#SecureNorth: Who can secure Arewa?

By Ali Tijjani Hassan

Arewa is a Hausa word that literally means North.

Arewa was an autonomous division within Nigeria, distinctly different from the southern part of the country, with independent customs, foreign relations, and security structures.

With all aforementioned structures, Arewa has been suffering a lot of trauma of violence from one period to another. The versions of violence include the notorious Aware, Maitatsine, Boko Haram, kidnapping, banditry, and political thuggery, among others.

But the unanswered Question bothering our minds is – where does the problem lie?

The current mess bedeviling the region is the violence of Boko Haram in North Eastern Nigeria, kidnappers, and bandits in North West and North central.

Since 2008, the group of Islamic extremists under the leadership of Muhammad Yusuf, who are claiming to be part of the Salafi Ideology, retreated their self from the actual teaching of school, and established another sect with the name “Ahlus-sunnah lidda’awati wal Jihad” which can be translated as ” A Sunnis calling for (Jihad) Holy war”.

Later, BBC reporter gave them a suitable name which shaped their movement, “Boko Haram”. The new name means ” western education is prohibited”.

As we all know, Boko Haram is the only formative and identical group, but the remaining bandit and kidnappers are unknown, since that phone call is the only means of communication with them!

Since the emergence of Boko Haram, Northeast has become the land of sorrow, mourning, and grief. All the breaking news from there were terroristic and tragic.

On Sunday, 29 November 2020 the Boko Haram terrorist slaughtered about 110 farmers in Zabarmari village near Maiduguri, Borno State, as reported by Al-Jazeera, just because they refused to pay the consent tax return of their farming land to the terrorists.

The following day bandits invaded Sabuwa local government of Katsina State, killed seven people ruthlessly, including a nursing mother and abducted 30 villagers.

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Who can secure Arewa?

The President that does not listen to our voices until the garnished and censored story; or the corrupt governors that rig elections to assume political powers or the crooked legislature that rivet our thoughts with constituency project; the kings that fear dethronement and demeaning; have abandoned our people in the north. Everyone of them cares only for the self and family.

The security service chiefs that bear arms were breaded from Arewa but left it at mercy of bandits and Boko Haram.

The parents that produced a large number of kids whom they can’t shoulder their responsibilities, and blame the government for incompetence; Or the unpatriotic citizens that always spew ill wish to their country. Everywhere in disorder.

In Arewa, we lost the shoulder to lean on, the voice to deafen and scream with, the leaders to stand and speak with our voice! The stories leave us in hopelessness, wandering in the wilderness of chaos, bloodbath, no one appears capable of saving the Arewa.