The Northwest state of Zamfara has been plagued by so many challenges in recent times. Several of such challenges were mostly man-made and it appears that there might not be respite for the state any time soon.
Zamfara has been a hotbed of bandits and their senseless killings. In February this year, six months after sacking a military base in the area, bandits had reportedly collected at least N40.7 million as protection levy from residents of Mutunji communities in Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
A traditional ruler had said 47 villages in Mutunji are under the control of bandits while villages that chose not to pay them protection levy have relocated to neighbouring Kebbi and Niger states.
Residents said they delivered N9.7 million to the bandits on February 4 as the last instalment of the levy collected from various peasant communities in Mutunji.
Writing in the Premium Times newspapers in 2016, Ahmed Rufai Isah, who undertook a tour to Matunji reported on the pathetic conditions of the people of the area. He concluded that the problem of the area could be summed up as a microcosm of the larger malaise that is the Nigerian society.
He said, “In Mutunji, education is in total collapse and the only primary school there is in tatters. There is no single secondary school between Dan Sadau and Mutunji.
“There are thirteen primary schools in Dan Sadau Emirates without teachers. For many years, there are no available teachers to teach kids ready to learn and those ready find no one ready to pay for their work. No single child has finished primary school in Mutunji since 2005.
“Few months before our visit, we were told the community came together and made a decision to employ two teachers whom they are to pay N8,000 monthly to educate the children. To contribute to their wage, they decided to levy every parent N100 per child.”
The state, which enjoyed relative peace during the first year in office of Governor Bello Matawalle, is now facing security challenges more than any other state in the North-West. It is no longer news to hear the killings, abduction or kidnapping of people in the state. What is news now is to hear that nobody is abducted or killed at least in a week.
In 2021, Matawalle had said that over N900 million was paid to bandits in eight years by the state government. He also asserted that there are 30,000 bandits in different camps in Zamfara and neighbouring states’ forests. The state shares borders with Sokoto, Kebbi, Kaduna, Niger and Katsina states.
The governor also noted that the bandits killed 2, 619 persons and kidnapped 1,190 between 2011 and 2019 while over 100,000 people were displaced from their homes.
Meanwhile, for a state that has been overburdened by several years of total neglects you would think the priority of their governors would be how to alleviate their burden and free them from the shackles of poverty, deprivation and neglects that have been their fate for so long, but that is not their priority.
Last week, the West African Examinations Councils (WAEC) said candidates of public secondary schools of Sokoto and Zamfara will not be taking part in this year’s May/June diet of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
The head of Nigeria’s office of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Patrick Areghan, who disclosed this on Monday, however, did not state the reasons for the exemption, but it was reported that the examination body refused to accept candidates from Zamfara State over an accumulated debt owed over the years.
The report, according to Premium Times, also said the administration of the immediate past governor of the state, Abdulaziz Yari, owed the examination body accumulated fees for public school candidates sponsored for the examination.
The report also cited insecurity as a major reason for the difficulty in presenting candidates before the deadline, and promised: “that all hands are on deck to ensure quicker resolutions of all issues.”
“We have an agreement with the examination body and we are committed to fulfilling it. Our major challenge is insecurity because most students are not even in the right frame of mind to sit for examinations. But I can tell you that Governor Matawalle is committed to rebuilding Zamfara State and education is a key component of the drive,” an aide of the governor said.
As recently as last month (April) Governor Matawalle distributed 260 luxury vehicles to traditional rulers in the state, just as he commissioned the ultra-modern headquarters of the state Council of Ulama in the state. The cars included Cadillac 2019 Model for 17 Emirs, 13 Senior District Heads and 230 District Heads.
Governor Matawalle said the gesture was in recognition of the role of traditional rulers in maintaining peace in the state.
“The role of traditional rulers in fostering national unity, safeguarding our values, and serving as moral compass for our society cannot be overemphasized.
“As premier leaders in our communities, traditional rulers play key roles in resolving conflicts and in assisting the government to provide fatherly advice to their subjects in the interest of promoting peace and harmony.
“As our leaders, we would stay steadfastly committed to providing for your welfare, safety and any essential support that will enable you to carry out your duties without incident and with bigger successes,” Matawalle said.
A state that has been rewarding terrorists handsomely and wasted millions of dollars purchasing luxury cars for traditional leaders that they dare not ride on the streets of Zamfara certainly cannot be complaining of inability to pay fees for its students.
On October 27, 1999, Ahmed Yerima, the then governor, introduced ‘full’ Sharia in Gusau, the capital of Zamfara State.
By the end of 2001, 11 other states (Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Sokoto, Yobe), and a number of local governments within them, had joined Zamfara in enacting wide-ranging legislation aimed at making their jurisdictions more ‘sharia compliant’, incorporating both civil and criminal matters, than they had formerly been.
Unfortunately, Zamfara has been suffering a succession of bad governance since blazing the trail in the so-called full implementation of the sharia law and jurisprudence. All you see is a mass of misery, poverty and deprivation while their leaders are living in opulence and stupendous wealth.
My question for Matawalle is on which roads would the monarchs use those vehicles? Will the sheer opulence of the vehicles not make them vulnerable or susceptible to attacks? What kind of joy do their elite derive from living large in a sea of oppressed and suppressed citizens? Only education and selfless service can guarantee safety for these rich elite and since they have opted to deny their citizens education, they will continue to provide ready recruits for these merchants of violence and death, who are either called, almajiri, terrorists, bandits, kidnappers or gunmen etc.
