How Suleja on the outskirt of Abuja fared during and after the 2011 emergency rule.

[FMINigeria]

By Ibraheem Alhassan

ibrahazal@yahoo.com

You may wish to recall that Suleja in Niger State is one of the Local Government Areas which was slammed with the hammer of emergency rule in 2011 by the Goodluck Jonathan's Government along with some others in Plateau, Yobe and Borno States due to activities of the insurgents, who perpetrated violence then.  In the case of Suleja, the attack on St. Theresa's Catholic Church, Mandalla on Christmas Day, 2011 which left over 38 people dead, 80 injured; whilst 36 houses and 4 churches were burnt; in addition to the destruction of seven vehicles made its case readily justifiable for emergency rule.

Not less than five bomb blasts took place in the emirate within a short interval period.  President Goodluck Jonathan and the Nigerian nation couldn't tolerate those excesses at Suleja beyond hence the invocation of section 305, sub-section 1 and 2 of the Nigerian Constitution as amended in 1999 on the Local Government.

The proximity of Suleja to Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, though in Niger State, made it necessary for one to take a study look at Suleja, given the hammer and thereafter, when the emergency rule was lifted.

It is observable that the hitherto busy and bubbling town of Suleja has turned sleepy lately.  The town's economic and social activities can be seen to have suffered under the state of emergency imposed on it.  Residents groaned under the near-total grounding of social and economic activities.  This situation, many saw as 'torment' which made a lot of people to relocate away from the once busy town.

Loss of man-hours, dullness in economic activities and near-absence of social activities, since the Boko Haram sect began its attacks, plus the presence of heavily-armed military troops was order of the day and these in no small measure drove many away from Suleja.

Entrepreneurs and traders whose economic activities pick after regular office hours have had to shut down as the curfew imposed on the town begins then at 6:00 p.m. lasting till 6:00 a.m. following day.  For a visitor to the town, the presence of heavily-armed security operatives drafted to maintain the emergency rule, was enough to deflate enthusiasm.  The story was the same for the ordinary folks who were trying to make ends meet, on the streets of Suleja.

Worst hit were labourers on daily menial jobs who get paid by the number of hours they put in; the market traders; hoteliers, as well as those who patronize them, all felt the intense heat of the situation, as their sources of income dwindle.   Chimezie Nonso, 43, a trader who relocated to Kubwa village, the experience was something he can never forget in a hurry.  "I have been in Suleja since 1998, and it was a good place for my business as well as my social life. 

I have never thought of moving out of the town.  It was a nice, affordable town.  I had a three-bedroom apartment which I was paying N130, 000 and my business was doing well because a lot of people from Abuja patronized Suleja market because of the affordability of goods there compared to Abuja markets.  I was forced by the emergency laws to move to Kubwa, where I pay a whopping N350, 000 for a two-bedroom apartment, besides what I pay for my shop space."

Nonso, said it was just a different world to him. "But I had no option than to relocate.  Business has died in Suleja, due to the curfew.   Before you know it, time was up and the town becomes tense, with people running frantically to beat the curfew."  He added that he knows more than six people who sold off their properties and left the town, then.

Residents who commute from Suleja to work in Abuja also expressed their woes, trying to beat the curfew after close of work.  Wazhi Kumnang, a junior civil servant at the Federal Secretariat, said: "Once it is 5 o'clock and you were still in town, just find a place and spend the night, because those military guys would not listen to any excuse or even look at your identity card."

Suleja residents increasingly relocated to Dakwa, Zuba, Tungan Maje amongst other FCT suburbs bordering Suleja.  Labourers and petty traders were also among those who paid the price of the emergency rule in the town.   A motorcyclist, who gave his name as Aliyu said, once it was time for real activities, that is, when people began to rush home, that was also the time the curfew of the emergency began to overshadow all.  Local tea vendors, suya sellers, black market fuel operators fall in this category; everyone felt it.

Fans of European football league who reside in Suleja left the town for Kubwa to watch their dear Champions'League football matches at view centres; no more in Suleja.  Morocco Road is at the heart of the commercial district of Suleja.  It became a ghost of its old self.

It would be recalled that, within the emergency period, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Federal Character and Inter-Governmental Affairs Committee, Senator Dahiru Kuta whose constituency is Suleja Local Government, made a case in the National Assembly for the release of the Council's funds.  Kuta said, if urgent steps were not taken to force the Federal Government to release the withheld funds, the affected Local Government Council would grind to a halt. "Since January 1, 2012, Suleja had to operate without a kobo from anywhere. Social services deteriorated.  Crime went on the increase, because most of the Council' workers could no longer meet their responsibilities.  The Local Government Area ground to a halt with staff deserting their offices and looking for succour anywhere they could."

A lawyer, Imam Hassan, said most of his clients were people who work in the Abuja city, but by the time they returned home, it was curfew hours; so it means no business for him. "I cannot quantify the loss.  We were praying that the emergency rule be lifted soon.  In fact, it was an emergency situation."

There was wild jubilation when the six months' state of emergency in Suleja got suspended.  Since December 31, 2011, Emeka Okoye said he was able to stay outside beyond 8:00 p.m.   To him, "It was like breathing an air of freedom after six months of being imprisoned."   Such was the feeling amongst most residents of Suleja, a town that has been under the siege of the military for the past months.

Emeka was not the only one who felt this way.  Other residents who had suffered as a result of the curfew expressed their gratitude to the Federal Government for lifting the state of emergency on Suleja; a case of one not appreciating freedom, until he was denied of it.

Before now most residents, especially, the Muslim faithful have expressed concerned about how they would cope with the Ramadan fast and the curfew.   To their relief, few days before the commencement of the fast, the Federal Government announced an end to the emergency rule.

It should be mentioned that about a year after the emergency rule in Suleja, the ancient town is still just recuperating.  Those that fled the town, especially non-Muslims and non-indigenes, never came back.  The known hustle and bustle of socio-economic activities of Suleja is just gradually picking up; but can never be compared with how Suleja was.

The experience of Suleja under the state of emergency can only be instructive to those places which are just about experiencing it.

Ibraheem Al-hassan, an indigene of Suleja, wrote from the National Press Centre, Abuja.

Via: Federal Ministry of Information (FMI) Nigeria