Opinion

The Fate Of Zamfara Elite On The Road Home

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<p><&excl;-- BEGIN THEIA POST SLIDER --><&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;95 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad4" id&equals;"quads-ad4" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p><div class&equals;"1CBoFd5f" style&equals;"clear&colon;both&semi;float&colon;left&semi;width&colon;100&percnt;&semi;margin&colon;0 0 20px 0&semi;"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<&excl;-- TV --> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"4399361195" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"auto" &NewLine; data-full-width-responsive&equals;"true"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>Mikail Barau<&sol;p><div class&equals;"X1itvSHj" style&equals;"clear&colon;both&semi;float&colon;left&semi;width&colon;100&percnt;&semi;margin&colon;0 0 20px 0&semi;"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<&excl;-- TV --> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"4399361195" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"auto" &NewLine; data-full-width-responsive&equals;"true"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;When beggars die&comma; there are no coments seen&semi; the heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes&&num;8221&semi; -William Shakespeare&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In September&comma; we had the Emir of Bungudu kidnapped and kept by the criminals for a month&period; We went through the period with a lot of trauma in hope and despair&period; The Emir of Bungudu was a Secretary to Zamfara State Government before his coronation some ten years back and one of the most development driven figures around&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In November&comma; we lost Alh&period; Sagir Hamida&comma; Sarkin Rafin Gusau&comma; who was a gubernatorial aspirant from Zamfara State&period; Prior to the murderous hit which we still mourn&comma; Alh&period; Sagir Hamida was the proprietor of FAMAKS British School in Abuja and was praised by many for his mentorship and generosity&period; Until November 2021&comma; my only engagements with Alh&period; Sagir was sitting in meetings of some twenty people together about three times&period; After one of the meetings in the first week of November this year&comma; Alh&period; Sagir held me by the hand and asked about my opinions on certain modalities and resolutions&period; We stood in the drizzle outside the venue of the meeting for about 30 minutes until I pleaded with him to take his leave in deference to his age assuring that I would make deliberate effort to meet him&period; Since that meeting&comma; I mentioned Alh&period; Sagir in about three serious discussions as a strategic thinker of reckon&period;<&sol;p><div class&equals;"xcn7epQU" style&equals;"clear&colon;both&semi;float&colon;left&semi;width&colon;100&percnt;&semi;margin&colon;0 0 20px 0&semi;"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block&semi; text-align&colon;center&semi;" &NewLine; data-ad-layout&equals;"in-article" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"fluid" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"6550225277"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;nigeriantracker&period;com&sol;2021&sol;11&sol;23&sol;police-arrests-25-year-old-social-media-duper&sol;">Police Arrests 25 Year Old Social Media Fraudster <&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;95 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad1" id&equals;"quads-ad1" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;95 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad4" id&equals;"quads-ad4" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Just after the same meeting&comma; one of the participants whom I highly respect told me that he didn&&num;8217&semi;t use the train patronised by many elite around on Kaduna-Abuja express&period; It was a shock for me with all the apparent audacity -until this year&comma; I did recklessly take the road and encourage others to do so arguing that we only hear about those who didn&&num;8217&semi;t arrive safely&period; The reality dawned on me with the frequent incidents from the horror of those who found themselves in the den of the kidnappers&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>While the train is just one option for all people of means flying the dreaded Kaduna-Abuja road&comma; it is perhaps the only option for the people from Zamfara State being the only state we know in Nigeria without an airport&period; Even the option of flying through Sokoto doesn&&num;8217&semi;t seem to be any better because the road to Gusau from Sokoto via my hometown of Talata Mafara is as dreadful&period; It is the same road that essentially makes people of means traveling to Kano to choose to take flights to Abuja&comma; often pass the night&comma; then fly to Kano for what could have been some five to six hours drive&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Why is it important to be concerned since all lives matter&period; This counter argumentative part of the write up is important because I hold the view in private discussions that perhaps suspending the options of train&comma; and in extreme instances the flights&comma; may make things better because the elite who use them will work to make the roads safe when they happen to be their only options&period; The case&comma; or the bad situation rather&comma; for Zamfara elite that I attempt to make here holds water when options to elite from other parts of the country have other options open and theirs constricted by one&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The life of our elite matters as that of all other people&period; In a society where governments have abdicated their responsibilities&comma; people of certain means take a lot of responsibilities of the larger society as they also shoulder the responsibilities of their immediate family&period; With a person like Alh&period; Sagir Hamidu lost to the useless hands and guns of the kidnappers&comma; the livelihood of many must have gone with it -food&comma; healthcare&comma; school fees&comma; security etc&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>My experience is that even the &&num;8220&semi;most useless&&num;8221&semi; members of our elite &lpar;Maras amfani as they are called in Hausa&rpar; have some value of public good that transcends their families&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><&excl;-- END THEIA POST SLIDER -->&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;95 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad3" id&equals;"quads-ad3" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"autorelaxed" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"1004305389"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;95 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad5" id&equals;"quads-ad5" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;

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