By FRANCIS DAMINA
Though an older brother, Simon Reef Musa, whom I told of His Lordship’s Birthday, had gone ahead to write a tribute entitled, ‘Bishop Bagobiri @60: The Priest who Refuses to Stay Silent,’ I feel that instead of accusing him of having gone offside, like it is said in game of football, I should rather concentrate on what I need to do to make the team win the match at last.
Only this Monday, Simon Reef called to tell me how much he has been admiring Bishop Joseph Danlami Bagobiri, since their paths crossed in 2006. As if that was not enough, he again sent me a text after our conversation, saying: “I have always been admiring him over his intervention. I am trying to push for an edited copy of my tribute in some media platforms.”
Anyway, that is his business. If my older brother is serious in celebrating the iconic status of My Lord Bishop, let him return to the Catholic Church where his parents belonged. Unfortunately for him, I had seen his father’s name in the baptismal register in Gidan Bako long before now. Baptized by, I think, one Fr. John Glackin. If he doubts me, let him ask Fr. Julius Bonat who is our Parish Priest.
Let’s get back to the business at hand. On the occasion of this great man’s birthday, I will rather take a post-mortem tribute of a sort, and write about the emancipation of Southern Kaduna which seems to have preoccupied the Bishop’s heart for a long time. It will be a mortal sin to think that the cleric started this only yesterday.
Though I had read some of the articles he authored while he was still in the Seminary, with other seminarians who distinguished themselves like John Odey, Philip Gaiya, Innocent Jooji, Matthew Ndangoso, George Ehusani, Nicholas Ncha Obi, etc, His Lordship’s foray into in-depth socio-political issues only started in 1992 when we were still under the old Zaria emirate. The context was the Zango Kataf crisis. At that time, we were still paying taxes to the emirate, while the Hausa- Fulani ethnic group was still in control of every facet of our economy. Since there is time for everything under the sun, the Kataf people soon revolted against what they termed local colonialism which attracted national attention to their plight, nay the plight of the entire ethnic groups of Southern Kaduna. Rather than seeing it within the context of a civil disobedience, the former Military President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, pounced on some Kataf elite, including Gen. Zamani Lekwot, who were accused of being behind the mayhem. After Justice Okadigbo-led panel handed down the death verdict on Lekwot and his fellow tribe men, it took fierce resistance by the Southern Kaduna, assisted by red neck military officers from the Middle Belt, to save the former Rivers State Military Administrator and his fellow Kataf people from the hangman’s noose.
Apart from protests that were embarked upon by the people, there was a rainbow effort at ensuring Lekwot and his fellow Kataf brethren escaped death by the whiskers. Among this intellectual arm were then Frs. Bagobiri, Matthew Kukah, Philip Gaiya, Laurence Bakut, including the late Agwatyap, HRH Harrison Bungon, Sir Francis Mutuah, will not keep quiet. Like Bagobiri, they were learned enough. Apart from the priests, Sir Mutuah was the first to have a degree in Atyap land, while Bungon was as way back in 1978, already a distinguished student at the famous University of Manchester in the UK. I think it was there that he met Bishop Kukah who was doing a Masters in SOAS, University of London, in preparation to come back and engage the unjust system back at home. These men, in the course of their education, may have read about Martin Luther King Jr, Oscar Romero, Cardinal Sin, etc. The priests in particular, may have done a course in Liberation Theology; bringing them face to face with the role of their colleagues in the fight against injustice in Latin America, to say the least. It is no exaggeration to say that it was the intervention of these individuals then that saved the lives of those elite already listed for execution by the Babangida regime.
Only last year, I narrated this story to Lekwot and he flatly told me that he was not aware of this event. To prove my point, I went ahead to provide relevant literature for him to read. But I did not miss the opportunity of telling him on the need by our elite to shy away from selfishness to justify genuine sacrifices made by people like Bishop Bagobiri which made them (Lekwot and his fellow Kataf people) direct or indirect beneficiaries. That, perhaps, made me feel pains when Bishop Bagobiri, moved by patriotic instincts for the emancipation of his own people, was involved in the emergence of a consensus candidate from Southern Kaduna in 2015 governorship poll, but was rebuked by our so-called politicians who asked him to shut up and mind his business as a priest.
Reacting to them through the Southern Kaduna Christian Elders’ Council, the Bishop said: “Politics, because of its overbearing effects on the lives of all of us, cannot become the sole reserve and prerogative of the handful of people that call themselves politicians”. To those who accused them of meddling into partisan politics, the statement said: “We want to state categorically that we owe them no apology now and in the future.
“Drawing inspiration from the sacred Scriptures, we have always thought that the work of feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, sheltering the homeless as enumerated by Christ in the parable of the last judgment in Matthew 25 is better realized through responsible usage of politics. We shall, therefore, not fold our arms to watch a handful of pretenders, rather than contenders in politics, mortgaged our future for self-aggrandizing posturing.”
Today, the same set of greedy elite, who asked the Bishop to mind his business and pay attention to telling his congregation how to go to heaven, are now rallying around him because they have become internally displaced within the political architecture. As greedy politicians interested in realising their selfish interest, or so I think, all they do is Invention of conspiracy theories and manufacturing of blackmails against imaginary enemies, using the name of Southern Kaduna as feeding bottle. They are never tired of telling us every day that we are where we are because Governor Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai and his kinsmen hate us.
But the question we must ask them is: What did they do when they were in power? And while they now come home to teach us a lesson on the need for restructuring and the merits of state creation, it is important to ask why Southern Kaduna that produced no fewer than 10 military administrators could not lobby for a state then?
Come to think of it, what kind of restructuring are we talking about? Yes, even though we are all agreed that there are unjust structures that have consigned us to where we are, it is worth asking where they were when all these were carried out. But as I recently said: “The greatest restructuring that Southern Kaduna requires is not necessarily in the area of politics, but on how to develop strategies of becoming an economic hub for self -emancipation.
Apart from the culpable Hausa-Fulani, even within SK, some minor minority ethnic nationalities feel dominated by the bigger ones. This means that we must first restructure internally. To restructure is to do justice. And justice, like charity, must begin at home. As an Ikulu man for instance, I am pained that my entire nationality that has not been able to produce a local government chairman, constitute only an electoral ward, while others are boasting of five or more wards within the same Local Government.
Apart from the dilemma of small minority groups who are suffering and feeling being excluded from the scheme of things, the Muslim community in Southern Kaduna also feels alienated. Though they are bona fide sons and daughters of the soil, there is a feeling that they are being segregated against. For instance, when we speak of SOKAPU, is it a multi-religious union? Can a Ham man who happens to be a Muslim become the president of the union? Again, how many Muslims are part of Gurara Forum? And this is probably why the Southern Kaduna Muslim community prefers to cast their votes in favour of the other divide with whom they share religious affiliation.
What all this means is that, as the Bishop spends sleepless nights thinking about the emancipation of the people, there are two main obstacles: One, the greedy elite, and two, the different aggrieved groups that feel estranged from the activities of local predators. The implication is that, apart from the elite who will continue to compromise the common good of the region for some pecuniary interest, the region itself will remain divided unless certain issues of exclusion are clarified. For instance, there is now an argument whether Sen. Danjuma La’ah, with the concentration of projects in his Local Government, is representing only his Local Government Area or the entire SK?
We must sincerely put our house in order first. Unfortunately, no matter how loud the Bishop shouts at government to do the right thing, at the end, decision making lies only with the people who have the PVCs. But what is the assurance that history will not continue to repeat itself? Ask Senator Haruna Azeez since Sen. Isaiah Balat is no longer here to tell his own story about the typical Southern Kaduna man each time he comes face-to-face with money. The Bishop, who is no stranger to the other side of Southern Kaduna, recently said, “I have had my fingers burnt before. I will be careful, not partisan, but not apolitical.”
Bishop Bagobiri’s resolve to remain non-partisan but not apolitical is based on his experience with our people who are always ready to give up the struggle at the sight of any form of financial inducement.
At 60, as the chief shepherd of Kafanchan Catholic Diocese, His Lordship has made contributions to the development of the area more than anyone else. The Catholic Diocese’s investment education and rallying facilities to meet the health needs of the people are among the greatest. Under the leadership of Bishop Bagobiri, the Catholic Church has superintended over the opening of over a hundred schools spread over the diocese known for their quality education; including St. Albert Institute for Higher Education that is perhaps the first privately owned Philosophy degree awarding institution in the North.
With this alone, there is no doubt that the Bishop Bagobiri has sown seeds for tomorrow’s harvest with or without the so-called politicians. Indeed, he is living a worthy life by adding value to the lives of people. As long as there is humanity, his deeds will remain indelible in the hearts of men and women of good conscience. Here is wishing My Lord many more years of good health in the service of God and humanity.
Francis Damina is a student of Religion and Politics and can be reached via: Francisdamina@gmail.com
