hajia

Maulud celebration across the north is a big issue now. It is celebrated with pomp and pageantry and definitely with an acute sense of vengeance. I say vengeance because virtually all the celebrants belong to the Darika and Shiite sects. These sects were at one time muscled and stopped from doing things they otherwise would have done in the realm of what they considered part of Islamic worship. The mainstream sect, Izala, on the other hand remained stead fast in its opposition to Maulud celebration and several other things they considered as bidi'a. In fact the stiff opposition they showed in earlier years may have triggered the vengeance we see now among those who celebrate it. But vengeance it is and it even borders on intimidation. This is seen largely in their simplistic analogy that maulud equals deference and love for the prophet and that those who frown at maulud are enemies of the prophet.

But my main grouse with the celebration is the attendant confusion. First they are yet to agree on a common date for the event. So in theory and practice we see maulud celebration going on throughout the month. Today it is this house, tomorrow it is that section of town and the next day that half of town. In KT we saw individuals celebrating on different days, then staunch Darika families like Iron Baba's doing their own on different days, then we witnessed that for the Darika sect and Shiites doing their own also on different days and at last there was a joint celebration by all covering the whole town. This duplication of efforts serves no purpose but disrupts activities and traffic in down town section of KT. Imagine a month long disruption and the loss to the economy.

A sincere dialogue with the principal actors can go along way in streamlining these celebrations and especially curbing the excesses of the irate youths involved. It is on record that provocative statements had been chanted against the Izala sect and their position on Bidi'a. Imams of all the sects in every state should be brought together to find a way to settle the differences on the issue. It has gone beyond maulud as it is threatening the peaceful existence of the Ummah. A code of conduct must be fashioned out for the maulud and indeed other thorny areas that have proved to be flash points.

I dont know who will call for this dialogue as our political leadership lack the merit to delve into this issue. The politicians as we all know have their principal interests and things like the long term welfare of the people rank low in their calculations. So every community is on its own here. But lest we forget, this year many people were caught off guard. Come next year we might see a fire for fire strategy adopted across the north. God forbid bad thing

KT is witnessing its worst water shortage in decades. The taps are dry most of the time and the wells and bore holes only provide brackish water that is unfit for human consumption. But this situation is in the midst of plenty as large bodies of water in dams are within reach. Ajiwa dam provides most of the drinking water for KT but the water works there is not sufficient and has aged. The water pumped from there arrives in huge pipes to booster stations inside town. These then distribute to smaller pipes that eventually takes the water to homes. The supply is now erratic and to make up for the short fall water carriers sell their stuff in yellow jerry cans. And they do not come cheap. Zobe and Jibia dams are all within reach but are yet to be harnessed to supplement what is available from Ajiwa.
The state government has so far kept mum on this important issue and we might suffer this shortage for years on end.

Egg consumers in KT are chuckling to themselves as they buy crates at rock bottom prices. A crate now goes for a mere four hundred Naira. Yes N400 which is a little over three US dollars. With this kind of price these eggs can be sold on the international market. This is the cheapest price you can get anywhere in Nigeria. The same crate however had sold for more than seven hundred Naira during the recent avian flu epidemic. What could be the cause of this big drop?

Well when the price was high the few producers on the ground made super profits and this attracted many to join the poultry business. Among them were many housewives who had collected poverty alleviation loans to raise layers inside their houses. The big players whose birds were completely culled as a result of the avian flu, equally saw the opportunity and prepared themselves for it. Slowly the supply began to ease pressure on the price and we noticed a slide to 600 and then 500. The price stabilised at 500 but quickly nose dived when the biggest chicken farmer intervened. Paki Masha farms is often described as the Coca-Cola of poultry farmers in KT and this is no joke. His farm has more than ten thousand birds that produce tons of eggs every day. The eggs were piling up in the stores as the small producers cornered the market. This situation prompted Paki Masha to slash his price to 400. They made it public through the local TV station KTTV and it was a big relief to consumers. But not so to all the other egg producers in town.
A situation like this ought to have triggered a price war but the other big time producers like Bilya Rimi, Hamisu Gambo etc all decided to sheath their swords. They were said to have sent a delegation to Paki Masha asking for an equal slash on the price of feeds. Their pleadings fell on deaf ears.
Meanwhile the household producers are watching the situation and hoping that something will bring back their profits. As for the consumers, well, we shall continue to consume more eggs while the situation lasts. And also hope for a price war that will push the price to 300, then 200 then 100 then ....who knows?