The peak of the
aspiration of any group of people is the attainment of self-determination and
realization politically and economically; no wonder, such excitement is
provoked annually every first day of October in commemoration of Nigeria’s
independence from the shackles of imperialist colonialism in 1960. So also, the
Kurama (Akurmi) people, indigenous to Lere local government of Kaduna state,
are eagerly anticipating there political emancipation from years of internal
colonization, which has been perpetuated through arbitrary skewing of wards and
polling units to their disadvantage regardless of being the first settlers and most
populated ethnic group in Lere local government.
This unfortunate
reality has placed the Kurama people as second class citizens, even with the
benefit of historical records which states that the Kurama people where the
first settlers in the present day Lere local government (formerly known as
Kasar Kurama). It is on record that the Kurama people have been in their
present location since the 14 Century (1350AD), while the Hausa-Fulani in Lere
that now dominate the political and economic affairs of the local government
only arrived around 1773. Historical records have also shown that Lere District
(now a local government) came about as a merger of two Kurama dominated
districts of Kudaru and Garu and the Hausa-Fulani dominated district of Lere
into a single entity in 1936. This gave the favored Hausa-Fulani the platform
to be given undue advantage in the affairs of the present-day local government.
This has ensured over
the past years the capture of political and economic power by the highly
favored Hausa/Fulani in the local government, due largely as a result of their
ethno-religious affiliation with the then provincial rulers in Zazzau, which
has been extended to our present day reality. This political enslavement was fully entrenched
in the 1991 questionable population census that brought to the fore the
deliberate miscalculation and manipulation of the population figures of the
Kurama people to the advantage of the Hausa-Fulani.
Before proceeding
with my arguments, I would like to acknowledge the fact that even with the deliberate
manipulations to silent a giant like the Kurama people, we have also been able
to achieve some economic and political gains. This is evident in our being able
to attract political appointments and hold elective positions in the local
government; this is only realizable not because there exist a level playing
ground but due mainly to the charismatic resilience of the Kurama people and
providence. Even at that, we still suffer discrimination as regards certain
elective positions (local government chairmanship), local government
indigenization, appointment, quota system, contracts and other empowerment
programmes.
At this juncture, it
is pertinent for me to restate that facts are sacred, and so they should serve
as references when it comes to addressing issues that have to do with
constituency delimitation and the destiny of a law-abiding people. If
population consideration is a key factor in the demarcation of wards and
distribution of polling units, then a great injustice has been perpetrated
against the Kurama people. Allow me to bring to the notice of the reader some
undisputed facts:
According to the
Zaria gazetteer of 1911 the Kurama people were the largest ethnic group in the
highlands and plains of Eastern Zazzau during the colonial period (larger than
that of Kagoro, Jaba, Moro’a and Chawai), and they remain so due to near
absence of any epidemic or major war. This fact was further buttressed by the
tax return of 1963, with the Kurama population returning sixty nine percent
(69%) of the total. Furthermore, as at 1986, Kurama chiefs were in the majority
with 60% representation in the council of chiefs in the defunct Lere district
as against 40% for other ethnic groups.
It is also believed,
and rightly so, that it was as a result of the intimidating population figure of
the Kurama people that necessitated the manipulation of the 1913 administrative
changes that witnessed the ceding of some part of the Kurama nation(Kasar
Kurama) across Zaria, Kano, Nasarawa (now known as Plateau state) and Bauchi
provinces. This was done to neutralize the political strength and set-up of the
Kurama people for reasons that are crystal clear to any discerning mind. Also,
I am of the confident opinion that it was as a result of the population
strength of the Kurama people that warranted the creation of the office of the
Iyan-Kurama by the Zazzau Emirate to administer villages around Kasar Kurama.
With the above
uncontestable fact, anyone not conversant with happenings in Lere local
government would assume that the Kurama people would be in control of affairs,
but would be disappointed with the facts I would be reeling out as regards the
unfair distribution of wards and polling units to the political disadvantage and
subjugation of the Kurama people.
The political
set-back suffered by the Kurama is not a contemporary issue; it started when
the British colonialist created the Zaria province in 1902 which subsequently
led to the partitioning of Kasar Kurama into three districts (Kudaru, Garu and
Lere). This was followed by the splitting of Kasar Kurama between four
provinces in 1913, as highlighted earlier. The nail was finally hit on the
coffin in 1998 with the delineation of wards and polling unit which was carried
out in Lere local government without due consideration for population spread,
contiguity and settlement. The outcome of the exercise carried out by the electoral
umpire was/is the political subjugation of the Kurama people to the perpetual
position of second fiddle in the political scheme of things.
The political
structure in Lere local government is made-up of eleven lopsided wards and a
total of 246 polling units; which suggest a conspiracy to numb the political
progression of the Kurama people. One is amazed that even with the facts
presented above which makes the Kurama people the dominant population, our
former district have been allotted only two (2) wards out of the eleven (11)
wards in the local government. While our other populated villages have been
balkanized and placed under wards dominated by the Hausa-Fulani, with few
polling units stationed in those villages. While out of the total number of
polling units (246), one hundred and sixty eight polling units are sited in
Hausa-Fulani dominated areas as against eighty one (81) in Kurama dominated
areas.
As it stands today
the Kurama chiefdom is the largest in terms of population but has been
mischievously squeezed into a single (1) ward, while the chiefdoms of Lere and
Saminaka controlled by the Hausa-Fulani have three (3) and five (5) wards
respectively. With Piriga chiefdom a cosmopolitan set-up of a dominant Kurama
population with other ethnic groups such as Gure, Kahugu, Piti among others has
two (wards). The question that is begging for an answer is why is it that out
of the four chiefdoms it is the Kurama chiefdom that has only one ward? Again
the answer is crystal clear to any discerning mind. I see no explainable reason
why Yarkasuwa ward consisting of over eighteen (18) villages should still be a
single ward.
Another instance of this
grand political conspiracy, is that of Goron Dutse and Kakku which are
districts under the Kurama chiefdom, but have been manipulatively placed under
Kayarda ward, this is more of a replica of the “divide and rule system” being
inherited from the British colonialist to perpetuate the rule of a particular
ethnic group. Furthermore, other instances of political subjugation are in
areas such as Dan’ Alhaji, Abadawa and Lazuru wards which are predominantly
Kurama, the distribution of polling units are skewed in favor of the minority
Hausa-Fulani. It is no longer a hidden fact that the absence of corresponding polling
units to reflect the true population spread is a covert plan to perpetually
subjugate the Kurama people and deny them access to democratic institutions and
dividends.
It is common sense arithmetic
that the more wards allotted to any group of people, the more the polling
units, which means more voting power. It is this calculation that is being used
to hold the Kurama people politically hostage. No wonder the agitation by the
Kurama people to be part of the proposed Gurara state, where they are
optimistic that there would be a level playing ground for their political
development.
It is this aspiration
of the Kurama people in adjusting the injustice done to them as regards wards
and polling units; that instigated the excitement that greeted the now
suspended constituency delineation by INEC with the swearing-in of Technical
committee headed by Engr. Nuru Yakubu on 10th October, 2013. We
hereby urge INEC to show more transparency, fairness and justice by looking
into the plight of the Kurama people by putting into consideration the
population spread, contiguity and settlement patterns of our people when the
suspension is lifted and increase the number of wards and polling units to
reflect the true reality. They also should look into allegations of undersupply
of electoral material to polling units and under-registration in areas
dominated by Kurama people.
