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Tag: Fulani herdsmen

  • Our Girls; Fulani Herdsmen War- Buhari’s triumph or Achilles Heel; Budget Buhari saves trillions; ‘Sinate’ must GO! 

    Our Girls; Fulani Herdsmen War- Buhari’s triumph or Achilles Heel; Budget Buhari saves trillions; ‘Sinate’ must GO! 

    Our Girls are still missing since April 15, 2014. We must never give up even as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are added to the two million+ displaced and the 25,000+ dead from the Fulani Herdsmen War.

    In The Nation May 15 2013,   I wrote on Widows of violence, lamenting those violently slaughtered on a daily basis in the brutal herdsman’s war against the farmers from many states on the North-South cattle corridor. We add the families of those killed almost like clockwork at the rate of ten murders a day in the well-engineered bloody Fulani [herdsmen] Vs indigenes Plateau State crisis. Unchecked, the terror has multiplied confirming a hidden domination agenda.

    At last, following more unnecessary security personnel deaths, government is stepping in. But whose side is government on, ‘the wrong’ of cattle barging through your farm or ‘the right’ of the farmer to protection? Most Nigerians say ‘No’ to grazing areas across states and ‘Yes’ to Northern ranches for growing cows at ‘point of origin’ in the North and when they are fattened, a 1-2days shipping by trailer and train to ‘point of kill’. Who believes that Nigerians are so stupid as to take an agriculture loan,  buy seeds, plough, fertilise, plant, water, weed and tend fields and employ farm hands for months just to prepare ‘lunch’ for someone else’s passing cattle leaving NOTHING but COW DUNG, a gunshot wound or even a grave and orphans?

    Why do the Fulani herdsmen’s employers not pay? How can this be ‘right to passage’? How would you feel if cows were herded through your livelihood- children’s bedroom, office, clinic? Buhari is fighting The Boko Haram War and the Anti-Corruption War. The Buhari tenure will be judged by 100+ million non-Fulani Nigerians on the Third War –the Fulani Herdsmen’s War. Will this be President Buhari’s finest hour or his Achilles Heel?

    The signing of ‘BUDGET BUHARI’ instead of ‘BUDGET NASS-ty’ is a multifaceted victory for democracy change putting politicians in their place. It is a victory in the budget fight saving lives and the quality of life. No money changed hands where it used to cost Nigeria billions in bribes. No illegal secret promises were made, replacing past selfish horse trading. ‘Padding’, though criminally practiced for 40 years by politicians, civil servants and contractors, finally entered the Nigerian political lexicon of corruption and happily was exorcized whereas in the past, ‘padding’ allowed billions to be stolen. Civil servants involved in the ‘2016 Budget Padding Scandal’ must be prosecuted, not dismissed. The scandal must be taught in every university department and course. We hope their military, Ministries Department and Agencies (MDAs) and National Assembly (NASS) collaborators are dealt with as many are specialist ‘Political Padders’. The ‘BUDGET PROCESS CLEANSING SUCCESS STORY’ victory will be complete only if repeated at the state level by all parties. The governors of all parties must seize this moment of change to change their own budget process. Nigeria must move forward as a whole away from corruption. But are they and their parties clean enough to come clean?

    Remember also that we are used to heads of state taking 50% of the budget themselves, not to talk of lesser thieves. The budget is lean and mean without  built-in ‘10-100% contract slush money for the political party boys and girls’. As much as one third of the budget, N2trillion, may have been saved from theft now, and in the next one year, by the Buhari government securing the budget. Wow!

    Do we at last have that essential democratic tool – a dichotomy, a separation, of party funds and funding on the one hand and the federal budget on the other? This ‘HANDS OFF THE BUDGET’ by all political parties is the key to the anti-corruption war. The extent of damage by illegal party access to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other budgets 1999-2015 is clear from a study of the massive corruption cases exposed daily.

    The Buhari Budget has to make up for that 1999-2015 mega-theft with ‘recovery’ and ‘prevention’ of 2016 ‘budget abuse’. In addition to the terrible travails of IDPs, we face the results of a 30+ year epidemic of ‘dispirited, disillusioned, disgusted and disgruntled children of their ‘+chronically wageless and perennially pensionless’ parents. These pauperised Fellow Nigerian Children come from a heart-breaking past, face a bleak present and frightening future. They have been forced into an adulthood of lower-than-expected achievement. They have achieved less academically and in the workplace because their parents, due to the then-prevailing corruption in pension scams and schemes, could not afford educational institutions of their choice. Nigeria’s greedy political class, a major cause of social unrest, joblessness and kidnapping, owes citizens a big apology and a massive N100 billion naira refund for failed democracy. Were Nigeria’s children not ‘kidnapped’ long ago and held ransom by evil politics depriving them of their inheritance?

    Meanwhile  is ‘Sinate’ an unnecessary body comprising many who presided over the rape, destruction and robbery of federal and state treasuries, siting in the grandiose delusion, arrogantly dispensing ‘Death Penalty’ to kidnappers as curative medicine? Was this ‘sponsored’ by the kidnap of a ‘Fellow ex-Sinator’? Using the Sinate’s own punishment scale, should some members face ‘CHARGES OF KIDNAPPING PARTS OF NIGERIA AND THE POPULATION THEREIN AND DEMANDING AND RECEIVING RANSOM FROM THE TREASURY’ – a capital crime? Are ‘Sinators’ worthy of Nigeria’s trust and confidence? We demand a Salary Allowances Perks, SAP, reduction and even a refund –since 1999 to date!

     

  • Thoughts and non thoughts on ‘Fulani herdsmen’

    Thoughts and non thoughts on ‘Fulani herdsmen’

    The destructive, barbarous and utterly condemnable activities of so called ‘Fulani herdsmen’ killing, maiming, raping innocent citizens and ravaging farmlands across the country has rightly been the central focus of public discourse in recent times. Yet, much of the often rancorous ‘conversation’ has generated more heat than light. The issues have been distorted, even by enlightened commentators to absurd ethno-religious reductionism. The herdsmen – Fulani or not- are innately evil. The rest of us are inherently righteous and morally superior. This perception is superficial and analytically unhelpful.

     The clash between herdsmen, farmers and pastoralists is, first and foremost, a function of the failure or what Marxian analysts would call a ‘withering away’ of the Nigerian state. From the ‘Weberian’ perspective, the distinctive feature of the state is its legitimate monopoly or control of the instruments and mechanisms of coercion. A state that shares this essential attribute with herdsmen, cattle rustlers, ethnic militias, kidnappers, election riggers, armed robbers and oil pipeline vandals among others has its essential ‘stateness’ grossly eroded. The violent conflict of herdsmen, pastoralists and farmers is thus only a manifestation of a deeper, profounder and more widespread crisis of what Professor Eghosa Osaghae calls ‘state fragility’ in post- colonial Nigeria.

    In a lecture delivered at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) on 9th April, 1970, the incomparable sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo argued that “The causes of our national maladies are essentially economic”. His views are still cogent and relevant. At the root of the persistent ethno-regional, religious and purely criminal fissures across the country is the pervasive  poverty in an otherwise richly endowed country grossly underdeveloped by the sheer venality and incompetence of an irresponsible ruling class whose membership transcends sectional primordial boundaries. In the words of Awolowo: “I have said it before and I want to say it again that the causes of our national maladies are essentially economic. It is important, therefore, for us to bear it in mind that if we failed to find the right solutions to our economic problems, we would not succeed in solving our political and social problems”.

    Emphasising his point further, Awolowo averred that “My case then is that, in order to keep Nigeria harmoniously united, and, at the same time, fulfil the natural, ultimate, supreme, and inalienable purpose of that unity, the present and future rulers of this country must place the most crucial emphasis on, and attach the utmost importance to, the advancement of the economic prosperity and social well-being of the entire people of Nigeria without exception or discrimination”.

    The ‘Fulani’ herdsmen, pastoralists, cattle rustlers, kidnappers, armed robbers and sundry other criminals are thus largely victims, consciously or unconsciously, of a corrupt, selfish and intellectually lazy ruling class that has, among others, underdeveloped Nigerian agriculture, pursued economic policies that have resulted in massive de-industrialization of the country as well as the consequent colossal unemployment while also failing to provide the country either a modern and efficient road and rail transportation network or modern ranches for herdsmen.

     Unfortunately, what we are currently witnessing in the country is also a function partly of the virtual collapse of our universities and the consequent devaluation of the quality of the contributions of the Nigerian intelligentsia to public discourse. Most of our best scholars have become veritable nomads that have migrated either to greener intellectual pastures outside the country or from our public universities to the essentially commercially driven private universities many of which lack genuine and creative intellectual culture.

    For instance, northern governors, senators and traditional rulers have spoken, some sensibly and rationally and others arrogantly and insensitively, on the issue of the ‘Fulani herdsmen’ and their clashes with their host communities. But where is the voice and opinion of the northern intelligentsia and academics? This has not always been the case. For instance, following the religious violence that erupted in Kaduna State on Friday, 6th March, 1987, a group of scholars at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, published a full length article in the New Nigerian of 20th March, 1987 and The Guardian of 25th March, 1987 titled ‘The Violent Politics of Religion and the Survival of Nigeria”.

    These scholars including the late Dr Bala Usman, Kyari Tijjani, Sanusi Abubakar, George Kwanashie, Alkasum Abba, Ahmed Modibbo Mohammed, Ahmed Siddique Mohammed as well as Ayo and Grace Ajagun among others argued that “We are convinced that this campaign has reached this totally unacceptable and very dangerous level because successive federal governments have toyed with one of the foundations on which Nigeria exists, namely the secular nature of the Nigerian state and its sacred responsibility to protect the right of belief and worship of everyone. A strong impression has been created that some organisations and individuals can, with arrogance and impunity, incite and threaten people of other religious beliefs and will get away with, at most, only verbal reprimands or appeals to be tolerant”. According to them “In spite of reports and warnings from concerned individuals and organisations, three days after the start of the violence, Police and Security forces were completely absent from the scenes. This apparent abdication of responsibility by Government must be taken seriously. This type of violent campaign of Muslims against Christians is unprecedented in the history of our country. It directly threatens her continued survival as a single entity”.

    Most of those who wrote these words were northerners and Muslims. But they were men and women of intellect and integrity who transcended narrow and selfish primordial considerations. I was privileged to work closely with the late Dr Bala Usman when I served as media aide to Professor Iyorchia Ayu who was then Senate President. Dr Usman translated Chief MKO Abiola’s ‘Farewell to Poverty’ manifesto into Fulfude and was constantly on the Hausa BBC and Voice of America Service to explain pertinent political and socio-economic issues to the ordinary people of the north. On the issue of the ‘Fulani herdsmen’, the northern intelligentsia must regain its voice and reassert its leadership in moulding public opinion. And progressive Nigerian intellectuals, professionals and activists in general must begin to speak up once more against those who are vigorously manipulating religion, ethnicity or regionalism to divide and continue to exploit Nigerians. The real enemies of the herdsmen, pastoralists, peasant farmers, cattle rustlers and the millions of impoverished Nigerians are the criminal and predatory looters of our commonwealth.

    Omolayo Thomas: Exit of an unsung but consistent progressive

    My friend and brother, Dr Dapo Thomas of the Department of History and International Relations, Lagos State University (LASU), is in a mixed mood. Naturally, he is sad at the death on the 21st of last month of his brother, Mr Omolayo Thomas, at his residence in Ebute Metta, after a protracted illness. Aged 71, Mr Omolayo Thomas was born on Lagos Island and was a grandson of the famous Richards Odeniyi Thomas of 8/10, Richards Lane, Lagos Island. The late Thomas started his working career with the Lagos Municipal Transport Service in the late 1960s but later resigned and made considerable success in the foreign exchange business.

    But then, Dr Thomas is happy that his late brother was a man of character, integrity and unwavering consistency in progressive politics. In 1978, he joined Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) and during Babangida’s ‘transition without end’, he was a member of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) with Lagos Island and Mainland as his political base. In the epic political battle between Chief  Dapo Sarumi and the late Dr Femi Agbalajobi for the governorship of Lagos State, Mr Omolayo Thomas was fervently in support of the ‘Primrose’ group which included Dapo Sarumi, Senator Bola Tinubu, Oyinlomo Danmole, Rahman Owokoniran, Aro Lambo, Dr Fasegun Machado and Yomi Edu among other prominent politicians. Despite his fragile health, he was a staunch supporter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and canvassed strongly for Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s election. Mr Thomas was an unusual politician who spent his personal funds on mobilising for elections without ever seeking reimbursement. He was an unsung but consistent progressive who surely deserves the full support of the APC at his burial. May his soul rest in peace and may God grant his loved ones the strength and grace to bear the loss.

  • No plans to attack northerners in south east – IPOB

    No plans to attack northerners in south east – IPOB

    The members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have said that they do not have any plans to have a reprisal attacks on northern residents in any part of the South East because of the recent attacks on the people of the zone.

    They said that they are a non violent group and that people should not associate them with cold blooded killing of innocent people in their sleep, like the ones being perpetrated by Fulani herdsmen in the South East.

    The IPOB stand was made known by the director of media and publicity of the group, Emma Powerful and made available to The Nation in Umuahia, saying that people should stop associating them with killings and bloodletting.

    Emma said that it has become absolutely necessary to state publicly, “That we do not have any intention or plans to attack Northerners resident in the Eastern region in the name of reprisal attacks”.

    He said that the group is forced to make the statement following constant pressures and calls from elders and leaders from all walks of life, stressing that they have never taught in their direction and will never do such.

    Emma said, “We are not a violent organization; we are a peace loving mass movement, with branches in 98 countries, desirous of freedom from a ruthless, tyrannical oppressors who have held us down for decades.

    “We don’t have any reason whatsoever to attack and kill people in cold blood like Fulani herdsmen, despite the mindlessly killing of our people in Port Harcourt, Onitsha Obodo-Ukwu Road, Onitsha Bridge head and while praying at Igbo National College compound in Aba, which we endured with equanimity”.

    The IPOB spokesman recalled that hundreds of their members have been killed and buried, “Suddenly they turned around to falsely accuse us of killing five of their kinsmen, which the whole world rose in our defense, we can never kill people in cold blood, as we are not animals”.

    He said that those calling them and pleadings with them to cancel their threats and ultimatums, should know, that they have never issued any ultimatum after the Uzo-Uwani massacres by the herdsmen.

    Emma therefore urged those pleading with them over fake ultimatum to direct their pleas to rabble rousers and agent provocateurs who found their voices only after the Uzo-Uwani massacre, and are playing to the gallery in order to be noticed.

    He alleged that those pleading with them are sponsored by local politicians to issue threats and ultimatums in the hope that the presidency which has ignored them will invite them to plead with their youths to sheathe their swords.

    Emma said, “The only time we issued an ultimatum to the federal government which they complied two hours before its expiration with was on the issue of the Ugwuleshi 76, these non-existent groups were dumb, deaf and mute”.

    He reiterated that, “We are not planning any attacks; we are committed to a peaceful dissolution of this prison, where some people erroneously believe they are born to rule us.

    Where there is suffering in the midst of plenty, where an unworkable structure is imposed on 180 million people, where ethnic hatred reigns, where others will be working while others will be busy eating the things meant for all”.

  • PFN to IGP: Prosecute Fulani herdsmen for carrying arms

    PFN to IGP: Prosecute Fulani herdsmen for carrying arms

     

     

    The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) in Cross River State has called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to as a matter of urgent national interest, arrest and prosecute all gun-carrying Fulani herdsmen.

    This Christian body said was because the carrying of arms without license violates the laws of the land.

    A communiqué signed by the Chairman, Rev Lawrence Ekwok and Secretary, Apostle Frank Umo, issued to The Nation in Calabar Tuesday, also strongly condemned the attack and killing of people in the middle belt and southern parts of Nigeria by the Fulani herdsmen.

    The communiqué read, “We call on the Federal Government to as a matter of urgency ensure the arrest and immediate prosecution of the perpetrators of these heinous crimes.

    “PFN in Cross River calls on the various legislatures to enact legislations against free movement of destructive animals such as cows in their states.

    “The Cross River House of Assembly should enact a bill prohibiting any portion of the Cross River State land to be forcefully taken or otherwise for the purpose of grazing cattle as it will attract negative consequences on the economy and lives of Cross Riverians.

    “PFN CRS calls on all members of the National Assembly in the state to resist the National Grazing Reserve Bill in view of its negative economic consequences on the indigenes of the state, and on our already fragile pressure on our land.

    “PFN CRS strongly condemns and opposes the proposed Executive Bill by Governor El-Rufai of Kaduna State designed to restrict all forms of preaching in the state. Such a Religious Regulation Bill is contrary to the provisions of Section 38 of the 1999 Constitution.

    “PFN CRS condemns in very strong terms the new trend of Muslims abducting Christian girls and forcing them into marriage and conversion into Islam.

    “PFN CRS rejects plans by the Federal Government of Nigeria to fund the 2016 budget deficit from an “Islamic Compliant” loan.

    “PFN CRS condemns the decision of the Kano State governor to use Sunday for sanitation in the state. This is a deliberate poly to hinder Sunday worship by Christians in the state.

    “PFN CRS opposes the alteration of the school curriculum of Nigerian schools with the intention to exclude the teaching of Christian Religious Knowledge in schools.

    “It is our hope and prayer that all stakeholders of our country will work for the common good, well-being and continued unity of Nigeria.”

     

  • NASS restates opposition to grazing reserves

    NASS restates opposition to grazing reserves

    The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, says the National Assembly will not support the creation of grazing reserves anywhere in the country.

    Addressing newsmen on Sunday after a meeting of the South East governors and stakeholders in Enugu, Ekweremadu said that there was no bill on the creation of grazing reserves before the National Assembly.

    He, therefore, said that the purported bill for the creation of grazing reserves was a “hoax’’, adding that the press should strive to stop such rumours.

    “There is no such proposal or bill on the creation of grazing reserves either in the Senate or House of Representatives.

    “Nobody is considering it; not even at the executive level. I do not think they are considering it but we will not support it even if it has been considered,” he said.

    Ekweremadu said that the meeting was convened in reaction to the attack on the people of Uzo Uwani by suspected herdsmen.

    He said that the meeting reviewed all that happened since then and thanked all stakeholders who had shown sympathy to victims of the attack.

    On the absence of Imo and Anambra governors, Ekweremadu said: “The South East governors proposed to meet today to review these matters but regrettably, the message did not get to Imo and Anambra governors.

    “So you can see mainly the PDP governors are here. So, they had to review the matter and more importantly, ensure that every governor will be in attendance in the next meeting.

    “The meeting is rescheduled within the week where all the governors are expected to be in attendance,” he said.

    Ekweremadu said that the meeting looked at a more regional approach to curbing the menace of the herdsmen so as to ensure that it did not happen again.

    “We are looking at a concrete and more coordinated approach on how to protect our people from this carnage,” he said.

    Also speaking, Gov. Dave Umahi of Ebonyi said that there was no disunity among governors in the South East zone.

    Umahi said that the governors would take a cursory look at the federal budget, when signed into law, so as to ensure that the zone got what was due to it.

    He said that the governors would ensure the rehabilitation of federal roads in the zone if such arrangements were captured in the budget.

    ““I am sure the Federal Government’s budget is not yet signed. So when it is signed, it will be the duty of all zones to start agitating for attention,” Umahi said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Gov. Umahi, Gov Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State and Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia attended the meeting.

     

  • Attacks: Fulani herdsmen disguising as Muslims, says cleric

    Attacks: Fulani herdsmen disguising as Muslims, says cleric

    A Muslim cleric Alhaji Abdul Rasheed Oluwa has revealed that most of the Fulani herdsmen causing mayhem across the country are not true Muslims. Oluwa who also doubles as Chairman, Nasrul Lahil Fathi (NASFAT) Iju/Oko Oba branch, spoke while addressing journalists at the fifth anniversary of the organisation in Iju, Oko Oba, Lagos.

    According to him, Islam frowns at a situation where the faithful engage in acts of brigandage and all forms of violence against fellowmen.

    “Islam abhors violence in all ramifications. It is appalling that at this point in time of our national life some disgruntled elements, especially some of the Fulani herdsmen masquerading as Muslims are doing everything possible to break the fragile peace in the land,” he said.

    Expatiating, the NASFAT boss said: “The Fulani herdsmen are just hiding under the guise of being Muslims. Muslims are peace loving and law abiding. Even the Quran detest killing one another.”

    The Muslim cleric who stressed the need for parental guidance, urged Muslims to strive to emulate the life and times of the noble Prophet Mohammed (SAW) as he exemplifies uprightness, godliness.

  • Stop labelling Fulanis as criminals – Northern Govs

    Stop labelling Fulanis as criminals – Northern Govs

    Governors of 19 Northern States have risen from their meeting in Kaduna Friday, condemning labelling perpetrators of crimes around the country as Fulani people.

    The Governors who met behind closed doors said, as much as they condemn the recent attacks in Enugu and other parts of the country, they condemned labelling the criminals as Fulani people.

    Briefing newsmen shortly after the meeting at the Kaduna Government House Friday evening, Chairman of the Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF) and Governor of Borno State, Alhaji Kashim Shettima said, it is an insult to label criminals as Fulani.

    According to him, “We want to unequivocally condemn the recent killings in Enugu and other parts of the country. But we equally condemn the politicisation or permit me, the ‘ethinicisation’ of the whole crisis. It goes beyond Fulani. If anything happens, they say Fulani herdsmen; to me it is an insult.

    “Kidnapping in this country originated in the South-east, were they called Igbo kidnappers? We have a great national challenge and we want to call on all and sundry to come and let us solve our common challenges as a people. Because the blood of paternity that binds us together supersedes whatever differences that might divide us,” he stressed.

    While he condemned the Agatu killings, the NSGF Chairman, charged the media to avoid sensationalism and harp on issues that bind the country Nigerians together.

    On the legacies of the Premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello, Governor Shettima said they were doing everything possible to revive the New Nigerian Newspapers and Arewa Textile Limited.

    Earlier, in his opening remarks, the NSGF Chairman confirmed that Boko Haram insurgents that have been terrorising the North-east in the last five years have been degraded.

    He was however quick to note that, there are still pockets of bombings in the North-east which has been ravaged by the insurgency for more than five years.

    The Governor also disclosed that, following their recent visit to the Islamic Development Bank, the bank has resolved to rebuild Northern Nigeria.

    With this development, the Governor is calling for the rebuild of destroyed communities as well as total rehabilitation of affected persons who are currently seeking refuge at different camps across the country.

    According to him, “in respect of the insurgency in the North-east, I can confidently confirm that the insurgency has been irredeemably halted and the insurgents themselves completely subdued.

    “What remains now are few isolated pockets of suicide bombings which the recalcitrant remnants of the insurgents use as a last resort to attract attention and create unnecessary panic among the general population,” he stressed.

    According to him, the meeting would also discussed extensively with a view to preferring solutions to grey areas the region is currently faced with which he said include insurgency, cattle rustling, clashes between farmers and cattle rearers, intermittent incidents of banditry and kidnapping as well as issue of New Nigerian Newspapers.

    The Forum’s Chairman further added that the meeting will assess progress made by some committees set up in their September 2015 meeting with responsibility of coming up with workable recommendations.

    “In the North West and North Central, the security situation is alarming as the issues of cattle rustling, kidnapping, banditry and the persistent conflict between farmers and cattle rearers are gradually assuming unacceptable proportions.

    “It has therefore become a strategic imperative for us to take a hard look at these formidable challenges and work out strategies on the most    effective ways of not only reversing   the trend but also overcoming them   once and for all. Whatever resolutions we can come up with would   be communicated to the appropriate authorities for obvious analytical examination and possible   implementation,” he added.

    He then thanked President Buhari, gallant Military and other security agencies for fulfilling promise to bring the insurgency to a complete halt.

    “This undoubtedly entails the reconstruction and rehabilitation of public institutions and structures such as Local Government Secretariats, Police Stations, Prisons, Hospitals and Clinics as well as schools, all of which were either partially or completely destroyed by the  insurgents,” he said.

    On the Islamic Development Bank’s plan, Governor Shetima said, “in our determined efforts to address these challenges in collaborative partnership with the Islamic Development Bank. You may recall that consequent upon a deliberate resolution of the Forum, I had the privilege to lead a top level delegation to the Headquarters of the Islamic Development Bank in Jedda Saudi Arabia, for special consultations with   the management of the Bank on   possible ways of attracting their   assistance in addressing some of the   core challenges we, as a region, are   facing.

    “The delegation included Their Excellencies the Executive Governors of Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano and Nasarawa States as well as top officials of the NNDC, some professional consultants and other relevant stakeholders and senior officials. In reaction to our various presentations, the Bank’s President, Dr Mohammed Ali had given us a strong indication of the IDB’s declared intention to initiate a comprehensive and constructive plan for the reconstruction of the Northern Region.

    “This, according to him, entails possible intervention of the Bank in human capital development, Agriculture, poverty alleviation and improvement of infrastructural facilities, among others. The Consultant’s Committee was formed to specifically articulate our priority needs in a manner that could easily facilitate the intervention of the Bank in an all-encompassing and implementable way and present them to the IDB.

    “I wish to reiterate here that in seeking the intervention of the Bank, we have not violated any law of the land. As I had indicated in another forum, we knew our statutory obligations at every stage of the process; which was why we had in our delegation a senior official of the Federal Ministry of Finance, who is in charge of the IDB desk, to monitor the proceedings and guide us, if need be, to ensure that everything was done in accordance with the statutory requirements guiding foreign assistance,” he said.

     

  • Fulani herdsmen: Road not taken

    SIR: The title of this piece “Road Not Taken” was the name of Robert Frost’s poem written in 1916. The narrator regrets not following a particular branch to his destination, after choosing another road, the narrator tells himself that he would come back to this branch one day in order to try the other road. However, he realizes that it is unlikely that he will ever have the opportunity to come back to this specific point in time because his choice of path will simply lead to other branches in the road (and other decisions). The narrator ends on a nostalgic note, wondering how different things would have been had he chosen the other path.

    Same way the writer ended on a nostalgic end for the road not taken is the way Nigerians who underestimated the savagery of the Fulani herdsmen are living in regrets for granting them access to their communities. The Fulani herdsmen have been a pain in our communities. There’s no state or region that would say they have not had their own bitter tales with the Fulani herdsmen bothering on land dispute and grazing issues. On every of their murderous appearance, they have been leaving tears and blood behind. From the North-central states of Plateau, Benue, Nasarawa, Niger and Taraba to North-west, South-west and South-south zones, the story remains the same. Their latest casualty is Enugu State and the once peaceful community of Uzo Uwani LGA woke up Monday morning to behold the gory sight perpetrated by the nomads with graceful impunity. The attack was so bloody that the Governor of Enugu State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, on his visit to the community broke down in tears as he watched helplessly the lifeless bodies of innocent people that were massacred in their sleep by the Fulani herdsmen.

    It’s painful what these pastoralists do to their host communities; they are not acting in isolation, our security agencies are yet to tell us the mission of these murderous errands in human form.

    The federal government’s complicity on these utmost savageries also validates this quote by Martin Luther king Jnr, “The deepest part of hell is reserved for those leaders who kept silent in the face of evil”. This is the time for the government to break their undignified silence and act preemptively to ensure the safety of the public from this ethnic cleansing that is threatening our nation.

    For how long are we going to continue to suffer these killings from outsiders in our communities? For how long are we going to leave in regret for “the road not taken”? Yesterday it was Benue, today its Enugu, who knows whose turn it might be tomorrow?

    There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people – Howard Zinn.

     

    • Joe Onwukeme,

    Enugu.

  • ‘Rampaging herdsmen were beneficiaries of Arab spring’

    The rampaging herdsmen get the sophisticated weapons they carry as a result of the proliferation of small arms in West Africa, it was learnt yesterday.

    Secretary-General of the Gan Allah Fulani Development Association, Alhaji Sale Bayari, said yesterday that the arms-growing herdsmen might have been beneficiaries of the negative effect of the Arab spring.

    He said: “Most of the herdsmen are beneficiaries of the Arab Spring which culminated in Libya where massive small arms and light weapons were obtained. These weapons are everywhere in sub-African sub region.

    “There is ECOWAS Protocol on free movement; you cannot stop these herdsmen from coming into our country. If the foreign Fulani are allowed to move freely under ECOWAS, those attacking them or stopping them from grazing their cattle and those being attacked will not know the difference between the Nigerian herdsmen and the foreign Fulani because they speak the same language and they have the same costume and culture.

    “Such herdsmen are in a position to deal with Nigerian herdsmen if they decide to fight them or expose them to Nigerian security agencies because both of them are living in the jungle where might is right.”

    The association is an umbrella body for all Fulani groups in the country and the diaspora, which he said, will intercede and ask the herdsmen to ceasefire and the farmers should do the same.

    He said although the Federal Government was yet to reach out to the association, the Fulani leaders will step into the crisis and resolve it by acting and giving governments and all well-meaning Nigerians all the necessary assistance.

    He urged Nigerians to look beyond ethnic and religious factors to support the demand for Cattle Grazing Reserves and Routes Commission.

    Bayari, who was a former Secretary-General of Miyetti Allah, said the new association does not want the crisis to escalate.

    He called on Nigerians to desist from making explosive, unguided, dangerous ethnic and religious statements.

    Bayari assured our correspondent that Fulani leaders will step into the crisis and ask these herdsmen to ceasefire.

    He added: “We will stop it now by telling everybody to ceasefire. We don’t want the crisis to escalate. We are calling for ceasefire both from the herdsmen and the farmers while the government at various levels as well as well-meaning Nigerians sort out this problem and find a lasting solution.

    “We are all ready to be of assistance and we know we can.

    “But Nigerians should begin to talk as Nigerians not as warlords of their villages as they are doing now. The immediate cause is that the Nigerian society has been polarized of recent on the basis of religion and ethnicity. There are religious and ethnic alliances in the North and in the South to the extent that the herdsmen-farmers conflict is becoming North versus South.

    Responding to a question, Bayari said: “Nobody from the government has reached out to this association but we will try as much as possible to find solution to this challenge.”

    Bayari asked Nigerians to support the Cattle Grazing Reserves and Routes Commission as a permanent solution to the Fulani herdsmen-farmers crisis.

    He said non-establishment of the commission was a contributory factor to the crisis at hand.

    He added: “As you are aware, in 2013, I was at the National Assembly when there was a public hearing on Cattle Grazing Reserves and Routes Commission in the House of Representatives. I was there after the bill had undergone second reading.

    “We supported the bill and it took Miyetti Allah leaders seven years to convince Fulani herdsmen to accept grazing reserves. About 30 per cent of them agreed to settle within the reserves if there would be social amenities such as markets, hospitals, water and veterinary clinics.

    “Before we knew it, these people calling themselves farmers’ sons and daughters in the National Assembly rose up,  in what we consider to be sectional, ethnic and religious sentiments, to oppose the passing of the bill into law.

    “So, the non-passage of the bill is a contributory factor. That is the point at which ethnicity, religion and sectional interests were brought into the matter and whatever happened in the National Assembly reverberated nationwide among their communities and they started to see the herdsmen as threats.

    “These farmers felt that they were going to be forced to live with herdsmen in their hereditary land. The solution is not to say we do not want these herdsmen in our state, village, community or ward. The solution is that we should all see ourselves first as Nigerians. These herdsmen are Nigerians and they have constitutional rights of freedom of movement and seeking of means of livelihood in anywhere in the country”

    “If we can all be on the side of the law and the constitution, we will be able to relate and tolerate the herdsmen and operate within the ambit of law which ensures nobody takes the law into his hands for aggression or reprisal”. Let us create grazing reserves and routes to cohabit peacefully.”

  • Buhari vows to end herdsmen’s attacks

    Buhari vows to end herdsmen’s attacks

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday vowed that his administration will continue to ensure the safety of lives and property of all Nigerians in all parts of the country.

    This followed the continuing reports of attacks by “herdsmen” on communities across the country, particularly Monday’s attack on Ukpabi Nimbo in Enugu State,

    President Buhari, in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, particularly condemned the attack on Ukpabi Nimbo and other such acts of extreme violence against communities in other states of the Federation.

    Acting on the President’s directive, the Inspector-General of Police and heads of the nation’s other security agencies are already taking urgent steps to fully investigate the attacks, apprehend the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

    Ending the recent upsurge of attacks on communities by herdsmen reportedly armed with sophisticated weapons, the statement said, is now a priority on the Buhari Administration’s agenda for enhanced national security.

    “And the Armed Forces and Police have clear instructions to take all necessary action to stop the carnage,” It added.

    Continuing, the statement said: “In keeping with the President’s directive, the Inspector-General of Police, the General Officer Commanding the 82nd Division of the Nigerian Army and the Director of the Department of State Security in Enugu State have visited Ukpabi Nimbo to personally oversee investigations into the attack on the community and ongoing efforts to apprehend the culprits.”

    President Buhari is scheduled to meet with Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi later on Wednesday to receive further briefing on the attack on Ukpabi Nimbo and discuss additional measures to forestall similar attacks and restore public confidence.

    The President urged all Nigerians to remain calm and assured of his administration’s readiness to deploy all required personnel and resources to remove the new threat to the collective security of the nation.