By Abdullahi O Haruna Haruspice
As we speak, some northerners are on their way in trailer loads returning back to the northern enclave- Good move I must say. These guys have no reason loitering around in the East, South or West. You can’t leave your rich green farm land to go idle away in another man’s land. What these guys do is essentially very petty and demeaning jobs – shining shoes, selling water in kegs and riding Okada.
These guys can actually remain in the north to till their land and become rich farmers instead of parading the city centers of our capitals.
How could an able-bodied man leave his house to another land and be sleeping in mosques, open stalls and markets? Why leave your land to where you are less productive?
The truth must be told, my Hausa folks loitering in other states of Nigeria needs to be recalled back and sent to the farm. Farming is not a sentence to hardship but a license to self sufficiency.
Instead of using millions of naira to build mosques and organize Quranic contests, let’s begin to empower our people to be meaningfully engaged in productive ventures. Late Sir Ahmadu Bello built the largest university in Nigeria in Zaria where real education is taking place and robust Islamic propagation is manifesting.
The world is a race and no region wants to be left behind in the destination of progress. Population shouldn’t be just for electoral advantage, let it be for overall fortune whereby the same way we have numerical strength in electioneering decisions, we are also envied by others for having a gamut of professional doctors, engineers, nurses, journalists, and other human impacting -professions and not an embarrassing army of Almajiri, Mairuwa, and Masu Okada.
In Nigeria, only Arewa youths go out in search of surviving fortunes with no trade or expertise at hand. It is irresponsible to migrate to another man’s town where you have nothing to add. Education and trade alone give the liberty for seamless migration.
When you don’t have any of these, then you are a nuisance to your intended destinations.
As the northern folks migrate in trucks back to the North, let’s not see it as an extension of regional hostility but an affront for introspection. Welcome your returnees and speak sense into their heads that they are better off as farm owners than night guards and petty hustlers. The most rewarding hustles are the one you are in control of your financial decisions.
Coming back to your base is a big boost to your family orientation as you are more at home to provide for the needs of your family. A situation where husbands abandon their wives and children for months speaks no good of an ideal husband as exemplified by the prophet (SAW). Children upbringing should not be left for the women alone but let it be a collective copulation.
Welcome back our northern bread winners. Home is where you are a man, as you are always a slacking stranger where your skills are not needed. These guys are back home not as a result of persecution or threat of war but back to reclaim their lost manhood. Marhaba jamaan arewa daga kudu.
Haruspice wrote from Abuja
