ON THE PROBLEM OF FULANI HERDSMEN/BANDITS – THE URGENT NEED FOR THE PRESIDENT BUHARI-LED FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO CHANGE THEIR WAYS AND ACT FAST BEFORE IT IS LATE
February 6, 2021 | News
While it has become evident that the issue of Fulani Herdsmen/Bandits and Farmers clashes, is daily turning out to be a serious thorn in the flesh of the majority of Nigerians, due to its ‘terrorists-laden tendencies’, and also has the potential to tear this country apart,
ON THE PROBLEM OF FULANI HERDSMEN/BANDITS – THE URGENT NEED FOR THE PRESIDENT BUHARI-LED FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO CHANGE THEIR WAYS AND ACT FAST BEFORE IT IS LATE
Image showing Fulani Herdsmen with a gun
While it has become evident that the issue of Fulani Herdsmen/Bandits and Farmers clashes, is daily turning out to be a serious thorn in the flesh of the majority of Nigerians, due to its ‘terrorists-laden tendencies’, and also has the potential to tear this country apart, I strongly believe the buck stops on the table of President Muhammadu Buhari, as the Commander-In-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to promptly start doing what is expected of him in addressing it holistically before it swallows Nigeria as a country. Sadly, the oddity and aberrant, as regards political appointments and policies’ implementation, as demonstrated by the President Buhari administration since inception, have made “every Government’s action and intents” to be viewed by the majority of the Nigerian masses with suspicion and distrust. That alone is a recipe for cataclysm, which can only be reversed by the President himself if truly his intentions are honest. But that seems not to have been the case.
Apologies, if this will seem like a long read, but we just need to put some of these national sensitive issues on print. When we consider the fact that the issue of Fulani Herdsmen crises has not only lingered for years but have claimed hundreds of lives and destruction of properties across the country, not to mention the often-indifferent disposition, dispassionate, without-empathy body-language demonstrated by the Buhari-led administration over the rampaging onslaught by Fulani Herdsmen/Bandits against Nigerian farmers and citizens in different parts of the country, particularly the Middle belt and Northern parts, then we would understand why, for several weeks now, a lot of Nigerian stakeholders and elites are coming out boldly online and offline, to speak against these things. It is like Nigerians have had enough, and it is expedient for the President to do something fast before things really start getting out of hand. And from the divergent views of most Nigerians over this issue, we can see the underlining root problem, and what the Buhari-led Federal Government must start doing differently if they really want to end this problem for good.
For Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortum: “if we adopted the Presidential system of government from America, why can’t we adopt ranching from America? Of course, we have done that in Benue here, and we have seen that it has succeeded. So, this question of arresting those who oppose the Fulani Herdsmen, should not be the issue. When the Governor of Ondo issued a Seven Day ultimatum that the Fulanis should leave their forest. The Presidency came out swiftly, and say that it is wrong for him to have said that. But when people are killed in Benue, killed in Ondo, killed in Ekiti, killed in Taraba, killed in Jigawa, killed in Zamfara and in all these other places by these Fulani Herdsmen, and they come out boldly, like the Fulani organization called FUNA, which came out and claimed responsibility, and said that they are going to do more, that they will mobilize Fulani from all over the place to come and take over Nigeria; the Presidency did not say anything. But they quickly ordered the arrest of an activist, Sunday Igboho, who stood up and to work against these people.
“What else will you do, when you see your people being killed? When you see your peoples' farm being razed down, being eaten up by herdsmen? What else would you do as a patriotic person of that community? The World Terrorist Index has described the Fulani herdsmen as the 4th terrorist group in the world. But up till today, the Federal Government has not cared to declare the Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria as a terrorist organization. And they have gone further to form Miyati Allah, Cattle Breeders, Fulan, this and that. And the Federal Government is romancing with them. And Federal Government comes out to defend them any time something happens to them. But when they cause pains in the lives of other people, the Federal Government will keep quiet. Federal Government has gone ahead, to ban IPOB, why can’t they ban these Fulani herdsmen that are terrorist?
“This one that Fulanis are taking over everywhere, under the watch of the Presidency, and they are not saying anything. What is the meaning of that? What are they trying to say? When you talk, they’ll come after you. Some people are afraid in this country to talk because if they do, the EFCC will come after them, ICPC will come after them, security agencies will come after them…. Why talk about the man that must be arrested, but how about the Fulani men that killed people, remove people’s eyes, give people gradual killing? Have you made any attempt to arrest them? That is why I am calling on Mr. President to act fast otherwise it will be late, and all of us will be consumed. We may wake up one day, and we’ll discover that we don’t have a country called Nigeria again. And the only way to do this is for our leader, the President, to come in and act fast. And behave like a President who is for everybody and is for nobody. But with the way the President is behaving now, it is a contradiction to what he told us at his inauguration, and the oath of office that he took.”
According to Chief Tola Adeniyi, he came from another angle and noted that: “This issue is not a question of religion because most of them drink, fornicate and do all sorts of things that other humans do. I know a Chief Judge who was supposed to be leading Muslim prayers, but anytime he comes to me in my official residence, he’ll put brandy or whisky in the mug and will be drinking. And he smokes and all that. I don’t think it's religion. When they started this their Sharia, how many of them were really obeying it? Not many of their leaders. So, it’s not religion, but they are using religion to deceive people… So, what is going on is clash of cultures and civilization, not Fulani vs the Igbos, or Fulani vs the Yorubas …. That means we have never been integrated as a people. “The Nigerian People” is a fallacy …. The Hausas, who are known to be a peaceful people, we traded in Kolanuts and the rest with them. But the Hausas, despite their large numbers, were subdued by the Fulanis. They killed their Serving rulers, exasperated their kingdoms, and took over, under the guise of religion. Another thing they used, was the word corruption. They say “oh your people are corrupt, we are the saints,’ all to deceive people… Though, there are more Hausas in places like Kano, Zamfara, etc. but the Fulanis are the ones governing by subterfuge, by deception, by cunning, by all sorts of things. They govern not by integration, but by intimidation. They are very politically savvy. When they realized they can no longer use the military, they decided on another strategy by making those they see as potential threats, very wealthy, since they have access to the treasury. This was to keep them quiet and do their biddings, all to retain power indefinitely-looting the treasury, and doing whatever please them. And that is why I call what they do, plutogarchy. Meaning - plutocracy (government of the rich), and Oligarchy (government of the strong).”
For Katch Ononuju – “Looking at the state of the polity, most of our lawmakers and those in government make the same mistake that the Presidency is making. They go after the messenger, instead of the message. The message is very clear, Buhari has, through his ways, forced several separatist movements in the country. Buhari’s employment of nepotism as a policy is the reason why, you now have all sections of the country saying, they are no more interested in this issue. The most problematic one is security. Two weeks ago, I went somewhere in Katsina, specifically Danmusa. I went to Safana, I went to Basani, I went to Dusuma, I also went to Kankara, in all these places, Fulani Bandits are killing Hausas in multitudes, and the government is not there. This problem also is replicating itself in several parts of the country, and the government has not allowed the prosecution of all those people that have been killing Nigerians all over. Today, as we are talking, Buhari is still trying to seize ancestral lands, so that he can find lands by force, to resettle Fulani refugees escaping from Mali. Instead of him and the other West African leaders come together and try to implement the 2015 Peace Agreement, no! all he’s been doing is using one scheme after the other to try to seize ancestral lands. He said grazing reserve, we said no; he said cow colony, we said no; he said he wants the land for RUGA, we said no! Now again, he is talking about the concentration of all the streams and waters and everywhere will have waterways, plus 6km of lands therefrom. So that, he can have land and water to be able to use to resettle Fulani refugees. This is not the right way to rule this country.”
A former member of the middle belt Forum (1999-2003), Jonathan Asuke, also noted that: “A similar program of RUGA settlement, it was not called RUGA then, was introduced in 1987 in my State. The government then approved land that was taken from the natives, without any compensation, in Zangwokata, and Kanshika Local Government. And created a grazing reserve. It was called the Kachia grazing reserve, by 1990. It was changed to Laduga grazing reserve. And Laduga is a Fulani word. It was an initial landmass of 30,000 hectares of land, that was taken from the natives, and up till now, no single native that is there, or can even go there. You cannot even go there as a native. And huge developments are taking place there, big buildings and so on. We don’t even know what is going on there. And the place has been suspiciously increased from 30 hectares of land in size to 70,000 hectares. And the plan is to replicate this Laduga model all over the nation. Thereby, changing the political demography, the economic demography, the structural and cultural demography of the people all over the nation. And Fulanize every place in the nation. These are not fears, these are things happening to me and my people, and in Kaduna State.
“We cannot go to our farms, and these are lands taken over from the people, and it has not been compensated for. We have become second class citizens in our own state and in our country. And somebody is saying that it is just fear. These are real facts. The fear is real. And the replication of this model all over the country, and the intent is real. Today, we have IDPs scattered across the middle belt and some parts of the North, the rains are coming, and they will be under the rain and sun. They can’t farm, there is no food. And nobody is talking about where will these people that have been displaced from their homes, be resettled. And they are there talking about RUGA, as a solution. How will that solve the problem of herders and farmers? How will it bring about peace? We can see that the whole RUGA thing, has ulterior motives.”
The one that shocked most is the fact that some Northern leaders are seen in pictures that are all over online, having meetings with these Fulani Herdsmen and Bandits, who now wield their AK47s with all boldness and without fear of being arrested. Maybe it's because they know that nothing will happen to them under this present administration of Buhari. In one of the pictures, it noted: Cleric Sheik Gumi meets bandits in Zamfara forests, posing with deadly terrorists - Kachalla Turji & Kachalla Muhammadu Bello. And someone noted: “If these were, Chidi, Chukwudi & Nnamdi, no meeting would be held. The Nigerian army would have invaded that place, and have them killed, and carried their corpses away.” As usual, there won't be any condemnation from the Presidency. During Obasanjo’s time, we recall how he dealt mercilessly with the OPC and they were arrested, these were his own fellow tribal people. But for Buhari, herdsmen are like Angels.
Just this week, Gun-wielding herdsmen, suspected to be of the Fulani stock, invaded Akere village in Ifewara town, Osun State, abducting three Chinese workers and killing their police escort. The gunmen struck at a mining site in the town where they abducted the Chinese expatriates after killing their police escort and shooting sporadically in the area, causing tension in the town. It is funny how the President Buhari regime is gradually turning this country into a civil war era that may see the dissolution of Nigeria. Rule of law no longer has value in the polity, and yet whenever there is trouble in other parts of the country, the constitution will become valid. But it is not valid for Northerners of Fulani extract since they are seen to be above the law.
Despite the glaring insecurity, religious and ethnic division in the country, the officials of the Buhari-led Federal Government have continued to live in denial that Nigeria is now more united and secure than ever. Some of our brothers up North are unaware that Southerners are gradually losing some of their appetites to be in the same nation as those who think like President Buhari, Governor Nasir El-Rufai, the Northern Elders Forum, and ACF. I know a lot of Nigerians like me want unity, but not unity at the cost of being killed by herdsmen.
The truth is that the Patience of the majority of Nigerians is getting thin with this Fulani herdsmen issue. Let us note that the Fulanis are a minority when it comes to Nigeria's population of over a 200million people. The question is, how can they now be a threat to our national security? And the answer is simply because one of their own, is the one in charge in Aso Rock, calling all the shots, whether we like it or not. This Fulani herdsmen issue can be resolved if we have a truthful leadership who is ready to expose those behind and sponsoring Fulani herders, and end this scourge in our nation. President Buhari knows his people, he should end this evil.
Zik Gbemre.
February 6, 2021
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes
Image showing Fulani Herdsmen with a gun
While it has become evident that the issue of Fulani Herdsmen/Bandits and Farmers clashes, is daily turning out to be a serious thorn in the flesh of the majority of Nigerians, due to its ‘terrorists-laden tendencies’, and also has the potential to tear this country apart, I strongly believe the buck stops on the table of President Muhammadu Buhari, as the Commander-In-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to promptly start doing what is expected of him in addressing it holistically before it swallows Nigeria as a country. Sadly, the oddity and aberrant, as regards political appointments and policies’ implementation, as demonstrated by the President Buhari administration since inception, have made “every Government’s action and intents” to be viewed by the majority of the Nigerian masses with suspicion and distrust. That alone is a recipe for cataclysm, which can only be reversed by the President himself if truly his intentions are honest. But that seems not to have been the case.
Apologies, if this will seem like a long read, but we just need to put some of these national sensitive issues on print. When we consider the fact that the issue of Fulani Herdsmen crises has not only lingered for years but have claimed hundreds of lives and destruction of properties across the country, not to mention the often-indifferent disposition, dispassionate, without-empathy body-language demonstrated by the Buhari-led administration over the rampaging onslaught by Fulani Herdsmen/Bandits against Nigerian farmers and citizens in different parts of the country, particularly the Middle belt and Northern parts, then we would understand why, for several weeks now, a lot of Nigerian stakeholders and elites are coming out boldly online and offline, to speak against these things. It is like Nigerians have had enough, and it is expedient for the President to do something fast before things really start getting out of hand. And from the divergent views of most Nigerians over this issue, we can see the underlining root problem, and what the Buhari-led Federal Government must start doing differently if they really want to end this problem for good.
For Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortum: “if we adopted the Presidential system of government from America, why can’t we adopt ranching from America? Of course, we have done that in Benue here, and we have seen that it has succeeded. So, this question of arresting those who oppose the Fulani Herdsmen, should not be the issue. When the Governor of Ondo issued a Seven Day ultimatum that the Fulanis should leave their forest. The Presidency came out swiftly, and say that it is wrong for him to have said that. But when people are killed in Benue, killed in Ondo, killed in Ekiti, killed in Taraba, killed in Jigawa, killed in Zamfara and in all these other places by these Fulani Herdsmen, and they come out boldly, like the Fulani organization called FUNA, which came out and claimed responsibility, and said that they are going to do more, that they will mobilize Fulani from all over the place to come and take over Nigeria; the Presidency did not say anything. But they quickly ordered the arrest of an activist, Sunday Igboho, who stood up and to work against these people.
“What else will you do, when you see your people being killed? When you see your peoples' farm being razed down, being eaten up by herdsmen? What else would you do as a patriotic person of that community? The World Terrorist Index has described the Fulani herdsmen as the 4th terrorist group in the world. But up till today, the Federal Government has not cared to declare the Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria as a terrorist organization. And they have gone further to form Miyati Allah, Cattle Breeders, Fulan, this and that. And the Federal Government is romancing with them. And Federal Government comes out to defend them any time something happens to them. But when they cause pains in the lives of other people, the Federal Government will keep quiet. Federal Government has gone ahead, to ban IPOB, why can’t they ban these Fulani herdsmen that are terrorist?
“This one that Fulanis are taking over everywhere, under the watch of the Presidency, and they are not saying anything. What is the meaning of that? What are they trying to say? When you talk, they’ll come after you. Some people are afraid in this country to talk because if they do, the EFCC will come after them, ICPC will come after them, security agencies will come after them…. Why talk about the man that must be arrested, but how about the Fulani men that killed people, remove people’s eyes, give people gradual killing? Have you made any attempt to arrest them? That is why I am calling on Mr. President to act fast otherwise it will be late, and all of us will be consumed. We may wake up one day, and we’ll discover that we don’t have a country called Nigeria again. And the only way to do this is for our leader, the President, to come in and act fast. And behave like a President who is for everybody and is for nobody. But with the way the President is behaving now, it is a contradiction to what he told us at his inauguration, and the oath of office that he took.”
According to Chief Tola Adeniyi, he came from another angle and noted that: “This issue is not a question of religion because most of them drink, fornicate and do all sorts of things that other humans do. I know a Chief Judge who was supposed to be leading Muslim prayers, but anytime he comes to me in my official residence, he’ll put brandy or whisky in the mug and will be drinking. And he smokes and all that. I don’t think it's religion. When they started this their Sharia, how many of them were really obeying it? Not many of their leaders. So, it’s not religion, but they are using religion to deceive people… So, what is going on is clash of cultures and civilization, not Fulani vs the Igbos, or Fulani vs the Yorubas …. That means we have never been integrated as a people. “The Nigerian People” is a fallacy …. The Hausas, who are known to be a peaceful people, we traded in Kolanuts and the rest with them. But the Hausas, despite their large numbers, were subdued by the Fulanis. They killed their Serving rulers, exasperated their kingdoms, and took over, under the guise of religion. Another thing they used, was the word corruption. They say “oh your people are corrupt, we are the saints,’ all to deceive people… Though, there are more Hausas in places like Kano, Zamfara, etc. but the Fulanis are the ones governing by subterfuge, by deception, by cunning, by all sorts of things. They govern not by integration, but by intimidation. They are very politically savvy. When they realized they can no longer use the military, they decided on another strategy by making those they see as potential threats, very wealthy, since they have access to the treasury. This was to keep them quiet and do their biddings, all to retain power indefinitely-looting the treasury, and doing whatever please them. And that is why I call what they do, plutogarchy. Meaning - plutocracy (government of the rich), and Oligarchy (government of the strong).”
For Katch Ononuju – “Looking at the state of the polity, most of our lawmakers and those in government make the same mistake that the Presidency is making. They go after the messenger, instead of the message. The message is very clear, Buhari has, through his ways, forced several separatist movements in the country. Buhari’s employment of nepotism as a policy is the reason why, you now have all sections of the country saying, they are no more interested in this issue. The most problematic one is security. Two weeks ago, I went somewhere in Katsina, specifically Danmusa. I went to Safana, I went to Basani, I went to Dusuma, I also went to Kankara, in all these places, Fulani Bandits are killing Hausas in multitudes, and the government is not there. This problem also is replicating itself in several parts of the country, and the government has not allowed the prosecution of all those people that have been killing Nigerians all over. Today, as we are talking, Buhari is still trying to seize ancestral lands, so that he can find lands by force, to resettle Fulani refugees escaping from Mali. Instead of him and the other West African leaders come together and try to implement the 2015 Peace Agreement, no! all he’s been doing is using one scheme after the other to try to seize ancestral lands. He said grazing reserve, we said no; he said cow colony, we said no; he said he wants the land for RUGA, we said no! Now again, he is talking about the concentration of all the streams and waters and everywhere will have waterways, plus 6km of lands therefrom. So that, he can have land and water to be able to use to resettle Fulani refugees. This is not the right way to rule this country.”
A former member of the middle belt Forum (1999-2003), Jonathan Asuke, also noted that: “A similar program of RUGA settlement, it was not called RUGA then, was introduced in 1987 in my State. The government then approved land that was taken from the natives, without any compensation, in Zangwokata, and Kanshika Local Government. And created a grazing reserve. It was called the Kachia grazing reserve, by 1990. It was changed to Laduga grazing reserve. And Laduga is a Fulani word. It was an initial landmass of 30,000 hectares of land, that was taken from the natives, and up till now, no single native that is there, or can even go there. You cannot even go there as a native. And huge developments are taking place there, big buildings and so on. We don’t even know what is going on there. And the place has been suspiciously increased from 30 hectares of land in size to 70,000 hectares. And the plan is to replicate this Laduga model all over the nation. Thereby, changing the political demography, the economic demography, the structural and cultural demography of the people all over the nation. And Fulanize every place in the nation. These are not fears, these are things happening to me and my people, and in Kaduna State.
“We cannot go to our farms, and these are lands taken over from the people, and it has not been compensated for. We have become second class citizens in our own state and in our country. And somebody is saying that it is just fear. These are real facts. The fear is real. And the replication of this model all over the country, and the intent is real. Today, we have IDPs scattered across the middle belt and some parts of the North, the rains are coming, and they will be under the rain and sun. They can’t farm, there is no food. And nobody is talking about where will these people that have been displaced from their homes, be resettled. And they are there talking about RUGA, as a solution. How will that solve the problem of herders and farmers? How will it bring about peace? We can see that the whole RUGA thing, has ulterior motives.”
The one that shocked most is the fact that some Northern leaders are seen in pictures that are all over online, having meetings with these Fulani Herdsmen and Bandits, who now wield their AK47s with all boldness and without fear of being arrested. Maybe it's because they know that nothing will happen to them under this present administration of Buhari. In one of the pictures, it noted: Cleric Sheik Gumi meets bandits in Zamfara forests, posing with deadly terrorists - Kachalla Turji & Kachalla Muhammadu Bello. And someone noted: “If these were, Chidi, Chukwudi & Nnamdi, no meeting would be held. The Nigerian army would have invaded that place, and have them killed, and carried their corpses away.” As usual, there won't be any condemnation from the Presidency. During Obasanjo’s time, we recall how he dealt mercilessly with the OPC and they were arrested, these were his own fellow tribal people. But for Buhari, herdsmen are like Angels.
Just this week, Gun-wielding herdsmen, suspected to be of the Fulani stock, invaded Akere village in Ifewara town, Osun State, abducting three Chinese workers and killing their police escort. The gunmen struck at a mining site in the town where they abducted the Chinese expatriates after killing their police escort and shooting sporadically in the area, causing tension in the town. It is funny how the President Buhari regime is gradually turning this country into a civil war era that may see the dissolution of Nigeria. Rule of law no longer has value in the polity, and yet whenever there is trouble in other parts of the country, the constitution will become valid. But it is not valid for Northerners of Fulani extract since they are seen to be above the law.
Despite the glaring insecurity, religious and ethnic division in the country, the officials of the Buhari-led Federal Government have continued to live in denial that Nigeria is now more united and secure than ever. Some of our brothers up North are unaware that Southerners are gradually losing some of their appetites to be in the same nation as those who think like President Buhari, Governor Nasir El-Rufai, the Northern Elders Forum, and ACF. I know a lot of Nigerians like me want unity, but not unity at the cost of being killed by herdsmen.
The truth is that the Patience of the majority of Nigerians is getting thin with this Fulani herdsmen issue. Let us note that the Fulanis are a minority when it comes to Nigeria's population of over a 200million people. The question is, how can they now be a threat to our national security? And the answer is simply because one of their own, is the one in charge in Aso Rock, calling all the shots, whether we like it or not. This Fulani herdsmen issue can be resolved if we have a truthful leadership who is ready to expose those behind and sponsoring Fulani herders, and end this scourge in our nation. President Buhari knows his people, he should end this evil.
Zik Gbemre.
February 6, 2021
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes