Ruwa Dege Gidan Kashi written by Lanre Olagunju

If you are wondering what language it is? Or you’re thinking I’m going to write in a language I’m yet to fully understand, then I think I’ve achieved!

That the owners of this particular language house me on their land presently is making the ever inquisitive me more curious about their history and why they are quite behind in almost all ramification of civilization. The entire security threat the nation presently suffers hails from these quarters, and some are of the opinion that it’s because they’ve been marginalized, but I beg to ask who marginalized who and when?

Haven’t the northerners always had a fair share in government and politics? Didn’t the evil British colonials succeed at their agenda to give power to the north at all cost, due to the submissive and incredibly loyal nature they naturally posses? Were census result not manipulated for the north’s sake, were they not given accelerated promotions in the military so they could still rule over the southerners who gulped in so much of western culture, religion, and education?

Sure, someone would read this half way and lament “is this what we need at such a time as this?” maybe I should have even flaunted a disclaimer and say that anyone who is allergic to critical analysis as a result of whatever type of paralysis shouldn’t bother reading pass the title. It’s always more rewarding when we critically try to solve a problem from its root. But in a case where a country’s foundation is faulty what can the elite do?

My national call to serve in northern Nigeria has engendered me to so many things that I would have felt some lazy journalist cooked up if I read them on papers. Amazingly I can’t stop wondering if the amusement will ever end.

Exactly two days ago, a young girl around the age of say 13, walked into my lodge saying “sala mu alaikum”. I replied in the affirmative, and that gave her the impression that the Hausa language is my mother tongue. In her soprano voice, she covered me up with so many words than my Hausa ears of understanding and interpretation could not comprehend. I muttered “mai ke na so” meaning what do you want? Again in her lengthy reply, all I could decipher was “asha ruwa”- I want water. Then I gave her a cup pointing to the bathroom where she would get taps where drinkable water could be fetched. Sincerely you won’t believe me! I was taken aback to discover that she actually dipped her hands into the toilet seat to fetch water that went from her mouth through her throat and then to her stomach. I was intensely helpless. I had to call someone to explain what had just happened to her; there and then, I heard and learnt the title for this piece. The poor girl became so scared and was wailing profusely. But how on earth can an adolescent be so dumb to do such? Then a colleague said she probably hasn’t seen a water closet all her life put together.

It’s not hard to believe because in March, UNESCO’s report revealed that the Hausa woman is the least educated on earth: 97% of Hausa women between the ages of 17 and 22 have completed less than 2years in school.

This is a place where cows are one of the most valuable assets to the people; it is here that I see hefty adults sit conveniently in the car trunk when the car is already filled to the brim. Also, it’s here in the north that I see babies give birth to babies, is it not here that primary school kid’s say good morning when the sun is long gone?

How come the British favoured region has now overly become the most impoverished and frightening? Or could it be that they held back education from the north so they could manipulate the people easily?

It’s only manifestly clear that being powerful isn’t enough. I don’t know who Tuface was talking to when he said “power is nothing when your people are dying of disease and starvation” but I forward his words to the former and present day northern leaders who couldn’t do enough to ensure that the mind of their people is developed via any meaningful and peace oriented means of education. UNICEF has estimated that school age children who are out of school in Nigeria are about 10million, and about 8million of them are the almagiris who roam the street with dirty plates, torn clothes and white faces in Kano, Kaduna, Jigawa, Bauchi and some other parts of Northern Nigeria. They’ve been denied the opportunity of living and growing up in a family so why won’t they become utensils for national chaos in the hands of evil politicians and fanatics who have malevolent tendencies.

I wish that Nigerians could see these politicians for their true colours, they are after the pockets and bellies alone, if not, how can we have such primitives and backwardness in the north when their leaders have had the most opportunity to rule Nigeria. It boils down to the fact that it is not where the president is from that matters, but how much he cares about bringing development to Nigeria. The good treatment I have received since coming here also shows that Nigerians are not their own enemies as the political class wants us to believe. The enemy is the man who paints that picture in order to divide and rule. Having said this, the road to Obasanjo’s house in Ota Ogun state is a death trap despite his multiple years in government.

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How we Became Unemployed By Seun Onigbinde

There was a time in this country when telephone was a prime luxury. My Dad lived in Lagos and only one Mr Ade owned a telephone line 825037 on the street. So I called Lagos from Ibadan hoping my dad will be around and someone hadn’t padlocked the phone. But we are witnesses of rapid change in our life as a result of boom in the telecomm sector. How in over ten years we have moved from an abysmal 400, 000 lines to 83 million lines? It is to the credit of Olusegun Obasanjo and Ernest Ndukwe that we have seen this boom but that they have left NITEL to stink is a matter for another day. I am concerned with the value chain analysis of the telecoms sector and the impact on jobs.


When the telecoms sector came in, there was massive boom in banking and structuring facilities for them (jobs), then you have to print recharge cards (jobs). Someone has to distribute recharge cards along the retail and wholesale level (jobs). I have more than seven spots on my streets that sell recharge cards on my phone if we extrapolate that nationwide that will equal millions of jobs. Not neglecting that I can use my ATM, mobile or web because someone sits the server end (jobs). Then the companies have to do advertising, network expansion through local contractors, excavates the sites, cleaners, security agents to man offices and masts (jobs), someone imports telecoms equipment, there is a clearing and forwarding agent, then someone starts a telecomm training center and employs an engineer. MTN thinks of Who wants to be a millionaire contracts it to an event manger (jobs), event manager guy looks for ushers, skilled cameraman, animation experts. Can you ever think of how many schools have been built, CSR projects and jobs such as customer service officer, tower riggers, mobile app developers, network engineer, phone retailers and much more? These were lost jobs of the past when we were obsessed with NITEL but a simple government policy backed by law made this happen.


Now let’s take the analysis of the oil that we have and don’t refine, the land we own that we don’t till or the iron that we have and can’t make steel. With facts I am sure of, it is estimated that, about US$910mn, on a monthly basis, was expended to import refined petroleum product in 2010. In the same year, the country earned an estimated average monthly income of US$3.5b, translating that about 26% of total oil earnings for the year goes out of the economy to settle the purchases of refined petroleum product! Why would our last refinery be built in the early 80s? Why would after the firesale of OBJ technically deficient refineries, Yaradua reversed it and we still have not moved an inch to building even cottage or modular refineries.


You extract oil and government takes full taxes on the oil its people would use. Then you pay a foreign shipping line to take it to Ivory Coast or anywhere and then the foreign government takes all the taxes and duties for the import. The refineries get the oil refined but will surely do it with a profit (the cost to be borne by Nigerians). Rather than we profit from the residue of oil needed by plastics, petrochemical and other allied industries, we pay the shipping company back to bring only petrol, kerosene and diesel separately back to us. Then our customs and others take full import duties charges at our ports. When oil fluctuates due to the madness of Ghaddafi, the costs of subsidies rise as well for Nigerians. Rather than us build lasting structures for refining, we create a short circuit founded on patronage and about N785bn was estimated to have been spent on petroleum subsidy in 2010. At very export of the crude oil, we have also exported direct and indirect jobs. We sold the job of the fresh engineering graduate, the nimble accountant, the KPMG auditor, the recharge card seller, the canteen woman, the technician with three kids in school.

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