Rabo: Pursuing The Pursuer

LEADERSHIP
Wednesday, 01 September 2010



In this piece, ABDULAZIZ ABDULAZIZ writes on the recent case of an alleged illicit sex affair between the director general of Kano State Censorship Board, Malam Abubakar Rabo Abdulkareem, and a minor. He raises questions from both ends of the story.

Efforts were allegedly made to 'kill' the story but it stubbornly fizzled out and when it did, it sparked a shocker to many, though some said there was nothing odd about it. However, the proponents of the oddity of the story may have the upper hand, in terms of reasons to cite: the man is exceptionally pious; that is if it can be deduced from facial expression. He was once the next in command at the state’s Sharia implementation agency, Hisbah, derogatorily tagged 'Sharia police'. He pursued filmmakers and other artists in the state as if they are the most devilish of devils. He has disowned them with unprintable words. Therefore, it should naturally be a story when a person with such a profile of Malam Abubakar Rabo Abdulkareem is found wanting.

The Story

The story of the scandal, as narrated to LEADERSHIP Interval, goes thus: A patrolling police vehicle was moving along Maiduguri Road on Sunday, August 22, 2010, around 10pm when they sighted a Peugeot car parked in a bushy area by the road's shoulder near Rukayyat House. They beamed a light and the man sped off to escape. The police also accelerated to catch up with him. The police used their vehicle's siren to alert the man to stop but he refused and instead engaged them in car race.

He raced frantically following the eastern by-pass road and through Unguwa Uku quarters with the police trailing him. This made the man with the car to knock down a motorcyclist around Unguwa Uku Shago Tara. He however forged ahead, accelerating the vehicle. The latter incident, which led to inflicting injury on the motorcyclist prompted some commercial motorcyclists, to help the police in trailing the fleeing driver. He was subsequently caught up with.

The angry mob of motorcyclists began to beat up the driver as some aimed at the car, incurring serious damage on the car, before the arrival of the police who dispersed the people and arrested the driver. On reaching the police station at Hotoro Division, the runaway driver identified himself as Abubakar Rabo Abdulkareem, the director general of the state’s censorship board.

On searching the car, according to a LEADERSHIP source, a young girl was found. Abdulkareem claimed that the girl was his niece and he was coming from his family house when he was trailed. The police at the station demanded that the DG tendered a written statement to that effect. He was released afterwards.

Abdulkareem, LEADERSHIP learnt on good authority, departed for Saudi Arabia a day after the incident. When our correspondent called him last Thursday, on introducing the reason for the call, the chief censor replied; "By Allah, I don't know about it."

However, Abdulkareem had confirmed the story to other journalists with the alteration that the girl was his niece, whom he was conveying from his parents house to his own house. He however appealed to the journalists to let the matter die as exposing it amounts to ridiculing Islam.

His argument, according to a clip of an interview with him obtained by LEADERSHIP, was that the whole drama was a set up to blackmail him by PDP stalwarts in the state who have been looking for a way to eliminate him. He said those people had been meeting for about three weeks, at Shagari quarters, on how to nail him.

According to him, seeing a full beam from an approaching car on that fateful day, he became scared due to the incessant threats he had been getting, he therefore accelerated unconsciously in order to save his life. He denied that it was police that trailed him, saying the police only showed up later.

Rabo admitted that he was booed as a thief to get him to stop, but he continued speeding to get to where he can be saved. He said when the police realized that the girl found with him was his daughter, they released him. The DG lamented that some people were out to cash in on the incident to damage his reputation.

When LEADERSHIP visited Wase Hospital, where Abdulmudallib Jibrin, the injured motorcyclist, was hospitalized, entry access was denied him as he sustained serious injuries on his arm and head. The victim, who is a staff of the state History and Culture Bureau said he could not recall what happened as he was taken to hospital unconsciously.

Contradiction

Contacted for an official position about the saga, Kano State Commissioner of Information, Barrister Haruna Isa Dederi, said the incident was cooked up by Abdulkareem's enemies in the film industry. He said for a long time a group of filmmakers have been fighting the DG to the point of issuing death threats.

However, contrary to LEADERSHIP's findings and Abdulkareem's claim that the young girl with him in the car was his nieces, Dederi said the DG was with his wife and his daughter at the time of the incident. According to him, Abdulkareem had a running stomach and therefore stopped to ease himself in the nearby bush when the police vehicle approached him in full force. Reminded that the DG was pursued by the police with a siren vehicle, the information commissioner said it was not true and that the police was in a private vehicle, not an official one.

Police Investigating

However, the Kano State deputy commissioner of police, Mr Lawan Tanko, confirmed the arrest of the DG. He said the police are investigating the issue to find out why Abdulkareem ran away when pursued by the police. "We want to know what the running was about" DCP Tanko said.

The police top man said the command would unravel the case even as he described it as nothing serious. DCP Tanko also confirmed that the DG has knocked down a motorcyclist while escaping from the trailing policemen.

The ‘Niece’

However, a neighbour of Abdulkareem at his Tarauni residence, who do not want her name in print said the girl is indeed from Abdulkareem's household. She however wondered what the two were doing in a car at such an odd hour in a less populated place, "that is if what I heard was true" she said. The little girl was identified as Fati.

As the story made waves in Kano, many people are still dumbfounded that Malam Rabo could be involved in such a mess. His sympathisers dismissed the story as unfounded but those who have a hatchet to bury with him said the man has never been the saint he claims to be.

Police, in their usual promise, said they are not leaving any stone unturned to unravel the true picture of the incident. Many people see the incident as a turning point not only in Abdulkareem's career, but in that of many of those of his ilk.

Censorship chief escapes lynching for soliciting sex from minor

BY EDWIN OLOFU
NEXT

August 29, 2010


The director general of the Kano State Film and Censorship Board, Abubakar Rabo Abdulkarim, was nearly lynched over the weekend when a mob attacked him for soliciting sex from an under-aged girl.

Mr. Abdulkarim, the former Hisbah commander was trying to escape from a patrol team which had accosted him when they saw his car parked in a secluded environment - with a young girl inside - when he ran into a motorcyclist. Other members of the Okada union quickly surrounded him and he was only saved a lynching by the police who had been in pursuit of his car.

The censorship board, under his leadership, has waged a scorched earth campaign against actors, musicians and producers in the state for allegedly promoting immorality. As a result, many artistes fled the state and now ply their trade elsewhere.

Mr Abdulkarim, who insisted that the girl he was found with was his niece, said he was not having an affair with her. But when the former enforcer of Sharia law discovered he could not convince the contingent of policemen on night patrol on the propriety of having an under-aged girl in his car at such an odd hour, he panicked. The whole thing looked even more suspicious because for some curious reason he had parked behind a shopping complex along Maiduguri Road that night.

A police source said when the patrol team attempted to arrest Mr Abdulkarim he took flight in his car.

Double trouble

While trying to escape however, he knocked down an official of the Kano History and Culture Bureau who was riding on a motorcycle. This incurred the wrath of Okada riders, who thought that he had knocked down a member of their union and promptly proceeded to give him a thorough beating.

Ironically, it was the patrol team that he had been trying to avoid that finally came to his rescue, although by then the okada riders, who saw he had a girl with him, had damaged the car and were already on the verge of beating him to death.

He was later taken to the Hotoro police division where he was made to write down a statement.

Not a wayward one

When contacted, Mr Abdulkarim said members of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, and film practitioners, were responsible for his ordeal.

The man, who has been having a running battle with film makers and writers in Kano in his attempt to force them to comply with the Sharia legal code, spoke to NEXT before he travelled to Saudi Arabia for the lesser hajj.

“The girl found in my car was my niece and not a wayward one as insinuated,” he insisted.

Spokesperson of the Kano State police command, Baba Mohammed, said he was not aware of the incident because he was in the hospital at the time. The police commissioner, Mohammed Gana also said he couldn’t speak on the matter because he just returned from Saudi Arabia. He however promised to find out the details from his men at the Hotoro Police Division.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/Metro/Crime/5612648-146/story.csp

Kano Chief Censor In Alleged Child Abuse Scandal

LEADERSHIP, Monday, 30 August 2010

By Abdulaziz Abdulaziz, KANO


The Director-General of Kano State Censors Board, Malam Abubakar Rabo Abdulkareem, is enmeshed in a case of an alleged illicit sexual affair involving a minor whom he allegedly abused.

Though it is unclear whether the chief censor had actually penetrated the girl or not, investigations by LEADERSHIP revealed that he was trailed penultimate Sunday in Kano by patrolling policemen who saw a car parked around a bushy area along Maiduguri road by Rukayya House, in Kano around 10 p.m.

The police on patrol beamed their vehicle's light on the parked car and the DG, who was in the car, started the car and zoomed off to escape the approaching vehicle. LEADERSHIP learnt that the police used the siren of their vehicle to alert the DG that they were trailing him but he refused to stop, engaging the police in a car race.

Rabo raced frantically through the Eastern by-pass road and through Unguwa Uku quarters with the police trailing him. This led him to ram into a motorcyclist around Unguwa Uku Shago Tara. He, however, forged ahead accelerating the vehicle.

It was learnt that the motorcyclist he ran into was wounded, as a result of which some other commercial motorcyclists joined the police in trailing the director general. They subsequently caught up with him around Filin Kashu area of Unguwa Uku.

The angry mob of motorcyclists began to beat the DG, while some aimed at the car, causing serious damages to it, before the arrival of the police who dispersed the people and arrested the driver, who turned out to be Rabo.

The director general was then taken to the Hotoro Police Station where he identified himself. On searching the car, according to a LEADERSHIP source, a young girl was found in the car, and a pant, suspected to be the girl's. Rabo claimed that the girl was his cousin and he was coming from his family house. He was released at the time.

Rabo, LEADERSHIP learnt on good authority, departed for Saudi Arabia a day after the incident. When our correspondent called him last Thursday, as soon as he mentioned the reason for the call, the Chief Censor replied; "By Allah I don't know about it."

However, Rabo had confirmed the story to other journalists, saying that the girl was his cousin whom he was conveying from his parent’s house to his own house.

He also appealed to the journalists to let the matter die as exposing it amounts to ridiculing Islam.

Rabo's argument, according to a clip of an interview with him obtained by LEADERSHIP, was that the whole drama was a set up to blackmail him by PDP stalwarts in the state who had been looking for a way to eliminate him. He said those people had been meeting for about three weeks at Shagari quarters, on how to nail him.

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This is another story on the Rabo sex scandal story. It gives additional detail. I heard that the Hausa movie industry's main union, MOPPAN, is going to hold a press conference on the matter today.

Rabo arrested for alleged sex related offence

Sunday Trust magazine - The Arts
Written by Ruqayyah Yusuf Aliyu, Kano
Sunday, 29 August 2010 00:09

The Director General, Kano State Censorship Board, Malam Abubakar Rabo Abdulkarim has been allegedly caught in a sex scandal involving a minor, following an alleged incident along Maiduguri Road in Kano metropolis last Sunday, August 22.

Reports indicate that Rabo was allegedly with the girl in his car late in the night when a police patrol approached. He panicked and fled on high speed, eventually knocking down a motorcyclist around the Na’ibawa area. He was allegedly apprehended by a mob that vandalized his car before the police intervened.

The police took him to Hotoro Division where it was discovered he was a top government official. He was then released on bail.

A police source informed Sunday Trust that some incriminating evidence pointing at a possible sexual relationship between Rabo and the girl was found in his car. “When the car was searched, the police found the girl’s pant but you know, when such issues involve big people in town, it dies a natural death but he was actually arrested for alleged sex relationship with the girl as well as for hitting a moving bike,” the source said.

Rabo, during interrogation, allegedly told the police that the girl was his niece and he had fled the scene when the police approached because he suspected they might have been thugs sent after him by actors in Kano.

Rabo has led a crack down on the Hausa film industry following a leaked explicit video featuring a Kannywood star. He has since jailed several film makers in the state and his name has been synonymous with the puritan attempts to sanitize the film industry from indecency.

This has set him on a war path with filmmaker in the state and elsewhere, who have on several occasions dragged him to court, the latest coming barely a couple of weeks ago.

When Sunday Trust contacted Rabo, who is presently away in Saudi Arabia to perform the lower hajj on telephone, he said it was a mere plan to tarnish his image by people at odds with his progress in sanitizing the industry.

“What happened was that I invited friends and relatives on that fateful day for a feast during iftar at my house, he explained, “and because the work was much, I invited some of my in-laws to come help us prepare the dishes and therefore had to drop them at the family house after everything and it was on my way back that I noticed a vehicle approaching me. Knowing the kind of threat and information on attempts to harm me, I sped for my dear life. I drove blindly, not knowing what I was really doing owing to the pressure of the moment when I hit a man on a bike and suddenly, a mob gathered and vandalized my car, thinking I stole the car. It was then the police arrived and rescued [me]. They eventually released me on realizing that the girl I was with was my niece,” he said.

On if he could give details about the girl for further clarification, he said he wouldn’t want to say much on his family members to the public but maintained that the said niece has been under his care since her father, his elder brother, died.

The Deputy Police Commissioner, Kano State Police Command, Tanko Lawan when contacted on the issue confirmed that there was an accident involving Rabo and a bike man. He said Rabo was sighted in suspicious circumstances and when the police attempted to inquire, he sped off causing the accident as the police gave chase. Lawan further said investigation into the matter has since commenced.


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This story is making waves in the Hausa movie industry right now.
Above picture, taken by Carmen McCain, shows Rabo making a presentation in Niamey, Niger Republic, during a meeting of writers there between 8n - 10 December, 2009.

Court Orders Arrest Of Kano Chief Censor

Written by By Abdulrahman Tonga
LEADERSHIP
Thursday, 10 June 2010

The Kaduna State police command has been ordered by a judge to arrest the Director-General of the Kano State Censorship Board, Malam Abubakar Rabo Abdulkarim, for his failure to appear before it on two occasions.

The judge, Alhaji Nasiru Idris Lere of Magistrate Court 1 in Kaduna, gave the order for Rabo’s immediate arrest by the police.

Rabo was billed to appear in person in the court after five members of the Kaduna State Filmmakers Association sued him for criminal defamation.

He was reported to have claimed in a live television interview in Kaduna that Hausa moviemakers were now engaged in the production of pornographic films and that the people of Kaduna State should rise against them.

He reportedly claimed to have bought a copy of such pornographic movies in the Unguwar Sarki area of Kaduna metropolis.

When the case opened in court last week, the Kano chief censor failed to appear, citing ill-health. His counsel sought a postponement, a plea to which the filmmakers' counsel, A.S. Suleiman, did not object.

During yesterday’s hearing, counsel to Rabo, Mr. Gabriel Didam, told the court that his client could not appear in court in person as a result of insecurity in the state, adding that his client was also sick. He, however, apologized to the court on behalf of his client.

Counsel to the plaintiffs, Malam Sadau Garba, appealed to the court to issue a bench warrant against Rabo, pointing out that this was the second sitting in which he was not in the court. According to the lawyer, information reaching him was that the accused was determined never to come to the court.

“Justice has to be done,” he said. “The accused person had complained that he was sick, but no written document had been produced. And information reaching us is that the accused is bragging that he will never be present throughout the case and that nothing will happen. We therefore apply that this honorable court issue a arrest warrant to make him appear and take any alternative measures to bring him to the court”.

When ruling on the request, the judge said, “The accused person did not follow the proper way to channel his complaint to the court, a behaviour which may leave the other party to feel they are not treated equally.

“I will not believe him that there is insecurity in Kaduna. It’s an excuse by the accused person. And he has to tell us the names of those that thinks are after him so that court will stop them from coming to its premises.

“Since the inception of the case he has been complaining frequently, but the accused never did in the formal way. Under the section 153 of the CPC, the accused has to be in court. I am left with no option than to order his arrest under section 70 / 1A / B by the Commissioner of Police, Kaduna State.”

Hearing in the suit was adjourned till June 16, 2010.

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This is sequel to the story published on June 2

Defamation: Hausa Filmmakers Sue Kano Censors Board Chief

Written by Abdulrahman Tonga, Kaduna
LEADERSHIP
Tuesday, 01 June 2010 19:14

Members of the Kaduna State Filmmakers Association yesterday dragged the Director-General of Kano State Censorship Board, Malam Abubakar Rabo Abdulkareem, to a magistrate court in Kaduna over alleged criminal defamation of character and inciting the public to violence.

In a complaint charge filed before Chief Magistrate Nasiru Idris Lere of Magistrate Court 1, Ibrahim Taiwo Road, Kaduna, six filmmakers argued that a television interview granted by Rabo to the DITV station in Kaduna a fortnight ago had ridiculed their image and lowered their reputation in the eyes of the public.

Rabo was quoted to have told the TV station in a live broadcast that Hausa moviemakers were now engaged in the production of pornographic films and that the people of Kaduna State should rise against them.

He reportedly claimed to have bought a copy of such pornographic movies in Unguwar Sarki area of Kaduna metropolis.

Describing the censorship board chief's assertion as false, the plaintiffs said such statement was capable of inciting violence in the state.

“His statement that people should rise against us has made our members to live in constant apprehension for fear of being attacked by the public,” they said.

Rabo’s allegation was contrary to sections 392 and 114 of the penal code, they added.

The complainants consist of executive committee members of the Kaduna filmmakers association. They are: Ashiru Sani Bazanga, Rabi’u Mohammed Rikadawa, Aliyu Abdullahi Gora II, Sulaiman Sha’ani, Aminu Musa Carlos, and Jamilu Adamu.

LEADERSHIP learnt that the court summons, which was endorsed by a magistrate in Kaduna, was received by Rabo yesterday in his office situated within the Kano State-owned City Television in Hotoro, Kano.

The hearing comes up tomorrow in Kaduna.

Relations between the Kano State Censorship Board and Hausa filmmakers has been frosty since Rabo’s appointment by Governor Ibrahim Shekarau in 2007 following the Hiyana scandal.

Many artistes and producers were either jailed or heavily fined for one offence or the other by the censors board’s mobile court in Kano.

Rabo was sued by the Kano State Filmmakers Association last year over comments he made against them in a radio interview, but the case did not go far, with the filmmakers alleging that it was frustrated in the courts by the state government.

AN KULLE BASHIR DANDAGO A JARUN

Shugaban Hukumar Hukunta 'Yan Fim ta Jihar Kano, Malam Abubakar Rabo, ya cika alkawarin sa na cewa sai ya d'aure daya daga cikin fitattun mawakan Kano, wato Malam Bashir Dandago. Domin kuwa a yau dai jami'an hukumar sun kama shi, sun gurfanar da shi a gaban kotun hukunta 'yan fim.

Haka kuma an kama wani matashi mai suna Kabir Maulana.

Laifin da ake tuhumar su da shi, shi ne: wai sun saki faifan wakar 'Tsangayar Kura' (mai dauke da wakar nan ta "Hasbunallahu" ) bayan hukuma ta hana sakin faifan a Kano.

A kotu, su Dandago sun ce, "Not guilty." To amma Alkali Mukhtar Ahmed, kamar yadda ya saba yi, ya hana belin su, ya tura su gidan yari. Ya ce a dawo ran Litinin a ci gaba da magana. Manufa ita ce, su ma dai sun yi zaman jarun.

Ga wadanda su ka saurari wakar "Hasbunallahu, " za su tuna da cewa akwai muryar Malam Bashir Dandago a ciki. To, da ma kaska ta na da haushin kifi.

Shi dai Dandago, ya yi fice ne a fagen wakokin yabon Manzon Allah (SAW), wato wakokin bege. A cikin 2009 ne aka ji muryar sa a wakar "Hasbunallahu, " wanda hakan ya kara wa wakar karfi da karsashi. A wata hira da ya yi da 'yan jarida kwanan baya, Dandago ya ce ya yi wakar ne domin ya taimaka wajen murkushe zaluncin da ake yi a Kano.

Kwanan nan kotun ta su "Asabe Murtala" ta daure jagaban wakar "Hasbunallahu, " wato Malam Aminuddeen Ladan Abubakar (ALA), a gidan yari. Za a ci gaba da shari'ar sa a makon gobe.

Majiya ta ce gurfanar da Rabo da 'yan fim su ka yi a ofishin 'yan sanda na Metro kwanan nan ya k'ara hayaka malamin, har ya sha alwashin yin ramuwa.

Majiyar ta ce don haka dai kwanan nan hukumar za ta kama wasu mata daga cikin 'yan fim, musamman mawakan da ke cikin su. Sannan majiyar ta ce ana nan ana hak'on wani dan fim, tare da shan alwashin cewa a gidan yari zai yi azumin Ramadan.

"Zalunci ba zai dore ba" - Maryam A. Baba, a wakar "Rabo, Rabo"

Ba gyara Rabo ya zo yi ba

A gaskiya, ko kadan ba da nufin gyaran harkar fim Malam Abubakar Rabo ya zo ba. Ya dai zo yin gyaran gangar Abzinawa ne - wato kid'an ganga da lauje! Abin da ya sa na fadi haka shi ne, kusan dukkan muhimman matakan da Rabo ya dauka a kan wannan harkar, ya dauke su ne da nufin durkusar da harkar. Ga hujjoji na:

1. Tun daga ranar farko ta kama aikin sa, ya dukufa wajen b'ata sunan 'yan fim. Ba wai a yau ya fara ba.

2. Duk wasu shawarwari nagari da 'yan fim din da sauran jama'ar gari su ka ba shi na yin gyaran da ya dace, bai dauka ba.

3. Duk wani zaman shawara da 'yan fim su ka yi da shi, aka zartar da shawarwari, bai taba aiwatar da ko daya ba; sai ma ya rika yi masu yankan baya bayan an tashi daga zaman.

4. Rabo ya zagaya jihohin Arewa da dama inda ya bukaci magabatan jihohin da su zartar da kudirorin hana yin sana'ar fim.

5. A kan d'an k'aramin laifi, Rabo ba ya tausaya wa d'an fim, sai kurum ya sa a kulle shi ko kuma kotu ta yi masa babbar tara.

6. Ya sa an kulle 'yan fim din da ba su aikata laifin komai ba, musamman Hamisu Iyan-Tama, don kurum ya fashe wani haushi nasa na son rai.

7. Har yau bai karbo wani agajin kudi daga gwamnati ya raba wa 'yan fim ba don inganta sana'ar su ko kuma ci gaba da yin sana'ar.

8. Ya dauki masu shawara tagari a matsayin abokan adawa ko ma abokan gaba, duk da yake su ba hakan su ka dauke shi ba.

9. Ba ya yarda ya tafi tare da masu ba shi shawara, sai 'yan kore wadanda ke gaya masa abin da kunnen sa ya ke so ya ji.

10. A kullum kokarin sa shi ne ya gano hanyar da zai bi ya nakasa 'yan fim da sana'ar su, ba hanyar da zai taimaka masu su ci gaba ba.

11. Duk wata bita da ya shirya da nufin wai gyaran fim, idan ka duba da kyau sai ka ga da biyu aka yi, ba wai an yi ba ne don gyara sana'ar. Domin ko su wadanda ake zaba su shiga bitar, sai an tsamo 'yan kore, 'yan a-bi-Yarima- a-sha-kida, sannan a yi da su.

12. Yau shekarar Rabo biyu a kan mulkin, me ya kulla na kawo gyara?

Nollywood Sans Kannywood

I think when the world (or even Nigerian federal officials) talk about Nollywood, they are not thinking about the Hausa film industry, a.k.a. Kannywood. Nollywood is simply the Nigerian movie industry WITHOUT its Hausa component. Surprisingly, Nollywood includes the Igbo and Yoruba productions. The question is: why are Hausa movies not included? In my view, it has to do with the fact that federal officials working in the culture sector - Ministry of Information and its parastatals such as the National Film and Videos Censors Board and the Nigerian Film Corporation - hardly remember Kannywood when they are designing policies. Until in recent years, they scarcely included Kannywood stakeholders in their programmes.

Of course, things have been changing in recent years. Kannywood stakeholders have been making an in-road into the federal culture sector - participating in film festivals, awards and meetings. Nevertheless, there is still a long way to go before we get THERE, largely due to the dominance of non-Northerners in the sector and in the mainstream mass media. If you take a look at the entertainment pages of Nigerian newspapers where news and gossip about the Nigerian movie world are told, you will hardly see anything being said about Kannywood. That is, with the exception of northern papers like Leadership, Trust, New Nigerian and Triumph.

The senseless attacks on Kannywood operators by officials of the Kano State Censorship Board in the bogus name of sanitising the industry appears to have taken Kannywood back in reckoning. That's the actual target of the censors. But theirs is a futile exercise because only a dimwit will presuppose that a censorship regime can destroy the progress of the new information technologies, of which movies are a significant part.

This is more so in a democracy, which has a preset tenure. As the Hausa say, "Zalunci ba ya karewa!"

Aminu Ala released, but...

Hausa singer and novelist Aminuddeen Ladan Abubakar (ALA) was released on bail by the "mobile" court in Kano today. I told you about him yesterday.

The case was adjourned to July 20.

But there's a caveat. Ala was barred from granting interviews to local and international media - clearly a desperate attempt to muzzle his freedom of expression and the freedom of the press on the issue. The court ruled that his bail would be thwarted if he does so.

This case has generated a lot of heat in Nigeria. The Association of Nigerian Authors has condemned it, so also a wide spectrum of analysts who see the issue as an injustice against a man of letters who has contributed positively to Hausa culture.

I feel that Ala will not be silenced by the Kano State Censorship Board through the use of its draconian court instrument. More songs are expected to come from his pen.

Abubakar Imam: My Personal Odyssey

This piece was written last night on the occasion of the one-day colloquim being organised today in Kaduna by the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA)

In 2008, Alhaji Abubakar Imam’s best known literary work, Magana Jari Ce, clocked 80 years of publication. That year (Thursday, June 19 to be exact) the sage himself clocked 27 years in death. At that time, all one could hear among the Nigerian literati was the well-deserved hubbub over the 50th anniversary of the publication of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. Just as I savoured the joy of having one of Africa’s leading works clocking 50 years in print, moreso with its writer being well and alive, I also agonised over the sad neglect of Imam’s attainment on the literary field even by those who should be holding his banner aloft.

This kind of neglect had pained me for ages. On a Saturday in 2004, I had published an opinion in my literary column in the Weekly Trust, ‘Bookshelf,’ which was a rework of a piece I had earlier written in Majalisar Marubuta (Writers’ Forum), a listserve in Yahoogroups. In it, I lamented that the late Imam had not been suffiently honoured by the northern intelligentsia in terms of doing things that could immortalise him. My hunch was that with the modern information technologies, especially the internet, a lot could be done to sell this unique genius to the world and put him permanently on the global map of information dissemination.

To prove the point, I told of a story about my attempt to compare my own humble exposure to the worldwide web to that of Imam, using Google. I had typed and clicked on the words “Abubakar Imam” in order to see the number of entries available on the grandfather of modern Hausa literature on the net’s most popular and reliable search engine. I then entered my names. Disappointingly, I beat Imam by a ratio of 9:1. And who was I, a mere shrub, on the field of Hausa literature compared to a poplar like Imam? There are quite a number of other yardsticks one could use, of course, in gauging Imam’s pre-eminence on our collective psyche. But the truth was that Imam wasn’t on the map.

Imam should have been celebrated by writers, academics, journalists, politicians, businessmen and the commoners, especially those of northern extraction, because he had worked for all of them during his lifetime. Others were, indeed, members of his family.

Imam was born in Kagara in the present day Niger State in 1911. Nigerlites could claim him as their own, but Imam was a man of many climes. His roots were in Borno. His great-grandfather had migrated to Sokoto during the Jihad era. I could claim him to be mine, because he was raised by his elder brother in Katsina. The brother, Alhaji Bello Kagara, was a member of the Katsina royalty, having served as the Wali of Katsina. Imam was educated in Katsina and grew up there. Imam was a school teacher there. He was also discovered there by the Briton, Rupert M. East, following the first Hausa literary competition in 1933, which Imam won.

The people of Zaria could claim him as their own, and they did so more than anyone else. Imam spent the longest period of his life in Zaria. He first went there in order to write books under Dr East’s tutelage. Subsequently he continued to live there - writing books, working as editor of Gaskiya Ta Fi Kwabo newspaper, engaging in politics and religious activities, and raising family. By the time of his death on Friday, June 19, 1981 in Zaria, he had become a complete Zaria man. He was survived by a wife, 14 children and 42 grandchildren.

His impact on Hausa literature is still felt today. Many a writer aspires to write like him. There have been many attempts to be like him, in terms of linguistic craftsmanship and title output, but none has successfully worked. Reasons abound: we live in a different world, under a different intellectual and moral clime. Politics, the economy, exposure to values, everything, have changed. Nonetheless, many of the attempts to be like Imam were heroic. They have ensured that Hausa remains the most fecund indigenous language in our country. Its culture is strong. Its communication channels have been modernised, but they are yet to lose their pristine colorations completely.

This morning, Imam is going to be celebrated in Kaduna, courtsey of the Association of Nigerian Authors under the able leadership of Dr Wale Okediran. The ANA executive council has said that the campaign I waged in the media and on the internet was responsible for its decision to organise this colloquim. It’s not only an honour for Imam, therefore, but the honour is also mine.

Imam’s family have done their best to help immortalise their father and grandfather. A few years ago I was involved with their efforts to establish the Abubakar Imam Centre in Zaria, a kind of personal museum of his work. Dr Haroun Adamu also funded the setting up of one of my proposals - the Imam website: www.abubakarimam.com. Malam Dalhat has just completed a Hausa translation of Abubakar Imam Memoirs. But a lot needs to be done.

Sadly, today’s event is coming just when some pretenders to a certain moral crusade are jailing writers, moviemakers and other artistes in Kano. This morning, a Hausa novelist, Aminuddeen Ladan Abubakar (ALA) has been in jail for two days, having been sent there by a mobile court working for the Kano State Censorship Board. His offence: the alleged release of a song (one of the best Hausa songs this century!) which lampoons the evil regime of censorship in Kano. (More on this later)

All persons of conscience should use the occasion of this colloquiem to not only celebrate Imam’s incredible attainments but also to ruminate on the war against the arts going on in Kano. This event would be worthless if in celebrating our grandfather we forget or refuse to lament the persecution of his grandsons and grand-daughters.

•This piece was published today in LEADERSHIP under the heading: "Abubakar Imam: My Personal Odyssey"

Kano Censorship: Aminu Ala Arrested, Jailed

It has been two days now since a popular Hausa novelist and singer, Aminuddeen Ladan Abubakar (ALA), was sent to prison by a mobile court which works for the Kano State Censorship Board, in Kano. The writer/singer best known simply as Ala (after his initials) was arrested by the police on Saturday night in Kano after he had closed from work at Hikima Multimedia. He was, however, released on bail at the police station, on the pldege that he would attend court on Monday. He was not told what his offence was, but not everybody was left guessing.

Ala had composed a song, "Hasbunallah," with four other singers, in which they lampoon the regime of censorship in Kano. Moviemakers, singers and writers must submit their works to the censorship board for vetting. Though Ala had not released the "offensive" song, it had found its way into people's GSM handsets and computers, from where it was replicated into other forms of media.

Recently, the police and opratives of the censors board had swooped on Hikima Multimedia, looking for evidence that would link Ala to the release of the song. Consequently, Ala went into hiding; he was said to have gone to the neighbouring states. Two weeks ago, he returned home. And the censors attacked.

During the sitting in court, Ala pleaded not guilty. He was promptly sent to jail by a magistrate, Mukhtar Ahmed, notorious for jailing and or fining anyone that was brought before him under any kind of charge.

Writers and moviemakers, as well as millions of their admirers are livid with rage. Many view the arrest and detention of Ala as an attack against freedom of expression as guaranteed by the Nigerian constitution. It is felt by a wide spectrum of the populace that Ala is innocent. Like Hamisu Iyan-Tama, an actor/producer jailed for months by the same court, he did not release the song. Even if he did, it does not contain anything negative as to warrant an arrest. The case is gaining a lot of attention in the media, in internet chatgroups, and other fora.

Ala is due to be returned to court today to hear his application for bail. But I was told by a close associate of his that the prison authorities in Kano have revealed that a separate order from the court had said that the accused would be held till Tuesday next week. That would be against the pronouncement of the judge in the open court on Tuesday.

Yesterday, the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Kano State branch, issued a statement on the matter. It goes like this:


Press Release

At an emergency meeting held at the Bayero University Kano, today, July 8, 2009, the Association of Nigerian Authors Kano State Branch frowns at the arrest of one of its members Alhaji Aminuddeen Ladan Abubakar (ALA) over the alleged release of a song that has not been censored by the Kano State Censorship Board.

The Association is seriously looking at the implication of the arrest which is seen as an attack on liberty and freedom of expression. The Association has observed that the authorities in Kano are hostile to art and literature. This action and other past actions of the authorities are seriously undermining the position of Kano State as the leading centre of learning, art and literature.

The Association wishes to advise the authority to be cautious on the way it handles the matters of authors and other producers of art. Art and literature are part and parcel of every society and no society can do without it.

Yours faithfully,

Dr. Yusuf M Adamu
Branch Chairman

Alh. Balarabe Sango II
Public Relations Officer

July 8, 2009

Iyan-Tama: Matters Arising

Hamisu Lamido Iyan-Tama, the famous Hausa actor and producer jailed for three months by a magistrate court in Kano, was released from prison on Monday. He had been jailed for allegedly releasing a feature film without government approval and running a filmmaking company without registration. In an open letter to the Governor of Kano State, published in this column two days after Iyan-Tama was sent to prison, I pointed out that the two charges were false and a concoction of the Kano State Censorship Board which has been waging a war of attrition against Hausa filmmakers and authors, based on a dubious claim of cleansing them of all immoralities. In that piece, I called on His Excellency, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, to, as a matter of utmost urgency, investigate that act of gargantuan injustice and enter a no-case submission in the appeal Iyan-Tama filed at a Kano High Court, paving the way to the freeing of the actor.

A government functionary told me a day later that Malam (as the governor is widely known) had read my letter. But Iyan-Tama was left to languish in prison for almost three months until Wednesday last week when the government did exactly what I and many other folk beseeched it to do: file a no-case submission. Obviously, the governor has shown a soft heart here, but the wheel of justice in Kano, as it is everywhere else in Nigeria, is very slow. And that’s sad, considering what the actor suffered during this period. For during his incarceration, Iyan-Tama was made to suffer a lot of indignity, including a psychological warfare waged against him by the Kano State Censorship Board headed by Malam Abubakar Rabo Abdulkarim. The Director-General of the board, Rabo, whose stock in trade is a blitzkrieg of propaganda against movie practitioners, embarked on media interviews in which he justified what he clearly knew to be a travesty of justice against Iyan-Tama; he knew quite well that the plot to deal with Iyan-Tama was conceived, hatched and executed by him and a few of his cohorts, and his wish was granted by the magistrate who had proved in more ways than one that he was a willing tool to be used against anyone connected to the movie industry.

Iyan-Tama’s family was attacked at midnight by a colony of thugs, who held his wife and children hostage, threatening to kill them. The family had to flee the house in the morning. About a month later, another house connected to Iyan-Tama’s family was attacked by a group of thugs (widely thought to be the same as the first group). During this attack, the thugs even raped a female house-help, thinking she was a member of the actor’s immediate family.

Be that as it may, Iyan-Tama is now half-free. He was let out of prison this week, following a prayer to the High Court by the Kano State Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice that the court should grant him bail and order for a retrial of the case. According to the Attorney-General, Barrister Aliyu Umar, the first trial was besmirched by irregularities. Due process was not followed in the trial that led to the conviction, he said. He used very uncomplimentary terms to describe the trial conducted by a senior magistrate, Alhaji Mukhtari Ahmed, such as “improper,” “incomplete,” “a mistake,” summing up by insisting that a “more competent magistrate” should be given the case to try again. Umar told the court presided over by Justice Tani Umar: “I am not in support of the conviction in this trial. It is obvious that the trial was not completed before judgement was delivered but there and then the presiding magistrate went ahead and delivered a judgement.”

Now, these words are proof that my argument that Iyan-Tama was punished by some conspirators because of his political views (he contested the state gubernatorial seat for the 2007 election), not because he had broken any law, have been vindicated. The learned commissioner would not have made this submission flippantly, without carefully examining the facts of the case that played itself out in the magistrate court. And as a government official charged with superintending the legal field in Kano State, he must have endeavoured to discharge his duties with utmost responsibility.

Governor Shekarau deserves commendation for the confession by his government that Iyan-Tama was unjustly imprisoned. But then, there are questions that the day’s hearing brought up. One, was Barrister Umar’s submission not a clear indictment of the magistrate who jailed Iyan-Tama? By questioning the competence of Ahmed, going to the extent of asking the high court to reassign the case to another magistrate, he has clearly shown that the judge was not qualified to sit over all such cases. In this situation, does Ahmed merit serving as a judge in the service of the Kano State Government, having committed an injustice that can be successfully argued even by a baby lawyer to be a travesty of justice? Is it not more honourable to the magistrate to resign immediately or be sacked by the government? And how many more such magistrates are working in the Kano State courtrooms, handing down selfish judgements?

And what of Rabo’s war? Is it justified anymore? Is it truly meant to sanitise the filmmaking business or kill it, using weapons of emasculation at the disposal of a punitive, merciless government agency? For me, Rabo has been discredited as much as Ahmed was, and should, therefore, embrace the same fate: resign or be sacked. In more civilised climes, Rabo and Ahmed would have simply thrown in the towel, having been proved to be fraudulent.

What of the proposed retrial? Is it normal to try an accused person twice for the same charge? I am not learned, therefore, I will not question her lordship’s discretion in this. But suppose after going through the whole hog of a retrial in another court, Iyan-Tama is adjudged guilty again, would he be sentenced again (maybe for ten years!) in prison? Would that be justice?

Will Iyan-Tama be compensated for his recent illegal imprisonment? Or did he suffer for nothing? Iyan-Tama’s lawyer, Suleiman Abdulkadir, SAN, had stated that if at all a retrial was to be ordered, the government should pay N100 million as compensation to his client. I hear that the Shekarau government had feared that Iyan-Tama would demand a compensation for his unjust arraignment, hence the decision to jail him. Now the word going round is that they have dangled the sword of Damocles of the retrial option over his neck for the same purpose. If these claims are true, I doubt if that’s the best way to institute Shari’ah law in our society.

---
Published in LEADERSHIP today

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)

Iyan-Tama: Another Case Of Injustice

AN OPEN LETTER TO GOVERNOR IBRAHIM SHEKARAU

Your Excellency,
I am sending this letter to you through an open forum because I believe it will get to you faster than through the formal ones, given the urgency the matter requires. If I had to submit the letter at your office it could take days, or even months, before it could reach you, and by that time you might not have been fully briefed by an independent source on the gargantuan injustice some of your appointees are committing on your behalf.

Secondly, the matter has since been in the public domain, generating such a storm of negative publicity in the last few months. Now it appears to have been settled through a dubious process of adjudication, which some self-serving zealots have pinned on the canvass of your administration’ s well publicized mantra of humanism, non-deceit and Islamic values. Moreover, writing publically would give anyone interested in the issue an insight into what is happening in a key aspect of your government.

Sir, I am very conversant with this case, not only because I have been following it up in the magistrate’s court in Kano where it was exhausted but also because I am an insider in the Hausa filmmaking business. I do not have to stress here that Kano has been the hub of Hausa filmmaking for the over 10 years since the trade began.

I am very certain that you are not totally unaware of the court case between the Kano State Censorship Board (KSCB) and a movie producer, Alhaji Hamisu Lamido Iyan-Tama. The latter, Your Excellency, is an indigene of your state who played a key role in the development of Hausa filmmaking, doubling as an A-list actor. Indeed, he was the first elected national president of Arewa Film Producers Association. It is a well known fact that he has never produced or acted in a movie that ran counter to the cultural and religious beliefs of Kano people. His roles have consistently been mature; he insists on quality of production, sensitivity in the representation of culture in the movies, and he is always law-abiding. His movies have won top awards.

Your Excellency, if you are opportune to read this letter today, Iyan-Tama has spent two days in Kano Prison so far, having been indicted on Tuesday on two offences by a magistrate court that had played adabracadbra with his case for the past few months. By the court’s ruling, he is going to spend three months in jail without an option of fine. In addition, he is to pay a huge fine or spend an additional year in jail.

Many of us observers would not have batted an eyelid over this verdict if the offences had truly been committed. I for one believe in the rule of law, knowing that it is the cardinal principle of any workable democracy. Nobody should be above the law. Observing this rule is one of the requirements for the survival of democracy and a guarantee for the well-being of the nation. The truth, however, is that the offences for which Iyan-Tama was “found guilty” were cooked up by the Censorship Board and the guilty verdict passed by a compromised judge best known for jailing anyone dragged before him even if innocent. The not-so-funny thing is that this atrocity is perpetrated under your name and the hallowed provisions of the Islamic Shari’ah law. From my reading of your pronouncements and personal attitude, I am yet to be convinced that you would support injustice in whichever mode or allow anyone to play politics with the Islamic law in order to settle some personal score.

Let me summarise the case for you, Sir. Iyan-Tama was arrested in his office in Kano by members of a task force from the KSCB and taken to the mobile court established to adjudicate on matters of filmmaking and book writing (widened to include all forms of publications) . Curiously, the court is the only one of its kind; there are no special courts for achaba, prostitution, gambling, homosexuality, etc. Iyan-Tama was charged on two “offences”:

1. Releasing his movie, “Tsintsiya” (meaning Broom) in Kano without having it vetted by the KSCB as required by law;

2. Operating a production company, Iyan-Tama Multimedia, without government registration.

Now all these counts are false and his attorney did work hard to convince the senior magistrate, Alhaji Mukhtar Ahmed, to believe so. It took months before the verdict, which has shocked most residents of Kano State and beyond, was passed.

Let’s begin with the second charge. Iyan-Tama Multimedia was duly registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), which is vested with the responsibility of registering all companies in Nigeria. KSCB insists that Iyan-Tama did not renew his annual registration with the Board. Again, this was proved to be false as he had filed an application on that months before his arrest and obtained the relevant receipts. Having made that move while operating a federally approved business venture did not speak of a lawless business man eager to flout the provisions of running a filmmaking venture in Kano.

The first charge was even more absurd. Your Excellency, Iyan-Tama did not release the said movie in Kano State. He even ran advertorials and did radio and newspaper interviews prior to the movie’s premiere in Abuja, in which he stated unequivocally that “Tsintsiya” would not be distributed in Kano State.

When the KSCB decided to “deal with Iyan-Tama”, members of its task force broke a shop, HRB, in Tarauni quarters of Kano and obtained a CD of the movie, hidden inside a desk drawer by an actor who says he bought it in Kaduna and wanted to give it to a fan. The CD was not displayed for sale. Its presence in Kano was not linked to Hamisu Iyan-Tama. If you read the transcript of the cross-examination of the KSCB’s two witnesses (the task force members) in court, you will believe without any doubt that they could not link Hamisu to the presence of that CD in that shop.

Clearly, the case against Iyan-Tama was a vendetta. It was a part of the “get him at all cost” campaign which the KSCB seems to be running against some selected film industry operators. KSCB’s warped thinking is that through this campaign it could help wipe out the whole idea of movie -making in the Hausa language. It uses crude propaganda, trades in misinformation, unleashes a deliberate misinterpretation of the 2002 Censorship Law, and brandishes the name of Islam in its entirely unIslamic approach to reforming the entertainment arena in Kano. Your Excellency, all this is against your avowed commitment to social justice. And it comes with a high price, which I will, with all due respect, Sir, tell you.

Your Excellency,

The war against filmmaking in Kano is wearing the toga of Shariah, however it is anything but Islamic. Those waging it are fellow conspirators mouthing the words of the holy Qur’an and the Sunnah but acting the script of Hitler. There is nothing in their actions that proves a commitment to the hallowed blandishments of the holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW). As I said last week, the systematic, violent strangulation of the movie industry is coming at great cost, not only to the industry’s operators but also to the Kano State government. I shall enumerate some of the high prices being paid:

1. Thousands of self-employed youths have been thrown out of work, with all the attendant difficulties faced by them and their families. They have not been provided with alternative means of earning a livelihood. “To hell with them,” your warriors would say, “half of them are not Kano indigenes!” But it goes against the grain of your administration’s stated commitment to providing jobs to the multitude of Kano youths.

2. The war is a drag on Kano’s already dismal economy. With the collapse of most of the manufacturing industries in the state, the movie industry should have been harnessed towards a viable, self-sustaining enterprise within acceptable moral and legal bounds. Instead, the strangled baby is being thrown out with the bath water.
3. A dark cloud of fear and uncertainty has enveloped the youths, with stakeholders turned into virtual beggars (’yan maula).

4. A rash of anti-Shekarau sentiment has been unleashed among the youths. This is visible in folk songs being produced in movie studios in Kano, Zaria and Kaduna. Initially the songs were targeted at the Kano State Censorship Board (KSCB) but they are now including the governor in their attacks. The most popular of such songs was written, composed to music and published in a studio owned by a very close political confidante of yours, yet the KSCB did not find it necessary to act on this because the sponsor of the studio is an ‘untouchable’.

This anti-Shekarau sentiment is gaining momentum and could well translate into a liability for ANPP in the 2011 general elections in the state.

5. Questions are being asked on the purpose and direction of your Shariah campaign, which millions embraced. A leader preaching equity and moral rebirth should not deny thousands of the young ones their means of earning a meal.

Your Excellency, I am a believer in sanitisation of society and inculcation of moral values in tandem with the beliefs and customs of the people. Hence my full support of your government’s Societal Reorientation Programme (A Daidaita Sahu), which our good friend Malam Bala Muhammad has been heading most admirably and with tremendous success. But the censorship regime in Kano is undoing what A Daidaita Sahu has accomplished. Reeling precariously on a wrong track, its approach is malicious and personalised. It has derailed from any moral, practical yardstick.

Granted that the Hausa movie industry has had some disturbing excesses that needed to be checked. This was even more expedient after the Hiyana Affair. But the involvement of the genuine leaders of the industry was a necessity if any success was to be achieved. Instead, they were excommunicated by the KSCB, which went ahead to create enclaves of fake loyalists, host diversionary dinners and organise purposeless talk-shows. No wonder the divide and rule tactics, the bitter carrots and stick method and the Nazi-style propaganda executed by the board have only created cataclysms and woeful failures in the task of sanitising the industry.

Pornographic movies and posters are still on sale in Kano. Also, most of the trickle Hausa movies produced by the so-called loyalists of KSCB and approved by the board (to hide the lie that filmmaking isn’t being killed) cannot pass an independent assessment, using the board’s own yardstick. Pray, how many qualitative, morally “acceptable” movies were produced under KSCB’s watch since the Hiyana Affair?
Sir, you will agree with me that the idea of filmmaking itself is not an anathema and should, therefore, not be killed. Movies can be made on all sorts of themes in line with cultural norms. Moviemakers should be guided, not denigrated or hounded out of town.

Sir, Hamisu Iyan-Tama is a political prisoner: he opposed you in the 2007 polls by contesting your gubernatorial seat. He didn’t pose any significant threat to you. You were re-elected. Yet for his effrontery, your appointees are punishing him. They say he is a braggart, pompous, talks too much and criticizes your administration. Fine and good, are they not bigger braggarts and even more pompous, acting as if they are almighty? Don’t they consider anyone who questions their decisions as an enemy or even an unbeliever, disloyal, or a non-indigene ignorant of all the issues involved? How more supercilious could one be?

And even if Iyan-Tama was a braggart or was your political opponent, was that enough basis to punish him with a jail term when he did not break any law? Is he as damaging to you as those angry talking heads on Freedom Radio? Where is the democracy we are talking about? Would the Prophet (SAW) or any of his rightly guided caliphs or the sundry righteous men that trod on their path treat an opponent that way?

Your Excellency, you should probe the Iyan-Tama case, please, especially the role of the magistrate that handled it and other cases of injustice. Why should a court be working for a prosecuting government agency? Why should a single magistrate who has shown his bias more times than can be counted remain the only judge on each and every case the KSCB is prosecuting? Is the man a God-fearing adjudicator or a mere grumpy politician?

You should also use your good offices to free Iyan-Tama by entering a nolle prosequi in the appeal case he filed before a higher court. I know you have such a big heart because you acted that way in similar cases, including the one in which your wife was maligned. You should not allow your zesty hirelings to fight your opponents unjustly because on the Day of Reckoning they will answer their own cases separately from yours.

Sir, till we talk on this and some other cases again, I remain your most humble observer and adviser.

ABOVE IS THE TEXT OF MY WEEKLY COLUMN PUBLISHED IN LEADERSHIP NEWSPAPER, ABUJA, YESTERDAY (AND CONCLUDED THE FOLLOWING THURSDAY)