The member representing Umunneochi constituency in Abia State House of Assembly, Hon Okey Igwe has expressed worries over the resurgence of kidnapping, banditry and armed robbery in the area.
The Abia lawmaker lamented that his constituents now live in fear as the current trend has taken a dangerous toll on Umunneochi Local Government Area of the State.
Igwe disclosed that the perpetrators of the nefarious activities in Umunneochi constituency now use Lokpanta cattle market as their den from where they unleash terror on innocent citizens and residents of the area.
He spoke while presenting a matter of urgent public importance on the floor of the Abia State House of Assembly during its plenary session on Wednesday.
The legislator called on the security heads in the area to urgently restore the security checkpoints along the vital points in Umunneochi constituency and to add more men to their patrol teams.
Igwe further urged the Abia Ministry of Homeland Security to liaise with the local vigilante groups in the area to complement other security agencies stationed at the crime prone areas.
In the same vein, the Abia State House of Assembly has directed the Clerk of the House to, as a matter of urgency send a letter of invitation to the Executive Chairman of Umunneochi Local Government Area, the permanent Secretary of the State Ministry of Homeland Security and the Chain of Lokpanta Cattle Market for an interaction with the House.
The Speaker, Rt. Hon Chinedum Enyinnaya Orji while reeling out some resolutions of the House at its sitting, said the invitation is aimed at finding lasting solutions to the menaces posed by criminal elements in the local area.
Hon Orji implored the security heads in Umunneochi Local Government Area to restore the security check-points at strategic locations in the vicinity in order to curb the activities of criminals in the area.
Meanwhile, the leadership of Abia State House of Assembly has adjourned to Monday, 27th September, 2021 for continuation of plenary.
While we slept, they sneaked in from the from the Futta Djalon highgrounds and whilst we were asleep, they strategized on what to do with Nigeria.
At Degel, they were disguised as Islamic teachers and as we all slept, they planned the coup. They slaughtered and depossed in the name of cleansing their faith while we slept. While we slept, they supplanted the Kings of Hausaland, replacing them with their kinsmen or tribesmen. They called it a jihad and soon took all the power while we all slept. While we yet were asleep, they introduced the Emirate system which is now out greatest undoing in Nigeroa. Had the Hausa Kingdoms not slumbered there is no way they could have lost out so easily.
When the Oyinbo came knocking, they were at the door to receive him while we slept. The Oyinbo quickly adopted his administration on the Emirate system and called it Indirect Rule while we all slept. For acceptability, they came up with the name HausaFulani given that they knew they had no claim to any land here and they achieved some level of acceptability while we slept.
They carefully set out positioning theirs into the civil.service of the then Northern Region and the Federation whilst we were asleep. They secretly monitored the careers of their own sons and few daughters and ensured that no promotion was missed as we slept on.
They dominated the Customs, Police, Immigration, Correctional Service while we were asleep. At first, they were never interested in the Military due to its inherent danger but when the era of coup making came around, they rushed theirs and carefully guided them to becoming Military Governors and or Administrators, this they did while we slept. They used others to execute the last Civil War but they were the first in sharing the spoils whilst we were all sleeping.
Theirs got the best postings or occupied the best positions in the Armed Forces and the Nigeria Police whilst the rest of us slept. Most of the State Police Commissioners are from their stable and so they are able to twist policing any which way they want while we all slept.
Technically, they have taken over the whole country while we all slept. They have foisted their own tribesman as president by blindfolding the Southwest into an alliance as the rest of us slept. The tribesman president took all the time he needed to put together a Cabinet in which almost every member from the North is from their stable while we all slept. While we all slept, they ensured that they skillfully ensured that the top 20 positions in what is called NNPC which some are sacarsticslly calling Northern Nigeria Petroleum Corporation are all from their stable even when that region does not produce even a litre of oil.
Look around and you will find out that all the petrol stations belong to them. The dubious Ruga and Grazing Reserve Bills were rushed through to ensure that their imported tribesmen were everywhere in the territory of Nigeria while we slept.
The imported tribesmen had AK 47s well concealed with which they were to effect the complete takeover of the country much in the style of the Taliban in Afghanistan while we slept. Once in a while they did appoint one or two none members from outside their stable to some important appointments but such served only as their puppets whilst they were the puppeteers even as we slept on.
They have elevated their cows well above human beings whilst we were all asleep just because their’s is president Today, they are frantically looking for a history to support their dubious claim to the territory called Nigeria.
It is this claim that is the reason WE as bonafide ethnic nationalities of this country have to wake up from the slumber to fight for our ancestral lands. If we continue to sleep, it will be too late.
We are just waking up to find out that we are all surrounded by AK 47 wielding tribesmen. We are just waking up to discovering that our country is almost completely taken over. We are just waking up to the reality that the national security architecture is commanded by their’s. We have just woken up to discovering that death is common place everywhere in the land. The imported jihadists have introduced a new dimensions to death in Nigeria, aside death by gunshots against defenceless civilians, the old, infirmed, women and children are viciously hacked to death in cold blood mostly while they slept.
Others are being burnt alive in their homes, any trying to escape are cut down with machetes. The terrorist jihadists derive special pleasure in slaughtering their innocent victims much in the style of Sallah rams.
To demonstrate their level of viciousness, they go as low as cutting down crops growing up on farms without realizing that the crops will be feeding both friend as well as the enemy in due time. It has been convenient during the reign of the tribesman to mop up locally fabricated hunting dane guns, bows and arrows, cutlasses used by peasant farmers whilst the imported tribesmen were left to flaunting their AK47s with the utmost of impunity.
We are just waking up to discovering that the strategy of disarming the local population is to ensure they cannot mount any resistance to the imported jihadists. We have also woken up to the fact that almost all the Commanders and other sensitive appointments in the ranks and file of the national security architecture are held by one of theirs.
As Nigeria burns, the Oga whose primary responsibility is to ensure our safety pretends not to SEE or HEAR anything and so does nothing to stop the slaughter. The Oga who is dumb and deaft wants the tribesmen to pursue their cattle rearing business at the expense of other people’s businesses and on other people’s ancestral lands.
How can that be now that we have woken up from sleep? Now that we have woken up from the long and deep sleep every part of this stranded contraption except one is earnestly asking for RESTRUCTURING but they are running rings round the issue. They must know that the game is up and that we have cracked their code and things will never be the same ever again.
Now that we have woken up from the deep slumber as ethnic nationalities, it is for us to cleave one to the other so that no foreign Intruders and usurpers of power can Lord it over us ever again. The Hausa community whose kingdoms were surreptitiously stolen under the guise of cleaning up Islam must now stand up strong and firm to recover the loot from the thieves.
If anything at all the Hausa people as bonafide ethnic Nigerians must now denounce the fraud in the name HausaFulani because it was designy to accommodate the foreign intruder’s interest. Whilst a peaceful arrangement can be agreed via the mechanism of RESTRUCTURING, where this is rejected, then all other means possible must be pursued.
As ethnic nationalities in this beleaguered country, we have paid much more than an acceptable price in lives, pain and humiliation at the hands of the foreign occupiers. It is because we failed to cleave one to the other that the foreign occupiers have all along been exploiting the divisions between us.
We can stand on the mountain top and shout it to the hearing of the entire world that the land on which our people are presently settled is our God given heritage. We did not come from elsewhere as History has recorded of the foreign occupiers.
There’s no doubt that democracy is facing its toughest survival battles in Africa and the empirical facts and the unassailable body of evidence are there for all discerning and rational minds to see amidst the faltering democratisation efforts in Chad, Mali, Guinea Conakry with the resurgence of militarism and militarization. In the face of these tumultuous challenges are some hidden lessons that can be learnt from some of the actions of the President of Nigeria who has experienced the best of the two Worlds as a military ruler and now in his final term as an elected democrat. Many will doubt if President Muhammadu Buhari can be credited to be a democrat because clearly, some of his administrative approaches have questioned his abiding faith and loyalty to constitutional democracy. For instance, the government in Nigeria has bad records in the area of respect for plurality of opinions and freedoms as are clearly enshrined in many legislative and constitutional provisions and the government has had running battles attempting to moderate and muzzle the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens. But even with these issues highlighted, there is one area in which the Nigerian president has established himself as someone who has atleast one positivity and an enduring lesson to teach the rest of Africa in the democratisation theory and practice and if he keeps to the constitutional term limits and retire quietly to his Daura hometown in the year 2023, he would surely have cemented this as a legacy to be talked about for many centuries to come. This lesson is not seen easily by most observers because of the monumental challenges thrown on Nigerians by the economic implications of some policies of the Muhammadu Buhari’s administration but if an observer looks deeper and think philosophically, the nexus is there for all to see and this is what this article is out to demonstrate and what will resonate in this reflection isn’t so much about praising anyone but putting things in their proper perspectives. You can as well take it to the bank that this writer has no reason in this World to act the praise-singer card because obviously I’m a consummate human rights activist who has maintained consistent records of speaking truth to power. The difference is that I and my team do also make efforts to highlight some positivism and landmarks attained by any government even if that government has a lot of questions to answer in some key areas of governance. And so the straight fact in this piece is the lesson the rest of Africa can imbibe by the way the immediate past military Chiefs and especially the immediate past Chief of army staff Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai and the others served the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari for almost six years and withstood a lot of temptation to torpedo the civilian administration so as to establish militarism and military regime. Indeed the immediate past Service Chiefs believed in constitutional democracy and by their actions in office, demonstrated their unflinching loyalty to the Nigerian constitution which says that military institutions are to remain subordinate to civilian authorities. And at the end of their service as military Chiefs, President Muhammadu Buhari gave them further appointments as his representatives and Ambassadors to key diplomatic offices in West Africa. The former Army Chief Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai is the Ambassador of Nigeria in Benin Republic and from the few things we have seen, this military professional has started very well. So they are good examples to the rest of the military Generals in Africa on why they must resist Worldly temptations to overthrow properly constituted democratic institutions in their nations and remain subordinate to civilian authority and on the parts of the civilian heads of states, they must stick to the principles of accountability and transparency and respect their constitutional term limitations and must never do things to establish themselves as life Presidents.
This is because there is no greater sacrifice one can render to his nation than defending its unity, togetherness and territorial integrity against external aggressions. For instance, in the United States of America where Nigeria borrows its leg of democracy, at least 29 former American Presidents who served their country in the Armed Forces are usually prouder than others.
The likes of George Ford, the famous Jimmy Carter; Richard Nixon; George H. W Bush, Ronald Reagan and hordes of others are proud to render their services to nationhood. On the contrary, in Nigeria today, the greatest gist among the country’s senior political forerunners, former leaders, and political elites is the sustained mockery of Nigeria’s immediate past Service Chiefs.
Though, the Ex-Military Chiefs posted very relieving results between 2015 and early 2021, fighting the conspiratorial or instigated insurgencies and insurrections hovering in some parts of Nigeria, but to some partisan senses, none of them deserve such prestigious national honour of Ambassadors of democracy.
That Nigeria’s Ambassador to Benin Republic; Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai, who led the counter-insurgency operations as COAS, and his colleagues in Nigeria’s Military hierarchy of Service Chiefs are intentionally uncelebrated by some Nigerians is because the hate is deep and malevolent!
No one is forcing the few discontented Nigerians to notice the difference Nigeria’s counter-insurgency operations and respect to constituted civil authorities under the commanding height of the immediate past Service Chiefs unlike what is happening to democracies in West Africa.
Particularly, when President Buhari appointed Gen. Buratai (rtd) as Nigeria’s 26th COAS, he pledged his total dedication to duty and loyalty to the Commander-In- Chief of the Nigerian Armed forces; President Buhari. Quite honestly, credit must be given to Buratai because he showed that Nigeria comes first before self-interest and must be defended at all times by every Nigerian.
Observably, his commitment to Nigeria will remain the beam of a united Nigeria, despite the conspiratorial gang-ups and upsurge of terrorist’s attacks, criminal activities, militancy and agitations. But it only conveys one message; and it is that Gen. Buratai was firmly convinced about the necessity of the defense of his dear nation; a silently saying that a regenerated Nigeria for today and tomorrow is possible.
This could explain why after his retirement, he was elevated to the strategic position of an Ambassador of Democracy to the Republic of Benin. Buratai’s appointment and that of the other ex-service chiefs couldn’t have been timelier and more strategic as it shows that it is not always the best for the military to distablize internal democracy compared to what has happened in some countries in West Africa.
Undoubtedly, Gen. Buratai (rtd) as COAS was a skillful defender of Nigeria’s democracy in the country’s most turbulent times, who tirelessly worked and supported democratic governance in Nigeria.
Even when some mischievous political elements wanted to take advantage of President Buhari’s several medical absences then to truncate democracy, by making overtures to some officers and soldiers for political reasons, Gen. Buratai (rtd) vehemently stood against it.
He warned them to be cautious of the consequences of their actions, telling the intending coup plotters not to make any attempt at truncating the nation’s democracy. The former Army Chief was emphatic, warning Army officers to steer clear of politics. He reportedly asked those interested in politics to resign from the Nigerian Army and pursue their new found ambitions.
Perharps it would be pertinent to mention that when in July, 2017, he granted interview to BBC’s Stephen Sackur, Gen. Buratai clearly stated; “there is no leadership vacuum,” explaining it as a pre-emptive caution, based on past experiences.
“There is no vacuum, it’s just a sort of pre-emptive warning in terms of what transpired before this administration came on board. Based on our own knowledge, based on our experiences, it is good once in a while to tell Officers that there are bounds that we must remain within the constitutional boundaries.
“There are constitutional provisions; there is never a vacuum. We have an Acting President there. I think whatever is happening, we should allow Mr. President to recuperate, get stronger and go back home.”
Repeatedly, Gen. Buratai (rtd.) never failed to drum it into the ears of soldiers and men of the Nigerian Army. At the opening ceremony of a seminar for Commandants, Bursars and Administrative officers of the Nigerian Army on August 1, 2019, in Abuja, he re-emphasised his preachments on politics as the non-negotiable loyalty of the Nigerian Army under his leadership to Mr. President and the country. He urged officers to remain apolitical, take right actions and show commitment to constitutionally defined obligations.
“We need to remain absolutely loyal to Mr. President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This is a non-negotiable part of our profession.”
Also, at the commissioning ceremony of the Entrepreneurial Skills Acquisition Centre, Transit Accommodation and the newly built Accident and Emergency Ward of the Nigerian Army Medical Hospital at the 23rd Armoured Brigade, Gibson Jalo Cantonment in Yola, Adamawa State on December 28th, 2019, Gen. Buratai also resounded to soldiers to be grateful to their nation, keep faith and loyalty to the Federal Government of Nigeria led by President Buhari.
His persuasive words read thus; “I want you to keep faith, be focused and loyal to the Federal Government and be grateful of the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, for his support to the Nigerian Army. Therefore, I wish to pledge the commitment and unalloyed loyalty of officers and soldiers of the Nigerian Army to the President and the defence of our democracy.”
More so, speaking in Asaba, Delta State during the inauguration of six projects at the temporary headquarter of 63 Brigade of the Nigerian Army on July 2nd, 2020 as part of the activities marking the Army day under the theme: ‘Nigeria’s Territorial Defense and Integrity – Imperatives for Nigeria’s Army’ Sustained Training and Operations, Buratai charged Officers and men of the Nigerian Army to abide by their constitutional roles in the task of securing lives and property of Nigerians just as he tasked them on professionalism and responsiveness.
Furthermore, on the 26th of October, 2020, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai (rtd.), during a meeting with Principal Staff Officers (PSOs), Commanding Officers (GOCs) and Field Commanders in Abuja warned that the Army would not allow subversive elements to destabilise Nigeria and its democratic order in addition to rallying troops to defend the country, not minding threats to file complaints at International Criminal Court.
Buratai told the PSOs, GOCs and Field Commanders that there would be no room for disloyalty amongst all officers and soldiers of the Nigerian Army. He directed that they must reiterate to all their subordinates that the army was determined to ensure democratic stability in Nigeria as the only panacea for development and progress.
“We will not allow any force, elements or destabilising agents in or outside our country to set our beloved country on fire. We remain resolute in doing everything possible to ensure that subversive elements, detractors and other enemies of this great nation do not achieve their aims and objectives of destabilisation”.
Likewise on December 4, 2020, during the decoration of 39 newly promoted major generals, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai (as he then was) warned the newly-promoted generals against coup plots.
He said the Nigerian Army would not tolerate any plot to scuttle the current democratic dispensation noting that he was aware that “some generals were being approached and all our eyes are on them.”
He went further to reiterate: “Democracy has come to stay. We will not tolerate any agent of destabilisation. The years of military misadventure in politics have never carried us anywhere. It is over.”
Disclosing that the Army hierarchy was aware of some interests making efforts to interact with certain personnel, the Buratai expressed confidence in the discipline and loyalty of the newly decorated officers.
However, he warned: “Do not hobnob with politicians. At this rank of two-star generals, do not lobby for appointment. If you want to lobby for appointment, lobby the Chief of Army Staff and you can only do this through hard work, discipline and loyalty.
“The crop of officers decorated will never be dragged into any interest that is contrary to the sustenance of democracy in our nation. All our eyes are on you. We know there are several moves to get your attention. You must make sure that whatever you are doing, and when some persons approach you, you must act within the confines of the constitution.”
By and large, hardly in West Africa’s existential political history would a leader of a large Army such as the Nigerian Army display such fondness of loyalty to a sitting President and a passion for the defense of the country’s democracy in times of threats to national unity.
The few can doubt, but one lesson to be learnt from the constitutional purity ideology of Gen. Tukur Buratai (rtd.) is that his iconic leadership and that of his colleagues in Nigeria’s Military hierarchy of Service Chiefs sensitized and strengthened the military generally as a subordinate institution to civil rule and democratic institutions of the country.
Indeed, with how democracies in some of the West African Countries are looking towards militarism, Buratai has sacredly remained a reference pillar of loyalty, love for the country and dedication to the nation’s peace and security under a democracy. Even as Nigeria’s Ambassador of Democracy in Republic of Benin, Gen. Buratai (rtd.) has continued to demonstrate loyalty and his hunger to disarm the wings of criminals and tormentors of Nigeria for a country totally freed from the strings of insecurities.
In every sense, he was indeed, the finest testimony or portrait of absolute loyalty to Nigeria and the Army’s mirror as subordinates to democratic institutions of a country. His constitutional purity will remain a great lesson for generations.
*EMMANUEL ONWUBIKO is head of the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA and was National Commissioner of the National Human Rights commission of Nigeria. He can be reached on www.huriwanigeria.com.
The Chairman of the Southern Governors’ Forum and Governor of Ondo State, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, has berated Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State for his attack on governors within the southern region.
Akeredolu described the attack on Southern governors by his Kaduna State counterpart as devious and a hysteric ploy to externalise banditry.
El-Rufai had mocked the southern governors over their position to pass the Anti-Open Grazing Law.
Akeredolu in a statement issued by his Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Donald Ojogo, said anyone making such a statement made by the Kaduna State Governor should be classified as “unenviable ilk masquerading as leaders.”
He added that El-Rufai statement was capable of encouraging anarchy under the guise “of resentment of a Law by affected stakeholders”.
While emphasizing that the Anti-open Grazing Law has come to stay in the state, Akeredolu maintained that those without evil plots have nothing to be worried about.
The statement partly read “From all indications, Governor Nasir el-Rufai, if he was properly quoted and his views not misrepresented, is struggling hard to export banditry to the South under an expressed opinion that is laced with mischief.
“Perhaps, it is apt to state clearly that the likes of Governor El-Rufai are already in a hysteric ‘mode’ of escalating and indeed, externalising banditry, especially as the military onslaught against criminal elements and other terror variants suffices in the North.”
The recent coup d’état in the Republic of Guinea and the attempted coup in Sudan have continued to draw attention of the diplomatic community, trade unions, international organisations, among others.
Col. Mamady Doubouya, Head of Guinean Special Forces (GSF), on Sept, 5, overthrew President Alpha Conde and detained him.
Also from Sudan, authorities reported a failed attempt to overthrow the country’s transitional government, blaming “military officers and civilians” from the former government of deposed President Omar al-Bashir.
Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok described the attempted coup, which took place early Tuesday, as “an extension of previous attempts” to overthrow the transitional government
Those who spoke on the coups, noted that since the “Togolese military coup d’état” of Jan. 13, 1963,’’ overthrow of democratically elected governments had become a trend across other parts of the continent.
That Togolese coup, led by Gen. Gnassingbé Eyadéma, that overthrew Sylvanus Olympio, was the first in Africa.
Since the first coup that occurred in Togo, 38 forcefully overthrow of legitimately elected government had been carried out across 38 countries, out of 54 countries in the continent.
The countries include: Nigeria, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar, DR Congo, Mali, Malawi, Cote d’Ivoire, Sudan, Eritrea, Republic of Benin, Central African Republic, Libya, Comoros, Chad and Egypt.
Some who spoke said that coups in general pose setbacks to democratic growth.
They noted that unless the trend is reversed, coups would continue to create platform for disregard of fundamental rights of citizens.
They also urged the African Union and ECOWAS to wade in and ensure coup becomes thing of the past in the African continent.
Mr Abdulmalik Ahmed, the Consul-General of Nigeria Mission in Johannesburg, South Africa, condemned military coups in Africa, saying it is fast becoming trend that must be stopped.
Ahmed said: “It is a sad day for the people of Guinea and a setback for democracy in West Africa and Africa in general.
“Democracy in itself should not be viewed as an end in itself, but a means towards development and popular participation in governance and decision making.
“It is a setback for our sub-region.”
In the same vein, Mr Chukwuemeka Nnaji, the President of Nigerian Union of Traders Associations in Ghana (NUTAG), said that coup is unacceptable, because its outcome affect trade negatively.
He, therefore, appealed to the African Union and ECOWAS to intervene in the matter to restore sustainable democracy, not just in Guinea, but in the continent.
According to him: “Coup in any country of Africa is unacceptable and therefore should be condemned with a very strong force.
“So, I add my voice to call on the international community to intervene in the matter as soon as possible, to stop more casualties in Guinea.
“We do not want a repeat of Liberia, Sierra Leone or the Ivory Coast outcome of internal conflict in West Africa.
“I call on the leadership of ECOWAS, especially Nana Akufo Addo, the Chairman of ECOWAS Heads of State to intervene immediately.”
Also Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, threw his weight behind the calls to end coups, saying that such menace have no place in the 21st century governance.
Osinbajo, who spoke when he represented President Muhammadu Buhari at a virtual Extraordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS member-states, stressed the need for the regional body to take proactive steps to prevent coups in the sub-region and the continent at large.
“There should be new measures to prevent coups, what happened in Guinea is a brazen disregard for the provisions of ECOWAS protocol on democracy and good governance, which clearly states that every ascension to power must be through a free, fair and transparent election.
“The unconstitutional seizure of power in any shape or form is simply unacceptable, especially with four coups within the last few months is dangerous trend indeed.
“We are sliding back to the infamous 60s’, our zero-tolerance for coups is important, but clearly insufficient. Are there further steps that we can take to prevent coups d’état?”
In line with this, ECOWAS had in a communiqué issued after a virtual meeting of the organisation to discuss the political developments in Guinea, suspended the membership of Guinea and called for the immediate restoration of civil rule in the country.
The regional bloc demanded immediate restoration of civilian rule in Guinea, adding that the “defence and security forces should maintain a constitutional posture,” while reaffirming its strong opposition to any political change by unconstitutional means and condemned, in the strongest terms, specifically the coup in Guinea.
“The authority expresses deep concern over the political developments in the Republic of Guinea following the coup d’état of Sept. 5, 2021 and their consequences for regional peace and stability,” the communiqué said.
ECOWAS, however, promised to send its mission, led by Ghanaian Foreign Minister Shirley Botchwey with representatives from Nigeria, Burkina Faso, and the ECOWAS Commission to achieve its target.
All who spoke on the resurgence of coups in Africa, agreed that there is urgent need to check the trend.
They also said that the UN, AU and the Commonwealth have great roles to play to check unconstitutional ascension to power in the African continent.
“Demagogues attack their critics in harsh and provocation terms- as enemies, as subversives, and even as terrorists.” (HOW DEMOCRACIES DIE: WHAT HISTORY REVEALS ABOUT OUR FUTURE BY STEVEN LEVITSKY & DANIEL ZIBLATT).
“We are all animal but all animals are not equal.” This typical saying was one of the earliest things I had to read from some novels during my school days in the Secondary school of the 1980’s. However, when I began to read about the modern day politics in Nigeria and began working and even had a stint in a federal government’s funded agency:- the National Human Rights Commission, I came face to face with the reality that perhaps that saying that all animals are not equal was actually a depiction of who a Nigerian is. For a fact, Nigeria is inherently and fundamentally dysfunctional and distorted because the people who govern the Country have ideologically willed that Nigeria should never work as a constitutional democracy. Those who control the different layers of political governance especially at the highest echelons of the federal administration have built the mindset that all Nigerians must never be treated equally. This is why when the then military dictator General Sani Abacha wanted to write the constitution preparatory to the exit of the military out of governance, he loaded the committee with Northerners who actually implanted a lot of provisions that are meant to destroy the principle of equity and equality. For instance, the 1999 constitution which was written by selected persons who were commissioned by General Abacha, decidedly gave Kano State the highest number of House of Representatives members. The Kano parliamentarians to the Federal House of Representatives are more in number than those of the entire five Igbo States put together even when the population of Igbo speaking people is not less than 60 million. It would seem the drafters of that distorted Constitution in application at the moment, used the criterion of land mass to allocate membership to the National Assembly’s lower legislature.
That aside, the coming of President Muhammadu Buhari to power in 2015, has brought into focus the notoriety of nepotism and tribalism. This current administration has lowered the bar and has so made political governance to appear like the village meeting of the Fulani ethnicity. Muhammadu Buhari sleeps and wakes up thinking about cows and nothing else. He has undermined National security by failing to stop murderous gangs of Fulani people from invading Nigeria from Niger and Chad, killing, maiming and destroying lives and property of largely Christian farmers. With over 6,000 farmers murdered in cold blood by Fulani armed herdsmen but not one of these mass killers are in prison. Muhammadu Buhari has a minister of Justice Abubakar Malami who confessed to my group- HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA that he has no case file on the killings by armed Fulani herdsmen and so is not ready to prosecute them for the genocides committed in many parts of Nigeria with Benue State having the largest chunk of the casualties. The current President decidedly loaded the strategic portfolios and political positions including the defence sector with his people the Moslem North of Fulani/Hausa. But the area in which the saying that all animals are not equal is in the workings of the Federal agency that provides reliefs for victims of disasters known as National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) which is headed by a Moslem Northerners and controlled by the ministry of humanitarian affairs and disaster management headed also by a Fulani woman. In the distribution of relief materials, NEMA has become very notorious for diverting Ninety percent of the relief materials to the North East. Disasters affecting other parts of Nigeria are usually not treated the same way as the man made disaster of terrorists attacks of the North East of Nigeria. Benue State is one place that terrorists made up largely of armed Fulani herders have made the most devastating negative impacts. However, NEMA is hardly noticed in the different internally displaced persons camps in Benue State. This systemic and systematic exclusion is not just a moral crime but constitutes a crime against humanity and President Muhammadu Burai’s attention should be called to it so a fundamental redress is made. By the way, the majority of the IDPs are farmers whose farms and housing assets were blown up by the rampaging armed Fulani militia who are above the law in the thinking of the current Federal government that is dangerously pro-Fulani. To drive home this point, perhaps the Benue State governor saw no other way to express his angst but to use the analogy of how the problems of IDPs incapacitates him from fully playing his husband bed time role to his beautiful wife.
Governor Samuel Ortom recently bemoaned the perennial displacement of residents across Benue, saying the plight of people living in camps for the internally displaced has been giving him erectile dysfunction. At a public function near the capital Makurdi, Mr Ortom said President Muhammadu Buhari and special duties minister George Akume have failed to support him in his fight against killer herdsmen, working against the interest of Benue people instead. Mr Ortom said there was “no way as a leader” would he feel comfortable knowing that thousands of his people have been displaced from their villages by killer herdsmen who were on a conquest to take lands from indigenous Benue settlers. “Even when I am on top of my wife and I remember the people who are in IDP camps…” Mr Ortom said with a pause for camera effect. A male voice in the audience then helped him to conclude his sentence, saying “It goes flat,” to which the governor then responded with a smile. Mr Ortom has been locked in fierce political confrontation with Mr Buhari and his appointees following his decision to implement a ban on open grazing of cattle by herders of Mr Buhari’s ethnic Fulani stock. The president has insisted that he would not support a ban on open grazing and tried to force states to bow to the federal government on the appropriation solution to the crisis, which has left thousands killed and untold damage caused to assets and livelihoods since Mr Buhari assumed office in 2015. The president has faced criticism for pushing the interest of herdsmen while showing little sympathy to victims of their brutality, including from members of his ruling APC. He has vigorously denied the claims and said his administration has implemented a series of security, administrative and financial solutions to mitigate the crisis.
On another level we read correctly that the Benue State Government has again called on the Federal Government to return the millions of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to their ancestral homes to avert recruitment of vulnerable inmates by terrorist groups. Executive Secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Dr. Emmanuel Shior, raised the fears recently, while briefing newsmen in Makurdi, during the distribution of food items to eight IDP camps in the state. Shior maintained that the humanitarian crisis caused by marauding herders to communities in the state was colossal and devastating while expressing disgust that the Federal Government had not extended its gesture in the North East to Benue. He alleged that some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) were rather playing politics with the issue. “The IDPs have been with us for the past three years and there is a need to return them to their communities. But some people, for parochial reasons, are accusing Governor Samuel Ortom of masterminding the killings, which is not true. We don’t play politics with lives. “A group of APC members is the ones peddling this false news. They are using this gimmick to cover their failures at the national level. They are acting on the premise that Ortom is PDP and they are APC. But the governor is responsive and cannot afford to forcefully return IDPs to their ancestral homes without adequate security,” he said. The humanitarian crisis in the camps, Shior added, is a big burden on the state, which reportedly spends hundreds of millions of naira monthly to procure food and other needs. According to the SEMA boss, based on the governor’s directive, the activities of the agency would continue to be transparent. The Guardian gathered that food items distributed to the various camps included bags of rice, beans as well as noodles. On why Tse-Yandev camp has no SEMA staff managing it, Shior said, even as the camp was being managed by volunteer groups, SEMA was intervening from time to time. At the camp, there are many weary faces – from the aged to distressed mothers; all worrying about what to eat with their families and how to educate their children, a situation that gets tougher with each passing day. Feeding is a major challenge for the IDPs. Due to the large population at the camp, the government’s food supplies are never enough. To supplement this, some of the IDPs resort to cooking almost-spoiled or perishing food items sourced from dealers in the local market. “For the issue of food, the government is trying,” says Camp Manager Comfort Alugah. “But the government cannot satisfy everybody.” Mrs Alugah attributes the challenge to the population at the camp which she put at 43,344. In terms of health care, the Mbawa IDP camp has a maternal and child health clinic operated by Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF). The clinic has been providing care for the babies delivered in the camp and their mothers, with assistance from the Benue State Ministry of Health, ensuring safe delivery after months of antenatal services. The HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA is indeed happy withthe Benue State governor and his administration for carrying the matter of the neglect of the IDPS on his head and heart. We call on the NATIONAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY to respect the constitutional principles of equity and equality of opportunity and rights and deliver qualitative and quantitative relief materials to the thousands of Benue IDPS or we will challenge their criminal abandonment of the Benue IDPs at the Benue State High Court so we expose this systemic and systematic crimes against BENUE IDPS. Enough is enough!
*EMMANUEL ONWUBIKO is head of the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) and blogs@www. theingerianinsidernews.com, www.huriwanigeria.com.
The governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has stated that it is difficult to execute the Anti-Open Grazing laws which his counterparts in the Southern part of Nigeria have passed to curb insecurity in the region.
He, then, cautioned them not to deploy much energy on the laws, adding that it would take time for it to materialise.
Speaking during a visit to the headquarters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday, El-Rufai revealed that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has backed his state with N7.5 billion out of the N10 billion required to build a ranch.
He also disclosed that since there are over 14 grazing reserves in Kaduna State, he would be glad if the Nigerian Government can support his state with N140 billion to develop the grazing reserves.
According to El-Rufai, it is needless for the Southern states’ governors to politicise grazing rights and pass laws they know cannot be implemented.
Speaking on the anti-open grazing laws, he noted, “The northern state governors forum has already taken a position that open grazing is not a sustainable way of livestock production. And we must move towards ranching.
“But moving towards ranching cannot be done overnight. We have to have a plan, we have to have resources and we have to implement it sensibly. It is not a matter of populist legislation or saying tomorrow this or that. It is not a solution.
“We have taken a position as northern state governors and we are implementing that.
“And in my state, for instance, we are developing a huge ranch to centralise the herders. And that is the solution, a long time. But can it be done overnight? No.
“This project we are doing will cost us about N10 billion. The CBN is supporting us with about N7.5 billion. And it will take about two years to do. We will be settling about 1,500 Fulani herder families.
“And I hope that they will see that there are alternative ways of producing livestock instead of running up and down with cattle going to people’s farms to cause all kinds of problems. We want to solve the problem.
“What is unhelpful is to politicise the situation and pass legislation that you know that you cannot implement. So, we have taken a position and we are working round the clock to implement that position.
“And these herders emanate from the north and we are going to centralise them. We cannot do it overnight. We need billions of naira. This is just one ranch that is causing 10 billion. I have 14 grazing reserves in Kaduna State and I will like to convert them into ranching. Do I have 14 times 10 billion naira? I don’t have.
“If the Federal Government will give me N140 billion, I will convert the other 13 into ranches and make sure that nobody comes out with a cow or sheep in Kaduna State because I will have enough ranches to take care of everybody. That is the solution. You can legislate but let us wait and see. And I wish them the best of luck.”
The socio-cultural group, Okun Development Association (ODA), has condemned the attack on worshippers at a church in Kabba-Bunu local government area.
He said the fear of this and similar occurrences in different parts of Okun land made ODA appeal to the Kogi government to reconsider its open-door policy to herdsmen.
Gunmen invaded ECWA Goodnews Church, Okedayo, in Kabba on Sunday, killed one person, injured three, and abducted two worshipers.
ODA national secretary Ben Abereoran on Tuesday in Lokoja decried, in a statement, the needless attack on innocent people who gathered to worship their God in line with their religious tenets.
He noted that the church attack was among the numerous insecurity issues bedevilling communities in Okun land.
“The attack and the attendant loss of life are barbaric, unfortunate and extremely very sad,” stated Mr Abereoran.
“Those who disguised as ordinary people going about for their survival, Okun land. They had and still harbour evil intentions. Today, we all know better,” Mr Abereoran noted. “Also, the jailbreak at the Federal Minimum Correctional Centre, Kabba, and the kidnappings in Ijumu, Kabba-Bunu, Mopa Amuro, Oworo land, Yagba East and Yagba West local government areas, are alien to our land.”
ODA called for improved security in the areas to prevent further attacks.
“We, the ODA, do not want to believe that the security agencies lack the ability and capacity to decisively deal with this situation,” the ODA statement added. “This is why we once again appeal to our political leadership across the board, for the sake of millions of young, innocent children and the overall long-term interest of Nigeria, to demonstrate the political will and put this menace to rest once and for all,” he said.
Four persons have been reported dead and two others missing when a passenger bus plunged into River Niger in Koton Karfe area of Kogi.
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) confirmed this in a statement issued on Wednesday in Lokoja.
It stated that a Toyota Hiace bus with 15 passengers on board plunged into the river late Tuesday night.
Mr Solomon Agure, the state Sector Commander of the FRSC, who confirmed this said the bus with registration number Plateau – JJN 73 XA, took off from Ijora Seven Up under bridge in Lagos and was heading to Kano.
According to Agure, four people including a woman died in the accident while seven others were critically injured.
He said that the corps engaged the services of eight divers to rescue victims and recovered four dead bodies.
Agure explained that two female passengers were still missing, saying that all efforts to trace their bodies proved abortive.
He, however, explained that two passengers escaped unhurt.
The sector commander said that the injured victims and the dead were taken to the General Hospital, Koton Karfe, and the bus recovered and taken to FRSC office also in Koton Karfe.
Bauchi State Commissioner of Police, Sylvester Alabi
A suspect, Sanusi Lauwali, arrested by the Police in Bauchi State for alleged kidnapping and armed robbery, has disclosed that he killed five people during religious crises in Jos, Plateau State.
The suspect spoke while being paraded by the Commissioner of Police, Bauchi State Command, Sylvester Alabi, at the state command headquarters.
He said that anytime there was a religious crisis in Plateau State, his boss would give them guns to kill Christians.
Although the 27-year old said he could not state exactly the number of persons he had killed, he added that they could not be less than five persons.
He said, “I cannot remember how many people I have killed, they are not up to 10, but I think they are at least five people.
“I killed these people during religious crises in Plateau State. These are the people I shot and killed.”
Asked where he gets the gun he uses to kill, he said: “It is our boss that gives us the guns.”
He added,”I live in Tunga village outside Jos, but anytime there is a crisis, he will send us to the place to go and kill Christians.
“I ran away and went back to my hometown in Ningi (Local Government Area), for about one year now.
“It was when I went back that they informed security agents who arrested me; although I know I am guilty of what they are accusing me of.”
Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Bauchi, Bauchi State, Sylvester Alabi, told journalists that Lauwali alias ‘no delay’ of Gudale village Ningi LGA Bauchi state, was a suspected serial kidnapper and armed robber.
He said that the suspect was arrested on 12th September, 2021 around 5pm, through intelligence.
Alabi said, “His gang members include one Ali, one Bammi and welcome (real name not yet known).
“He confirmed to have benefited the sum of N250,000 as his share from the proceeds of crime they collected from their kidnapped victim at Dabar Tsintsiya village.”
The police commissioner said that investigation was being expanded to nail down the fleeing accomplices.
