and watch while its citizens are being slaughtered and massacred in their
numbers. No responsible government will subtly encourage the killing of its
own citizens just to achieve its premeditated agenda of cattle colony. No
responsible government will value cows and animals above human life. But
now it is very clear to all Nigerians the hidden agenda of the government
of President Muhammadu Buhari. It is very clear that Nigerians made the
greatest mistake of their lives by voting Buhari to manage the affairs of
Nigeria.
The recent statement credited to the Special Assistant to President Buhari
on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina with respect to cattle colony on a
program on AIT is really unfortunate. It shows that Nigerians have been
taken for granted for too long and these people will continue to take us
for a ride and for fools if we don’t show them the way out of office by our
collective will as Nigerians. When injustice thrives in the land and the
just fold their arms and do nothing, the unjust will automatically believe
that the injustice they perpetrated is right and would continue in their
acts of injustice. That is the situation we have found ourselves in
Nigeria.
Now let us take a look at that statement by Femi Adesina: “Ancestral
attachment? You can only have ancestral attachment when you are alive. If
you are talking about ancestral attachment, if you are dead, how does the
attachment matter? The National Economic Council that recommended ranching
didn’t just legislate it, there were recommendations. So, if your state
genuinely does not have land for ranching, it is understandable. Not every
state will have land for ranches. But where you have land and you can do
something, please do for peace. What will the land be used for if those who
own it are dead at the end of the day?”.
This type of statement by Femi Adesina simply shows that he is reckless,
senseless, insensitive, wicked and heartless to the sufferings of Nigerians
in his quest to satisfy his pay masters and it is very clear that he is
part of the callous cabal that has held Nigeria hostage all along. But as
they say, like master, like servant. It is unfortunate that the government
of Buhari has brought untold hardship and suffering to millions of
Nigerians who thought that a messiah had come but alas we were wrong.
Thousands of innocent people have been gruesomely murdered since Buhari
took over office with empty promises to tackle insecurity for which he was
voted into office but he has failed to tackle the menace, rather Nigerians
have been massacred in their numbers in Benue and recently in Plateau state
as well as in other parts of the nation. But I’m not surprised because that
is their usual tactics; because election is coming, so they would allow the
killings so that they can use it to campaign for another election, with
another set of empty promises to Nigerians to tackle the menace which they
will never fulfill. That is their game plan. It is a vicious circle. Their
game plan is perfectly understood.
By that reckless statement from Femi Adesina, the Presidency has shown
Nigerians clearly that they they are indirectly in support of the mindless
killings of innocent Nigerians by fulani herdsmen across Nigeria. They have
shown us that these killings are premeditated in order to force Nigerians
to accept their idea of cattle colony and force its bitter pill down our
throats in order to satisfy their inordinate and sinister motives. But what
is ancestral attachment that Femi Adesina talked about? Every Nigerian has
an ancestral heritage in either tangible or intangible assets or
possessions resulting from their lineage and these assets cannot be merely
encroached upon or annihilated by any intruder because the people will
resist such illegality. You cannot force people to accept what will in the
long run be detrimental to their well-being and then turn around to
hoodwink us to believe that you are doing us good, no, the people know what
is good for them.
Now when you look at that statement properly, you will see desperation
written all over that statement. You will see a Presidency that is not only
cunning but desperate to force Nigerians to either accept the idea of
cattle colony or be prepared to die! That is the import of that reckless
statement. Although we should not be surprised by Femi Adesina’s statement
because he is fond of taking Nigerians for a ride and making provocative
statements. Remember it was the same Femi Adesina that told us that we are
wailing wailers. He rubbed it in the face of all Nigerians, yet nothing
happened, so it’s not surprising he has now come out again with yet another
utterly disgusting statement by asking Nigerians to either choose cattle
colony or death.
Sometimes I wonder if these people know the gravity of whatever they say
and the damage such statements can cause in the minds of millions of
Nigerians. Sometimes I wonder if they know the delicate and highly exalted
position they occupy as public servants where they are supposed to refrain
from making reckless statements and aggravating an already bad situation.
Because thousands have been killed and Nigerians did nothing, and the
families of these people have resigned to their fate since they know the
government cannot protect them, and since Nigerians are so good at
forgetting so easily, so that is why they could come up with another
denigrating verbal rhetoric just to cow us into accepting to relinquish our
ancestral heritage to some marauders who call themselves fulani herdsmen
and who have now become sacred cows in Nigeria just because their man is at
the helm of affairs of the nation and is covertly encouraging them to
continue to kill and maim in order to annihilate territories for themselves
and their sacred cows.
So by that statement by the Presidency, it clearly shows why Buhari has
done little or nothing to stop these mindless killings in Nigeria. It shows
the mind of the president because out of the abundance of the heart the
mouth speaks. It shows that if we refuse to accept their idea of cattle
colony and ranching, they are prepared to kill as many Nigerians as
possible just to achieve their sinister agenda. But really is this a
government? A government that does not care if its citizens are killed in
their numbers? A government that is so tribalistic, myopic and inept that
it sits down and fails to take action while the people are being hacked
down in cold blood? Is this a responsible government? It only shows one
thing. It only shows Nigerians that we don’t deserve this type of
government because Nigerians are much more sophisticated and politically
enlightened to be boxed into a corner with this type of government that
instead of ameliorating the pains of the people, it rather increases their
sorrows. No this is not the type of government we want as Nigerians. This
is not the type of legacy we want to leave for our children and generations
yet unborn.
Mind you that statement by Femi Adesina should not be taken lightly by
Nigerians. There is more to that statement. It is not ordinary. It is a
well thought out, well planned and well crafted statement by the Presidency
and sooner or later, they will back that statement up with actions that
will surprise many Nigerians as it is very clear that these people are
desperate to entrench their evil agenda on hapless Nigerians. They are
ready to destroy our ancestral heritage and take over our lands and
Nigerians must resist any form of internal colonization. Nigerians must
immediately resist and reject the likes of Femi Adesina and his misguided,
myopic and arrogant postulations and cabalistic hegemony because if he is
willing to destroy his own ancestral attachment in order to satisfy his
tribalistic pay masters, which I know he would never ever contemplate, we
as Nigerians would never contemplate such destructive tendencies to the
collective posterity of our common heritage on a platter of political
patronage, irrespective of the circumstances.
It is now clear that the chickens have come home to roost and Nigerians now
know the type of leaders they have. By their fruits you shall know them. We
now know that it was a mistake after all to have allowed this type of
government that takes its citizens for a ride and continuously rubs
denigrating statements on our face every now and then and since they feel
we can’t do anything to them, they keep making more belittling and
provocative statements to all Nigerians. But we can do something because
the power is in our hands. We can take action and we must take action and
our action is our vote which we must ensure that it counts at the next
election. We must never make the mistake of ever voting in someone who
would subtly conspire to kill innocent Nigerians just to achieve his ethnic
jingoistic ideals. Nigerians say no to impunity. Nigerians say no to
clueless leaders. Nigerians say no to obnoxious conspiracies against the
collective patrimony of our common good. Nigerians say no to the
annihilation of our collective ancestral heritage in the name of some
sacred cows. No, no, no and no we say!
BY TAYO DEMOLA
HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST
LAGOS, NIGERIA
Email: tayodemola@gmail.com