intentions, they are either overwhelmed and frustrated or simply give up and join the bandwagon of 'jokers'. Why you ask....why? I cannot even provide the answers myself. The Old lady's prayer - 'may you find wealth so I can get from it' could also be interpreted as 'may you be rich so I can be reassured of droppings from your table'. While some only hear the first part 'may you be rich' and quickly aswer 'Amen', you listened to the whole realising this should not be so. I know we are getting there soon. And I think the people who will transform our nation will someday come from the most unexpected quarters.. One day go be one day...... Posted by Dragon| 26.08.2006 08:22

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