There Are Over 400 Nigerian Prisoners In Turkey - Envoy

Relations between Nigeria and Turkey are in an upward swing. The fillip was made possible with the restoration of relations between the two countries and the appointment of His Excellency Ahmed Abdulhamid Malammadori as Nigerian Ambassador to Turkey in May, 2008. Before his appointment by the then President Olusegun Obasanjo, Malammadori had been the minister of state for energy. Before then, he was a member of parliament in 2002 and had been a federal commissioner in the Federal Character Commission, responsibilities which, obviously, prepared him for his present task of protecting and projecting the image of Nigeria in Turkey.

Last October, I and the editor of Peoples Daily, Ahmed Shekarau, interviewed Ambassador Malammadori in Istanbul during a visit there. In the interview, he spoke about the nature of relations between Abuja and Ankara, the potentials this holds for the two countries and the challenges he faces, especially from the growing influx of Nigerians into that country. The interview was published in both LEADERSHIP and PEOPLES DAILY last month.



Your Excellency, how would you describe relations between Nigeria and Turkey since your assumption of office as Nigeria’s ambassador?
It is an excellent relationship, especially in the political area. We have been relating politically for a long time. In fact, we have been relating with Turkey since during the Ottoman Empire and the Kanem-Bornu empire. They were doing trans-Saharan trade between the two countries.

Turkey was among the first countries that opened their embassies in Nigeria immediately after Independence. In fact, Turkish Embassy has been in Nigeria since 1961, that was a year after Independence. Unfortunately, our embassy was closed down for some time and was reopened in the year 2000 during the era of President Obasanjo. Since then, we have been relating and doing a lot of discussion; there were a lot of agreements that were discussed between the two countries.

In which areas does Nigeria relate with Turkey mostly?
There are pending bilateral agreements that we are working on seriously, to see that those agreements are signed by the two countries. Recently, the president of Turkey was in Nigeria during the G-8 meeting. During that meeting, Nigeria agreed to have bilateral discussions with the president in which we looked at some of the pending bilateral agreements, which are quite many but are not finalised. So, it was the intention of the two presidents, if our president pays a reciprocal visit to Turkey, to finalise those agreements.

But now we have suggested a joint commission meeting between Nigeria and Turkey which Nigeria will host in Abuja on the 9th of November, this year, which will finalise those agreements and conclude them. So, anytime the president of Nigeria comes to Turkey, I believe, the two presidents will append their signatures on the agreements. And that will help us in moving forward in terms of bilateral agreements.

Are you working towards setting up a bi-national Commission between Turkey and Nigeria?
For now, what we have is the Joint Economic Commission. When this Commission holds its meeting in Abuja, we can know the way forward. But business between Turkey and Nigeria is improving seriously. When I came in, I met that visa requests between Turkey and Nigeria were below 20 visas in a month, but I can tell you that every month we are issuing not less than 70 to 80 visas to Turkish people going to Nigeria. There is a lot of investment going on between Turkey and Nigeria. Recently, there was a big business forum that Nigeria hosted between a Turkish company and NIPC (Nigerian Investment Promotion Council) with Nigerian business people. Before that, there was a group of people from one of the states in Turkey where about 250 business people visited Nigeria and they had a very good and wonderful interaction between the NIPC and the business people. That really helped us in improving the trade relationship between Nigeria and Turkey.

Which kind of commodities do the two sides trade in?
The Turkish side buys oil from Nigeria, steel and some agricultural items like sesame seeds and cashew nuts and many other products. The Nigerian side, we are having more partnership in the construction industry. You know, I tried to see how we could import their furniture and textiles, but because all these are contraband in Nigeria we are only encouraging them to come and establish their factories or have partnership with Nigerians so that they can produce their products in Nigeria.

In monetary terms, what is the volume of trade between the two countries?
Export from Nigeria stands a little above US$1 billion per annum. And the imports to Nigeria from Turkey stand below US$700 million per annum. So, with this I can say we are doing better.

What of in the area of cultural exchange? Is there any activity going on between the two sides?
Yes. It’s part of the pending bilateral agreements which we hope during this meeting we’ll conclude. There is an agreement on exchange of cultural activities, tourism, defence, education and so many other areas. On aviation, you know it is only Turkish Airlines that flies between Nigeria and Turkey; there is no any airline from Nigeria that flies to Turkey. And they are even working to improve their service, extending it to Abuja — from Abuja direct to Istanbul. I believe by early next year this will materialise.

What would you say are your challenges, especially in terms of managing the volume of human traffic between Nigeria and Turkey?
There are a lot of challenges, especially in the area of human trafficking and drugs. There is hardly a week I cannot get two or three notes on our people arrested at the airport carrying drugs, either going to Nigeria or coming from Nigeria. We have over 400 Nigerian prisoners now in different prisons in Turkey. Well, there are some that are carrying Nigerian passports but once we engage them we find out that they are not Nigerians. But the conclusion here is that they are Nigerians because they are carrying Nigerian passports. This has become a major challenge to us, especially with the little resources we have at the embassy or at the mission; there is no way we can assist in deporting our people back home. There are so many illegal Nigerian immigrants here.

Are there many Nigerians residing in Turkey?
Yes, there are quite a number of them. We have over 3,000 Nigerians residing in Istanbul and in various parts of Turkey. Even in the Turkish Cyprus, we have about 1,200 students. All these pose challenges. Especially if there are immigration problems, it is the embassy that always goes up and down to solve the problems, especially with the (Nigerian) policy of citizen diplomacy.

Those bad eggs from Nigeria, do they sell their drugs in Turkey or do they use the country as a transit point?
We suspect that they use Turkey as a transit point, but you can never tell because there must be an insider for this crime to be happening frequently. The rate at which it is happening is alarming and disturbing. We honestly feel that somebody, somewhere, must be aiding them even to get visa or find their way through Turkey. I think our immigration officers in Nigeria and other security agencies need to do a lot in terms of screening the people coming to Turkey.

Does Nigeria having a large Muslim population and Turkey being mostly Islamic confer on us any special privileges as a country?
In diplomacy, we don’t talk about religion, we only discuss the political and business relationships that exist between the two countries. The issue of religion is not part of our mandate.

We have seen a lot of Islamic relics here in Turkey, especially at the Palace. I wonder if Muslims from Nigeria come on tourism purposes, to visit such sites.
You see, it is not only Islam that has such monuments here. There are so many. This is the place where you have the last house where the Virgin Mary lived; Ephesus, which are mentioned in the Bible. There are so many religious, historical monuments in Turkey dating from the Byzantine Empire, the Ottoman Empire, etc., that are of interest to Christians and Muslims.

How do you envisage the future relations between Nigeria and Turkey?
I expect that it will be very good. I can tell you that Turkey can provide an alternative market to China for Nigeria. There are a lot of discussions about the quality of products from China and I believe that the quality of products from Turkey are of European standard. And the Turks are very hospitable in terms of welcoming Nigerians and they are interested in doing business with Nigeria. If you can remember, in 2008 Africa signed the Istanbul Declaration with Turkey, and that has opened the doors of Turkey for Africa. And they see Nigeria as a major player in Africa. In fact, they believe that once they get the support of Nigeria, they have captured Africa in totality. So, the relationship between Turkey and Nigeria, if we do a little homework, I believe, will be wonderful.

Where Has Love Gone?

Adam's sons are body limbs, to say;
For they're created of the same clay.
Should one organ be troubled by pain,
Others would suffer severe strain.
Thou, careless of people's suffering,
Deserve not the name, "human being".

-- Saadi Shīrāzī, Persian poet (1184 – 1283/1291?),
translated by H. Vahid Dastjerdi


Today is Christmas. It is a day of love. Several days before this, and the next few days, up till the end of the year, Christians are expected – nay, required – to not only show love but to actually love one another. They must also love others, i.e. followers of other faiths. This credo further requires them to even love their enemies. Based on this long stretch of the meaning of "love", St. Thomas of Aquinas defined it as “to will the good of another,” or to desire for another to succeed.

But love is not restricted to Christian theology. Other faiths have it at the heart of their belief. In Islam, the religion of peace, love is at the centre of humanity, a necessity for co-existence for mankind and between men and women, the holy Prophet and God. In fact, one of the names of Allah (SWT), found in Surah 11:90 and Surah 85:14, is “Al-Wadud,” or “the Loving One.” All Muslims are required to love one another, love the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and love God. They are also to love followers of the Abrahamaic faiths, such as Christians. So widespread is this requirement that a Muslim man is encouraged to marry a Christian woman. There is also a Prophetic tradition directing mankind to love one another. It emphasises that one should want for others what one wants for oneself. Similar blandishments can be found in many other religions, including Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism. Even animists and atheists believe in and show love to their ilk and for others outside the boundaries of their belief or unbelief.

In this season of love, there is need to take a pensive look at our condition as a nation among others in the world, with emphasis on how we practise the greatest requirement of the season. Personally, I see the clime darkening, hearts hardening and faiths being deflected from their original paths as love retreats from the horizon. Whether Christians, Muslims or animists, mankind appears to be trampling on the basic message of their faiths these days, relegating it to the backyard in their priorities, retrieving it only at festive seasons.

At home, where every day life begins and ends; at market places and offices, relationships are worsening at an appalling rate. The love of children for their parents and vice-versa; love between spouses, neighbours, siblings, office colleagues, school mates and even between lovers, is on a downward spiral. Many relationships are faked, garnished with deceit and backstabbing and inspired by selfish motives. Things are not as they used to be in the good old days of our childhood.

One of the biggest ironies of our time is the depth of our people’s religiosity and their savagery, all at once. Nigerians are, undoubtedly, some of the most religious people on earth. They fill churches and mosques, spend quality time worshipping the Lord and donate generously to promote their religions. They even fund the erection of religious centres. They travel long distances to perform religious duties and visit historical sites in Saudi Arabia and Israel, spending their own money or government's. With the growth of Pentecostal churches and suffocating televangelism, religion is now a big industry that makes nonsense of Nigeria’s claim to secularism.

In spite of this, however, Muslims are scarcely each other’s keeper, and Christians do not "turn the other cheek". Mutual intolerance is increasing. There is absence of good neighbourliness. We listen with rapt attention to the words of the preachers but, then, we forget about them as soon as we leave our worship centres. The result is the rise in criminality and immorality in the country. The character assassination we see in the media, especially between politicians seeking elective offices, the cheating in the markets and garages, the negligence of duty in work places, the corruption and love of the flesh, the lies, untruths and deceit, etc, are the products of our departure from the right path, the path demarcated for us by the Almighty God, the path of His love. The politicians instigating the sectarian violence in places like Jos, Maiduguri and the Niger Delta are avid claimants to some hallowed pedestals, but they are stone deaf to the cries of death, blind to the wanton destruction and insensitive to the acrid smell of blood that accompany those bursts of man’s inhumanity to man.

So, where is the love that we always promise each other within and across our individual faiths? We do not love each other as much as we should because the love of the Lord has departed from our hearts. We are captive to our lusts, victims of our narrow-minded desires for self-ennoblement and losers of the divine essence. We gamble too much of our souls, frittering away the messages of our faiths that order us to toe the path of love if we want to succeed in life and gain the dividends of our present actions in the hereafter.

If we want to become whole again, then, we must recoup the essence of our humanity by returning to the roots of our faiths. As some of us celebrate today, we must appreciate the fact that love should not be seasonal, mercantile or even a religious milestone. It should be the core of our everyday existence, the salt of our humanity. Let us make amends. We should stretch out hands of friendship to not only those with whom we worship but also to those who worship in places we scarcely care to peep into, i.e. the believers of other creeds. That is how we can bring love back into our lives. That is how we can build a nation, based on mutual trust and respect, a multi-cultural nation the like of which was seen in the good old days of genuine Godliness.

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Published today on back page of LEADERSHIP WEEKEND

Africa: Growth Versus Corruption

By many accounts, Africa's hitherto dour economic condition is changing for the better. The continent used to be one about which nothing good was said. Wars, famine, diseases and coups d’etat were the main images by which Africa was defined by most analysts, especially those in the developed world. Consequently, the African story, as told by the global media, ran along a pre-determined pattern, and it was largely ugly.

Now, I am not trying to say that wars have ceased here, or that coups d’etat are over, or that Africans have stopped killing themselves over mundane issues such as tribe or religion. Far from it! These ugly occurrences are still taking place with devastating impact on our progress and image in the world. In spite of this, however, I can say that these evils have reduced in the last three decades or so. One just has to look at the figures and the facts to know that Africa is rebounding. The impact may be slow and forced, but it can be felt, seen and grasped.

Writing in Foreign Policy recently, three authors - Norbert Dorr, Susan Lund and Charles Roxburgh - noted, rather effusively, that Africa has outgrown the gloom and doom by which it used to be judged. That happened within a single decade of amazing transformation from stagnation to euphoric growth. Recall that in 2001, the then British Prime Minister Tony Blair lamented thus: “The state of Africa is a scar on the conscience of the world.” Now it seems the continent of one billion people is getting its acts together and striving to compete with the rest of the developing world.

Africa, write Dorr, Lund and Roxburgh, “is now one of the world's fastest-growing economic regions. Between 2000 and 2008, the continent's collective GDP grew at 4.9 percent per year - twice as fast as in the preceding two decades. By 2008, that put Africa’s economic output at $1.6 trillion, roughly at par with Russia and Brazil. Africa was one of two regions - Asia being the other - where GDP rose during 2009's global recession.”

As a result of this boom, which is strongly supported by increasing urbanisation, the region is fast becoming a beehive for foreign investors. Vast fields of natural resources and a population bursting at the seams are the main attractions for investors. The areas where the continent offers the greatest promise are telecommunication, oil and gas, infrastructure and domestic appliances. But agriculture, which has the potential of turning the continent into a greater economic hub with 60 percent of the world’s arable land located here, has not been sufficiently developed. The sob-story here is that countries like Nigeria that have vast arable land have stuck to oil and gas where they make a quicker buck. If such nations mechanically cultivated their lands, then the story would become rosier.

How is Africa making this great leap forward? By getting its acts together, of course. Many of its countries have embraced democracy, even if home-grown. Warts and all, this adoption has made it possible for them to carry out economic reforms in various sectors which, in turn, have translated into the trimming of waste. In Nigeria, successes have been achieved in the banking and the telecom sectors, and in the fight against corruption. Privatisation of government companies and liberalisation of other sectors have created a middle class that was only dreamt about only a decade ago. Now, it is possible to think of Nigeria or South Africa joining the four-member BRIC grouping of fast-growing economies - Brazil, Russia, India and China. Non-African contenders to this privileged club of emerging economies include Turkey, Mexico and Indonesia. Nigeria, with a population of more than 150 million, may get in first, even though South Africa, with under 50 million, is a larger economy. Reason: indicators favour the economy with bigger demographics because, in the long run, it is the urbanised and empowered population that would make the market rules.

But as Africa frolics in its new-found emergence from the economic woods, it is easy to forget the big challenges. Africa is still home to the world's biggest cataclysms, not only the natural ones but also the man-made. Sixty percent of its population dwells in rural areas, and it is poor, illiterate and divided along tribal and religious schisms. Without the right leadership, growth will be stunted. Now the main problem is the absence of conscientious leaders whose focus is to create the enabling environment that will see the people crawl out of poverty.

Corruption is rampant, even in nations with the greatest promise. Nigeria, the so-called economic giant, is lagging behind South Africa in most economic indices, not because the latter is richer in resources but because it is richer in leadership. Nigeria is number 134 out of 178 countries in Transparency International's 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index, while South Africa is just number 54. There is a clear correlation between a nation’s depth of corruption and its economic growth. No wonder, then, Nigeria trails behind South Africa even though its resources are larger. People are more comfortable to relate with economies that have lesser potential for risk. According to reports, Nigeria was able to get investment flows of just $216 million for the first 10 months of this year; South Africa, however, got $3.4 billion within the same period. This shows that Nigerians in positions of authority steal more than their South African counterparts. It could also mean that the mechanism for checking corrupt practices and punishing perpetrators works better in the latter.

For Africa to maintain the tempo of its growth, therefore, it must have in place the right leaders who, in turn, must fight the spectre of corruption in their countries. At the moment, the picture is scary. Just two days ago, on Thursday, the Stolen Asset Recovery (StAR) Initiative of the World Bank Group and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime issued a how-to guide for recovering stolen assets. The Asset Recovery Handbook, which can be accessed on the World Bank web site, reveals that developing countries lose between $20 billion and $40 billion each year to bribery, embezzlement and other corrupt practices. It also shows that over the past 15 years only $5 billion was recovered and returned.

The book recommends measures by which developing nations, most of which are in Africa, can recover funds siphoned from their coffers and stashed abroad. It recommends that anti-corruption practitioners such as those working in our own Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) must exchange sensitive information with partners in other countries to trace stolen funds and gather evidence. They must be familiar with a wide range of legal tools and procedures for freezing, seizing and repatriating stolen funds. And they must be able to navigate the legal systems of their own country and of partner countries. They must also know that, as our own anti-corruption czar, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, is fond of saying, corruption also fights back.

No matter how difficult it is, Africans must ensure that they up the ante of the present growth on the continent by putting the right leaders in place and making sure that corruption, by which the continent gained dubious renown, is kept at the barest minimum.

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Published in LEADERSHIP WEEKEND, today. Above picture shows Mrs Farida Waziri, chairman of Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)

Kannywood: A Luta Continua!

Why is Kannywood - the Hausa film industry - both more backward and more despised than Nollywood, and its promoters poorer in terms of material comfort? Why did Nollywood, the English language movie industry based in Lagos and Onitsha, grow so exponentially within a few years than Kannywood to become, according to UNESCO, the second largest film industry in the world in terms of the number of annual film productions, placing it ahead of Hollywood and behind Bollywood? Some reports say that Nollywood is estimated to rake in between US$200 million and US$250 million per year, churning out some 200 videos for the market every month.

Some would think it is foolish to make this kind of contradistinction because the two industries appear to be operating on different turfs. On a closer look, however, it is possible to glean the factors that make the two similar and why the fortune of one should ricochet on the other. The greatest point of divergence is language, which may appear to present certain restrictions on the Hausa industry that could militate against its growth. But if you look closer, you will wonder why Bollywood movies were able to penetrate societies globally even though they came loaded with Indian cultural motifs. If Hindi melodramas could have a universal appeal, why should the Hausa ones be restricted to particular audiences? The answer to these questions will tell us why our movies remain in chains twenty years after they began while those of Nollywood wax stronger. First, let’s take a look back at the origin of the problem. The Hausa movie industry is going to celebrate its 20th year anniversary next week, but of course not many outside its circle know this. And this is very instructive. This momentous milestone is generally lost on most people, including those who should know better, because this is an industry that has always suffered the fate of being misunderstood, misreported and even cast in the wrong league of Nigerian entertainment history.

Official history says the “Nigerian home video industry” had origins in the release of the movie ‘Living in Bondage’ in 1992. This drama thriller, written by Kenneth Nnebue and Okechukwu Ogunjiofor and directed by Chris Obi Rapu, is believed to have been responsible for the beginning of the shot straight-to-video ventures that came to define what is generally known as Nollywood today. This wrong historicisation of the art form does not take cognisance of the “other” movie industry known as Kannywood, which is so named because of its main base in Kano. It is a home video industry that is as big as Nollywood in terms of number of productions per month and the sheer population of stakeholders - stars, directors, producers, crew and marketers. Its viewership transcends northern Nigeria because its flicks are watched all over West Africa and the Hausa Diaspora.

The truth also is that Kannywood predates Nollywood. As Prof. Abdalla Uba Adamu, unarguably the leading scholar on Kannywood alive, told an audience in Kano on November 25, 2010 at an event to mark 20 years of the industry, Kannywood began in March 1990 with the release of the home video ‘Turmin Danya’. Written by the late Aminu Hassan Yakasai, it was produced by the pioneer drama group in Kano, Tumbin Giwa, and directed by Salisu Galadanci. The relative success of ‘Turmin Danya’ caused an upsurge in Hausa filmmaking as more and more production outfits, called companies even if they were not formally registered with the authorities, emerged, mostly as breakaways from older groups. Kano, with the biggest army of unemployed youth in the north, got an industry that was self-created, independent of government intervention.

According to Adamu, “Another landmark in the history of video films in Africa was recorded in August 1999 edition of Tauraruwa magazine - the first magazine in Africa devoted to indigenous African video films - edited by Sunusi Shehu ... that Sunusi created the term ‘Kannywood’ to refer to the Kano-based Hausa video film industry. It is significant that the term ‘Nollywood’ to refer to the Nigerian English language video film industry was created by Norimitsu Onishi, in an article titled ‘Step Aside L.A. and Bombay, for Nollywood’ published in The New York Times on September 16, 2002. This was three years AFTER Sunusi Shehu created ‘Kannywood’.

“Of further significance was the fact that ‘Turmin Danya’ was released in 1990, two years BEFORE ‘Living in Bondage’ - the video film generally acknowledged as the first in English language Nollywood film industry. So either way, the Hausa video film industry - both in terms of an industry as well as a label - is the first full-fledged video film industry, not only in Nigeria, but also in Africa.”

So, why should an industry that made this milestone be licking its wounds today instead of licking the juice of its labour? The answer is that Hausa movies veered off culturally by their adoption of alien cultural mores - Indian, Western and even southern Nigerian. They lost their uniqueness. The early movies were responsible for the monumental growth and popularity of the new art form. But when some producers in the heat of deadly competition injected the ‘Indian-type’ movies - the singing and dancing aspect, forms of dress, storylines, and even posters, etc - the audience began to shrink. I watched with keen interest, as a reporter deeply embedded within the industry, as the market went into a spin, crashing a lot of hitherto legendary production outfits and names.

Then in 2007 came the infamous Hiyana affair. An A-class actress and her non-industry lover had foolishly made a video clip of themselves having sex in a hotel room, using a cell-phone camera, apparently for the fun of it. Even though it was a non-industry event, the inadvertent release of the clip into the society created a consternation and opprobrium against an industry that had for some time been struggling to remain popular and tolerated. The scandal forced the Kano State governor, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, who feared a backlash from Islamic clerics at a time he was instituting a Sharia law regime, into a clean-up exercise in the industry. He appointed a new boss for the state censorship board known for his heavy-handedness while working for the state Sharia police. The man, Abubakar Rabo, took it as part of his duties to emasculate the industry in any way he could. Acting on his weird understanding of the functions of a public officer and a pitiable misreading of the public mood, he battled the industry for three years, using the instrument of government power, ensuring that many actors, producers, directors, etc., were jailed or fined heavily on false charges. Many stakeholders migrated to other states. It took the sudden occurrence of his own sex scandal to check his acts of injustice and persecution and make him mellow down and seek rapprochement with his opponents.

At 20, Kannywood needs to take a pensive look at the progress it should have made but hasn't. The stakeholders, most of whom are young, need to train for roles in moviemaking, especially the technical aspect. Skill acquisition is low. The marketing system is rudimentary and pedestrian. Piracy, a big spectre, is gobbling up potential profits and keeping producers on the verge of bankruptcy. Movie stories are shallow and thematically restricted, lacking in unique cultural motifs that can create a universal loyal audience. Unity of purpose is almost absent, leading to an individualism that is injurious to the common interest of stakeholders; this makes it impossible for outfits to collaborate on productions and sometimes lead to court cases such as the current one between a leading director and a famous actor/producer. Overall, government empowerment is necessary in growing the industry as a private sector capable of sucking in thousands of school leavers and dropouts, as well as gearing the movies towards the common good.

Kannywood, as its struggles continue, can learn a lot from Nollywood, where collaborations and norms and conventions have created a cohesiveness that promotes the common good. There should be rules and regulations that everybody should be subjected to. The Motion Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MOPPAN), Hausa movie industry's main trade association, has a role to play in this. Education is of paramount significance; an under-educated class cannot even write grammatically correct subtitles, talk less of producing captivating box office hits. A cursory viewing of Kannywood flicks on Africa Magic’s Hausa channel today shows just how backward Hausa movies are in this regard. If Kannywood refuses to start cleansing itself of its present imperfections, it cannot hope to make any headway in its next twenty years.

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Published in LEADERSHIP WEEKEND, last Saturday

Alheri danko ne...

Shekaru ka]an da su ka gabata, wani hamsha}in ]an kasuwa ]an Nijeriya ya samu ribar zunzurun ku]i har dalar Amurka biliyan ]aya a wata harkar kasuwanci da ya yi. Sai ya ]ebi rabin ku]in ya tsara rayuwar sa ta hanyar sayen kayan alatu da ajiya a asusu. A }arshe, ya na da rabi, wato dala miliyan 500. Sai ya kasance wannan mutum ya rasa yadda zai yi da wa]annan ku]i da su ka rage a hannun sa. A ganin sa, ko a banki ya aje su, ba su tsira ba; bankin na iya rugujewa ko kuma gwamnati ta fito da wata doka da za ta iya sa ya yi asarar ku]in. Sannan wani abin ban-haushi shi ne, ’ya’yan sa za su iya yin rigima da juna kan ku]in idan ya kwanta ya mutu. {a}a tsara }a}a!

Wannan mutum dai ba wani ba ne illa Leftana-Janar Theophilus Yakubu [anjuma (ritaya), wanda ya ta~a ri}e mu}amin Hafsan Hafsoshin Rundunar Sojan Nijeriya a zamanin mulkin Janar Olusegun Obasanjo daga 1976 zuwa 1979. Ya yi ritaya daga aikin soja ya na da shekara 41 kacal, lokacin da su ka mi}a mulki ga gwamnatin farar hula ta Alhaji Shehu Shagari. Bayan ya yi ritaya, sai ya shiga harkar jiragen ruwa, wadda a cikin ta Allah Ya tarfa wa garin sa nono, ya ku]ance.

A lokacin da Janar Sani Abacha ya ke shugaban }asa ne ya ba T.Y. [anjuma kadadar man fetur a Fatakwal, Jihar Ribas, shi kuma ya shiga aikin ha}a a filin, aka yi rijiya. A }arshe, bayan shekara goma sai aka samu ]imbin man fetur a wannan rijiya. Da T.Y. [anjuma ya ga haka, sannan ga fetur ya na tsada a kasuwar duniya, sai ya yi dabara, ya yi wuf ya sayar da rijiyar ga wani kamfanin }asar waje. Aka biya shi ku]in da ya wazgi wannan ribar ta dala biliyan 1 da na ke magana.

T.Y. [anjuma ya saba da samun ku]i; hasali ma dai biloniya ne a naira, to amma sai da ya sayar da wannan rijiyar fetur ]in sannan ya zama biloniya a dala. Kamar yadda na fa]a maku, ya rasa yadda zai yi da sauran ku]in da ya samu, wato dala biliyan 500. To, da ya ke Allah Ya yi shi mai hangen nesa, sai ya yanke shawarar kafa wata cibiya don taimakon jama’a. Tashin farko, ya ba cibiyar zunzurutun ku]i har dala miliyan 100.

A wata hira da aka yi da shi a jarida a bana, Janar [anjuma ya ce dalilin sa na yin haka shi ne babu yadda za a yi gwamnati, “komai kyakkyawan nufin ta, ta magance dukkan matsalolin jama’a ita ka]ai. A gaskiya, a dukkan }asashen da su ka ci gaba, yi wa jama’a aikin kyautata rayuwa bai ta~a kasancewa aikin gwamnati ita ka]ai ba; a koyaushe ana yin ha]in gwiwa ne da kamfanoni masu zaman kan su.”

T.Y. [anjuma, wanda ya ta~a ri}e mu}amin Ministan Tsaro a lokacin gwamnatin Cif Obasanjo, tsakanin 1999 da 2003, mutum ne da ya kamata a ce mai daskararriyar zuciya ne, maras tausayi, ba domin komai ba sai saboda shi soja ne wanda har ya}i ya yi a lokacin ya}in basasar Nijeriya. To amma sai ga shi ya kafa cibiya mai suna T.Y. [anjuma Foundation (mai gidan yana kamar haka a intanet: www.tydanjumafoundation.org) wadda ta sa ya kasance ]aya daga cikin manyan masu taimakon marasa }arfi a }asar nan. Manufar wannan cibiya tasa ita ce ta “agaza wa yun}urin gina Nijeriya inda kowane ]an }asa zai samu ingantaccen kiwon lafiya, ilimi da dama daidai wa daida wajen cin moriyar rayuwa.” Cibiyar ta na aikin hai}an, musamman a jihar su shi T.Y. ]in, wato Taraba, har ma da sauran wurare, a kan wannan manufar tata. Ta na aiki a ~angarorin kiwon lafiya, samar da aikin yi ga matasa da kuma harkar ilimi. Ta na yin aikin ne tare da ha]in gwiwa da wasu }ungiyoyi masu zaman kan su don warware matsalolin da su ka addabi jama’ar yankin. Wani aboki na da ya ziyarci ]aya daga cikin asibitocin da cibiyar [anjuma ]in ke ]aukar nauyi ya fa]a mani irin aikin ban-mamakin da ake yi wa jama’a a wajen. Ya ce har aikin fi]a likitoci ke yi wa majinyata a wurin, kuma kyauta. Sannan idan yau ka je Jami’ar Jihar Nasarawa da ke Keffi ka ga aikin da cibiyar ta yi, sai ka ri}e baki.

Mu kula, ba fa T.Y. [anjuma ka]ai ba ne ya ta~a samun }azamar riba daga wata harkar kasuwanci a }asar nan. Hasali ma dai, ’yan kasuwa da dama su na soke irin wannan ribar a aljihun su, su yi ta cin duniyar su da tsinke har }arshen ran su, ba tare da sun yi tunanin taimaka wa talakawa ba. Kafin mutum ya yi tunanin yin abin da T.Y. ya yi, sai ya kasance mai halayya tagari, mai gwarzantaka, da tausayi da yin amanna da yanayin da mu ke ciki, da kuma yin aiki da fasaha.

Kyautata wa jama’a ya na daga cikin manyan ayyukan gwarzantaka da ke nuna cewa mutum, mutum ne. Kafin ka yi kyauta, sai ka kasance ka yi }arfin halin yarda da rabuwa da wani abu da ka ke muradi, musamman ku]i ko dukiya. Kyautatawa kuma mutunci ce. Shi ya sa ba wanda zai iya yin ta sai mai jin }an ’yan’uwan sa mutane, wanda ya fahimci cewa sauran jama’a sun fi shi kasancewa cikin hali na bu}ata. Sai wanda ya gane bu}atar da ke akwai ta inganta rayuwar al’umma, wanda ya yarda da magance matsalolin da su ka yi wa duniyar mu katutu, zai iya motsawa don yin abin da ya dace.

Kyautata wa jama’a kuma aikin addini ne. Kafin ka yi tunanin taimakon wani mabu}aci, sai ka yi amanna da cewa haka Allah da Manzo su ka ce a yi. Har sai ka yarda da cewa haka ya dace a yi, tare da cikakkiyar yarda da cewa idan har an yi abin da ya dace a yi, to za a warkar da damuwar wani mutum, a sa shi ya yi murmushi don murna.

Kyautata wa jama’a fa fasaha ce. Fasaha ce ta sauke kan ka daga wata }ololuwa da ka ke a kai a cikin al’umma, ka yarda da cewa kai ba kowan kowa ba ne, domin fa ko me ka tara a duniyar nan wata rana sai dai labarin ka, ka tafi ka bar shi. Sai ka yi fasahar cewa ka yarda dukiyar ka za ta ragu idan ka cire wani abu, ka]an ko mai yawa, daga ciki ka kyautar da shi ga wani mabu}aci. A wannan fasahar, ka na kuma kambama kan ka, domin fa ka zama babban yaya ga mabu}ata, mai shau}in taimakon su.

Wannan duniya tamu ta zama tamkar wata dokar daji inda mai }arfi ke la}ume maras }arfi. A irin wannan duniya, ba kowa ba ne ke da irin halayen na da mu ka lissafa a sama. Wannan ne ya sa ake da }arancin mutane masu taimakon marasa }arfi a yawancin al’ummomin bil’adama. Mu a nan arewacin Nijeriya, a yayin da mu ke da ]imbin gajiyayyu da fa}irai, sai kuma ya kasance masu bayarwar sun yi ka]an. Yankin mu inda fatara ta yi katutu ya na bu}atar agaji a sassa daban-daban, kamar su ~angaren kiwon lafiya, ilimi, aikin yi, al’adu, da sauran su. Saboda haka a duk lokacin da ka ji wasu mutane su na yin ho~~asa don inganta rayuwar al’umma, tilas ne ka ji ka na son cira masu hula.

T.Y. [anjuma, wanda ]an shekara 72 ne a yau, a yi nisa wajen taimakon jama’a domin Allah Ya ba shi zuciyar yin hakan. In da ya ga dama, to da ba za mu ta~a sanin yadda ya ke samun ku]i ba. Ba mu san yadda wa]anda su ka fi shi ku]i su ke samun ku]in su ba, ballantana kuma yadda su ke kashe ku]in. Don haka, maganar ba ma ta yawan ku]in da mutum ya mallaka ba ne, a’a magana ce ta niyyar taimakawa da kuma alherin da taimakon ke jawowa.

Mu a nan }asar, idan mutum ya yi maganar taimakon jama’a ta hanyar kafa cibiya ta musamman don hakan, yawanci akan tuno da Turawa masu wannan halayyar ne, irin su Bill Gates, Ba’amurken nan wanda ya kafa cibiyar Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, wadda ta fi kowace cibiyar agajin jama’a mai zaman kan ta girma a duniya. Shi Bill da matar sa Melinda Gates ne su ka kafa cibiyar, kuma su ka ba da dala biliyan 33 da rabi gare ta don inganta kiwon lafiya da kuma rage fatara a duniya. Akwai kuma attajirin nan Warren Buffet. Ko fitaccen mawa}i mai suna Bono. Ko kuma mawa}in nan marigayi Michael Jackson wanda ya rabar da yawancin dukiyar sa ga }ungiyoyi har 39 masu taimakon gajiyayyu kafin ya mutu. To, mu ma yanzu ga su T.Y. [anjuma nan sun fito da zummar taimakon jama’a.

’Yan Nijeriya dai mutane ne masu son addini sosai, don haka sun yarda da yin sadaka daga abin da Allah Ya hore masu. Za ka iya ganin haka in ka je masallatai da majami’u, ko wurin bikin saukar karatu ko taron }ungiyar tsofaffin ]alibai. Akwai kuma ]imbin masu ba da kyauta ko sadaka wa]anda ke yi a ~oye ba tare da son a yayata ba. To amma akwai masu ba da kyauta don kawai a gani a yabe su, wato kyautar ganin ido don cimma wata manufa ta siyasa ko ta wani abin daban. Irin wa]annan, ba a jimawa sai ka ji an daina labarin su, sun ~ace ko sama ko }asa.

Yanzu akwai bu}atar a kafa }ungiyoyin agaji, su kasance kamar manyan kamfanoni a }asar nan. Ya kamata masu ku]in mu su kafa cibiyoyi irin ta T.Y. [anjuma. Shin kuma ko kun lura da cewa yawancin manyan cibiyoyi irin wa]annan duk ana kafa su ne da sunan wasu tsofaffin hafsoshin soja? Kun ga dai ga Murtala Muhammed Foundation, da Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation da TY [anjuma Foundation, da kuma Yakubu Gowon Foundation. Sannan kada mu manta akwai Cibiyar Inganta Harkar Shugabancin Afrika ta Janar Obasanjo (wato Africa Leadership Forum). Idan aka kafa manyan }ungiyoyin agaji kamar kamfanoni, za a samu babbar hanyar inganta rayuwar bil’adama. Kuma kamar yadda Janar [anjuma ya fa]a a makon jiya a lokacin bikin bu]e taro na farko a }asar nan kan harkar agaza wa mabu}ata, wanda cibiyar sa ta shirya, ya kamata Majalisar Tarayya ta kafa dokar da za ta saka harkar bisa turba tsararriya. Bari in }ara da cewa yin hakan zai sa a tabbatar da cewa kowace cibiya da aka kafa ta ci gaba da ]orewa har bayan rasuwar wanda ya kafa ta ]in, sannan kuma agajin da cibiyar ke bayarwa ya isa ga mabu}atan, ba kurum ma’aikatan cibiyar ko abokan su ko ’yan’uwan su ba.

Mu kan mu ya-ku-bayi, ya dace mu ci gaba da kamanta kyautatawa da taimakon mabu}ata. Ba wai sai kai attajiri ba ne. An san cewa in ka na rarar ku]i, zai taimaka maka wajen yin kyauta, to amma fa mu sani cewa wa]anda su ka fi kyauta ba su ne su ka fi kowa ku]i ba. Ka tambayi kan ka: shin ka na ba da sadaka ko ihsani da nufin agaza wa mabu}ata? Idan ka duba da kyau, kila ka gano cewa akwai wasu takalma ko tufafi a gidan ka wa]anda ba ka yi amfani da su ba a tsawon shekara ]aya. To, a zahiri fa ba ka bu}atar irin wannan kayan. Ka kyautar da su don Allah. Idan har ka na yin haka, to wata rana za ka gan ka bisa hanyar zama mai son taimakon al’umma da ma}udan ku]i kamar yadda su Janar TY [anjuma ke yi. Hausawa sun ce alheri dan}o ne, ba ya fa]uwa }asa banza. Kuma sun ce aikata alheri ga kowa, sakayyar ka ta na wurin Allah.

The Art Of Giving

A few years ago, a Nigerian businessman made a profit of $1 billion from a single business deal. After taking care of some essentials of life, he was left with 'just' $500 million. This man was at a loss over what to do with the money. It might not be safe to keep it even in a bank. Worse, his children might fight over it when he died, he thought. The man, Lt. General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma, a former Chief of Army Staff in the 1970s, had made the money from an oil block allocated to him by the then Head of State, General Sani Abacha. He sold it ten years later when oil was struck in it and the world price of oil was hitting the roofs. He had retired from the army at an early age of 41; he had got to the top early. After retirement, he started a shipping business and became stupendously rich. But owning $500 million cash was not something he had ever bargained for. Being not an ordinary man, he got a brilliant idea. He decided to establish a foundation and commit $100 million to it.

"I decided to set up a foundation and endow it with my fund," he recalled in an interview this year. His reason was that the government, "no matter how noble its intentions, cannot address these challenges on its own. In fact, in all developed countries, the implementation of social projects is never the sole responsibility of government; there are often strong collaborations as well as the private sector."

TY, who was minister of defence between 1999 and 2003, was supposed to have a heart of steel, having been a soldier, one who saw battle during the Nigerian civil war. Now his TY Danjuma Foundation (www.tydanjumafoundation.org) has transformed him into one of the nation's leading givers to the less privileged. The objective of the foundation is to "contribute to the building of Nigeria where all citizens have access to affordable quality health care, education and have equal opportunities to realize their potential." The Foundation is actively working on this vision, especially in the general's native Taraba State.

It is now intervening mainly in health, youth employment and education issues in Taraba. It works together with relevant non-governmental organisations to address the challenges faced by people in the area. A friend of mine who visited one of the health centres told me about the amazing things TY's endowment is doing for the people. He said with the foundation's sponsorship, doctors even carried out free surgeries for the people.

Mind you, it was not only TY who made big money from a business deal. Nor did it make him the richest man in the country. Many other tycoons would have pocketed that profit, gnawing at it slowly in a lifetime of luxury beyond their wildest imagination. To arrive at TY's decision to share his own with the impoverished people of his area, one had to employ all the values that make us human - courage, empathy, faith and art.

Giving is one of the most courageous values that define our sense of humanity. To give, you need to summon your inner strength of parting with something you hold dear, especially money and property. Giving is also human. That is why it can only be done by someone who feels for others, who sees that others have a need bigger than that of oneself. It is those that see the need to make the world a better place, to help cure it of its headaches and its ailments that can move towards doing the right thing. Giving is also a question of faith. To be able to help someone in need, you first need to believe in the necessity for such action. You need to think and be persuaded that this is something that must be done, fully convinced that if what should be done is done, then, somebody somewhere would gain a smile from your action.

Giving is also an art. It is the art of self-displacement, the condition of humbling yourself and letting a sense of humanity get into you. It is the art of reducing yourself to the position of someone whose worldly possession is going to be reduced by whatever portion, be it a huge chunk or a fraction. In this art, however, you are also making yourself a titan of some sorts, a big brother to those in need.

In a world that has become increasingly a jungle of sorts, where the survival of the fittest is the norm, it is not everyone who combines these values. That probably explains the paucity of givers in most human societies. In northern Nigeria, the scarcity of givers is matched with the huge numbers of the needy. Our economically backward region is in dire need of assistance in many areas: health, education, jobs, culture, etc. So when you hear about what some individuals are doing to help create a better society, you cannot help but cheer their efforts.

The 72-year-old TY is perfecting the art of giving because he has the heart for it. If he liked, we would never have heard about his money-making exploits. We do not know how those richer than him make their money, talk less of how they spend it. So, it is not so much about the money as it is about the intention and the eventual impact of the gesture.

When people talk about philanthropy, we usually link the word to the big givers in western countries, such as Bill Gates, the co-chairman of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, described as the largest transparently operated private foundation in the world, founded by Bill and Melinda Gates, who endowed $33.5 billion for healthcare and ending poverty globally. Or Warren Buffet. Or Bono. Or even Michael Jackson who distributed most of his wealth to good causes, and who supported over 39 charity organisations. Now people like TY are pricking our conscience with their philanthropic spirit and zeal.

Nigerians being a religious lot believe in giving freely from their God-ordained possessions. Their altruistic activities are seen in mosques and churches, graduation ceremonies, or at alma mater meetings. There are silent givers who give without any formalities. Many other philanthropy bodies are formed for ‘show,’ inspired by pecuniary purposes such as politics. Such are usually a flash in the pan.

Now there is need to build a real philanthropy industry in this country. The rich among us should establish foundations such as TY’s. Is it not ironic that most of those that are better known and better organised were formed in the memory of former soldiers - the Murtala Muhammed Foundation, the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation and the TY Danjuma Foundation? We should not also forget Gen Obasanjo’s Africa Leadership Forum. Formalising philanthropy would create institutions geared towards the betterment of human life and dignity. And as Gen Danjuma suggested two days ago during the opening of the first ever philanthropy forum, organised by his foundation, the National Assembly should provide the right legislative framework for the act of giving to be accountable and targeted. Let me add that doing so would also ensure that the foundations outlive their founders and the endowments reach the real beneficiaries rather than foundation staffers, their friends and relations.

Individually, we should all learn to practice the art of giving. It is not a matter of being rich. Having an extra buck to give away helps, of course, but then the best givers are not necessarily the biggest philanthropists. Ask yourself: do you give anything you possess as alms or an act of philanthropy? If you look carefully, there could be shoes or clothes in your house that you have not used for a year. Such things, no matter how expensive or valuable, are things you want but do not need. Give it away. With time, you will find yourself right on the path of big givers such as Gen TY Danjuma.

--

Published in LEADERSHIP WEEKEND, on Saturday

Tsugunne ba ta kare ba

Akwai alamun cewa sau}i ya fara zuwa masana’antar finafinai ta Nijeriya, wato Nollywood, domin kuwa mako uku da su ka wuce ne Shugaban {asa Goodluck Jonathan ya yi wani ho~~asa na kyautatawa ga masu aikin fasaha da basira na }asar nan. Ku]i ne zunzurutu wuri na gugar wuri har dalar Amurka miliyan 200 ya bayyana bayarwa ga masu sana’ar nisha]antarwa a matsayin rance don ha~aka sana’ar su. A ku]in Nijeriya, sun kama kimanin naira biliyan 30.

Shugaban }asar ya fa]i haka ne a Legas, a wurin bikin cikar shahararren kamfanin nan masu gidajen silima da shirya gasar sarauniyar kyau mai suna Silverbird Group shekara 30 da kafawa. Mamallakin kamfanin, wato tsohon Darakta-Janar na Hukumar Talabijin ta Nijeriya (NTA), Mista Ben Murray-Bruce, shi ne ya ro}i shugaban da ya yi wani abu don karrama masana’antar, wadda ta }unshi masu shirya fim da kuma mawa}a. Jonathan, wanda ya halarci taron da kan sa, ya ce wannan jari da gwamnati ta zuba an yi shi ne “ba don komai ba sai don a mara wa masu sana’ar fasaha baya da kuma ha~aka masana’antar mu ta nisha]antarwa.”

Mutane da yawa da ke da ruwa da tsaki a masana’antar sun yi murna da wannan ku]in, su na ganin su a matsayin agajin da ya zo a daidai lokacin da ake bu}atar sa, wato a daidai lokacin da ruwa ya kusa }are wa ]an kada. Su na ganin sa a matsayin wata babbar karramawa da amintaka ga gudunmawar da wa]annan ]imbin masu basirar su ka bayar wajen sa a }ara sanin Nijeriya a fagen ayyukan nisha]i, wato fim da wa}a.

Nollywood, wadda masana’anta ce da ke bun}asa a koyaushe, ta na tafiya kafa]a-da-kafa]a da masana’antar da ta girme ta a fagen, wato ta ki]a da wa}a. Duk an san su a duniya. A wani rahoto da hukumar UNESCO ta buga a cikin watan Mayu 2009, an bayyana cewa masana'antar Nollywood ce ta uku a duniya wajen fito da yawan finafinai, wato ta na bin masana’antar Hollywood ta }asashen Turawa da kuma Bollywood ta }asar Indiya. An }iyasta cewa darajar Nollywood ta fuskar ku]i ta kai kimanin dala miliyan 250, kuma akwai mutum a}alla miliyan ]aya da ke aiki a masana’antar. Wannan masana’anta ta haifar da ’yan wasa wa]anda sunan su ya zama ruwan dare a cikin }asar nan da }asashen waje. Sunaye irin su Genevieve Nnaji, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, Ramsey Nouah, Kate Henshaw-Nuttal, Pete Edochie, Ali Nuhu, Segun Arinze, Funke Akindele, da sauran su, sanannu ne. Akwai kuma irin wa]annan sunayen a fagen wa}a. A dalilin haka, akwai manazarta da dama da ke tururuwa daga }asashen duniya su na zuwa nan domin yin nazarin irin tashin gwauron zabon da wannan masana’anta ke yi. Abu sai ka ce tsafi! A yau ]in nan akwai tashoshin talabijin na satalayit da dama da ke nuna finafinan Nollywood dare da rana, ciki kuwa har da shahararriyar tashar Africa Magic, kwatankwacin yadda tashar Fox Movies ke nuna finafinan Hollywood da kuma yadda tashoshin B4U da Zee Aflam ke nuna na Indiya. Wa]annan mutane, mazan su da matan su, wa]anda yawanci matasa ne, su na rayuwa cikin jin da]i a matsayin attajirai, a cikin aikin da su ka }ir}ira da kan su, ba tare da sa hannun hukuma ba.

To amma kuma akwai mutanen da ke kallon wannan gara~asa da Jonathan ya yi ga ’yan fim da mawa}a a matsayin wani abu bambara}wai. Su na ganin cewa ya yi abin ne da ka kawai, ba tare da ya numfasa ya yi tunani ba, don kawai Mista Murray-Bruce ya ro}e shi da ya yi masu ko ma menene don nuna kulawa. Tun daga lokacin da aka bayyana gara~asar, na ji 'yan fim da mawa}a da dama su na yin wasu tambayoyi a kan ta: Shin wannan kyautar yaudara ce ko kuwa? Shin siyasa ce? Shin Jonathan ya na }o}arin samun goyon bayan masu sana’ar nisha]antarwa a daidai lokacin da ’yan adawa ke girgiza kujerar sa? Shin kishin }asa ne ya sa ya ba da wannan babbar kyautar? Ko kuwa ma gwamnati ta na so ta yi wa ’yan fim da mawa}a }ofar raggo ne, wato ta biyo ta bayan fage domin ta mamaye harkar saboda gudun irin sa}wannin da ake iya jefawa a cikin finafinai da wa}o}i?

Bayan haka, wa zai kar~o ku]in daga hannun gwamnati a madadin ’yan fim da mawa}an, wa]anda ba su da wasu tsayayyun shugabanni da kowa da kowa ya yarda da su? A yanzu dai, ba a ma san yadda za a raba ku]in ba. Shugaban }asa dai ya ce gwamnan Babban Bankin Nijeriya (CBN) tare da ministan ku]i su ne za su je su fito da hanyar da za a bi a fito da ku]in da kuma yadda za a yi da su. Jonathan, a jawabin sa, ya ambaci kalmar Nollywood ne a matsayin masana’antar finafinan Nijeriya, to amma don Allah ainihi su wanene Nollywood ]in? Da yawa in an ce Nollywood, to ana nufin ’yan fim na Kudiu kenan, wa]anda ke zaune a Legas da Anacha. To su kuma ’yan fim na Hausa fa da ke Arewa, wa]anda sunan tasu masana’antar Kannywood? Sannan kuma ina sauran Wood Wood da ke akwai - misali masana’antar finafinai ta Nupawa, wadda }arama ce kuma ba ta kallon kan ta a matsayin wani yanki na Kannywood, da sauran wuraren da ake shirya fim cikin harsunan mu na gado? Su yaya za a yi da su? Bugu da }ari, me ake nufi idan an ce maka]an Nijeriya? Shin sun ha]a da masu wa}o}i da harsunan gargajiya, irin su Nasiru Garba Supa na Kano da Musa [anbade na Kaduna, ko kuma ana nufin mawa}a na zamani masu wa}o}in Naija irin su Dapo Oyebanjo (D’banj), Abolere Akande (9ice), Innocent Idibia (Tuface), 2-Effects da Sound Sultan? Sannan ina za a saka su Aminu Ala, Fati Nijar, Maryam A. Baba da ire-iren su? A gaskiya, akwai bu}atar a fito a yi wa jama’a bayani, kuma a fito da hanyoyin da za a bi wa]annan ku]in su kai ga ’yan fim da mawa}a. Idan har ba a bi a sannu ba, to wannan gara~asa ta gwamnati za ta haifar da babban rikicin shugabanci a industiri, ta jawo rarrabuwar kai tsakanin masu fasaha a ~angarori daban-daban.

Ni a nawa ganin, har yanzu tsugunne ba ta }are ba ga masu shirya finafinai da kuma buga wa}o}i a Nijeriya. Industiri ba ta bu}atar wa]annan ku]in. Dalili: an yanke shawarar ba da su ne kurum a cikin irin tunanin gwamnati da ya da]e ya na addabar }asar nan, wato inda za ka ga an watsa ku]i ga matsala a matsayin magani maimakon a gano dalilin faruwar cutar. Abin da masana’antar nisha]antarwa ke bu}ata shi ne a samar da kyakkyawan sararin da mutum zai yi sana’a har ya ci riba. Mu tuna, wasu ’yan kasuwa masu tarar aradu don fa]in kai ne su ka haifar da industirin Nollywood da rana tsaka kimanin shekara 18 da ta gabata lokacin da su ka fitar da fim mai suna Living in Bondage, kuma tun daga lokacin ta ke ta }ara bun}asa ba tare da jarin gwamnati ba. Na san cewa masana'antar ta na fama da manyan matsaloli. Na farko, matsalar da ke damun Nijeriya ma ita ke damun ta, domin abin da ya ci Doma ba ya barin Awai. Matsalolin sun ha]a da satar basira da wasu ~arayin zaune ke tafkawa, ga rashin tsaro da kuma ta~ar~arewar tattalin arzikin }asar nan. [aya daga cikin manyan matsalolin ita ce satar basira, inda wani zaunannen ~arawo zai ]auki kayan ka ya gurza ya ri}a sayarwa, kai kuwa ko oho. Rashin }arfin doka da oda ya sa masu aikin basira sun kasa cin moriyar shukar su. |arayin zaune sun yi masu talala. Ya kamata a fitar da su daga wannan }angin, su samu sa’ida.

Lokacin da hukumar UNESCO ta ce Nollywood ce ta uku a duniya, ta ba ta wannan matsayin ne a kan yawan finafinan da ake shiryawa kawai, ba wai saboda }arfin arziki ko kuma ingancin finafinan ba. Su finafinan mu na Nijeriya, ana shirya su ne bisa ku]i }alilan, tare da yin amfani da kayan aiki masu araha. Yawanci babu ilimin abin domin su masu ruwa da tsakin ba wani horo su ka samu a makaranta ba; duk a lokeshin ake koyon komai. Shi ya sa za ka ga a finafinan ana nuno abu a duk yadda aka ga dama. Idan ka na kallon finafinan Kudu, sai ka yi tunanin cewa a }asar mu ba abin da ake yi sai tsafe-tsafe da aikata laifuffuka da kuma tsiraici. Rashin doka mai }arfi da kuma han}oron samun }azamar riba sun sa lamarin ya }azanta. Don haka babu mamaki, finafinan Nollowood }alilan ne ake ]aukar su da wata daraja a }asashen da su ka ci gaba, in ban da a unguwannin da ’yan Nijeriya ke zaune, masu }awazucin tunowa da gida. Yanzu dubi wani fim da aka yi a Afrika ta Kudu wai shi Tsotsi, da wani da aka yi a Indiya mai suna Slumdog Millionaire. Wa]annan finafinai ne da ake ji da su a duniya. Shi Tsotsi, dalar Amurka miliyan 3 aka kashe wajen shirya shi, to amma an samu dala miliyan 10 daga nuna shi a silima. Haka kuma ya ci manyan gasa guda biyu na duniya, wato lambar Oscar (a cikin 2005) da lambar Golden Globe (a 2006) a matsayin gwarzon fim cikin harsunan }asashe ban da Ingilishi.

Amma mu finafinan mu na Nijeriya, ba su da labarai masu }arfi, sannan da an fara fim za ka iya cankar inda zai }are. Sakamakon haka, za ka ji ana kuka da finafinan a gida da waje. Yanzu haka a Uganda har wata mata ’yar Majalisar Dokokin }asar mai suna Sarah Wasike Mwebaza ta ]ora laifin }aruwar ayyukan tsafe-tsafe a }asar ga yawaitar finafinan Nijeriya a }asar. Gwamnatin Uganda ta na nan ta na shirin kafa dokar da za ta magance matsalar. Wannan ya nuna cewa ya kamata masu shirya finafinan mu su yi karatun ta-natsu, su maida hankali wajen shirya finafinai masu inganci, da nuna gwaninta wajen ba da labari, da kyan hoto da sauti. Ya kamata su nuna wa sauran }asashen duniya cewa ba wai neman ku]i kawai ya sa su ke shirya fim ba, a’a har ma don su nuna bajinta a basira da fasaha. Saboda haka, kada a dubi gara~asar da Shugaba Jonathan ya bayar a matsayin ku]i kawai, maimakon haka a ]auka cewa alama ce ta nuna goyon baya da kuma karramawa. Idan har aka saka ido a kan ku]in, to ba abin da zai biyo baya sai cacar baki da rarrabuwar kai da fa]ace-fa]ace, daga nan kuma zancen bizines ya }are kenan.