Debating the Education and Emancipation of the Talakawas: Before Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi there was Alhaji Balarabe Musa

Ehimhantie-Aiyo Aidaghese

9 hrs ·

Balarabe Musa and the Talakawas' Emancipation Debate.
Before an SLS there was a Balarabe Musa

The interview by the Guardian Newspaper that is coming up shortly, addresses the genesis of the educational crisis in the Northern region of Nigeria, and by extension, Nigeria as a whole. It is one of those troubling national issues evading vigorous public scrutiny or debate. The interview is vintage Mr. Balarabe Musa and was published by the Guardian newspaper on March 31, 2013.

In 1994 or thereabouts, the now-defunct West Africa Magazine published highlights of a communique by the Northern Chapter of ASUU issued after a regional meeting in Kaduna. In the communique, they questioned the genuine resolve of Northern Governors and political leaders in their quest of parity in the educational standard between the northern region and southern region of Nigeria.

In the communique, they stated unequivocally that states in the geographical north had over the years, received more of federal funding in the educational sector compared to the allocations to the states in the geographic south. And in spite of that financial advantage, the communique added, there is no noticeable improvement in narrowing the educational gap between the two regions.

It was in the course of narrowing that gap that Professor Jubril Aminu, years earlier, secured a blank cheque from the IBB Administration to develop the Nomadic Education policy when he was the Minister of Education. Disappointingly, after a few years of trial, the project turned out to be another gigantic project of spurious values - it was abandoned. Those programs, though with the best of intentions, made some individuals from the same ethnic groups stupendously rich.

THE GUARDIAN: What will you say about the backwardness of the north in education; is it self-inflicted or a process of marginalization?

MR. BALARABE MUSA: "No, no, no. It is a direct result of the socioeconomic system controlling all development in the country. There is one area where it is quite obvious, but I think you can’t call that marginalization; it is a problem of the system. For instance, there is a 20-year gap in education development between the North and South, which means the level of educational development in the Southern part of the country is 40 years ahead of the level of educational development in the North. Which means that even if there is an act of God to stagnate education development in the South, it will take the North 40 years of purposeful action to bridge the gap. You know that this is obvious; nothing can stop the South from developing educationally. But, unless something is done fundamentally, this problem will continue, and the North will stand in the way of peace, and even development in the country."

"This is because the Northern people cannot agree to bring such problem of backwardness to an end themselves in the North, and to also participate in the affairs of bringing development to Nigeria equally. And the only solution is to bring about free and compulsory primary and secondary education throughout the country and free post-secondary education throughout the country, to be financed directly by the federal government because the situation now is beyond the capacity of the states to bridge."

"As a solution to the problem, free and compulsory education should be established. And because of the peculiar situation in the North, what should be done is to blend Islamic and Western education together, as it was during our time in the 40s. This was abandoned, and you cannot blame the federal government or any person for this. Rather, you should blame the Northern leadership, because, by 1960s, the gap between the North and South in education development was a gap of 10 years only, which should have been systematically bridged, even by 1990."

"It was because of the selfishness of Northern leadership who looked for oil blocs, they looked for juicy contracts, appointments, commissioned agents and so on, and neglected the education development of the North, which is the root of all problems in the region. This is simply because of their selfish thinking. I think I should say this, whatever you may think about former President Olusegun Obasanjo, whatever the Northerners would say about him; you know that I am one of those who castigated him, but we have to accept the fact that Obasanjo tried in his own way to bridge the gaps in educational development between the North and South, through his policy on education when he was a military president and when he was a civilian president. But, instead of the North to concretize this policy, the Northern leadership did not bother; rather, they were engaged with their own self-interests." The Nigerian Guardian, March 31, 2013.

I would like to conclude this story by reminding Nigerians that the Coalition Talk between Chief Obafemi Awolowo of Action Group and the Sadauna of Sokoto, Alhaji Almadu Bello of the NPC in 1960, and the proposed Accord between Chief Obafemi Awolowo of the UPN and Alhaji Shehu Shagari of the NPN in 1979, were aborted because of Chief Obafemi Awolowo's insistence that his Free Education at all levels as well as Free Healthcare be incorporated into the new arrangement. Both Bello of the NPC and Shagari of NPN (all Northerners) refused to sign on to Papa Awo programs. Consequently, Papa Awo walked away. And the two gentlemen went to Chief Nnamdi Azikiwe in 1960, and again in 1979. In the end, the Western Region did not suffer any deprivation. The Northern Region did. And the rest is history.