Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has warned President Muhammadu Buhari
\nof a looming danger ahead with the insecurity in Nigeria and the
\nunchecked menace of the Fulani Herdsmen in an open letter.<\/p>\n
Obasanjo’s\u00a0 open letter which was released by his media aide, Kehinde
\nAkinyemi on Monday, accused Buhari of treating killings allegedly
\nperpetrated by Fulani herdsmen with kid gloves.<\/p>\n
The letter read, \u201cI am constrained to write to you this open letter. I
\ndecided to make it an open letter because the issue is very weighty and
\nmust be greatly worrisome to all concerned Nigerians and that means all
\nright-thinking Nigerians and those resident in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe issue I am addressing here is very serious; it is the issue of life
\nand death for all of us and for our dear country, Nigeria. This issue
\ncan no longer be ignored, treated with nonchalance, swept under the
\ncarpet or treated with cuddling gloves.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe issue is hitting at the foundation of our existence as Nigerians
\nand fast eroding the root of our Nigerian community. I am very much
\nworried and afraid that we are on the precipice and dangerously reaching
\na tipping point where it may no longer be possible to hold danger at
\nbay.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen people are desperate and feel that they cannot have confidence in
\nthe ability of government to provide security for their lives and
\nproperties, they will take recourse to anything and everything that can
\nguarantee their security individually and collectively.”<\/p>\n
“For over ten years,” Obasanjo said, “for four of which you have been
\nthe captain of the ship, Boko Haram has menacingly ravaged the land and
\nin spite of government\u2019s claim of victory over Boko Haram, the potency
\nand the activities of Boko Haram, where they are active, remain
\nundiminished, putting lie to government\u2019s claim.<\/p>\n
“The recent explanation of the Chief of Army Staff for non-victory due
\nto lack of commitment and lack of motivation on the part of troops
\nbordering on sabotage speaks for itself.”<\/p>\n
Continuing, he added, “Say what you will, Boko Haram is still a daily
\nissue of insecurity for those who are victimized, killed, maimed,
\nkidnapped, raped, sold into slavery and forced into marriage and for
\nchildren forcibly recruited into carrying bombs on them to detonate
\namong crowds of people to cause maximum destructions and damage. And
\nBoko Haram will not go away on the basis of sticks alone, carrots must
\noverweigh sticks. How else do you deal with issues such as only about
\n50% literacy in North-East with over 70% unemployment?<\/p>\n
“Herdsmen\/farmers crises and menace started with the government treating
\nthe issue with cuddling glove instead of a hammer. It has festered and
\nspread.<\/p>\n
“Today, it has developed into banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery and
\nkillings all over the country. The unfortunate situation is that the
\ncriminality is being perceived as a \u2018Fulani\u2019 menace unleashed by Fulani
\nelite in the different parts of the country for a number of reasons but
\neven more, unfortunately, many Nigerians and non-Nigerians who are
\nfriends of Nigeria attach vicarious responsibility to you as a Fulani
\nelite and the current captain of the Nigeria ship. Perception may be as
\npotent as reality at times.<\/p>\n
“Whatever may be the grievances of Fulanis, if any, they need to be put
\nout in the open and their grievances, if legitimate, be addressed; and
\nif other ethnic groups have grievances, let them also be brought out in
\nthe open and addressed through debate and dialogue.<\/p>\n
“The main issue, if I may dare say, is poor management or mismanagement
\nof diversity which, on the other hand, is one of our greatest and most
\nimportant assets. As a result, the very onerous cloud is gathering. And
\nthe rain of destruction, violence, disaster, and disunity can only be
\nthe outcome.<\/p>\n
“Nothing should be taken for granted, the clock is ticking with the
\ncacophony of dissatisfaction and disaffection everywhere in and outside
\nthe country. The Presidency and the Congress in the US have signaled to
\nus to put our house in order. The House of Lords in the UK had debated
\nthe Nigerian security situation. We must understand and appreciate the
\nsignificance, implication and likely consequences of such concerns and
\ndeliberations.<\/p>\n
“No one can stop hate speech, violent agitation, and smoldering violent
\nagitation if he fans the embers of hatred, disaffection, and violence.
\nIt will continue to snowball until it is out of control. A stitch in
\ntime saves nine, goes the old wise saying.<\/p>\n
“With the death of Funke, Chief Fasoranti\u2019s daughter, some sympathetic
\nNigerian groups are saying ‘enough is enough’. Prof. Anya, a
\ndistinguished Nigerian merit Laureate, has this to say \u201cWe can no longer
\nsay with certainty that we have a nation\u201d. Niger-Delta leaders,
\nSouth-Eastern leaders, Middle-Belt leaders, and Northern Elders Forum
\nhave not remained quiet.<\/p>\n
“Different ordinary Nigerians at home and abroad are calling for
\ndifferent measures to address or ameliorate the situation. All the calls
\nand cries can only continue to be ignored at the expense of Nigerian
\nunity, if not its continued existence.<\/p>\n
“To be explicit and without equivocation, Mr. President and General, I
\nam deeply worried about four avoidable calamities:<\/p>\n
1. abandoning Nigeria into the hands of criminals who are all being
\nsuspected, rightly or wrongly, as Fulanis and terrorists of Boko Haram
\ntype;<\/p>\n
2. spontaneous or planned reprisal attacks against Fulanis which may
\ninadvertently or advertently mushroom into pogrom or Rwanda-type
\ngenocide that we did not believe could happen and yet it happened.<\/p>\n
3. similar attacks against any other tribe or ethnic group anywhere in
\nthe country initiated by rumors, fears, intimidation and revenge capable
\nof leading to pogrom;<\/p>\n
4. violent uprising beginning from one section of the country and
\nspreading quickly to other areas and leading to the dismemberment of the
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
“It happened to Yugoslavia not too long ago. If we do not act now, one
\nor all of these scenarios may happen. We must pray and take effective
\nactions at the same time. The initiative is in the hands of the
\nPresident of the nation, but he cannot do it alone.<\/p>\n
“In my part of the world, if you are sharpening your cutlass and a mad
\nman comes from behind to take the cutlass from you, you need other
\npeople\u2019s assistance to have your cutlass back without being harmed. The
\nmadmen with serious criminal intent and terrorism as core value have
\ntaken cutlass of security. The need for assistance to regain control is
\nobviously compelling and must be embraced now.<\/p>\n
“A couple of weeks ago at a public lecture, I had said, among other
\nthings, that in all these issues of mobilization for national unity,
\nstability, security, cooperation, development, growth, and progress,
\nthere is no consensus.<\/p>\n
“Like in the issue of security, the government should open up
\ndiscussion, debate, and dialogue as part of consultation at different
\nlevels and the outcome of such deliberations should be collated to form
\ninputs into a national conference to come up with the solution that will
\neffectively deal with the issues and lead to rapid development, growth,
\nand progress which will give us a wholesome society and enhanced living
\nstandard and livelihood in an inclusive and shared society.<\/p>\n
“It will be a national program. We need unity of purpose and nationally
\naccepted strategic roadmap that will not change with whims and caprices
\nof any government. It must be owned by the citizens, people\u2019s policy and
\nstrategy implemented by the government no matter it’s color and leaning.<\/p>\n
“Some of the groups that I will suggest be contacted are: traditional
\nrulers, past heads of service (no matter how competent or incompetent
\nthey have been and how much they have contributed to the mess we are
\nin), past heads of paramilitary organisations, private sector, civil
\nsociety, community leaders particularly in the most affected areas,
\npresent and past governors, present and past local government leaders,
\nreligious leaders, past Heads of State, past intelligence chiefs, past
\nHeads of Civil Service and relevant current and retired diplomats,
\nmembers of opposition and any groups that may be deemed relevant.<\/p>\n
“The President must be seen to be addressing this issue with utmost
\nseriousness and with maximum dispatch and getting all hands on deck to
\nhelp.<\/p>\n
“If there is a failure, the principal responsibility will be that of the
\nPresident and no one else. We need cohesion and concentration of effort
\nand maximum force \u2013 political, economic, social, psychological and
\nmilitary \u2013 to deal successfully with the menace of criminality and
\nterrorism separately and together.<\/p>\n
“Blame game among own forces must be avoided. It is debilitating and
\nonly helpful to our adversary. We cannot dither anymore. It is time to
\nconfront this threat headlong and in a manner that is holistic,
\ninclusive and purposeful.<\/p>\n
“For the sake of Nigeria and Nigerians, I pray that God may grant you,
\nas our President, the wisdom, the understanding, the political will and
\nthe courage to do what is right when it is right and without fear or
\nfavor. May God save, secure, protect and bless Nigeria. May He open to
\nus a window of opportunity that we can still use to prevent the worst
\nhappening. As we say in my village, ‘May God forbid bad thing’.”<\/p>\n
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has warned President Muhammadu Buhari of a looming danger ahead with the insecurity in Nigeria and the unchecked menace of the Fulani Herdsmen in an open…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":65311,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n