One of the greatest mistakes some southerners make is to look down on our brothers from the northern part of the country is Calling them Aboki and Nama because you think they are dull. What you mistake for dullness is actually restraint. They are as intelligent as you, and probably more so. But they are restrained by their religion, which governs every aspect of their lives.from the day they are born to the day they die and are buried, Islam governs their lives and gives them clarity. As a result, for the most part, they do not act outside the boundaries set for them by their religion. They talk less because Islam has disciplined them to be more introspective. But if they have to speak, they are just as eloquent, or perhaps more eloquent, than you and I. In Hausa, Arabic, and English. And sometimes in Fulfulde. Waxiri Atiku Abubakar, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, and Ambassador Hassan Turkur, for example, are fluent in all four languages. And except for Ambassador Turkey, they speak and understand Yoruba with lower fluency.
This polyglottic ability is common to most core Northerners. The ones in the Southwest speak Yoruba. Those in the Southeast speak Igbo. They will not tell you because bragging is unIslamic. It is only when you befriend them that you will discover it yourself.
They have the ability to talk and say some of the things you say. But they won’t because of the discipline their religion imposes on them. They can act in the same way you act, but they are inhibited due to the training their faith has put them through. They can dress as sexily as you. But they opt not to because Islam is conservative, especially in modes of dressing. There is nothing that you can do that they cannot do. They do not do it, not because they cannot. Rather, they choose not to do it out of fear of God.
Be aware that whereas the colonial masters met some Southerners and Middle Belters butt naked (if you argue, I will produce photos. I say this not to shame anyone, but history is history and is sometimes not pleasant), barefooted, and without any central authority or organised form of government, or writing system, they met core Northerners fully clothed, on horses or donkeys, with sandals, a form of writing (Ajami) and a system of organised hierarchical government that started in Sokoto, invoiced parts of the present day Niger Republic, and ended in modern-day Cameroon.
Rethink the way you look at Northerners. Other than the Yorubas, with their Oyo Empire, the Binis, with their ancient civilisation, and the Itsekiri, with their centuries old standing navy, no other Nigerian people had a complete and modern system of government, with internal organisation and organised transition of power, that transcended their domain and extended to dominating others, apart from the core North.
Whereas, in some places, women do not inherit or have only recently been allowed to be educated, core Northern women have ALWAYS been guaranteed inheritance rights by Islam. They can choose who they will marry and have been educated and educators for centuries. Oh yes. Fact-check me. Nana Asmaʼu was a poet and teacher 200 years ago. And the only woman on Nigerian currency, Ladi Kwali, was a world renowned potter and teacher of pottery skills.
If you know what is good for you as a people, restrain yourself from disrespecting them, and instead, treat them with mutual respect and do not underestimate them. To do so is to make the greatest political mistake you can make, which may set you back decades as a people.
Wise people will learn from the above. But some people will only insult, abuse and threaten. Because when you have nothing in your culture that you hallow, you become shallow.
Reno Omokri
