Nafisat Abdullahi, Naziru Sarkin Waka and our attack-the-messenger-to-discredit-the-message Syndrome -By Ishaq Habeeb

I’ve met Nafisa twice, first at Zoo road, hanging out with a friend of mine who’s in business with many Kannywood industry people. Second, when i personally escorted a friend, who visited Kano, Nigeria, from Niamey, Nijer, who’d been pen pals with Nafisa for some time and agreed to meet whenever she’s in Kano.

After my initial attempts to dodge being part of making this meeting, happen, I grudgingly agreed to link them up. Aside that, i don’t know Nafisa enough as an actress, to know whether i like her – first, as a single lady – or her movies; as a good or bad actress – or not.

I mostly remember her from the one-time popular song; “Bankwana sai watarana” sang by Nazifi Asnanic. But following this Almajiranci debate, i already like her as an activist, and looking forward to liking her as – hopefully – a good actress. Which is her career, that made her and her statement this popular.

As for Naziru, I’ve met him several times, because aside being best friends with his childhood friend Rabiu Uba i’ve had business reasons to visit his T/Fulani residence last year, with Usman G. Abubakar a couple of times and spent time with the singer in his living room. That aside, i am no fan of his mostly-political music. Nothing personal, just not my genre.

Now back to the original reason behind this write up; The Almajiranci debate. My stand; Nafisat Abdullahi is right, so is Naziru Sarkin Waka. For those of us that knows people in the Kannywood industry and lived in Kano (the headquarters of Almajiranci in the world) long enough to see the ugliness of Almajiranci at its peak and in closer range that most people that are speaking about it from side-mirror experience, i am a better position to say they’re both right.

As both Kannywood and Almajiranci system are peopled largely by victims of inadequate parenting and that’s the monster we need to kill, and given that bearing more children than one can adequately cater for is hugely responsible for bad parenting, it brings us back to proving Nafisa and Naziru right again, Nafisa, then Naziru, regardless of his sketchy timing.

Conclusively, the major problem lies with the people that make it their life’s calling to always attack messagers to discredit a message that oftentimes serves the good of all – however factual and tangible the facts in the message may be.

First, it was Digital Imam, speaking truth to Presidency on the escalating level of insecurity. Then Nafisat, for speaking out against Almajiranci, a menace we all agree needs urgent addressing. Then almost concurrently, Naziru, for speaking out against the prevalent immoralities in Kannywood, which is being perpetrated mostly by largely victims of inadequate parenting. At this point, one can only pray, as a people, may we learn to hate our problems more than we love judging who’s reminding us of their presence for us to FIX them.