I first of all congratulate you for establishing this web-site. It is a great opportunity for all and Kanites in particular to air our views without having to 'lobby' the print and or electronic media.
Any time I drive through Kano city, through Koki, Bakin-Kasuwa, or through Mandawari to Marmara, or have any reason to walk through any of the Lunguna either for condolence or whatever, it reminds me of my childhood days in Lungun-Lamido (Sarari Quarters). Those days when between March and June, most people sleep out side for most part of the night to allow the thick mud walls release all the heat it absorbed during the hot hours of the days. Life was safe in those days, the only thing we used to fear was the imaginary 'yar-madabo', or 'mai-kilago' in the ponds. Of course the menace of stagnant ponds, cultivating large army of mosquitos, and the abominable stench eminating from open drainages, which has rendered most of us anosmic. That was some 40 years ago.
Many of us were in early schools, dreaming that one day, we shall grow to become elites in the society, bring the enviable Nasarawa standard of living into our city life; Learned in the fields of social sciences, to inculcate greater sense of community in our people; learned in engineering, to improve even the slopes of our stagnant drains; or architecture, to evolve better residential planning despite the space and economic restrictions; or medicine, to make impact on communal healthcare right at preventive levels; or politicians, to atleast appreciate the potentials of the city for its highest voters density.
Virtually half a century has passed, the very many of us graduated in numerous fields, held various positions of responsibilities, but unfortunately, the city is left in a worst situation. All the childhood vices have virtually quadripled; even the traditional sense of security is now an illusion. There is no evidence of any impact of our contribution, not even a pay-back to what we took out of the system. Resulting in more congested city; poorer sense of community; declining healthcare; poorer education; large army of un-employed resulting in very high crime rates and drug abuse.
Most of us I can recall, left the city soon after graduating to find succor in the Nasarawa, without even making any significant effort to expand it to accomodate large incoming elites. The Nasarawa of today has degenerated.
I wonder how many of us think the way I do. I really feel guilty, and sense of failure as a professional. I often get scared and recal one of the sayings of President J. F. Kennedy that says:
"If a free society cannot care for the majority that are poor, it cannot protect the minority that are rich."
Please if any one shares my anxiety, what can we do about it? How can we meet even to analize the problems and appreciate the threat level? If I am the only one thinking this way, perhaps I may have to contact a psychiatrist.
Quote
Please if any one shares my anxiety, what can we do about it? How can we meet even to analize the problems and appreciate the threat level? If I am the only one thinking this way, perhaps I may have to contact a psychiatrist. ?
2 be honest, because I am the only honest person in this forum, I cannot do anything. Rather to sit here and post out what I think. It wont help because we cannot just stick kannoline page into drain pipes and say well its helping. Rather I suggest your topic going publicity. You have one great post here. and belive me man!!! if that is printed in the press its going large!!!!
You will surely get responses from others around here. I will get my points ready and I will be back to answer your question
Credits 2 u Ibraheem,
In my opinion, I dont blame d elites neither du I blame d govt.
Yes, the govt did set up rules. They did set up things like sanitation. They did build council flats in neat rows. They did provide sewage links. They did provide labour workers........And with d whole sanitation thingy goin on if I can rmbr every Sunday (rty)? They drain, clean drain pipes, unblock sewages & clear up dirty areas.But still did all this change wat Ibraheem was tlkin about?
I simply blame d ppl livin in Urban areas. These people are the onces makin things & worsenin d situation. The govt have done their best to provide safe, healthy enironment for these ppl to live in wat have they done: Destroyed it, turn d urban in2 a ghetto over polluted planet.
Talking about little ponds. Did the govt, or elites create a little pond with ducks in them? Nope!!!
Who did? ....... the ppl: lets take these young boys 4 instance, they du their own laundry ryt? Do they dispose d dirty water properly? No......... they simply pour it out on pedesrtian passages, which not only affects the area but the ppl livin there.
Healthwise: with dirty ponds it brings mosquitos etc. A lady (eg: mai nika) who grinds millet, tomato puree or women who sell food wud simply pour these dirts out on d street not 2 mention fish bones (as I recap a scene yrs bck) etc will not throw d remnant properly but will juss pour it out on d street & even pedestrians if care is not taken!!!!
We have d ignorants, throwin broken pieces eg bottles on d street, riskin d lives of little children who have no playground xcept the main road, The millionaires have taken all d land 2 build their mansions.
Takin about the millionnaires, they wud buy a land in d town center, build massive house, having d garage accumulatin half the city area livin smaller house jam-packed & conjested.
Yet u blame this on on d govt & d elites? What gud have d citizens been doin? What role have they played to make a betterment livin area 4 their own healt & safety? If @ all d govt or elites provides things like sanitation that takes up @least 3hrs to get these ares tidied up!!! ..........& nxt hr u have orange sellers, food sellers, cattle bearers not 2 mention goats, ducks & chickens, roamin around & pollutin the area again!!!!!!!! When animal farms can b provided by these ppl. Nah/...............everything is the govt, or rulers faults!!!
I blame d ppl. However the govt are also 2 b blamed.......
Am tired, I will point out their blames nxt tym ;)
LoL~ wallahi its true... them people need to help themselves before they cry and wail for help from the gov't.
i remember my dad tellin meeh they used to sleep outside of their gates when they were little, not too long ago.
Amma yanzu, inaaaa? if the mosquitos dont kill u.. one thief go catch u...
Allah dai ya kiyaye....
Assalamu Alaikum
I totally agree with you sir. The insecurity, social discontent, ignorance and disease in the inner city is definately getting out of hand, not that it was contained before. But as you rightly said, your generation were groomed to solve this cancerous problem of the society, yet it has not happened. To delve into what that generation did will not solve the problem I suppose because, most of your age cohorts were busy adapting to an isolationist lifestyle, whereby everyone yana takansa. No sense of responsibilty to the decadence in the society or shame and embarassent associated with the ones who benefitted from the sytem exist within the so called elders.
My suggestion is radical and probably not acceptable to many who reside in these areas. I would like to see a day where all building are standardized, meaning no mud brick walls without rendering or all drainages must be at least 3 feet deep or other wise covered. I would like to see Islamiyya schools integrate their curriculum to include either scientific fields or vocational training ( weldering, plumbing, mechanics etc). I would also like to see govt allocate 25 % of its budget on education and another 20% on healthcare. and I believe in this type of environment cool heads will prevail.
This is my suggestion, although the idea of giving back to the community will work as well.
Bissalam
PS: Sir I do admire your courage for writing frankly about your views in this forum. You are most welcome. I am Yadudu's son Muhammad
QuoteCredits 2 u Ibraheem,
In my opinion, I dont blame d elites neither du I blame d govt.
Yet u blame this on on d govt & d elites? What gud have d citizens been doin? What role have they played to make a betterment livin area 4 their own healt & safety? If @ all d govt or elites provides things like sanitation that takes up @least 3hrs to get these ares tidied up!!! ..........& nxt hr u have orange sellers, food sellers, cattle bearers not 2 mention goats, ducks & chickens, roamin around & pollutin the area again!!!!!!!! When animal farms can b provided by these ppl. Nah/...............everything is the govt, or rulers faults!!!
I blame d ppl. However the govt are also 2 b blamed.......
Am tired, I will point out their ?blames nxt tym ;)
Gaskiya Gaskiya Gaskiya ne kin fadi dai dai yanmata. Kin fidda ni cikin wanna response din. I will raise my fingers to the Urban dweller as well. For all my points comes under Ummita's response.
To add a little bit is can some one tell me where did the govt & elites go wrong here? Or did they create di urban life of living beings?
MAlam Ibraheem, that was a great post and permit me 2 say that if in anyway this '' perhaps I may have to contact a psychiatrist'' I may have 2 follow after you!!
The deplorable situation in da old wals of Kano is really a dishearting situation! Rightly, pointed by ummita, the government cannot be blamed, quite alright as it was in your mind then, so it must have been in most of the city grown up chaps whom Iam sure had the same thots as u when u were young!!! I have no doubt in my mind that it's still same with the growing up chaps still there!! But the question is still hanging out there... how can this be changed?!! Wat can we do ''now''
QuoteAssalamu Alaikum
I totally agree with you sir. The insecurity, social discontent, ignorance and disease in the inner city is definately getting out of hand, not that it was contained before. But as you rightly said, your generation were groomed to solve this cancerous problem of the society, yet it has not happened. To delve into what that generation did will not solve the problem I suppose because, most of your age cohorts were busy adapting to an isolationist lifestyle, whereby everyone yana takansa. No sense of responsibilty to the decadence in the society or shame and embarassent associated with the ones who benefitted from the sytem exist within the so called elders.
? ?
You know Amin, the only point I agree with in the above quote is the "kowa yana takansa" and not in the way you mean either. Your meaning implies a selfishness, while that is not so. For me kowa na takansa implies survival. Mallam Ibrahim's generation was the pioneer generation that was robbed of its rights to good jobs, decent salaries and living standards. It was the time of naira devaluation soaring inflation and loss of purchasing power; in short it was the Babangida Era. A time when prices of necessities such as transportation went and stayed permanently beyond the reach of the average Nigerian. A time of the 010, 011,101 eating plans when many individuals couldn't afford three square meals a day. A time when a person's salary saw him through a week or less. It was a terrible time believe me. Where do you expect a person to summon up the energy to look at issues outside his immediate domestic concerns? It is only when you have had your fill of life's basic necessities that you have the leisure to look beyond your immediate sphere of life. So whereas Mallam Ibrahim's generation was groomed to tackle the social issues of the times, it was denied the necessary conducive economic background and support to do the job.
Thats anoda gud thing u'd raised out Ummul. Ibraheem. I personally dont think.......u will c supa magic change.....in d reconstruction of urban lifes. In a sense it even symbolises them. U will see they feel proud 2 b called ghettonians.......or yan cikin geri......
& ma deepest concern is, u will see most valentudinarians come from d urban areas. u will get 12 outta 20 ppl comin from urba area if u check out d hospital wards. Theres just no clean environment!!!!!!@ all, & d premier is 2 provide safe & clean livin standards for this ppl. But they, themselves of any help to their own selves!!!!!!
I'm happy that we are reasoning this way. I believe most of the contributors to this topic are young people on whose shoulder the future of our people lies. It is really heart warming to know that ba'a taru an zama daya ba. InshaAllah we are going to make a difference. Let all the members of Kanoonline forum Babba da Yaro resolve to bring a change in the way things are done in our country. Lets change Kano in particular and Nigeria in General. To be honest with you I can't do without a dose of this forum daily and I know a lot of us commit our hard-earned N200-N300 daily to be a part of the forum. To Salisu U. Danyaro we say thanks for bringing us together and more thanks for starting something that'll change our lives. You deserve a merit award from Kano State Govt. if they know what they are doing.
Okay people lets resolve to push all the so called elites da suke hana ruwa gudu a kasar mu away. Like way JFK said as quoted by Brother Ibrahim Haruna "If a free society cannot care for the majority that are poor, it cannot protect the minority that are rich."
We need to run a fair and free society that will take care of both the rich and poor.
QuoteOkay people lets resolve to push all the so called elites da suke hana ruwa gudu a kasar mu away. Like way JFK said as quoted by Brother Ibrahim Haruna "If a free society cannot care for the majority that are poor, it cannot protect the minority that are rich."
AbuMujaheed, kamen yaya elites na hana fitar de ruwa. I dont really think thats d point. kawai sai elites suzo suce. OK.........All water links supplying (wats d famous unguwa in Kano) emmm say Zoo road. close all zoo road water links. That wud have been so ludacricious. Haba, b reasonable. As I have stated earlier on. Not all teh blame shud go on2 d govt & elites wat about d citizens them selves. The ppl. How many tyms zaka ga yara sun vandalisin pipe holes. Lets take petrol for instance, zakaga yera esp young teens maza vandalisin d pipe hole takin out petrol illegally there by polluting d place as well. Ok back to water. How many times have the govt or elites put up taps and you get ppl fighting for who should get a bucket full of water, or fighting for lines that they end up breaking the tap stand? How many times have labour workers gone, doors to doors to remind ppl to pay their water bills, & they wont. So how do you expect frequent water running on taps. Not to mention those that get water ........... frequently in their house. they will start charging outsiders 4 a bucket full. Thereby investin their own business. if they can make money out of that. What should they do for the elites to release water to their taps/ Fair enough, nasan da govt still are way back in many things. But you also have to know that not every dream is a fulfillment. Matasan yanzu......kowa depend on their own. I dont think alot might imporve or make any changes to water supply neither of the living lifes of urban dwellers.
Nidei du'a na shine Allah dai ki biyar bikatunmun geba daya
Ni a ganina, many of the ills that have befallen our society is a direct fault of the govt, (I wont add elites; it seems to be a sore point somehow to mention elites so I will sidestep them :P ;)!). I won't even go into how the govt is at fault. All of us know, and all of us who presently work for the govt or are the govt, are also at fault.
However, in order to bring about change to a ppl the same ppl must be aware of the need for change. As things stand, many city dwellers in Kano are so used to living in squalor that they are not aware of the squalor, and therefore the idea of a better environment does not often bother their conscience.
This is especially so amongst the very poor and educationally deprived citizens of the city.
The first step towards eradication of our social ills is education - and a good one! Not the half baked nonsense that has been making the rounds in the last fifteen years or so! (I'm talking of govt run schs. not privately owned ones mind, because these are the schs. that are affordable to the majority of the city dwellers we are discussing). It's a long term goal and investment, but in the mean time, children can be taught the virtues of cleanliness and clean environments so that it becomes a habit with them.
As for the adults, public awareness campaigns can help alot. I remember sometime back after the spate of cholera epidemics, there were televised campaigns against selling cooked food next to open drainages. I doubt whether it helped a lot, but I believe it is because the campaign was not aggressive enough. But it was a good start.
Aggressive campaigns apart from the medium of T.V. should include radio coverage, posters, live demonstrations and even competitions for the "Cleanest Ward/district of the Week" or some such slogan and substantial prizes and prestige should be attached to them to elicit massive participation.
Then infrastructures should be put in place like the big hefty rubbish bins that were put up under a previous govt. We should have smaller sizes of those placed at frequent intervals of say 400 metres or so.
We need young able guys to work at cleaning streets and dredging gutters not the old ladies that at present are employed sporadically (by FEPA?) to clean up roads and the like. The pay should be good in order to attract ppl and diminish the stigma of being a 'common sweep'. They should also be organized into shifts so that there is an eighteen hour street cleaning service.
We need our moral watch dogs, the Hisbah to be involved (in the nicest possible way) in overseeing that ppl do not throw litter in a helter skelter fashion, including throwing dirty effluent water all over the place. Fines should be imposed for unbecoming conduct and the moneys accruing should be invested in the cleanup efforts.
WE need a lot of other things which I can't think of at the moment. But most of what I've mentioned could be undertaken at LGA level, which makes the job that much easier to accomplish. Now if only Mr. Chairman and his councillors will get down to the job at hand and dream less of the mansions and castles they will build with the public treasury entrusted to them.
Ni kuma a ganina bayan gwamnati mutanen mu na da babbar matsala, yanzu kamar maganar shara ba yadda za'ai ko da akwai jujin bature mutane suba sharar ciki sai dai rabi ciki rabi waje sannan kuma akwai kazanta da lalaci. Amma kuma dai kina da gaskiya don dole sai gwamnati ta sa mutane gaba.
Ni kuwa abin da ya fi damu na shine leda, leda ta yi yawa a Kano, kamar a can dai ake amfani da ita. In kaje Minna sai ka dauka ba'a "pure water" wato ruwan nan na leda ko ko ba su amfani da leda. A gaskiya su garinsu tsaf-tsaf. Wato in mutum ya duba sosai zai lura cewa fa babbar matsalar kasarmu shine rashin bin doka da oda, amma wani abin mamaki shine maganar "seat belt", ban taba ganin dokar da yan Najeriya suka bi ba kamar ta sanya "seat Belt" dinnan. Kowa yana binta kamar ta Allah.
To Allah yasa mun samu canji kenan.
Kasan wani abu ne? Mutanen mu 'yan Nigeria suna bin dokar "Law of self preservation" hannu da kafa.
Bara in baka misali. Mai yasa mutane duk da rashin bin doka a kan titi ba sa tuki hannun hagu? Dan sun san cewa in mota ta hito ta nufosu za a yi karo ne kuma shi mai tukin hannun hagun shike da laifi. Ku ma karshen ta a ji rauni, in kuma abun yazo da ajali, a sheka barzahu. Shi ya sa za kaga duk shegantakar da direbobi su keyi kan hanya basa yin wannan (tuki hannun hagu da gangan). A takaice dai, duk abinda dan Adam din Nijeriya ya san in ya yishi, shi ma zai cutu, za kaga ba kasafai ya ke yin wannan abin ba. Kazalika ma, shi ya sa hala mutane suka muhimantar da wannan dokar seat belt din, saboda "self preservation"!
Leda kam a Kano ba'a cewa komai. Inda za a iya sarrafa ta ta koma man fetur ai da munyi sallama da 'yan Kudu!
Ni fa kam I still dont blame Nija rulers or leaders as of wat has become the livin life of Urban dwellers. Neither do I blame govt or elites. Infact on any issue with regards to any downfall of Nija, I hardly blame the govt, because if the govt should go wrong the civilians go right after them.
Urban life....(she signs)......I say its the people livin in these places who have made it wat is it has become of now!! wat it is as of 2day!!! they have simply turned nice self accomodatin areas into a livin hell. Wat have become of these places is wat the people have made it become. I see no reason why the whole world would keep on blaming govt, or elites.
Where the govts livinin in such areas? Where they responsible for vandalisin govt property which was put up juss for the befeficiary of these vandalisers? Where they respoinsible for creating a poodle full of lil swimmy ducks? Where they responsible for chacoal writings on d wall, on other ways mayb graffiti as well? Where they responsible for keepin breedin goats, that keep producing a whole chain of baby goats, that you can hardly find you way to drive around if on d car lane? Where the govt responsible for putting up mini grocery shop occupying half the roads in an area? Where the govt responsible for the commotion of lil businesses goin @ their peaks by the side of ppls houses when a huge market has been built up for these businesses ppl? Dunno wats d name of d market though?
Its half as sickenin as watchin a slaughtered ram.....d way ppl go about blaming govt, blamin our leaders. In one way or d other...they have done so much........and nothing have these urban dwellers did or have done 2 improve their own livin ways of their own benefiaciary neither have they offered to help neitehr encouragin bellenta show appreciattion for new poured tar...which even though it doesnt make a fast car lane...with its jumpy bumps but its still worth it, even though water is not frequent in urban areas.....showin appreciation was pluckin out d whole root bottom.....by vandalisers, Govt have built soooo many coucil flats, wat has become of these places? Haba havent the govt done much........dont they deserve a lil self pity, U all know 4 a fact that a leader has his/own family to worship & hell will they b gratefull!!! Amman he serves us but hell we neva show any sign of mungoda or we r proud.. Rather han 2 sit and critise..when will Nigerians b 4eva grateful...
R we not far off beta than countries such as Namibia, Somalia,India, Pakistan? Yet why are we not grateful. Their governments neva do half as much as our govt do, but yet ya'all ignore d fact that indeed whether for better or worse our elite leaders and govt have made Nija amongst d best countries in Africa.
If u look @ it d way I du..........d only problem Nija is facin that it is affectin almost everything from normal everyday day human lifestyle to country every day life is this so-called opwerful politics. It has predominated almost everything....u touch rice in market..sai ace gmannati, fuel, govt..increase in producst sai ace politics..... It is touchin everywhere & has labelled things in such a ridiculous way. If Nija was to put behind politcal issues for once & concetrate on juss getting d ryt leader to rule. Wud u belive me that in d nxt few yrs there wud probably b a better Nija? But I dont & neva will I blame d govt they r doin their best & we shud show sum sign of appreciaiton even thoughj things r nmot perfect...but then again no one is perfect or nefink cud b purfect......