The Other Side

My formal journalism career started at The Standard Newspapers in Jos (Earlier called the Nigerian Standard) published by the Plateau State Government in April 1986. almost one year after I completed the compulsory National Youth Service. My stint at The Standard Newspapers provided the space for numerous news reports, articles and interviews. THE OTHER SIDE is the reproduction of a few of them. The views expressed by me then, were interesting and very strong and were somehow representative of the positions of most young, recently graduated student union activists. Of course, as a graduate of the then famous FASS (Faculty of Arts and Social Science) of the Ahmadu Bello University ABU Zaria, we were very critical of society and how it was organized. Our ideal society was the socialist and communist as respected by countries of Eastern Europe, which were anti-imperialists in orientation As a teenager from a Christian background, who at the Government College Keffi, had been both the Evangelism Secretary and Acting Secretary of the Fellowship of Christian Students (FCS), I was very concerned with injustice. How people negated the injunctions of God that created men equal before Him and made others slaves, with some living in opulence and others suffering. I felt then that it was the duty of the Christians to ensure that every person had the right to live a good decent life without let or hindrance. Of course, this contradiction of combining Christianity and radicalism/socialism became obvious from 1980 when I was admitted into the School of Basic Studies of the Ahmadu University, Zaria. We saw all the wrongs with capitalism and its practice in Nigeria and believed that those practices were imposed on Africa by Europeans; yet we could not reconcile ourselves with Socialism and Communism which denied the existence of God. At The Standard Newspapers where Ibrahim Rufai, himself a radical. Muslim had recruited me, I tried to express myself with all the contradictions of General Ibrahim Babangida Badamasi, who had shot himself to power after overthrowing General Muhammad Buhari, was the face of capitalism and all that we thought was wrong with Nigeria. Now, as I read through some of the articles that I wrote at that time, without the fear of arrest (I hope), I wonder at how much freedom Nigeria has lost since Babangida left power. As at today June 2020, with a democratic Government in place, there are about 10 young people who have been clamped into jail by State Governors, for expressing views or reporting stories that are nowhere near the intensity of what we did 35 years back, under a military Government!I am therefore republishing these articles earlier published in The Standard Newspapers between 1985 and 1989, as a contribution to the call for the restoration of freedom being taken away from us now. These articles are also a reminder that, all the vital indices of Nigeria are deteriorating! These articles further remind us that the issues that we fought for about 35 years ago, are urgently waiting for resolution. It is unfortunate that Africa has remained a continent of great potentials without development. The basic meaning of development in my opinion, is the ability of any society to control the elements of nature. Today, our ability to control elements of nature are diminishing and the obvious result of which is that these resources of Africa may entice new colonialists or imperialists coming from communist China. See how imperialism seemed to have won so decisively!So, where do we stand today? I do not know; I have no answer and I don't know whether it makes sense searching for an answer!Rimanmde Shawulu Kwewum, June 2020, Abuja, Nigeria.