I am not an expert at differentiating the Hausa man from the Fulani…or telling the man from Niger republic from the genuine Northern Nigerian. By Northern Nigerian, I mean, the North-East, North-Central and North-West states. There is a large and increasing population of these North men in Lagos State involved in many trades and so-called menial jobs that we on this side see as “too beneath” us for status sake or cultural reasons.
A great many of these North men gather in various spots across this state with their diggers, axes and matchets…waiting for the always available contractors to pick them up for work in many sites across this state. Their tools are always with them as an absolute necessity for their hustle and survival. If in the course of this hustle and survival a quarrel ensues and degenerates…these hustle tools are immediately employed as defense or attack weapons to fatal bodily harm or straight death.
Now if we in this part, the South-South, South-East, South-West agree that the jobs these North men fill here are really too menial for us, because of our so-called status or cultural beliefs then we must also agree to find a way to live peacefully with these North men that willingly take on these jobs that demand they carry their tools on their persons and about. Truth is…these menial, laborious jobs must be done.
I really do not like arguing constitution, law and morals because too many times, these arguments grind on and on and “humanity” in its simplest and true form is lost in the process and the fundamental question of what is good and what is bad is never answered. This also is because left to man in his barest, base form, there is no good or bad, right or wrong…but just “instinct” for survival.
Three times I have seen the North man triumph over the increased, stifling challenges of rough streets since the Endsars protests degenerated into the contrived mess it became and the Nigerian police turned a blind eye to the chaos unleashed on the docile population by the ones we call criminals.
One night, a day or two to the end of December 2020 a motorcycle was stolen from a North man in the Gbodu area of Ikorodu by a three man squad armed with a pistol. They rode off at high speed in rough traffic, chased by other North men on bikes all the way till an oncoming NAPEP turned waterloo in a head on collision, tumbling the criminals into the new Arab Contractors’ gutter at Cele bus stop, not far from Idiroko.
Two of them got out fast, shooting into the air and disappearing into a side street. The third man was brought out of the gutter by the North horde and beaten and stabbed many times till the Yorubas and other people on the scene screamed…”e ma kpa si bi o…e gbe lo.” The North horde complied without stress…dem don catch one thief and dem collect their “buroda” bike back.
A few weeks after, a three man squad on a bike armed with pistols tried to rob inside Sabo market, Ikorodu. Their guns did not help them. They were rounded up sharply by the North men, dealt with and handed over to the police.
Another night, in the Furniture area of the Elepe-Ijede road, an Okada man was double crossed at gun point, his bike taken from him and his female passenger dispossessed of her bag and phones. The thieves sped off, chased by a lone North man at first, who apprehended one of the thieves with the help of other North men who joined the chase. The other thief escaped with the lady’s bag and phones. I learnt later that night that the Okada man whose bike was stolen was a North man…their “buroda.”
You can talk and wail all you want about what you perceive as the tragic life of the North man in the North in the hands of the Northern elite. This small story is a microcosm of the macro truth of the Nigerian situation. All the North man needs to know or hear…from the elite to the poverty stricken last man to swing into action are the words “na my buroda”, and he will fight to the death.
I don yarn finish.
Let Zebra News help your business/brand reach a wider audience. Advertise with us today! Contact Our Marketing Team; Tel: 08062622328, 07083662767. Email: zebranewsng@gmail.com
