The Slumdog Of Hope

Global audiences can be captured through local production of movies

It is the most unlikely movie to win the mythical and glorious slot of Best Film at the Oscars. But when it did, last Sunday at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Slumdog Millionaire raised the hopes of many filmmakers around the world that their hope to make it big in the big screen business is not, after all, a vain one. They saw in producer Christian Colson and director Danny Boyle’s millennial feat that they too can attain any possible heights in moviedom.

But wait, what the heck is Slumdog Millionaire? It is a movie that tells the story of Jamal Malik, an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the whole nation watching, he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India’s version of “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” But when the show breaks for the night, police arrest him on suspicion of cheating; how could a street kid know so much?

Desperate to prove his innocence, Jamal (played by Dev Patel) tells the story of his life in the slum where he and his brother grew up, of their adventures together on the road, of vicious encounters with local gangs, and of Latika, the girl he loved and lost. Each chapter of his story reveals the key to the answer to one of the game show’s questions. Intrigued by Jamal’s story, the jaded Police Inspector (played beautifully by Irfan Khan) begins to wonder what a young man with no apparent desire for riches is really doing on this game show? When the new day dawns and Jamal returns to answer the final question, the Inspector and 60 million viewers are about to find out.

Shot in Mumbai, India, with virtually amateurish cast playing side by side with Bollywood star Anil Kapoor, the two-hour-long movie was produced in the United Kingdom by Celador Films and Film4. It was released there last November 12 by Fox Searchlight Pictures and in the U.S. on January 23, 2009.

The movie wasn’t given a chance by almost all the bookmakers. It couldn’t boast of a star-studded cast. The company that first agreed to fund it withdrew at the last minute. There wasn’t even a budget for top-rate advertising blitz. Seeing their weaknesses in the hideously dog-eat-dog competitive market, the producers even considered shooting it straight to DVD and selling it in stores rather than showing it in theatres. Then, slowly and unstoppably, the word spread (mostly by word of mouth): here was a small budget movie that could challenge the big guns of Hollywood.

Audiences around the world are seeing themselves in the movie. With the global recession eating deeper into pockets and economies, people want to be reassured about life; they want to know that there is still hope. The hope of a better tomorrow does not have to come through winning promos and rafle draws, but the reflection on Jamal’s ghetto life, his battles that led him to “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?,” are in us all.

Then came the 81st Academy Awards. The underdog movie went ahead to clinch eight awards out of 10 nominations, including Best Picture, Directing, Adapted Screenplay (Simon Beaufoy), Cinematography (Anthony Dod Mantle), Sound Mixing (Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty), Film editing (Chris Dickens), Original Score (A.R. Rahman) and Original Song (A.R. Rahman). Even though it was made on a comparatively shoe-string budget (about $10 million), the film beat such productions by Hollywood heavyweights as its closest competitor, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, whose budget was ten times that of Slumdog.

This film, also known in India as Slumdog Crorepati, has proved or rather disproved so many points and demystified a lot of hitherto long-held “truths.” First, it showed that it is no longer big-budget productions that are necessary requirements for quality of a movie, its aesthetics, thematic correctness, and or audience empathy. Secondly, it dispelled the notion that to make it big in movie-making you must have the right amount of money. Slumdog was made for less than $10 million, a far cry from the budget of its nearest competitor, which was made for over $100 million.

How do we relate all these to our own home-grown movie industry? Movies in Nigeria are made in both English and local languages, principally Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. In fact, because of the plurality of language, there is no single film industry in the country; instead, we have a cacophony of cultures coming out of productions. Up north, where the Hausa movie industry’s growth has been stymied by censors, the main worry is about standardisation of production and impact on cultural mores. These are of more concern to an emerging society like ours, one which is bothered with the negative consequences of alien values. But the censorship regime in Kano has been less than honest with its declared war to sanitise the industry, often trading in doublespeak and incredible judicial violence, riding on the crest of popular sentiments.

Hausa movies are made on shoe-string budgets but many of them have shown promise of earning a global acclaim. All their makers require is further education on production expertise and finesse, as well as good money. With proper coaching, which foreign donors such as the French, the British and the American embassies in Nigeria have been willing to give (to the chagrin of local authorities), they could be made to capture the world and tell their own stories to it. This is because the Hausa society contains all the ingredients of the fairy tale notions that usually attract the global audiences of movies. If it can be done in other West African countries such as Benin, Senegal and Ghana where Suleyman Cisse and Sembene Ousmane proved their mettle, why not here?

Slumdog, which exports very many cultural baggage of contemporary India to the rest of the world, would never have been made in Kano, the hub of the Hausa moviemaking, even if its purpose was to deliver Hausa/Muslim culture to an enchanted audience abroad. The stultifying policies presently being rammed down the throats of the Hausa moviemakers are clearly meant to eliminate the moviemaking trade rather than reform it. The filmmakers are persecuted through arrests, fines and even jail terms.

This hidden target is futile, though. Its execution can only cause temporary pains for some and create great fear in the hearts of many others. At the end, however, the censorship regime will outlive its mandate and leave whatever remains of the industry. Reason: moviemaking is a global phenomenon aided by the new communication technologies. The best choice for authorities is to work on reforming it in order to conform to acceptable standards and local sensitivities rather than denigration and persecution. Let's stop the pretended slumber and wake up now.

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This piece was published in LEADERSHIP today

The Face Of Corruption

Where is Mr. Corruption domiciled? Is he to be found in an office, reclining in a cushion chair and enjoying air-conditioning, or in the garage sweating it out under the sun? Or does he reside in a palace with a big turban or other cultural regalia, being fanned by tireless courtesans? Or is Mr. Corruption sitting in our hearts, flowing within our veins, keeping us alive, manifesting out there in splendid mansions, vintage cars, exotic gardens and aromatic meals?

I decided to ask these questions, even if poetically, after listening to the chairman of EFCC, Mrs Farida Waziri, speak during the launch of her grand project (a la Dora Akunyili’s Rebranding Nigeria Project), called Anti-Corruption Revolution (ANCOR). The South-west zone of the ‘revolution’ kicked off on Tuesday in Lagos. The event was beamed live on prime television. It attracted dignitaries like former secretary-general of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku; former petroleum resources minister, Prof. Tam David-West; the colourful deputy governor of Lagos State, Mrs Sosan, and the indefatigable Prof. Dora Akunyili, information minister. It was an important event whose timing was apt. Brainstorming on the cankerworm of corruption is never a tautological task, given the fact that corruption is number one factor in the underdevelopment of this country and the way we are perceived abroad. Without corruption, Nigeria would have since attained a cardinal point of Vision 20-20-20 long ago without having to wait till 2020. But with it, it is idiotic to think that we will become one of the top 20 developed nations by that year unless, of course, if we mean to say the top 20 most backward nations.

Corruption is like a self-multiplying octopus in our national psyche. Barring predestination, it is responsible for almost all the mess that we are stuck in as a nation: bad roads, ill-equipped hospitals, under-funded educational institutions, political violence, imposition of bad rulers on the electorate, you name it. This nemesis is the reason for the loss of direction that we see in governance, the collapse of national institutions and the spiraling fall of moral values. Corruption is the ogre behind the sweeping poverty that pushes 70 percent of Nigerians below subsistence level. And poverty, which the visionary, albeit misguided, Poverty Alleviation Programme has failed woefully to reduce, thereby necessitating a Senate probe, has created cataclysms such as crime, squalor, disease and untimely death.
The questions I asked earlier on regarding the whereabouts of Mr. Corruption were predicated on Mrs Waziri’s apparent confusion when she stated, at the Tuesday event, that even though the millions of victims of corruption are well known, the face of corruption remains elusive as its perpetrators profit from obscurity and lack of transparency. By this, Madam Chairman is saying that she does not know who the corrupt Nigerians are even though she knows the victims of their criminal activities. This confession is surprising, coming from the person hired by the president to track down the perpetrators and drag them to face the law. To say that you do not know the perpetrators, in the kind of environment we have whereby ill-gotten wealth is wantonly displayed, means that the battle has been lost even before it starts.

The face of corruption is not elusive at all as the anti-graft czar claimed. The ugly face is very much available publicly, in broad daylight, gaunt and supercilious, daring anyone to touch it. What is the nickname of all those holders of public office who fearlessly display looted funds – saints or sinners? What is the source of some of the mind-boggling wealth we are seeing, owned by persons or groups that are otherwise incapable of amassing them through legitimate means?
Very often even the EFCC does come across some of the looters of the treasury. The media are awash, once in a while, with a story of such arrests and the usually hyped attempt to prosecute a suspect. After some time, the story is tucked into the inside pages and it eventually peters out. The news hawks then return to their shells to await yet another earth-shattering expose.

If Mrs Waziri is truly searching for the face of corruption, I’ll help her track it down. And it’s so simple that you’d consider it a push-over. First, she should begin by scrutinizing the face of anyone she has arrested. Since her coming on board, many high-velocity names have been nabbed by her operatives, but how many were successfully prosecuted? We were told that half a dozen state governors during the Obasanjo era were corrupt but they could not be prosecuted because of the constitutional immunity they were enjoying. Almost two years after they left office, and that privilege is gone, none of them is in jail. Instead, the ingenious minister of justice, Mr Aondoakaa, came up with the plea bargain option which the EFCC is applying in its work. According to the government, this method is cost-effective and saves time. But plea bargain, to most Nigerians, is like retrieving 10 bags from the loot of a big thief in exchange for his freedom and subsequent use of the remaining 90 bags. That, in effect, is a short cut to corruption. It further creates skepticism about the anti-corruption war and makes the citizenry to merely shrug in a resigned cynicism.

The truth is that corruption has become a national culture today, to the extent that those committing it no longer see it as an offence, while the victims of corruption regard it as a way of life. The keynote speaker at the Lagos event, Prof. David-West, had wondered why the faithful in a church or a mosque would collect donations from unscrupulous persons, knowing fully well that the source of the funds is not clean. The reason is that the faithful see such monies as normal, or as their legitimate share of the national cake. They usually reason that their “son of the soil,” the crafty donor, is bringing home the dividends of his/her contacts in high places. If they refuse to take the money, claiming some sense of purity, he would take it to a rival shrine.

Prof. David-West has poignantly put a finger on the culture of corruption in Nigeria. So much lip service has been paid to the problem to the extent that people see it as a waste of time to talk about it again. This is more so when the real perpetrators of corruption are allowed to go scot-free after being arrested. Others are enjoying the privilege of being untouchables in the war against the menace. You are punished for corruption only if you do not have the right pedigree or the right contacts. And in Nigeria, who doesn’t have powerful friends if he’s powerful enough steal? Many top shots in the country, I hear, are occupying their positions courtesy of some not-so-clean services they rendered in the past, including helping establish the government.

I wish Mrs Waziri all the best in reining in this monster. But to win the war, the EFCC chairman should begin to wage it from home, where charity usually begins. It will not help the Anti-Corruption Revolution if the citizenry see it as selective or a mere talk-shop. If you fight corruption sincerely, the people will know; if not, they will know. They have eyes and brains.

Why Are Muslims So Backward?

Nafisa, a friend, forwarded the following e-mail to me recently. It was one of those e-mails called junk that fly about on the Internet. While I merely chuckle after reading such mails, this one is so hautingly true and real that I felt strong enough about it as to reproduce it here as food for thought for my readers. We’ll conclude it next week and then I’ll answer the above question. Meanwhile, read. And think.

Happy 1430 Hijrah!
Happy? But the situation in the Muslim world is still sad as it was 500 years ago. Global influence and power have shifted to the Christian world - and have remained there ever since. The following figures speak for themselves. They are extracts of a speech delivered by Hafez A.B. Mohamed, Director-General of Al Baraka Bank.

Demographics:
o World Jewish population: 14 million
o Distribution: 7m in America
5m in Asia
2m in Europe
100 thousands in Africa
o World Muslim population: 1.5 billion
o Distribution: 1 billion in Asia/Mid-East
400m in Africa
44m in Europe
6m in the Americas

o Every fifth human being is a Muslim.
o For every single Hindu there are two Muslims
o For every Buddhist there are two Muslims
o For every Jew there are 107 Muslims
Yet the 14 million Jews are more powerful than the entire 1.5 billion Muslims...
Why..?
Here are some of the reasons.

Movers of Recent History
o Albert Einstein - Jewish
o Sigmund Freud - Jewish
o Karl Marx - Jewish
o Paul Samuelson - Jewish
o Milton Friedman - Jewish

Medical Milestones
o Vaccination needle: Benjamin Ruben - Jewish
o Polio vaccine: Jonas Salk - Jewish
o Leukaemia drug: Gertrude Elion - Jewish
o Hepatitis B: Baruch Blumberg - Jewish
o Syphilis drug: Paul Ehrlich - Jewish
o Neuro muscular: Elie Metchnikoff - Jewish
o Endocrinology: Andrew Schally - Jewish
o Cognitive therapy: Aaron Beck - Jewish
o Contraceptive pill: Gregory Pincus - Jewish
o Understanding of human eye: G. Wald - Jewish
o Embryology: Stanley Cohen - Jewish
o Kidney dialysis: Willem Kloffcame - Jewish

Nobel Prize Winners
In the past 105 years, the 14 million Jews have won 180 Nobel prizes whilst the 1.5 billion Muslims have achieved only 3 Nobel winners.

Inventions that changed History
o Micro-processing chip: Stanley Mezor - Jewish
o Nuclear chain reactor: Leo Sziland - Jewish
o Optical fibre cable: Peter Schultz - Jewish
o Traffic lights: Charles Adler - Jewish
o Stainless steel: Benno Strauss - Jewish
o Sound movies: Isador Kisee - Jewish
o Telephone microphone: Emile Berliner - Jewish
o Video tape recorder: Charles Ginsburg - Jewish

Influential Global Businesses
o Polo: Ralph Lauren - Jewish
o Coca-Cola: - Jewish
o Levi’s: Levi Strauss - Jewish
o Starbuck’s: Howard Schultz - Jewish
o Google: Sergey Brin - Jewish
o Dell Computers: Michael Dell - Jewish
o Oracle Computers: Larry Ellison: - Jewish
o DKNY: Donna Karan - Jewish
o Baskin Robbins: Irv Robbins - Jewish
o Dunkin’ Donuts: Bill Rosenberg - Jewish

Influential Policy-makers/Politicians
o Henry Kissinger, US Secretary of State - Jewish
o Richard Levin, President of Yale University - Jewish
o Alan Greenspan, Chairman of US Federal Reserve (i.e. Central Bank) - Jewish
o Joseph Lieberman, US Senator - Jewish
o Madeleine Albright, US Secretary of State - Jewish
o CasperWeinberger, US Secretary of Defence - Jewish
o Maxim Litvinov, USSR Foreign Minister - Jewish
o David Marshal, Singapore Chief Minister - Jewish
o Isaac Isaacs, Governor-General of Australia - Jewish
o Benjamin Disraeli, British statesman - Jewish
o Yevgeny Primakov, Russian PM - Jewish
o Barry Goldwater, US politician - Jewish
o Jorge Sampaio, President of Portugal - Jewish
o Herb Gray, Canadian Deputy PM - Jewish
o Pierre Mendes, French PM - Jewish
o Michael Howard, British Home Secretary - Jewish
o Bruno Kriesky, Austrian Chancellor - Jewish
o Robert Rubin, US Secretary of Treasury - Jewish

Global Media Figures
o Wolf Blitzer, CNN - Jewish
o Barbara Walters, ABC News - Jewish
o Eugene Meyer, Washington Post - Jewish
o Henry Grunwald, Time magazine - Jewish
o Katherine Graham, Washington Post publisher - Jewish
o Joseph Lelyeld, New York Times - Jewish
o Max Frankel, New York Times - Jewish

Global Philanthropists
o George Soros - Jewish
o Walter Annenberg - Jewish

Education/Literacy
o In the entire Muslim world (57 Muslim countries) there are only 500 universities
o In USA alone, 5,758 universities
o In India alone, 8,407 universities

Not one university in the entire Islamic World features in the Top 500 Ranking Universities of the World.

o Literacy in the Christian world - 90%
o Literacy in the Muslim world - 40%

•15 Christian-majority countries’ literacy rate - 100%,
•Muslim-majority countries with 100% - None;
•98% in Christian countries completed primary education,
•Only 50% in Muslim countries completed primary education;
•40% in Christian countries attended university,
•In Muslim countries, a dismal 2% attended university;
•Muslim-majority countries have 230 scientists per million,
•The USA has 5,000 per million;
•The Christian world - 1,000 technicians per million,
•Entire Arab world - only 50 technicians per million;
•Muslim world spending on R&D - 0.2% of GDP,
•Christian world’s R&D - 5.0% of GDP.
Another way of testing the degree of knowledge is the degree of diffusing knowledge:•Pakistan: 23 daily newspapers per 1,000 citizens,
•Singapore: 460 per 1,000 citizens.
•UK book titles per million is 2,000.
•Egypt book titles per million is only 17.
The Muslim World is failing to diffuse knowledge.
Applying knowledge is another such test.
•Exports of high-tech products from Pakistan: 0.9%
•In Saudi Arabia: only 0.2%
•Kuwait, Morocco and Algeria: only 0.3%
•Tiny Singapore (4mil pop.): 68% ...!

...What I Think

Facts, it is said, do not lie. The above facts and figures, as well as the ones we published in this space last week, are proof enough that the 14 million Jews of this world have surpassed the Muslim (millions of whom are their cousins) in worldly accomplishments. From science to policy-making and politics, from inventions that changed history, to philanthropy, publishing and global business, the comparatively minority Jews have demonstrated greater clout than the Muslims (whose population is put at 1.5 billion). Here, the Jews may be seen in isolation, but their world has become part and parcel of the Christian world even though the duo have different faiths and cultural mores. From some of the reactions I received since last week, it seems that even Christians regard themselves as closer to the Jews than to the Muslims. It can, therefore, be argued that even though the focus of the above list is the Jews, the apparent competition for accomplishment in various human endeavours is strictly between the Judeo-Christian and the Muslim worlds. No doubt, the latter has been left far behind.

The list developed by Hafez A.B. Mohamed, Director-General of Al Baraka Bank, is not exhaustive, though. Many other prominent Jews have not been mentioned, such as CNN’s Larry King and French Prime Minister Sarcozy. Nor is the role being played by the Jews in the life of various countries, such as Nigeria where their companies have built bridges, roads and other structures, as well as their consulting in security matters.

The question then arises: Why are the Jews powerful and why are Muslims powerless? To answer the question, I must stress the fact that I’m not talking about spiritual superiority but achievements in mundane issues. Secondly, I am not saying Muslims did not achieve anything in history. After all, it is a known fact that Muslims had built one of the leading civilisations in world history, with Islam as the fastest growing religion in the largely Judeo-Christian Europe and America. And yes, many Judeo-Christian scientists that have etched their names in the annals of history used the seeds of knowledge and discoveries of early Muslim scientists and astronomers. Moreover, many scientific theories were found in Qur’anic verses.

But why are the Muslims less influential than the Jews and the Christians in the last 500 years? Why do the Muslim nations rely heavily on Western technology and other expertise for their comfort and security, as well as for developing their societies economically and socially? Is there anything like Muslim science and technology today?

Hafez A.B. Mohamed, in his speech, has given us reasons why Muslims are so backward compared to the Jews. In simple term, he summarised the problem thus: “The Muslim world lacks the capacity to produce knowledge.” This does not, I reckon, mean that the Muslims had never produced knowledge; otherwise the accomplishments of early Muslim scholars would not have been possible. The stark reality is that Muslims seem to have ceased producing knowledge. They have, in addition, failed to apply the knowledge that their ancestors had produced. Instead, they have embraced Western expertise, upgrading it to the status of universal knowledge. In contrast, the Chinese, for example, have been applying their pristine knowledge system even as they use the West’s in some respects.

In the e-mail I received last week, Hafez A.B. Mohamed was quoted to have advised Muslims (or was it the view of an e-mailer?) thus: “Please educate yourself and your children. Excuses like lack of money, ability or opening are nothing more than that - excuses. Always promote education, don’t compromise on it. We hate to be weak, illiterate and poor but are we too weak to give our children the opportunity to break the curse?

“Don’t ignore your children’s slightest misguidance from education... and please, for Allah’s sake, don’t use your personal contacts to promote your children in their education. If they fail, let them because it will make them learn the sweetness of success. Remember, if they can’t do it now, they can’t ever.

“With knowledge comes power, and with it even the small can rule over the big. We are world’s biggest but sadly NOT strongest nation... Our opportunity to save all humankind is best through knowledge, creativity, literacy... And nothing else.”

There are other reasons for the Muslims’ backwardness. Muslims are divided on most of the important issues. The ummah has lost its grip on the rope of unity which the Almighty decrees for it to hold fast. Islamic political and religious leaders have created the disunity and ensured that it remains so because they benefit from its fallouts.

Muslims are also averse to self-criticism. A self-reappraisal of Muslim society and attitude is misinterpreted by some as an attack on the religion. This dogma is promoted by some zealots who, in turn, derive benefits from it. The problem is global: from Saudi Arabia to Malaysia and from Canada to Nigeria.

Muslims have no reason to be overtaken by the Jews in human endeavour. We must break the psychological chains that hold us back. Five hundred years of Judeo-Christian ascendancy has created enough reasons to galvanise us to attain greater heights. This is the wake-up call of any serious-minded Muslim. Barack Obama has just announced a new dawn for America. When will the Muslims wake up to their own?

(THIS PIECE WAS PUBLISHED IN "LEADERSHIP" NEWSPAPER, ABUJA, RECENTLY. IT GENERATED A LOT OF RESPONSES FROM MUSLIMS AND CHRISTIANS ALIKE, MOST OF WHOM WERE UNITED ON THE FACT THAT MUSLIMS MUST WAKE UP IN ORDER TO TAKE THEIR RIGHTFUL POSITION IN GLOBAL ISSUES)

Tsare Iyan-Tama: Sabon Zubin Zalunci

BUD'AD'D'IYAR WASIK'A ZUWA GA MALAM IBRAHIM SHEKARAU

Daga IBRAHIM SHEME


Mai Girma Gwamna,
NA rubuto maka wannan bud'ad'd'iyar wasik'a ne saboda na yi amanna da cewa za ta fi saurin isa gare ka maimakon in bi hanyar da ku ka tsara, saboda ina da magana mai buk'atar sauri. Idan na mik'a wasik'ar a ofishin ka, za ta iya d'aukar kwanaki da yawa ko ma watanni kafin ta isa gare ka, kuma kafin lokacin ba za ka iya samun bayani na hak'ik'a ta kafa mai zaman kan ta ba kan tantagaryar zaluncin da wasu jami’an ka su ke aikatawa da sunan ka. Na biyu, tun tuni ma ake ta zancen a majalisun hira a tsawon watanni da su ka gabata. Yanzu akwai alamun an jingine maganar ta hanyar wata shari’a wadda ko kad'an ba ta da kan-gado, inda wasu masu fushi da fushin wani su ka yi amfani da ak'idar ka ta aiki bisa doka da oda, da tausayin talakawa, da rashin yaudara da kuma tanadodin Musulunci. Bugu da k'ari, buga wannan wasik'ar a bainar jama’a zai ba wa duk wani mai sha’awar sanin abin da ake ciki damar samun k'arin haske kan d'aya daga cikin muhimman al’amuran da ke gudana a gwamnatin ka.

Ran ka ya dad'e, ina da cikakkar masaniya kan wannan lamari, ba kawai don ina biye da maganar a kotun majistare ta Kano inda aka kai ta ba, a’a har ma saboda ni d'an cikin gida ne a al’amuran sana’ar finafinan Hausa. Ba sai na nanata maka ba cewa Kano ce cibiyar finafinan Hausa a sama da shekara goma da aka yi ana yin sana’ar.

Na tabbatar da cewa ba za ka rasa masaniya ba kan shari’ar da ake tafkawa tsakanin Hukumar Tace Finafinai ta Jihar Kano (KSCB) da wani furodusan fim ba mai suna Alhaji Hamisu Lamid'o Iyan-Tama. Ran ka ya dad'e, Iyan-Tama d'an asalin Kano ne wanda ya taka muhimmiyar rawa wajen ciyar da harkar finafinan Hausa gaba, sannan kuma d'an wasa ne d'an sahun gaba. Hasali ma dai shi ne shugaban farko da aka zab'a na K'ungiyar Masu Shirya Finafinai ta Arewa (AFPAN). Kowa ya san cewa bai tab'a shirya fim ko kuma ya fito a fim d'in da za a yi Allah-wadai da shi ba, wato wanda ya sab'a wa kyawawan al’adun jama’ar Kano ko addinin Musulunci. Duk rol d'in da zai yi a fim, za ka taras na manyantaka ne; ya kan nace kan lallai a yi fim da ya dace da al’adun mu, sannan shi mutum ne mai bin doka. Finafinan sa sun ci manyan kyaututtukan girmamawa.

Ran ka ya dad'e, idan har ka samu damar karanta wannan wasik'ar a yau, to Iyan-Tama ya kwana biyu a gidan yarin Kano, domin a ran Talata wata kotun majistare ta yanke masa hukunci kan abin da ta kira laifuffuka guda biyu, bayan an shafe watanni ana yawo da hankali a kes d'in. A hukuncin da kotun ta zartas, Iyan-Tama zai shafe wata uku a tsare ba tare da zab'in biyan tara ba. Haka kuma zai biya mak'udan kud'i na tara ko kuma ya yi zaman kaso na tsawon shekara d'aya.

Yawancin mu da ke sa ido kan lamarin ba za mu damu ba ko kad'an da hukuncin in da a ce da gaske Hamisu ya aikata laifuffukan. Ni d'in nan na yarda da bin doka da oda, domin hakan shi ne ginshik'in d'orewar mulkin dimokirad'iyya. Ba wanda ya fi k'arfin doka. In an yi amfani da wannan tsarin ne dimokirad'iyya za ta iya d'orewa kuma k'asa za ta samu zaman lafiya. To amma gaskiyar magana ita ce, Hukumar Tace Finafinai ce ta k'irk'iri laifukan da aka ce Iyan-Tama ya aikata, sannan wani alk'ali mai goyon bayan hukumar, wanda kuma ya yi k'aurin suna wajen d'aure duk wani wanda aka gurfanar a gaban sa, ko da bai da laifi, shi ne ya yanke masa wannan d'anyen hukuncin. Wani abin ban-damuwa shi ne ana tafka wannan aika-aikar ne da sunan tanadojin nan masu tsarki na Shari’ar Musulunci. Daga fahimta ta da abubuwan da ke fitowa daga bakin ka da ganin wasu abubuwan da ka aikata, har yanzu ban amince ba da cewa kai d'in nan za ka goyi bayan zalunci ta kowace fuska ko kuma ka bar wani ya na saka siyasa cikin shari’ar Musulunci don ya ci mutuncin jama’a cikin son rai.

’Yallab'ai, bari in d'an fad'a maka abin da ya faru. Jami’an Hukumar Tace Finafinai sun kama Iyan-Tama a ofishin sa a Kano, su ka kai shi kotun tafi-da-gidan- ka wadda aka kafa don yi wa ’yan fim da marubuta shari’a (aka fad'ad'a zuwa duk wani nau’i na rubutu). Abin mamaki, babu wata kotu irin ta; babu kotun ’yan acab'a ko ta karuwai ko ta ’yan caca ko ta ’yan luwad'i, da sauran su. An tuhumi Iyan-Tama da "laifuffuka" guda biyu:

1. Sakin fim d'in sa na ‘Tsintsiya’ a Kano ba tare da Hukumar Tace Finafinai ta amince da shi ba kamar yadda doka ta tanada;

2. Gudanar da kamfanin shirya fim mai suna Iyan-Tama Multimedia, ba tare da yin rajista da gwamnati ba.

To amma duk wad'annan tuhumar, k'arya ne, kuma lauyan sa ya yi k'ok'arin nuna wa alk'ali Alhaji Mukhtar Ahmed hakan. An d'auki watanni kafin a yanke hukuncin, wanda ya yi matuk'ar girgiza yawancin mazaunan Kano da wajen ta.

Bari mu fara da tuhuma ta biyu. An yi wa kamfanin Iyan-Tama Multimedia rajista da gwamnati wato a Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), wadda ke da alhakin yi wa dukkan kamfanoni rajista a Nijeriya. Hukumar Tace Finafinai ta Kano ta ce wai Iyan-Tama bai sabunta rajistar sa ta shekara-shekara da ita ba. Wannan ma k'arya ce domin watanni kafin a kama shi, ya sayi fom d'in har an ba shi rasid'ai. To wanda ya yi wannan yunk'urin ai ya na kan hanyar yin rajistar ne kuma bai yi kama da wanda ke k'ok'arin karya dokar yin fim a Kano ba. Kuma ya na da amincewar gwamnatin tarayya.
Tuhuma ta farko ma ta fi ban-haushi. Ran ka ya dad'e, Iyan-Tama bai saki fim d'in ‘Tsintsiya’ a Kano ba. Hasali ma dai ya yi tallace-tallace da hirarraki a rediyo da jaridu kafin a k'addamar da fim d'in a Abuja, inda ya fito k'arara ya ce ba za a saki fim d'in a Jihar Kano ba.

A lokacin da Hukumar Tace Finafinai ta yanke shawarar "koya wa Iyan-Tama darasi," jami’an ta sun karya shagon saida finafinai na HRB da ke unguwar Tarauni a Kano, su ka samo faifan sidi na fim d'in, wanda wani d'an wasan fim ya b'oye cikin durowar teburi wanda ya ce a Kaduna ya sayo shi da nufin zai ba wa wata mai sha’awar finafinan sa. Ba wai an kasa sidi d'in don sayarwa ba. B'ullar sa a Kano bai da wata alak'a da Iyan-Tama. Idan ka karanta takardun kotu inda lauyoyi ke yi wa jami’an Hukumar Tace Finafinai su biyu tambayoyi a gaban alk'ali, za ka yarda d'ari bisa d'ari cewa ba a tabbatar da cewa Iyan-Tama ne ya kawo faifan sidi d'in wannan shagon ba.

A bayyane ya ke cewa shari’ar Iyan-Tama ramuwar gayya ce kurum. Wani b'angare ne na yunk'urin yak'i da wasu ’yan fim ko ta halin k'ak'a wanda Hukumar Tace Finafinai ta d'aura. A gajeren tunanin hukumar, ta hanyar yin haka ne za a iya share duk wani abu na sana’ar fim da harshen Hausa. Hukumar ta na amfani da bak'ar farfaganda, ta na ba da bayanan k'arya, tare da yin ragguwar fassarar Dokar Tace Finafinai ta 2001, sannan ta na amfani da sunan Musulunci ta hanyar da ba ta Musulunci ba wajen sauya alk'iblar hanyoyin nishad'i a Kano.

Mai Girma Gwamna, duk wannan ya sab'a wa furucin ka na tabbatar da adalci. Kuma hakan ya haifar da abubuwa marasa dad'i ga gwamnatin ka da kai kan ka, wad'anda zan fad'a maka su yanzu tare da duk girmamawa a gare ka.

Ya Girma Gwamna, yak'in da ake yi da sana’ar fim a Kano, ana yin sa ne da sunan Shari’ar Musulunci, to amma ko kad'an ba Musulunci ba ne. Wad'anda ke yin yak'in sun yi gangami ne su na furta kalaman Alk'ur’ani mai tsarki da Sunnar Manzo, to amma abubuwan da su ke aikatawa kai ka ce Hitla ne ya ce su aikata shi. Babu wani abu da su ka aikata kan ’yan fim da ya nuna cewa sun bi nasihohin Annabi Muhammadu (SAW). Kamar yadda na fad'a a sama, tsarin da su ke bi na halaka sana’ar fim ta na da illa matuk'a, ba wai kawai ga ’yan fim ba har ma ga gwamnatin Jihar Kano. Zan d'an bayyana wasu daga cikin illolin yanzu:

1. An jefa dubban matasa cikin rashin aikin yi bayan kuwa a da su ne su ke sama wa kan su hanyoyin abinci, wanda hakan ya shafe su tare da iyalan su. Ba a sama masu wasu hanyoyin na daban ba domin samun abinci. Mayak'an ka su kan ce, "Ina ruwan mu da su? Ai yawancin su ba ’yan Kano ba ne!" To amma hakan ya sab'a wa k'ok'arin gwamnatin ka na sama wa d'imbin matasan Kano da aikin yi.

2. Yak'in ya kawo koma-baya ga tattalin arzikin Kano wanda da ma ya na cikin garari. Da yake manyan kamfanonin Kano duk sun durk'ushe, kamata ya yi a gina harkar fim ta yadda za ta kasance mai dogaro da kan ta, kuma wadda ta dace da al’adun Kano da dokokin hukuma. Maimakon a yi hakan, sai aka koma ana kashe ta.

3. An haifar da fargaba da rashin sanin alk'iblar rayuwa a zukatan matasan, kuma da yawan su sun koma ’yan maula.

4. An haifar da k'in Shekarau a zukatan matasan. Hujja ita ce irin wak'ok'in b'atanci da ke ta bayyana daga situdiyoyin wak'ok'in finafinai a Kano, Zariya da Kaduna. Da fari, irin wad'annan wak'ok'in su na sukar Hukumar Tace Finafinai ne, to amma yanzu akalar su ta sauya har su na had'owa da gwamna da iyalin sa. Kai, wak'ar da ta fi yin fice a wannan fagen ma, an shirya ta ne a situdiyon da wani na hannun daman ka ya mallaka, to amma Hukumar Tace Finafinai ta kasa yin komai a kai saboda shi mai situdiyon ba ya tab'o a gare ta. Wannan tsanar da ake yi wa Shekarau ta na ta k'aruwa kuma za ta iya kasancewa bak'ar guguwa ga jam’iyyar ANPP a zab'en da za a yi a shekarar 2011 a Jihar Kano.

5. An fara yin shakku kan manufa da kuma alk'iblar yekuwar Shariar Musulunci, wadda miliyoyin jama’a su ka runguma. Duk shugaban da ke yin nasihar adalci da gyaran tarbiyya, bai kamata ya hana dubban matasa hanyoyin samun abincin su ba.

Ran ka ya dad'e, ina daga cikin masu goyon bayan shirin ka na gyaran zamantakewar jama’a ta yadda za su yi daidai da al’adu da tanadodin addinin da jama’ar mu ke bi. Shi ya sa na ke goyon bayan shirin gwamnatin ka na A Daidaita Sahu, wanda abokin mu Malam Bala Muhammad ke aiwatarwa cikin ban-sha’awa da kuma samun cikakkar nasara. To amma Hukumar Tace Finafinai ta na warware duk wata tufka da A Daidaita Sahu ta cimma nasarar yi. Gaba d'aya tsarin a baud'e ya ke, kuma ana aiwatar da shi a kan tafarkin mugunta da ramuwa da rashin jin k'ai. Ya kauce wa duk wani tsari na ya-kamata.

Mun yarda da cewa sana’ar finafinai ta shiga rud'u wanda ya kamata a gyara ta a cikin shekarun baya. Hakan ya k'ara bayyana ne bayan b'ullar majigin batsa na Hiyana. To amma akwai buk'atar a jawo shugabanni na sosai na industiri d'in don a samu nasara. Maimakon haka, sai Hukumar Tace Finafinai ta ture su gefe d'aya, ta jawo wasu ’yan koren ta, sannan ta na shirya tarurruka na yaudara da rainin wayo, har ma da shirya dina don magoya bayan ta su zo su ci abinci. Ba shakka, wannan tsarin na raba kan jama’a da farfaganda irin ta ’yan Nazi da hukumar ke yi ba abin da ya haifar sai bala’o’i, sannan an samu gazawa a wajen gyaran tarbiyyar industirin finafinan Hausa.

Har yanzu ana sayar da finafinai da fosta-fosta na batsa a Kano. Haka kuma, ’yan k'alilan d'in finafinan Hausa da magoya bayan Hukumar Tace Finafinan su ka shirya (tare da amincewar hukumar don a b'oye k'aryar cewa ba kashe sana’ar fim ake yi ba) ba su da wani bambanci da irin finafinan da hukumar ta ke ik'irarin cewa marasa inganci ne. Don Allah, finafinai masu inganci kuma "wad'anda sun dace da tarbiyya", guda nawa ne aka shirya a k'ark'ashin jagorancin Hukumar Tace Finafinan tun daga lokacin da majigin Hiyana ya fito?

Ran ka ya dad'e, za ka yarda da ni idan na ce maka ainihin dabarar shirin fim ba aba ce mai illa ba, don haka bai kamata a kashe ta ba. Za a iya shirya finafinai kan jigogin rayuwa iri-iri wad'anda su ka dace da al’adun mu. Kamata ya yi a yi wa ’yan fim jagora, ba wai a rik'a yi masu b'atanci ba ko kuma a yi masu korar kare daga gari.

Ran ka ya dad'e, Hamisu Iyan-Tama dai fursunan siyasa ne: ya yi adawa da kai lokacin zab'en 2007 ta hanyar fitowa takarar gwamna shi ma. Ai bai ma yi maka wata barazana ba. Kai aka k'ara zab'a. To amma saboda tsaurin idon da su ke ganin ya yi na yin takara da kai, jami’an ka su na hukunta shi. Sun ce wai shi mutum ne mai cika baki, mai surutu kuma wai ya na sukar gwamnatin ka. To mun ji, shin su d'in ba masu cika baki ba ne, su na yin abu sai ka ce sun fi kowa iko a duniya? Shin ba sa kallon duk wani wanda bai yarda da ra’ayin su ba a matsayin abokin gaba ko su kafirta shi, ko maras bin biyayya gare su, ko su ce ai ba d'an Kano ba ne ko kuma bai san ainihin abin da ake ciki ba? Shin wannan ba babbar d'agawa ba ce?

Kuma ma ko da a ce Iyan-Tama na da cika baki ko kuma abokin adawar ka ne na siyasa, shin hakan hujja ce ta hukunta shi da zaman gidan yari duk da yake bai karya doka ba? Shin ya yi maka illa a siyasance irin illar da masu surutan nan ke yi maka a gidan Rediyon Freedom? Shin a ina dimokirad'iyyar da ake ta magana ta ke? Shin ko Manzon Allah (SAW) ko wani daga cikin halifofin sa ko d'imbin tabi’an da su ka biyo bayan su za su bi irin wannan hanyar don hukunta abokin adawa?

Mai Girma Gwamna, ya kamata ka binciki wannan al’amari na Iyan-Tama, don Allah, musamman rawar da alk'alin da ya d'aure shi ya taka a shari’ar da sauran shari’un zalunci da ya yi wa masu sana’ar fim. Kuma don me za a ce kotu ta na yi wa wata hukumar gwamnati aiki? Don me alk'ali d'aya ne kad'ai zai rik'a yin duk wata shari’a da ta had'o da Hukumar Tace Finafinai bayan an ga sau da yawa ya nuna inda bakin sa ya karkata? Shin wannan mutum ne mai tsoron Allah ko kuwa d'an siyasa mai k'ullatar jama’a?

Ka yi amfani da k'arfin mulkin ka ka fitar da Iyan-Tama daga k'angin da aka saka shi a ciki ta hanyar janye k'arar da ku ke yi da shi a kotu. Na san ka na da zuciyar yin hakan domin ai ka tab'a yin irin haka a wasu al’amura da su ka had'o da kai, ciki kuwa har da wanda ya had'o da b'atancin da aka yi wa maid'akin ka. Kada ka bari wasu mutane ’yan d'oki wad'anda ka ba muk'amai su rik'a yak'ar abokan adawar ka ta hanyar zalunci domin kuwa Gobe K'iyama za ka amsa tambayoyin ka ne yayin da za su amsa nasu daban da naka.

’Yallab'ai, zan tsaya nan sai nan gaba za mu k'ara yin wannan magana da sauran maganganu a nan gaba. Ni ne mai biyayya a gare ka, kuma mai ba ka shawara tagari. Wassalam.

(Wannan fassara ce na sharhin Turanci da na yi kwanan baya. An wallafa wannan na Hausan a jaridar LEADERSHIP HAUSA ta ranar Juma'a da ta wuce)