One of the many laxities of the Federal Government of Nigeria is its total failure in providing basic security for the life and properties of its citizens. That everyone is perturbed by the wave of insecurity is an understatement, and nothing can be farther from the truth that even our founding fathers who had laboured for our co-existence as a nation seem disappointed for their dreams shattered by sheer irrational politricking, tribalism and religious sentiment by their successors in title. Just like every sane person, even the pigeons felt too insecure so much so that in the face of their freedom on the Armed Forces Remembrance Day, refused to fly for the fear of being gunned down not by hunters, but by political assailants who may want to roast them for baseless political sacrifice, bandits, kidnapped for bogus ransom, or even by the rampaging Fulani herdsmen. Save divine intervention, Nigeria will remain insecure and blood will continue to impure of sacred land! This should not be taken as being pessimistic rather it is a factual truth that even Mr. President himself confirmed and admitted in one of his despairing speech to Nigerians that only prayers can put a stop to insecurity in Nigeria.
The recent reactions from different quarters of government in respect to people’s resentment to the incessant killings enraged my thought and indeed spurred me into putting my pen to paper on this nasty subject of insecurity. My opinion, indeed elicits some rational thought-provoking questions on issues that threaten our co-existence as “a people” and as a nation. Some weeks back, I was shocked after listening to a magazine program on a radio station reporting the dastardly and horrendous acts perpetrated by the Fulani “darandaran” in the Kobape area of Obafemi Owode Local Government of Ogun State. An apparently hopeless inhabitant of this area had phoned in to contribute to the discussion of the program, basically not to secure the services of the broadcasting station to help them fight against the unbearable situation that has wrecked them but to express and further reaffirm the prevailing belief that security of lives and properties promised by any government is ruse. In the caller’s lamentation, he muttered in hopelessness that the notorious Fulani herdsmen infiltrated their vast expanse of farmland which a whole community of over 300, 000 inhabitants had contributed money to develop, cultivate laboriously to plant variety of edibles for them to patch up government’s deficit in terms of provision of food security. That not only were their ridges, plantations and preservations destroyed by the herds of cow but their crops were comfortably harvested, cooked and consumed defiantly by the rampaging Fulanis on their farmland. Of course the police were rather too blunt in their response to the hapless communities on their ordeals in the hands of the overboard Fulanis. The police were too blunt to let them know that their hands were tied, thus could not be in best position to offer them any succor. In fact, I immediately concluded that, had their hands indeed been tied, it would have been far better but the reality is that the government has long chopped off their limbs that even if any of the force men’s father’s farmland is trampled upon, such officer can only wrinkle his face in dissatisfaction or at worst murmur.
Recently, in Ibarapa area of Oyo State, Dr. Fatai Aborode; an enterprising, commercial farmer was attacked and cruelly gunned down in broad day light on his way from his farmland by this same notorious agents of death leaving his driver with severe bodily injury. These incidences and many others heard and untold by a tribe in same country against another is what necessitated self-defence by the people against any internal or external killings. The Fulanis now become intractably untouchable that they terrorize any territory without any iota of fear of being nipped in the bud. It is saddening that the federal government or the presidency (as they always deceive us) is sincere with the unity of Nigeria. Security of lives and properties, which is prime among the fundamentals of the responsibilities of any sane government, is now brought far below the thinkable ebb, with snowballing spate of crime under the guise of misinterpreted freedom of movement. Suffice it to say that without security no minute development, orderliness or law can exist. In fact, insecurity is a bane that threatens co-existence much more than eviction in self-defence, misunderstood as infraction to right to movement. Bluntly speaking, it is now manifestly conspicuous to every objective-thinking Nigerian that politics, majorly for personal and subtly driven for ethnical gains is apropos to typical Nigerian political elite than security of lives and properties of any citizens irrespective of their tribes.
The governors from non-indigenous Fulani states are cut torn between sacrificing the blood of their subjects and their aggrandized personal ambitions. Currently, these governors seem unnecessarily confused, seemingly tested and practically exposed to incompetence more than ever. Take for instance, while Governor Rotimi Akeredolu decided to speak against the authority backing the monster terrorizing his people; perhaps because he had secured his second term, his counterpart Seyi Makinde is dangling diplomatically between politicking and the quest for second term. Why haven’t governors in other states boldly spoken against the encroachment, nuisance and murdering of their subjects all in the name of a ruse interpretation of the right to freedom of movement? What interpretation best suits the irascible reaction by the unelected cabal called presidency to the Ondo State government’s stance? In my objective opinion, I am of the firm view that the pronoun “We” as used in the preamble to Nigeria’s constitution isipso facto refers to an ethnic group that sees itself as divinely inured with the right to life, move freely to perpetrate whatever devilish act in any part of Nigeria.
Let me cap it all by saying that objective Nigerians clearly understand the antic, shenanigan and game being played from every angle in Nigerian politics. It is a clear handwriting that while the southern leaders, particularly the Yorubas are cynically persevering in anguish solely for 2023 presidential seat, the northern leaders, under the fictitious noun “presidency” are hell bent in putting the interest of the Fulanis first over national interest. These are sad days for the country!
Balogun, a lawyer and public affairs analyst, wrote in from Lagos. He can be reached via [email protected]
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