By: Ifeanyi Izeze
Did PresidentMohammadu Buhari actually say in Jos during his visit that it
was unfair forpeople to accuse him of not doing enough to check the
marauding killer herdsmenbecause he looks like them (Fulani herdsmen)? If
he did, then it is very unfortunate that this country has entered“one
chance” bus.
Hear our president as reported: “But thepresent herders, I am told,
carries AK47 and people are even blaming me for nottalking to them because
maybe (they say) I look like one of them. There is someinjustice in these
aspersions.”
IfBuhari could be concerned enough to leave Daura, Katsina state to Oyo
state in2001 to enquire why his people were being killed, shouldn’t the
Plateau, Benue,Taraba and other Nigerians from other parts of the country
also be concernedenough now to ask our president, “why are your people
killing our people?”
Was it not theheight of insensitivity for the president to blame the
continued attacks and killingsof innocent Nigerians on desperate
politicians whom he says were takingadvantage of the situation ahead of
the 2019 elections? Haba, ranka de de!
Serially, ourpresident has said different things at different times on the
spate ofsenseless massacres across the country particularly in the Middle
Belt. First,it was a connotation of “farmers and herdsmen clashes” then he
shifted the blameto Gadaffi’s trained killers coming from Libya; and now
in total denial blamingthe killings on politicians taking advantage to
make gains for the 2019election. What else do Nigerians need as evidence
that their President iscompletely taking sides with those who kill them?
Interestingly,the President supposedly went to commiserate with the
bereaved people ofPlateau only to go and defend their Fulani killer
herdsmen as if the peopledon’t know who their attackers/killers are. Even
with the confessions of theMyetti Allah in Plateau state, Buhari is still
strongly defending the Fulanikiller herdsmen. What else do Nigerians need
as evidence that their Presidentis completely taking sides with those who
kill them?
Is the presidentnot aware of the live television statement by Mallam
Danladi Ciroma thechairman (North Central) of the Miyetti Allah Cattle
Breeders’ Association ofNigeria (MACBAN) claiming the killings were
retaliatory for their lost cows? Afterthe latest Plateau massacre, the
Miyetti Allah outrightly took responsibilityfor the killing of over 300
people even with further threats that no one shouldexpect peace in the
entire area because they (the Fulanis) lost 300 cows.
Danladi Ciromaup till now has not been arrested by either the Police or
the DSS that hurlspeople away at night for flimsy reasons that are more
political than criminal.It is impossible for the Miyetti Allah chairman to
say what he said if such wasnot discussed, agreed, and cleared by the top
echelon of Miyetti in the state,region and even at the national level of
which our president is the GrandPatron.
Mr President Sir,this is why Nigerians blame you for the spate of killings
in the Middle Belta,Southwest, Southeast, South-south, and even the
senseless massacres in Kadunaand Zamfara.
First you arethe Commander in Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, a
title that conferson you the responsibility of the Chief Security Officer
of the nation. How canyou be so comfortable or rather unruffled as the
chief security officer whenpeople are being mercilessly massacred in a
country you are presiding?
Secondly, allthe service chiefs, heads of the various intelligence
agencies, and theInspector General of Police were appointed solely by you
and they reportdirectly to you. Has it not occurred to you that your
appointees have by allstandards proven that they are incompetent as they
have failed woefully in therespective assigned responsibilities? If it has
not, then you know why Nigeriansare blaming you for passivity and/or
complicity in this whole matter.
Remember the Ministerof Defence; Mansur Dan-Ali you appointed has
repeatedly stated that cattle herdershave the right to graze with their
cattle anywhere and that the host farmersmust accommodate them. The
statements ofthe Inspector General of Police not treating with seriousness
the issue of themenace of killer herdsmen are also on record.
The ServiceChiefs (your appointees also) all work under the Minister of
Defence andtherefore receive policy directives from him. Does anybody
expect the NigerianArmed Forces to come to the aid of the unarmed and
defenceless innocentcitizens of this country as long as Mansur Dan-Ali
remains the Minister ofDefence? Was this not what T.Y. Danjuma was
referring to, when he recentlyasked that people should rise up to defend
themselves?
Why has itbecome impossible for you to change the team heading the
nation’s securityinfrastructure even with clear manifestations of
incompetence or ratherinsincerity? In sane countries where there is
democracy and a President withimpeccable patriotic intents, there would
have been some serious changes as aresult of abysmal failure or rather
incompetence of those charged with managingour security agencies except
someone is saying they are deeply complicity inwhat is going across the
country especially in the Middle Belt region.
Does it notoccur to our President that by his inaction, he is saying a lot
about thiscattle-herder problem? By what he was quoted as saying in Jos,
he simplybelieves that these murderous herders are innocent and are being
framed by thepeople they killed. Okay Mr. President we believe you but who
are thesemurderers with AK47 riffles? Please don’t also forget that
Miyetti Allahadmitted that it was a reprisal attack, could it be that they
hire thesekillers to come in and fight for them? You see why Nigerians
strongly believewe should start with the leadership of Miyetti Allah in
Plateau, Benue,Nassarawa and even Kaduna; at least we can begin to have
insight into thecharacter and motives of these cow-for-men massacres.
As said by apublic affairs analyst, in his comment on this spate of
massacres particularlyin the Middle Belt and Southern Kaduna, “The owners
of the cows are not the poor,ubiquitous herdsmen who cater for the cows.
We know that those herdsmen carrysticks and machete most of the time. But
there are those who finance thebusiness, own the cows and engage the poor
herders to man the cows. These “bigmen” who own the cows are the ones who
engage gunmen to kill and destroyanything living or non-living that
threatens their business. Buhari cannotpretend not to know this. Rather
than address the problem from the root, hechooses to side with his people
and continues to regurgitate this puerilecomment of herders-don’t-carry
guns.”
The nature ofthis crisis is clear to everyone and the people affected are
for sure no longerready to buy this “herders-don’t-carry guns” chant of
the president and theearlier he realises it the better for all of us
towards mobilising to find acomprehensive solution to this problem that is
gradually building up to anuncontrollable level. God bless Nigeria!
(IFEANYI IZEZE writes from Abuja: iizeze@yahoo.com; 234-8033043009)