Buhari, Fulani heardsmen and our security.
Two weeks ago the minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, stated that the Fulani herdsmen maiming people, taking their land and destroying livelihoods across the country are not Nigerians.
Excuse me, is Mr Ogbeh serious? That a group of men and barbarians running rampant across the country are not Nigerians and the government has knowledge of this is even more appalling. Our security is what the government should take as most important because without security then every other thing counts for nothing in a Hobbesian society.
You may be wondering if the government values humans or cows more.
Sometimes our leaders think we are less important than cows. Permit me to say that president Buhari values his brethren and their cows more than the Nigerians.
Sometimes our leaders think we are less important than cows. Permit me to say that president Buhari values his brethren and their cows more than the Nigerians.
Events so far have proved me right and are continuously revealing that Mr President is not concerned that people are killed as long as the cows are safe.
One of such eventualities is that, owing to Mr Ogbeh’s confession, the herdsmen are from Niger, Chad etc. They are allowed to run rampant in the country right from the south to the west, causing chaos, releasing avalanche of tears and sorrows. Yet, the government is silent. If my little knowledge about issues like these serves me right then we are on the our own. Reason being that the president and his team have neither issued a warning to the countries from where the said herdsmen came nor arrested anyone for the crimes. This leaves me with several conclusions namely, the president and APC are not Nigerians and so are just out to wipe out Nigerians and supplant them with Nigeriens, Chadians or Sudanese or they are failing in their duty, in which case the Fulani herdsmen are gaining control of vast territories, as an advance party for the Boko Haram terror group which makes the government incapable to defend her people or that APC and their Government have another agenda which we are yet to unravel.
Secondly, in a way to address the issues of herdsmen murdering people in their own home towns, the government has decided to take the lands of Nigerians and give to herdsmen, who, in the words of Audu Ogbeh, are not Nigerians, instead of arresting them and repartriating or punishing them. It is quite funny. If a man comes to your house and violates your wives repeatedly and the only thing you think of doing as a permanent solution is to give him one of your wives, then you are either crazy, foolish or both. A real man stands and fights. A real man defends his household. A real man keeps his property and family members safe and protected from marauders. The Nigerian government has decided to take their citizens’ lands and give the foreigners as a way of stopping the foreigners from killing their own people. So funny.
Should we just not run away since our president loves outsiders more than us? Is it not true now that we are in danger of being sold into slavery in exchange of cows?
Ogheh, unwittingly spoke the mind of the government and what’s important to them.
Thirdly, we remember that apart from the land grabbing for the Fulani herdsmen, the government has decided to import grass for the cows. After the land has been grabbed, the government would spend so much importing harass to plant on those plots of land. This is a country where food is in high need. This is a country where genetically modified crops and other technologically developed seedlings for food are needed urgently to tackle the food crisis in Nigeria. This is a country in which farmers don’t get fertilisers and other means of improving agriculture for improved food production. Scarcity of food is the order of the day. Yet what’s more important is the import of grass.
Thirdly, we remember that apart from the land grabbing for the Fulani herdsmen, the government has decided to import grass for the cows. After the land has been grabbed, the government would spend so much importing harass to plant on those plots of land. This is a country where food is in high need. This is a country where genetically modified crops and other technologically developed seedlings for food are needed urgently to tackle the food crisis in Nigeria. This is a country in which farmers don’t get fertilisers and other means of improving agriculture for improved food production. Scarcity of food is the order of the day. Yet what’s more important is the import of grass.
Now the question is why did the government ban the importation of foodstuffs like rice, flour etc with such viciousness, even when people are dying of hunger but has decided to pamper the herdsmen who are not Nigerians?
In the words of Lucky Dube, he had seen well fed slaves, hungry freeborn. To adapt it in Nigeria, we can safely say, well fed cows, hungry citizens. That’s the nature of it.
In the words of Lucky Dube, he had seen well fed slaves, hungry freeborn. To adapt it in Nigeria, we can safely say, well fed cows, hungry citizens. That’s the nature of it.
Our question is this, why has the government chosen to love foreigners more than their own citizens?
It is high time we demanded a step on the side of government to finding a lasting solution to this Fulani herdsmen crisis instead of playing the ostrich. It is obvious that the Fulani herdsmen are interested in conquest rather than the cows they keep talking about.
It is high time we demanded a step on the side of government to finding a lasting solution to this Fulani herdsmen crisis instead of playing the ostrich. It is obvious that the Fulani herdsmen are interested in conquest rather than the cows they keep talking about.
Two things point to this fact. An AK47 gun costs between N300,000 and N350,000. How does the Fulani man buys such sophisticated weapons to carry about just in defence of cows?
Secondly, how is it that even children and aged people get maimed and killed in the fracas? Until someone is able to say this, I think the government should begin to work on another serious theory, instead of just cow rustling theory. This way we would take the first real proactive step towards solving this problem.
Secondly, how is it that even children and aged people get maimed and killed in the fracas? Until someone is able to say this, I think the government should begin to work on another serious theory, instead of just cow rustling theory. This way we would take the first real proactive step towards solving this problem.
Secondly, why has no one ever been arrested for these crises? Security agents tell us that they disappear as soon as they attack. Excuse me! Whatever happens to enduring onslaught on offenders? Don’t we remember how the Shiites were mowed down with such ferocity in Zaria?
Government should be seen to be sensitive to the plight of the people. People are being killed.
Two other things are very instructive here. The government hardly issues any statement. For instance, in the Agatu massacre, the president said little or nothing to address the issue, and more painfully the president’s wife sent five bags of rice as relief materials to hundreds of bereaved, deprived and distraught people.
Two other things are very instructive here. The government hardly issues any statement. For instance, in the Agatu massacre, the president said little or nothing to address the issue, and more painfully the president’s wife sent five bags of rice as relief materials to hundreds of bereaved, deprived and distraught people.
This to me is more of mockery than show of sympathy. The government is not to show sympathy but empathy. The government entered a social contract to defend the rights of the people. The government is sustained by the expectations of protection from the people.
Charity is not a cure for poverty. Economically,livelihoods are being destroyed round the clock and people are being made poor,increasingly. In the age of unemployment, government should do more to protect lives and property than just sitting in Abuja and issuing lame press statements.
Finally, Nigeria happens to be the only country in the world where cows and other animals roam about unchecked. There are laws of ranching and taming all over the world. One of the most important and far reaching decisions of government in Nigeria is to ranch the cows and stop the use of cow rustling to cause killing.
A government owes her people the primary duty of ensuring that lives and livelihood are protected. Even if a government is too weak to afford her citizens the luxury of social welfare, it at least owes them security, because I know that Nigerians can handle the rest in their resilience
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