To believe in every rubbish presented to us without scrutiny as conspiracy makes us adamant, reluctant, confused and sometimes naive and unfocused for tackling and solving the roots of our actual problems.
I do not doubt conspiracy as a tool used maliciously by individual, group of people, or government to achieve a set goal. This is due to the mischievous and treacherous nature of humans for competition of resources over ages.
However, the proposition of conspiracy theory and its larger acceptance without critical scrutiny by intellectuals, political leaders and the average person is indeed counterproductive to our collective security as a nation.
As natural and social scientists know; a THEORY is an idea suggested to explain an observable phenomenon or event. This means that a theory is not a fact. It's just a mere guess which can be accepted, rejected or modified based on an established "fact". I say “fact" not "circumstantial evidence" which is another big word for "hearsay".
Most of the people that formulate such theories cannot prove them right nor can they make them acceptable before a court of law and neither before people of neutral and unbiased opinion about the subject under discussion.
To believe BOKO HARAM is a mere conspiracy against the North or Nigeria at large, shows one's lack of knowledge regarding northern Nigerian history and its background of events.
Back in 1930s in Sokoto there was Satiru revolt, where some learned Muslim scholars opposed authority, took arms and prohibited Western education for being indoctrinated strongly against modernity. And this idea of theirs was rooted from the nature of Western education being taught mostly and operated by Christian missionaries tied with Western culture, since Western education and values were (and are still) influenced by Christianity.
Thus, hatred and dissociation of larger percentage of northern Muslims from anything connected with either colonial or Western cultures. Non-romancing of Western cultures was also demonstrated throughout the colonized nations of the world, including non-Muslim and the then-pagan communities of southern and central Nigeria before and during the earlier colonial conquest.
I do still remember some songs we used to sing in Hausa as children whenever pupils of public primary schools of my locality were coming back home after school. Since we only attended Islamiyya or Qur'anic schools then.
It recites in Hausa:
“Yan makarantar bokoko, ba karatu ba sallah, sai yawan zagin malam.”
Which roughly means: "The pupils of Western-type schools neither learn (anything spiritually beneficial), nor perform prayer (Salah), but rather insult their teachers more often".
There is the commonest one in the Hausaland, which is sung as a single stanza up to this millennium as bokoko a wuta. Meaning: “Western education is hell (i.e. sinful)".
Another one which we used to sing with enthusiasm reads:
‘Yan makarantar boko lokacinku ya yi
Ku sha giya ku sha taba har ku kai ga caca
Kadangare da littafi sauro da agogo
Wahainiya da ‘yar mota wai zata Kaduna
Ashe ubanta gyartai ne malamin sakaina
Gari-gari ya ke yawo don ya dinke kwarya
Garin da babu kwarya ko sai ya rafsa kuka
Garin da babu kwarya ko sai ya rafsa kuka"
Brief meanings:
It's your school time Western education pupils
That you consume alcohol and smoke that may take you to gambling
Imaging a lizard with a book and a mosquito with a wrist watch (likening the pupil mockingly with reptiles)
And imagine a chameleon in a car going to Kaduna
Ah unfortunately her father is a wooden calabash repairer
Who roams about from one town to the other for calabash repairs
He cries in an empty town
He cries in an empty town
Such songs illustrate the popular opinion or belief then of Hausa people towards Western-style learning. And they still function as oral literary evidence of the history of Hausa Muslims’ earliest perception on Western education.
Furthermore, it's in the midst of these ideologies and opinions of the largest Hausa society living a hand-to-mouth existence, in a vast ocean of ignorance of their religion and that of the rapidly changing world, there came independence.
Those who acquired Western education were made political leaders. And instead of being just and fair, they became the opposite. Looting the public treasuries and inflicting all forms of hardship and brutality among the masses were the orders of the day. It was at this unjust society there erupted the Maitatsine uprising in Kano of the early 80s and that of Adamawa, Maiduguri and Funtua in the late 80s and early 90s.
The contributions of northern ulamas of every denomination in motivating the youths, especially in the post 9/11 era, coupled with the negligence of government and security agencies can never be overlooked. It was during that period especially 2001 to 2005 that our ulamas in different occasions such as in their Friday Sermons, Ramadan tafsir or special ,lectures showered unprecedented supports and prayers to the leaders and members of international terrorist organizations like al-Qaeda and the Abu Sayyaf group. Such ulamas might be excused by a biased follower of theirs that, they were unaware of the actual motives of that organizations and that they were mistaken and driven by a good course.
But in my opinion, the ulamas did that due to selfishness since the victims were then mostly Western Christian civilians. And interestingly, in Islam ignorance is not an excuse. The ulamas always tell us that it's prohibited to speak about a matter unless you have adequate knowledge on it; while being mostly unaware of world politics and international terrorism, and without undertaking any research on such organizations thereby leading the Umma erroneously.
Fortunately, now it is clear to almost everybody that Boko Haram, al-Qaeda, ISIS etc. are of almost the same ideology and barbaric acts. Due to this understanding our ulamas and the masses have now seem to be against such agents of terror that tarnish the beautiful image and marvelous history of Islam. May Allah have mercy and forgive us and our ulamas for all our past, present and future wrong deeds.
To believe in every rubbish presented to us without scrutiny as conspiracy makes us adamant, reluctant, confused and sometimes naive and unfocused for tackling and solving the roots of our actual problems. And lastly, it is worthy to note that I believe there are always some people that hijack and try to benefit selfishly from any unfortunate situation.
May Allah help us in all our endeavors!