A Daidaita Sahu: Aluta continua!
“OUR societal re-orientation plan is built around the ideas of uprightness, good manners, patriotism, and respect for law and order. Good manners because they are the flywheel of society in the sense that they keep the whole society within the bounds of (law and) order.”
— Gov. Ibrahim Shekarau
Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, the executive governor of Kano state, made the above declaration on September 11th, 2004, in his inaugural address at the official launching of the state government policy on societal re-orientation. At the occasion, which event took place at the Sani Abacha Indoor Stadium, the governor observed that for many years now, our sense of moral values has been severely damaged by corruption, while the civility and decency – which the people of Kano were renowned for, are fast on the decline. True to the governor’s observation, the menace of indiscipline and moral degeneration is so pervasive to the extent that few people believe that we can overcome these anti-social phenomenon. In fact and to be honest, many people opined, then, that the governor is embarking upon a wishful construction of building castle in the air; that the A Daidaita Sahu project will never succeed for the simple fact that corruption and indiscipline are the two major cancer worms that have eaten deep into our contemporary society. But today, more than two years after, the pioneer societal re-orientation programme has succeeded significantly in the struggle for moral rejuvenation and many people who were hitherto skeptical have been converted, albeit grudgingly into the league of optimists who believe with collective zeal and sincere commitment the ills of social deviance could be overcome.
Malam Bala Muhammad (Ph.d), is the Director General of the societal re-orientation agency. Ever since his appointment into that capacity, the veteran journalist cum academician has remained sincerely committed to the task of re-awakening the societal consciousness through active participation. The A Daidaita Sahu programme, having been conceived to be an ongoing and community-targeted initiative in which the entire citizenry of the state is aligned and actively involved, it therefore becomes necessary for the agency to consult widely on the agenda of societal re-orientation.
In an exclusive interview he granted this writer some time ago, Malam Bala, as the DG is fondly called by the DSR staff said, ever since the agency was established it has succeeded in the area of consultation as the Ulama clerics and other learned professionals have been contacted for their input. Moreover, the agency was able to establish a good rapport with the council of traditional rulers whose moral support and active participation in the programme underscores the successes and achievements so far recorded in the continuing campaign for social re-birth.
In that interview, I asked Malam Bala his personal assessment on the DSR and the journey so far. His words: “My assessment does not differ much from the assessment of the chairman of A Daidaita Sahu council and his alternate chairman, respectively His Excellency, Limamin A Daidaita Sahu, Governor Malam Ibrahim Shekarau and His Royal Highness, the Emir of Kano, Alhaji (Dr.) Ado Bayero. Both of them hold the opinion that, Alhamdu lillah – the people of Kano state have started realizing that our society has many social problems and that it is the collective duty and responsibility of the people – the whole community must be in the forefront of solving these problems. And this is essentially what A Daidaita Sahu set out to do; not to basically solve problems but to show the way to the people who are directly concerned about the social problems we are facing and how to go about solving them.
The DG explained that the DSR is an advocacy agency; an interventionist agency tasked with the responsibility of conveying the message (on the need to support the societal re-orientation programme) to the general public through all means possible to ensure that people know that the problems that exist in our society are not solely the responsibility of government to solve; it is rather a combination of both public and private partnership that is envisaged to effectively solve these social problems.
It is now over two years since the agency came on board. Has the DSR been able to pin-point some of the major societal ills that have permeated into our social life? I asked Malam Bala.
“For the past two years we have succeeded in categorizing the major social problems we are facing in this state and in the process we came up with more than 150 social ills which are afflicting all the nooks and corners of the state. We have such problems affecting the business community; among the youths who are mostly idle and among the women folk too. Our educational system cannot be absolved of having such problems as indiscipline and moral decadence as characterized by the menace of indecent dressing and examination malpractices among others. Though it has been observed that some or most of the anti-social behaviours are urban-based, some of these social problems are peculiar to the rural communities. And we also have such problems within the public and private sector and between the rich and the poor and so on. So, we have already identified these problems and we are trying to as much as possible highlight them and make sure people understand that these problems exist. It is our duty to make them understand that overcoming these social problems is a collective responsibility.”
I think this step taken by the DSR is important because I firmly believe that the people are in the best position to identify the problems affecting their community or group. Once a community accepts the need for a change on matters affecting its well-being and collectively come to agree on what needs to be done, that community can be said to be on the right course in putting in place a lasting, viable solution to its peculiar problems.
Now, let us review the journey so far; for the past two and half years since it came into existence, what or how can we assess the level of acceptance or response of the general public as regards the concept of the societal re-orientation programme?
For Malam Bala, it is so far, so good as he believes the message has reached across and the impact could only be measured through the popular acceptance of the societal re-orientation concept by the general populace. “Alhamdu Lillah! I must say I am happy that things are happening according to plan, which indicated that there is total acceptance of this programme across all interests, including people who may not be keen to support the government in some aspects of its manifesto and policy implementation due to reasons that are mainly political.
But as a state which primary objective is implementation of the Islamic Shari’a legal system and with the establishment of the Shari’a Commission, Zakkat Commission and the Hisbah Board, which are necessary institutions charged with the responsibility of ensuring strict adherence to the spiritual law, the state government thought an independent agency like the DSR should as well compliment the efforts of these three organizations in making sure that the message gets across the overall strata of the society.
“In my personal assessment, however, the general acceptance of this programme by the people devoid of political sentiment is our greatest achievement. And I must say, Malam Shekarau established this programme to be his own contribution (Sadaqatul Jariya) for the upliftment of our contemporary society. One basic philosophy of the government is making Kano great again; a society which will always be looked upon as a model worthy of emulation. We want Kano state to be a mirror of the Northern cultural and Islamic heritage. What is most interesting is the fact that acceptance of this programme transcends the boundary of Kano since most of the neighbouring states have variously indicated their interest in the programme and are in fact asking for the blue print on the societal re-orientation programme”.
Although the DG, A Daidaita Sahu, declined to name the states that have so far indicated their interest to replicate the Societal Re-orientation Policy, Malam Bala disclosed that following the several proposals being forwarded to the state government by other governors of the neighbouring states to that effect, Malam Shekarau has instructed the state DSR to collate all the relevant materials that have been used for the past year by His Highness, the emir and His Excellency, the governor to be compiled into a working document to serve as an action plan to be forwarded to the various states that are interested in the societal re-orientation programme.
Malam Bala said: “We have so far visited all the state capitals in the North including the FCT, Abuja, and we have delivered all our action plan document and strategy, including an introductory letter from both the governor and the emir to every state governor that we visited. We have also visited prominent first class Emirs in various parts of the country like, for instance, the Tor Tive of the Tiv people in Benue, the Ata Igala in Kogi state, the Akuka of Wukari in Taraba state and many more. And I must confess that all the governors were happy and appreciative of governor Shekarau’s magnanimity for sending the messages and have been asking for further information on the practical ways to combat the menace of moral decadence in their respective states.”
On the part of the traditional rulers, the DG disclosed that all the emirs they visited similarly praised His Highness, the emir of Kano for his untiring efforts and genuine commitment to ensure that the societal re-orientation programme succeeds in meeting the desired goal objective.
Many people will agree with the notion that the success of the A Daidaita Sahu programme is largely connected with the selfless commitment and sheer determination by the emir of Kano who, in spite of his age has remained untiring as exemplified in his physical presence at all societal re-orientation exercises across the length and breadth of the state. According to Malam Bala, the Emir has once observed that throughout the period of his reign he has never seen a programme which so much fits his ideology about solving the societal problems like the A Daidaita Sahu. Perhaps, this explains the reason why the emir has been ubiquitous in all the activities of the societal re-orientation programme.
“In a nutshell, the emir’s support and contribution in our collective efforts is immeasurable as well as unquantifiable. His active participation has greatly enhanced our performance and his undiluted commitment to the cause has made us succeed in areas which otherwise could not have been possible. For the first time in the history of Kano emirate, the emir committed himself (not delegation) to the unprecedented tour of all the 44 local government councils of the state in six months. He started just right after the Eid-el-Fitr and ended in April last year with the tour of Wudil local government.
According to the DG – A Daidaita Sahu, the Emir of Kano – in his capacity as the alternate chairman of the state council of the programme suggested to the DSR that, since the societal re-orientation is envisaged to be an enduring, lasting legacy of the Shekarau administration, it is necessary for all hands to be on deck to ensure that the programme, in whatever name, succeeds and continues to strive towards educating the people so that benefits derivable could out live the government.
For sure, the Shekarau administration has indeed scored a golden goal for setting up the Directorate for Societal Re-orientation with the view to tackling most of our societal problems. As the governor rightly pointed out in his inaugural speech, the purpose on which the societal re-orientation programme is based upon is for the citizens to be mobilized and committed, each in his or her own way, to the building of a God-fearing and better society where everyone can pursue his interests without trampling on the interest of others and without forgetting his responsibility to his immediate community.
As the societal re-orientation programme celebrates its second year anniversary, it behoves on the general public to be part of this historic and imperative step in the collective aspiration to change our society for the better. It therefore becomes absolutely necessary for all public officials, private institutions and organizations to individually and collectively work diligently with sincere commitment for the overall success of this laudable programme.
For A Daidaita Sahu, the struggle for social rebirth continues!