By: Ifeanyi Izeze
A strange thingis going on in our land while we all watch helplessly. How
come Nigeria withina very short time has turned into a nation of
absurdities? Can you imagine thelevel of steps Nigeria has taken aback?
Miyetti Allah Cattle herders warningthe President of one of the arms of
government to resign or they will force himto resign. What impunity! What
gut! My heart bleeds with tears for thiscountry. Where is this country
heading to?
Is Miyetti Allahnow a registered political party in Nigeria? Is it not
curious that this group seemsto be reiterating the Saraki “must be removed
by force” earlier vows by AdamsOshiomole and Omo-Agege? How long can we
continue like this as a nation?
This has nothingto do with being for, or against Saraki. Before our full
glare, the MiyettiAllah is not only assuming the position of the ruling
party but also seems tofast becoming very influential to decisions of
governance in this country. Thisis a threat to our nation and failing to
see it that way amounts to a costlyself-deceit.
Serially,President Mohammadu Buhari has come under heavy public criticisms
on how hisbody language has condoned the unguarded utterances and actions
of thesecharacters. Yet, nothing is being or rather seemed to be done
about this group(s).Why are they so untouchable?
As reported by a prominentNational daily, the National Coordinator of the
association in Benue State,Alhaji Garus Gololo, in an interview in Makurdi
said Saraki had creatednumerous problems for the administration of
President Muhammad Buhari, which hesaid had affected the economic and
social growth of the nation.
“It is on this note that we aresaying that Saraki ought not to be in
office again as Senate President, moreso, Saraki has failed to coordinate
and organise the National Assembly to offerquality legislation that
Nigerians need.
“Nigerians are in dire need ofpeople that have the interest of the masses.
Miyetti Allah is looking for aleader that would preside over the affairs
of the Senate with ultimate respectfor the executive and the judiciary,
not someone like Senator Saraki that wouldalways scheme to outdo the
Presidency.
“We are now tired of Saraki’sstyle of leadership at the National Assembly.
Therefore, we are now warning himto honourably resign his position as
president of the Senate or we will forcehim out”.
Let’s recallthat at the peak of the wanton killings in the Middle belt,
all Nigerians roseup to call for the overhauling of the security
architecture to mitigate anyform of collusion as alleged by Gen. T.Y
Danjuma (Rtd) and other notableNigerians, this same Miyetti Allah group
came out boldly to say that the Presidencycannot do that. Their voice was
harkened to by the powers that be and up tilltoday nothing has been done
to rejig the nation’s internal securityarchitecture.
This same groupequally owned up publicly to be the masterminds of the
killings in Plateau and Benuestates and clearly stated their reasons for
doing that and yet they were notarrested against the plea of particularly
the Benue state government. Some powersin government turned blind eyes to
this open confession and rather told thewhole world that the governor of
Benue state, Ortom Emmanuel, was the onekilling his people.
Is there stillany doubt that the serial unguarded statements and impunity
by Miyetti Allah isexposing the obvious collusion between some top
officials of this government andthis group who are being used to stoke
division and create the violent crisesthat have resulted in daily
bloodlettings in various parts of the country?
Is it notabundantly clear to Nigerians yet that those fomenting crises,
including thebloody clashes in Benue, Taraba, Zamfara, Nasarawa, Plateau,
Kaduna, Edo,Borno, Yobe, Enugu, Kogi, Adamawa and other states in our
country, havepolitical or rather government backers? If not, why are they
not being arrestedand prosecuted for even daring to issue deadly press
statements and interviews?
The disclaimerby Miyetti Allah (MACBAN) national secretary, Baba Uthman
Ngelzarma would havebeen okay but for the fact that it looks more like a
mere damage limitationeffort.
His words: “Theattention of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of
Nigeria has beendrawn to an interview granted by one Garus Gololo in
Makurdi (in a newspaper)titled, ‘Resign or we will force you out’ –
Miyetti Allah to Saraki. Thisstatement is unfortunate. I will
categorically state that Garos Gololo spoke inhis personal capacity and
has no mandate to speak on behalf of the association.
“Miyetti Allah is a non-partisan association with no interest in the
politicalterrain and we can’t meddle in the affairs of political actors
therebycompounding our already obvious challenges.
“I’m therefore appealing to the general publicto disregard this statement
as it is coming from someone who doesn’t have themandate of the
association to speak on its behalf.”
He may not knowthis but Baba Uthman actually won my heart with his
articulate explanations ofthe activities of MACBAN on a radio programmed
where he was interviewed inAbuja not too long ago. It was really educating
as he revealed that most Nigeriansmay not be aware that Miyetti Allah
Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria hasa splinter group, Miyetti Allah
Cattle Hor, that came into existence few yearsago. Both groups have
different chains of commands and “do things differently”also.
But let meremind the Miyetti Allah National Secretary, that these same
words he has usedto disclaim the group in Benue were the exact words he
also used when thePlateau State Chairman of the same Miyetti Allah owned
up to one episode of asenseless killing spree in Plateau state. So how
come the same man is speakingboth for MACBAN and Cattle Hor if they are
not under one umbrella? That’s atalk for another day!
This has nothingto do with whether or not you like Saraki, we need to take
this Miyetti Allah’snew found audacity very seriously because it portends
a threat to the veryfabric of our nation. We all need to be cautious lest
we nonchalantly allowpeople who don’t mean well for this country destroy
our nation for us. Godbless Nigeria!
(IFEANYI IZEZE writes from Abuja: iizeze@yahoo.com; 234-8033043009)