THE DREAM OF OUR FATHERS by Barr. Gashion Danna

Barr. Gashion Daniel Danna

THE DREAM OF OUR FATHERS: PART TWO 

1. If my history is not failing me, I know that we inherited an excellent spirit from our ancestors. We are known for hard work, integrity, sincerity and ultimately, we are known for our love for one another. Above everything else, we are known for loving God, true sacrifice and service, but that is not to assume that we don’t make mistakes, of course we do, we are humans. These are principles that separates us from other Nations. These are sacrosanct and inviolable to our foundation, existence and prosperity as a people. We are a Nation surrounded by our ardent and enthusiastic “enemies” who control power and resources, yet we remain undefeated even with the conspiracies, sponsored attacks and constant suppression by some people in Governments at all levels. These are facts that must help strengthen our unity. In recent past, we thought that our land was going to be takeover, due to the intensity of the attacks and the kinds of weapons used, both physical and sponsored propaganda, that eventually resulted to relocation of T/B LG Headquarter. There was no truth in those allegations. But He who keeps Israel does not sleep nor slumber, he watches over us. Even when some of us struggled to deny him of his glory when they thought that we excel and remain resilient because of our wisdom, knowledge and efforts, God remain faithful.

2. I cannot remember, in my entire life time, when Za’ar Nation became very prosperous, influential and known to the World like recently, and in our life time. I don’t need to elaborate on the rise of Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, which was so unbelievable that many of us thought that it was a dream, as we watched on the television the afternoon of June 9, 2015 when he took the oath to serve as Number 4 citizen, and speaker of the 8th House of Reps. I may not elaborate on how God graciously picked Prof. S. E. Bogro, not to only serve in one of the most influential Agencies of Federal Government, but He was fired and hired again by the same Government, when God disqualified everyone else by showing his quality, performance and tract record on his previous assignment. Time will not permit me to elaborate on countless other prominent Za’ar Sons and Doughters in high places in Government, NGOs and outside the Country. Time and space will not allow us to elaborate on the infrastructural developments brought by our illustrious sons and daughters in the Land. They are all around us, and so unbelievable that we saw these happened in our life time like never before.

3. I believe very strongly in history, because it serves as a platform for shaping our line of action for a better future. Before we begun this path to prosperity, you may wish to recall how people like J.K. Manzo, Mutashi Mubisu, Rev. Markus, current Gung Zaar, Emmanuel Kure, the Rescue Mission Fellowship and other countless prominent Za’ar people and concerned groups, who joined in vigorous prayers for deliverance and breaking of curses in the Land. Now I understand that they saw the future, and God directed them to contribute immensely in restoring the spirit of Za’ar Nation and setting us on good path to prosperity. For me, I believe very strongly that we are prosperous today because God opened our eyes and directed the Za’ar Nation, in collaboration with ministers of God, to break curses, barriers and chains that had held us captive. I think that when God want to lift you, he either raise your quality or disqualify others in order to make you more qualified. This happened to us at the last election when God qualified Za’ar land to have a say on who becomes Bauchi State Governor as a typical example, it was not a coincidence that our prominent Sons and the entire Nation became the ultimate deciding factor and we succeeded in getting this Governor elected.

4. Nothing has ever united the Za’ar Nation like our very challenging struggles and how our ancestors and forefathers selflessly sacrificed everything, including life, to propel our thought that got us to where we are. This common destiny and history have united us and made us love our land and our people with great passion and sacrifice. I believe very strongly that our legendary Baba Peter Gonto and co (of blessed memory) lived and died loving the unity and prosperity of our people, and wishing that their descendants will one day be free and liberated. They started the struggle for us to have a better life of freedom after they are long gone. I believe that never in their wildest imagination, had they thought or wished that this same struggle for emancipation, which they lived and died for, would become a subject of division among us. My little knowledge of history has failed me in knowing when exactly our motto: “Sorgah nambong yi tut lhbah” was formed. It makes a lot more sense than it sounds. We cannot succeed as a people unless we unite and walk together. I don’t want to comment on the current tension and division among our people because I don’t know if I have sufficient facts about the basic issues. But I must say that whatever the problems are, it’s longest overdue to learn to live in unity and harmonious relationship like Brothers and Sisters otherwise we will surely perish like fools, God forbid! I must make bold to say that those who sponsor division and propaganda among us to make personal gains are our greatest enemies. I even doubt if we have such people among us. I count this division as a misunderstanding of perspectives being held by groups and individuals, which we have all it takes to resolve, otherwise we will be causing our ancestors to start mourning just at a time when they have started to celebrate out breakthrough and prosperity.

5. In my opinion, since we were very instrumental to bringing the current administration in Bauchi State to power, and we have illustrious people who are very close associates to the current Governor, who is the “ultimate” in granting us liberty and chiefdom, we need to be swift in taking advantage of this opportunity before it become too late. We cannot take a firm and divided stands when everything that ever matters to us is at stake. There is always room for sacrifice and negotiations, especially among Brethren. Are we not Brethren? Are we not the same people who are being envied and admired, World over, because of our record act of unity and love for one another? Time for accusations and counter accusations should be far away from our camps. Let us unite and fight to bring the spoil home first. We cannot continue to fight over sharing parts of a monkey that is still in the bush. We have turned ourselves to subjects of laughter by the very people who have suppressed and oppressed us for decades. I have never and I will never be a prophet of doom, but the tension and propaganda with which we express ourselves these days on the social media and against each other is a signal to an impending danger that lies ahead if we don’t take deliberate steps to curtail and resolve issues now. God forbid that a Za’ar man will raise his hands and weapon against a fellow Za’ar in judgement. I cannot even imagine that happening, but we need to be careful and exercise restraint. We need to, momentarily talk to each other, We cannot afford to project personal or group interest against our collective interest, ZA’AR LAND FIRST!

6. We must take advantage of our proximity and relevance in the current administration in the state and continue to mount pressure through all our arsenals and foot soldiers, who are in the Bauchi State corridor of power, to be able to achieve Za’ar Chiefdom without further delay. Our Sons and Daughters who occupy positions in this administration must be reminded that they have been favoured and are there because of this kind of time, they should be like Esther in the Bible and approach the Government relentlessly and with our united support until we are granted the ultimate dream of our fathers. Our people must begin to see politics as a means to an end and not an end in itself, so that if we agree to vote for you or your candidate based on certain understandings or agreements and you failed to perform your own part after we have fulfilled our promise of voting for you, then you must know that our trust cannot be with you anymore. It is very difficult for me to say that we Za’ar people have played politics religiously for too long. Politics is not religion, it doesn’t have to be. Our collective interests as a people must supersede party politics such that if an individual violates and humiliates our collective interest, which we have traded with our votes, by failing to yield to our legitimate demands such as the Za’ar chiefdom, we must be bold to express our grievances in a manner that the politicians understands, through the ballot when next they need it. I think if we do this, we would be taken seriously next time, otherwise it will be the same old story. Unfortunately, none of these may be achieve when we are divided and fighting each other. There is no limit to the power of unity, even God acknowledges this when he had to disperse the inhabitants of the Earth as they tried to build the tower of Babel.

7. Finally, I must caution that the moment we begin to think that “I am more powerful and influential(or my group is more powerful or influential), therefore I/we can do without those who are not as powerful and succeed, or to begin to assume that someone is taking advantage of you because you are nonentity, or throwing accusing fingers against each other and engage in blackmail, making merchandise with false rumours, or promoting distrust and thinking that some are more pro-za’ar struggle than others, or channeling our energy towards furnishing self-esteems as against our collective interests, or even thinking that we are wrong and others are right, we would be making grave and momentous mistakes. Always seek to enquire about things that are not very clear to you rather than placing presumptions where it doesn’t belong or exists. Sincerely I don’t think that I am even worthy to advise our people on these issues, but I know that even from the mouths of Babies, sweet songs can proceed. We have an obligation as a people to dialogue and speak when it matters. This is time to speak, silence is not golden anymore. We are not enemies, we are Brothers. Every mortal being can make mistakes and can offend a fellow human, those who pretend to be perfect are just living outside of this World. What makes great difference to our existence as humans is the ability to realize our differences and mistakes and seek redress, it is the ultimate thing. We all have a stake in the Za’ar Land of our Ancestor’s dream. No individual or group should assume a posture or believe that he is more passionate about the land or more Za’ar than others, we will be making issues more complicated for amicable settlement. We have to fight collectively and win collectively; victory is even sweeter if achieved unanimously. When issues that affects our existential foundation arises, every other thing must take a back seat. With the rising tension, accusation and counter accusations, I call on our people to trust one another and seek understanding where there are shadows. The leadership of Za’ar Land and all stakeholders ought to initiate mutual discussion and amicable settlement to avoid further deterioration. So that the ultimate dream of our fathers shall be achieved. It is a legacy that we must work to achieve, and to hopefully bequeath to the next generation. God bless, unite and prosper Za’ar Nation.