The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ruga

  • Still on the RUGA issue

    Sir: I appeal to all Nigerians to put aside all sectional interests and let us all work together for the overall interest of this great nation. We should put an end to the imbroglio being generated as a result of the federal government’s policy on cattle husbandry it called Rural Grazing Area, “RUGA”.

    I say “Yes” RUGA for the states, especially for northern states willing to embrace the policy. On the other hand, I say “No” to those states that abhor it.

    Since animal husbandry is not the exclusive preserve or right of any tribe or group of people, I would advise the federal government to rescind its decision that every state of the federation embrace and implement the policy; rather, it should be thrown open to anyone, group of people, community or state that wishes to rear cattle for commercial purposes to do so. In this case, there would be no more open grazing in states but ranches to be manned and managed by the indigenes of that state, local government, or community. Federal government may make agricultural loan available for such.

    It should also be clearly understood that whosoever established ranches for cattle husbandry should find means of providing staple foods for the animals, just like in all other cases of animal husbandry, e.g. piggery, fishery, poultry etc. and should not be at the expense of the poor innocent farmers’ painfully-nurtured farm produce.

    The owners of such projects are also at liberty to give them whatever local names they think appropriate.

    It is pertinent to point out here that the young boys who rear the cows on foot day and night, in the rain, sun and harmattan, for hundreds and thousands of kilometers across the country are not the owners of the cattle but rather they are labourers engaged for paltry compensation along the line.

    The real owners are in their ‘mansions’ in urban centres cooling down with their own families as they like. This, no doubt, is a form of slavery or culture of slavery.

    It is barbaric and wicked. This capitalist-oriented culture must abolished in Nigeria.

    The herculean task of humans and animals trekking from the northern part of Nigeria down south, the suspicion of the southerners that each trailer load of cattle from the north is always clandestinely loaded with guns for use by the herdsmen for killings and kidnapping in the south, would thereby be eliminated.

    I believe solution to the perennial forms of criminality in Nigeria, especially in the south, would be achieved through this.

    • D.K Dandy

    Surulere, Lagos.

  • Sambisa, RUGA and tourism

    The first and only time I visited Calabar, the Cross River State capital was over eight years ago to attend a conference organized by the Centre for Management Development, CMD. During the three-day programme, I soaked myself in the freshness of a city that prides itself as an old seat of the British colonists in Nigeria.

    Calabar is where in the early part of the 19th  Century, an Irish humanist, Mary Slessor put an end to an abhorrent cultural practice of murder of girl-twins because of the prevailing myth that such multiple births portend bad omen for the largely heathen society. In my morning and evening survey of Calabar during the conference, I found the city possessing an alluring beauty, with well laid out streets. Calabar is exemplified environmental purity during my visit.

    In this city, I saw the definition of dignity of labour in the passion of street sweepers. From as early as five o clock the morning, they were on the roads, with brooms in both hands and with mechanical precision and sweat streaming their faces, their two hands sweep in dizzying speed to give the city of Mary Slessor a glittering look as the sun rises daily. Its cab drivers were genial as I engaged them in discussion. As the conference wound up, I had time on hand to take a tour of Tinapa Resort.

    Tinapa is a futuristic theme park with benumbing and vast shopping facilities. The resort is the making of Donald Duke whose dream was to turn his home state into an Eldorado of sort, an African tourist destination that would rival Genting Highlands in Malaysia. A visit to Malaysia is incomplete without a sight of Genting. Tinapa should be the Marvel of Cross River, a diamond in the sun that splashes light on the garden city as it welcomes millions of visitors to lavish life savings as Calabar tourists.

    But has Donald Duke’s dream to make Calabar a daring tourist destination materialized? This can be confirmed or refuted by what has become of Tinapa since he left office after eight years in the saddle. Since, my last and only visit of Calabar, Tinapa has hardly made any cheering news as a tourist destination to put the city or Nigeria on the world tourism map in the mould of Disneyland. Yet for a state like Cross River, if it were in South East Asia which I’m a bit familiar with, Tinapa would have been a high revenue earner as it pulls millions of tourists into the embrace of the garden city.

    Not just Cross River; every state in Nigeria has the potential to earn megabucks from tourism, far more than what some whole countries in Asia, the Pacific and the Caribbean islands earn from visitors. If in New Delhi, one could pay to visit the home of the Ghandis, I ask why can’t our tourism ministry make millions from Tafawa Balewa tourist site in Bauchi? Indonesia’s Taman Mini Indonesia Indah Independence Park receives streams of tourist daily in Jakarta, a site promoted by the wife of one the country’s president just as the iconic Petronas Twin Towers and the adjoining KLCC Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur is a daily crowd puller. The entirety of Singapore at the Southern tip West Malaysia is a tourist delight.  When Nigerians travel to Dubai or Doha, they tell tales of even just the airports as tourists’ delights.

    When we travel to Saudi Arabia or Israel, we talk of those countries beyond the spiritual import of the hajj, umrah or the pilgrimage they hold for Muslims and Christians. We talk about beauty and order in the countries. We talk about efficiency of their infrastructure. When we travel to India, we envy the health services on offer. When we attend conferences in Europe, we are fascinated by the quality of service of the hospitality industry there. The sporting infrastructure in some countries is the main attraction that yields for them billions in dollars. Some islands in the pacific region are just good enough for their silence and, perfect for rehabilitation or recuperation. Brunei Travelling by road to Abuja occasionally, I always luxuriate in the sights, scenes and sceneries of the lush foliage of green vegetation as it unfolds in the near twelve our drive, rolling hills and hillocks, towering mountains, heavy boulders and intimidating rock formations that define the Nigerian landscape in that segment of the country from Osun through Ondo, a strip of Edo and the swathe of Kogi before entering the sprawling Federal Capital Territory to be surprised by its wide boulevards. It is a sheer beauty, indeed alluring, mentally rejuvenating and spiritually soothing or calming, like the feeling one gets in the rain forest of the Borneo Island, shared between Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam.  On such long trips I am most mentally fertile, manufacturing many of my masterpieces on motion.

    Abuja has a fair share of iconic buildings to be proud of in the country, including the breath-taking National Mosque and the opulent National Christian Ecumenical Centre that qualify as tourist attractions in many countries of the world. Traveling from Abuja to Kaduna sometimes last year, the Idu Train Station was my transit point from where I had a ride like in a flight to the Northern Nigerian political capital. What do these tell us about tourism in Nigeria? Simple. The country has vast tourism potentials which unfortunately have not been sufficiently tapped into. I think we first need to have a wider perspective of tourism.

    Tourism is not just about travelling to have fun or for holidaying. Tourism covers every aspect of life that necessitates one to leave his home for another. From pilgrimage to establishing business link, seeking university admission, health rehabilitation, conference participation, arts and specialized exhibitions, trade fairs, cultural shows, sports fiestas and cultural festivals come under the gamut of tourism.  Each state government must therefore seek opportunities in the comparative advantages of its territories, leveraging on them to develop into tourism assets or potentials for earning huge revenue. This requires investment in supporting infrastructure and providing the enabling environment to attract tourists of shades and intents to their states

    For instance, the Centre of Excellence and State of Aquatic Splendour is blessed with beautiful beaches waiting for further exploration. All the littoral states can form a front to develop water sports just as the states in the savanna belt can offer the land for dizzying safaris and motor races. Our rainforest region indeed are crying for conversion into wild life parks for exploration of our flora and fauna and interesting forest expeditions. Money can be made in showcasing our cuisines and our artistic dexterities in exhibition of our prodigies wasting away in many corners of the country or finding solace in crime as one million boys, badoo, internet fraud and traders in flesh.

    Now the Borno State government according to news has decided to hand over part of the dreaded Sambisa Forest to the federal government for the experimentation of Rural Grazing Area, RUGA. This is where the notorious Boko Haram once used as cover for their onslaught against the Nigerian state in their mad ambition to overrun the country and force on the nation their queer ideology that attacks rationality and knowledge, the very foundation of the faith they claim to profess.

    Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum announced the donation recently when the Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Garbai El-Kanemi, visited him at Government House, Maiduguri during Sallah and hinted that the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, agro rangers and hunters had been mobilised to secure the area and revealed: “We have identified six different locations we consider safe for the pilot scheme in the state. The Ruga scheme is as old as history; it is not a new thing. I don’t know why some people are politicising it.

    Extricating it from politics or escapism, a business tourist zone in Sambisa to be be developed into an ideal RUGA becomes a pull for the world to see a zone of death rise as a settlement that spells a NEW DAWN in employment and productivity; a place where business in dairy or milk products, meat processing and associated industries come alive with passion perfection.

     

    • Abdulwarees is of the Voice of Nigeria.

  • RUGA: avoid ethno-religious war, govt told

    The Federal Government has been urged to tread with caution over Rural Grazing Area (RUGA), to prevent it from degenerating into tribal or religious war.

    A professor of Environmental Sustainability, Osun State University (UNIOSUN), Anthony Kola-Olusannya, who gave this warning at the Lagos State University (LASU), urged governments to seek homegrown solutions to the matter.

    Kola-Olusanya, who spoke at a public lecture organised by LASU’s Centre for Environmental Studies and Sustainability Development, noted that some unscrupulous politicians have hijacked the RUGA initiative, using same to escalate trouble among locals.

    He warned government not to trivialise the matter by taking it to the National Assembly ostensibly for debate. Rather, the locals should be made to engage in conversations and ground-shifting, a practice which he said once encouraged a symbiotic relationship between the two groups in time past.

    He said: “The (farmers-herdsmen), crisis is facilitated by tribal leaders, by eminent personalities so that the matter would be taken to Abuja for solutions. But it is not that kind of solution whereby you sit in Abuja, or National Assembly to debate, we need to engage the locals- community leaders, farmers, youths and women, so that we now devolve solutions arising from such conversations.  I strongly believe those ones formed out of serious conversations that can bring about lasting solutions.

    “The farmers and herders conflict could also be interpreted as Christian-Muslims. Who are the Christian? Farmers! Who are the Muslims? Herders!, In another manner, it can become a tribal war-like the Jukuns and Tives in the middle belt if care is not taken.”

    “Ab initio farmers and herders used to be at peace. How did they do it? The issues are what the two groups can discuss between their relationships in a non-acrimonious way.

    “See, the locals have always been talking about how to promote peace between herders and farmers. It is unfortunate the politicians have hijacked this.”

    He also condemned the labeling of Fulani herdsmen as ‘kidnappers’, particularly in the Southwest. Unfortunately, he said Nigerians are now beginning to associate all sorts of atrocities committed to the Fulani tribe alone.

    “But we have crafted that gun-toting herdsman into our memory with a negative image,” Kola-Olusanya lamented.

    He also frowned at Nigerians condemning the Federal Government’s Rural Grazing Area (RUGA) initiative to end farmers-herders clashes nationwide.

    According to him, RUGA could alternatively be modified into ranches, grazing area or cattle colony, adding that it is the ‘RUGA’ nomenclature that is now inspiring suspicions among Nigerians.

    Nonetheless, he praised the government for suspending RUGA initiative because of the misconceptions it has generated.

    “RUGA simply means rural grazing and does not connote anything in Hausa or Fulfulde as it is being speculated,” he added.

    “I also want to say RUGA is not what is generating problem; rather, it is some unscrupulous politicians trying to create problems in the country because they are no longer benefitting from the pot. So, these people have made politics out of the issue of RUGA and continue to create fears in the mind of the people.

    “There are many towns that have been labelled into banditry even in Yoruba land and these acts of banditry are being perpetrated by indigenes. All of a sudden, all those killings have been associated with the Fulani. It takes somebody within to allow an enemy without to come in. So, suppose we say, Fulani herdsmen are running over us, that then means there are collaborators across Yoruba and other ethnic groups,” he said.

    The host and VC, Prof Lanre Fagbohun, who was represented by his deputy (Academics), Prof Olumuyiwa Noah, thanked Kola-Olusanya, who is an alumnus and former president of LASU Students’ Union.

    Fagbohun noted that the country has always had issues across ethnic, religious lines but usually come out unscathed.

    “Nigeria had in the past had problems along ethnic and religious lines, but in all these we survived. So I believe Nigeria will definitely survive this too,” Faghohun concluded.

  • Why Southwest should continue to resist RUGA, by Akintoye

    Renowned historian and Second Republic Senator Banji Akintoye on Tuesday urged the people of the Southwest to strengthen the resolve of the six governors from the region to reject the proposed Rural Gracing Areas (RUGA).

    He also warned about the consequence of incessant attacks, kidnappings, rape, killings and maiming by suspected intruders and invaders from outside the zone, saying that the people may resort to self-defence.

    Akintoye said: “To succeed in rejecting and rejecting it, we must re-orientate our approach to our governors. Our governors are our frontline of defence, and we need to understand the situation in which they stand. Under the current chaotic and unitary constitution of Nigeria, all power and control in Nigeria reside in the hands of those who control the federal establishment in Abuja.

    “Each governor, to be able to rule his state at all, must cautiously manage its relations with the Abuja federal community. So, each of our governors finds himself perched between the jaws of a pair of nutcrackers. While Abuja controllers demand that each governor must grant land in his state for cattle colonies, our people are threatening fire and brimstone, if any governor grants even one square inch of Yorubaland.

    “Certainly, our governors are our own men, and none of them would consent to having our Yorubaland overrun by anybody. Therefore, I humbly propose that we leaders of Yoruba nation should come close to our governors and give them support for the purpose of giving them confidence and strength to reject the Abuja demands.”

    Read Also: Governors row over Ruga

    The eminent scholar urged Southwest governor to instead, promote the establishment of modern ranches by Southwest entrepreneurs in the region, adding that the move will open up businesses and create job opportunities for the people.

    Noting that accusing fingers are allegedly pointed at many suspected herdsmen from a region, Akintoye, a retired Professor of History, urged them to “call off this campaign of killing, maiming and destruction,” stressing that “no ethnic group commands a monopoly of violence”.

    The elder statesman spoke on: ‘Power and Politics, and the Conflict of Ethnic Identity in Nigeria,’ at a one-day Summit on Peace-Building and Conflict Prevention in Lagos. It was organised by ‘Journalists for Democratic Rights, led by Wale Adeoye.

    The theme of the summit was: ‘Engaging the media and community-based organisations for post-election reconciliation and conflict prevention in Lagos State. It was attended by representatives of Arewa, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, an official of the Meyetti Allah Organisation, Mekudi Usman, leader of  Supreme Egbesu Assembly, Chief Digifa Werinipre, and rights activist Omoyele Sowore.

    Sowore, who unfolded plans by his group to start what he called a revolutionary protest on August 5, lamented that the current leadership lacked a workable solution to the prospects of a failed state.

    Miyetti-Allah Organisation official Usman said the group was sensitive to the growing concerns, disclosing that its members now have identity cards to identify them and distinguish them properly from the unscrupulous elements.

  • Ruga project: Ganduje, Kano Igbo leaders reject call for Fulani’s relocation

    Kano State Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and Igbo leaders have rejected calls from some notable Northern political leaders that Fulani herdsmen living in the Southern parts should relocate to the North.

    They described the calls as divisive and retrogressive.

    The governor and the Igbo leaders spoke during a special dinner organised by Ganduje in honour of the Eze Ndigbo Kano and President General, Igbo Traditional Leaders in Diaspora, Igwe Boniface Ibekwe, on his 10th Offalla anniversary.

    The event took place Saturday night at Africa House, Government House, Kano.

    At the dinner were Kene Nzekwe, the representative of the former Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, Eze P.N. Wahiwe from Niger State, President-General of Igbo in Diaspora Assembly Chief Chi Nwogu, Chief Ebenezer Chima and many other Ezes and chiefs from the 19 northern states.

    Ganduje said: “Those who are calling on the Fulani to leave South, we don’t share the same feeling with them. People have a choice, as far as Nigerian constitution is concerned, to live wherever they chose to. But they must respect laws and cultures of those they are living with.”

    Read Also: Ruga: Anambra to assist farmers on cattle breeding

    Ganduje maintained that Nigeria is a heterogeneous society with different religions and nationalities, which calls for mutual respect among different people.

    He insisted: “As we are all creatures of Allah, it is duty bound on all of us to always respect Allah’s creatures. No two way about it.”

    He added that the issue of Fulani roaming about from one place to another should be stopped.

    “We must find a way of turning the table from being social and cultural engagement to become social and economic. Herders should drop the cultural attachment to their rearing activities and make their rearing become economically beneficial,” the governor said.

    He called on the Federal Government to put a halt to the ever-increasing movement of herders from one state to another.

    Igwe Ibekwe said: “Just look at what is happening now, some people are calling on Fulani to come back to the North. So, if they come back, what will happen to us here in the North? Our people will tell us to go back to South. Is that what our forefathers wished to see us doing? We are, therefore, rejecting such call coming from some quarters. It does not mean well for the corporate existence of our dear country.”

    He called on his people to always be law-abiding citizens, assuring them that the Igbo in Kano are safe in the hands of Ganduje.

    “Kano is the safest place in Nigeria,” he noted.

  • Southern CAN warns residents: be vigilant

    The Christian Association of Nigeria, (CAN), in Southern Nigeria on Sunday, cautioned the people of the area to remain cautious even with the suspension of the controversial Ruga settlement for Fulani herdsmen.

    The warning was contained in a press statement issued by Dr. Joseph Ajujungwa, Secretary of CAN, in the 17 Southern States.

    Ajujungwa, who said the suspension of the programme by President Muhammadu Buhari may not be its end, said there was every indication “though it is claimed that it has been suspended, the underground work is still going on.”

    He called on every Southerner “to be watchful”, stressing that “even as we pray, we don’t need to keep quiet; they are experts in underground work.”

    He added that “we do not have land to give to anybody as a grazing field or colony and we call on the South East governors to maintain their stand that they do not have such a place. Do you know what it means to give 10 hectares of land to herdsmen? We say no to that.

    Read Also: RUGA: Ohaneze youth warns Northern coalition over ultimatum

    “As CAN, we will preach it from our pulpit, every Imam should peach from the mosque and the traditionalists should stand against it; nobody should relent; no land should be given; any traditional ruler that does that should be dethroned.

    “In the North, we have largest hectares of land, very vast that nobody is occupying. Why are they not building the ranches, Ruga of whatever there? They can come here, take grass and go, and we buy cow in exchange, just like the governors said. We do not have such mass land required.”

    “We are also calling on the Federal Government to be mindful of what they are doing because cattle rearing is a private farming business. Why should the government support individual cattle farmers against other farmers?”

    On the threat and ultimatum issued by a coalition of Northern Youths, Ajujungwa said “they should understand that nobody has the monopoly of violence. As they are planning to attack, others are planning to defend themselves and we cannot run away for them.

    “CAN is calling on all Christians, all law abiding citizens of the Southern Nigeria to please watch and pray. Watch means that you must open your eyes to see what is going on and therefore pray; do not relent.

    “Anybody that is coming to buy land now, in the name of business, factory, and what have you, let us be cautious in dealing with the person, because their plot is to turn such into colony.”

  • Raw deal for randy ramblers on Ruga route

    Nigerians were first dished the raw Ruga deal by their president. But while we walked the road to Ruga and discovered it was a blind alley, we received similarly assaulting sights: a charismatic cleric whose demonized past would refuse to be exorcised; another man of religion who can’t be trusted to be alone with his own daughter; and finally a ‘distinguished’ (extinguished?) senator whose closet pastime might be collection of sex toys as you would treasure antiquated postage stamps. What a country!

    None amused us, though. We all marvelled, instead, that we should be forced to take a trip to Tinseltown, where nothing enduring ever plays out. Our leaders and their citizens should be thinking up ideas to assert ourselves as the leader of the continent and the Black Race. We should outgrow those who breed Ruga, sex maniacs and public office holders who can’t live like Caesar’s wife.

    We rejoice that Ruga which sought to slap us and enlarge the fault lines of our ethnic groupings has itself been given a raw deal. It has received a rough treatment at the hands of the same people who wanted to push it down our unwilling throats. We can’t applaud President Muhammadu Buhari for bowing to popular pleas to drop the idea. You don’t hail a person who withdraws from hurting you if the reason for his restraint is because there are prying eyes. When those obstacles depart, he will perform his act.

    The point is that the plan to relocate hordes of herdsmen all the way from their ancestral homes hundreds of kilometres away to other cultural climes in the name of taming farmers-herdsmen clashes ought not to come up at all. It isn’t the solution. Our compatriots don’t believe this position of government. What they believe is that government wanted to embark on what would have amounted to the biggest form of ‘colonialism’ since the European powers landed in Africa and cut us into the ‘geographical expressions’ we have at the moment. Had it not been resisted, Ruga would have been a massive land grab piling grave uncontainable pressure on our flyweight bond. We have a highly combustible country that can’t stand little provocations, political, cultural or socioeconomic. You don’t take fire close to petrol unless you want to spark a big blaze.

    Some observers argue that it’s the future generations that would reap the whirlwind of the wind we sow today. Not so. There could be implosions that might prevent a tomorrow from succeeding today. No generation wants to lose its most cherished property, the land it inherited from its progenitors, from ancient prehistory. Peoples and nations go to war over land disputes. And then here comes a move that the Buhari government thinks would defy that tradition.

    Such was Professor Wole Soyinka’s exasperation with Buhari for broaching the wild idea that he wondered why the man did not lose the election that brought him back for a second term. According to the Nobel Laureate, Buhari should have been rejected and punished at the poll because of his deficient leadership that allowed the herdsmen have their way across the country. He added: ‘’..the cattle herders have been given a sense of impunity. They kill without any compunction, they drive away the farmers who have been contributing to the food solutions in the country, the cattle eat their crops and then you come up with Ruga…Any country where cattle take priority over human life is definitely at an elementary stage.’’

    Soyinka is arriving late where several of his countrymen had long got to and taken residency, in expectation that others would join them. Several millions of his fellow Nigerians said it from Day One that we should expect nothing from the current administration because their past had foreshadowed their future. Its leader had a dictatorial baggage and ill-tempered disposition to administering people, vices he had insisted he wouldn’t be purged from. Many Nigerians have been worried that we have always elected leaders unfit to give us the disruptive governance we require for the 21st Century. The billions of naira the government voted for the cattlemen should have more profitably be invested in the education of our 13 million children not in school.

    So at the time errant Ruga was being whipped for tampering with our peace, randy clerics who had fouled the hallowed grounds of worship were also being exposed.

    In Abuja, the Senior Pastor of the Commonwealth of Zion Assembly, Biodun Fatoyinbo has been forced to step aside following the exposure of his carnal past. He allegedly raped an underage girl, who years after in the Ruga era, is playing back tell-tale tapes.

    In Osun, the Police are now holding Islamic teacher Habeebulah Abdurrahman for defiling a 16-year-old girl learning Arabic in his school. The family are shocked that the man they relied on to care for their child has turned unworthy of the trust. Do our public officer holders also deserve the mandate we give them?

    Can we say we have elected the right people into office as we look at Senator Elisha Abbo who assaulted a defenseless woman? She is a citizen for whom he should spend sleepless nights working out policies to improve her life. But he would prefer appointments with women in erotic toy shops.

    What a country dragged back to Neanderthal times by Neanderthal leaders! They and their policies would always get the raw deal history mercilessly metes out to such wasters of opportunity as we did to Ruga and the erring clerics and our lawmaker.

     

    • Ojewale, a writer sent this piece from Ota, Ogun State.

  • Don’t revisit Ruga, Bishop warns Buhari

    Anglican Bishop of Afikpo Diocese, Ebonyi State, Rt. Rev. Paul Udogu on Friday warned against revisiting the suspended RUGA settlement scheme for herdsmen. He said the federal government may still reverse the suspension, warning that establishing it would cause crisis and possibly disintegration of the country.

    In his presidential address/charge at Good Shepherd Anglican Church Ozizza Afikpo, during 1st session of the 5th synod of Afikpo Diocese, Udogu accused President Muhammadu Buhrai’s government of treating herdsmen and their cows specially.

    He condemned activities of armed herdsmen which he described as alarming and alleged that almost all the geopolitical zones of the country are under herdsmen’s siege.

    Read Also: Fatoyinbo’s rape scandal, Senator Elisha Abbo’s assault, RUGA suspension, others top this week News

    He therefore called on President Buhari to rise to the challenge before it becomes too late. “Few days ago, we heard that the federal government has suspended RUGA. We know that when you suspend something today, you can come back to it tomorrow but we want to say without mincing words; enough of that policy is enough.

    “Three days ago, a group of people in Northern Nigeria issued 30-days ultimatum to the federal government for them to reverse back the RUGA programme. But we are trusting God that the federal government will think twice and save this country from disintegration, war, and crisis. The directive to all Nigerians to surrender their guns to the police whether legally or illegally acquired is ambiguous and suspicious. Nigerians expect our security agencies to first disarm the Fulani herdsmen who are moving around with AK47 and other deadly weapons before asking innocent citizens to surrender arms,” he said.

    The Bishop called on the National Assembly to consider the recommendations of 2014 National Conference and to revisit issues of restructuring the nation as way of ensuring justice and equity to various zones in the country. He explained that a determined, sincere, sensitive, focused and unbiased leadership will stop the problems confronting the nation.

  • Ruga: Buhari’s cul-de-sac

    Just as well that the Federal Government has suspended its proposed Ruga settlement policy. Coming at the time it did; and from a government that is perceived to be pursuing a Fulanisation’ or ‘Islamisation’agenda, the policy was as insensitive as it was highly provocative.  This is not about whether the claim is right or wrong; it is just that perception is key in this matter as in any other.

    That, indeed, explained the barrage of criticisms that trailed the policy, which became too strident for the government to ignore; hence its eventual suspension of the project. Whoever advised President Muhammadu Buhari that Ruga settlement is the panacea to the herdsmen/farmers’ insecurity has done more harm than good, given the wild reactions that have trailed the decision. It is either the advisers did not wish the government well; or they were oblivious of the depth of the ethnic mutual distrust and suspicion in the land, which, to be frank, has not been helped by the president’s handling of the clashes in the past. Anybody who is not just arriving the country from outer space must have known that Ruga will never fly.

    It is good the president did not announce this policy before the last General Elections because it would have affected the fortunes of his All Progressives Congress (APC) in the elections. If those who advised him on this course of action also advised him to shelve the announcement until after the elections, it means they knew it was going to boomerang. As a matter of fact, even the president would appear culpable if he delayed implementation of the policy until the elections had been won and lost. But the point must be made that it is a policy which even the most repressive of the military regimes we have had in Nigeria could not have seen through; one that all the decree four in the world would never have achieved. Indeed, if it is anything, it is bad market.

    It is however sad and regrettable that President Buhari is starting his second term on this controversial note. The country has more than enough problems, with the government only trying to address them. Not one of these problems that he inherited has been solved. That is not to say his government is not trying; but the little successes here and there can only be wiped off with a policy like Ruga settlement.

    Many people have made the point, which bears restating, that cattle rearing is like any other business; it is a private matter, therefore, it does not require any especial governmental intervention along the line the Buhari government is approaching the issue. President Buhari should know that this is a policy that is dead on arrival; it cannot work unless he is ready to embark on a journey of no return on the country’s unity. The point has been made loud and clear that the people of the southwest and southeast do not want Ruga. Needless to say it is not a popular idea in the south-south either. The president needs to be warned of the dangers ahead should there be any attempt to force this policy on unwilling Nigerians through the back door. This warning is particularly necessary in view of the Federal Government’s insistence of having Ruga in a state like Taraba where the governor has said it loud and clear that his state was not favourably disposed to the idea. Yet, the Federal Government was said to be pressing ahead with the project in the state.

    What the Taraba case tells us is that even the north is not unanimous on this matter. This is a point that those saying the project should be restricted to the north have to take cognisance of.  After all Taraba is in the northeastern part of the country; yet, the government is opposed to Ruga. This is not a matter that only governors should decide. It is one that should be thoroughly debated by state legislatures before a position is taken.

    Nigerians who feel sufficiently concerned about this issue should unite to drag the Federal Government to court if there is any attempt to bring it back surreptitiously, especially in view of the ultimatum reportedly given to it by some northern youths to do that. We should be in a position to decide whether we want to eat beef or not; and if we want to, we should be able to go to wherever they are selling it to buy. We do not necessarily need to have them at our backyard. There are one million and one serious problems plaguing the country calling for the president’s attention. Surely, Ruga is not one of them. Yes, there is insecurity in the land; Ruga is not the solution, Indeed, Ruga can only aggravate, rather than douse the tension created by insecurity.

    The report by the chairman of Northern Governors Forum, Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State to the effect that Ruga is optional, that is it depends on state’s acceptance or rejection would have been enough relief. But the Taraba case makes one doubt the truth in this claim.

    Cattle rearers that we know today are quite different from the ones we knew growing up. These days, they go about with some of the most sophisticated weapons, AK 47 rifles and what have you, compared with their forefathers who went about with horsewhips, bows and arrows. Well, it could be said that they are reacting to the level of sophistication of criminals these times. But, do they have license for the arms? Moreover, it is being clever by half for herdsmen to embrace sophisticated arms in view of the dynamic nature of crimes and criminals in the country only to reject the modern way of rearing cattle, insisting only on government crutches in other people’s land to survive. Now that they seem to be ready to modernise, the government should not do it in a way that other segments of the country would feel threatened that it is only a matter of time before Fulanis would take over the country.

    Some people have even picked holes in the name ‘Ruga’, a Hausa term that means cattle settlement. I do not see any difference even if it had been given an English name. So, the name is not the issue. It would still have been rejected once the modus operandi is as understood by Nigerians. The truth of the matter is that the issue of herdsmen has been so badly handled, especially by the Buhari administration that no matter the amount of deodorants used to clear the putrid smell, the stench would continue to assault the nostrils. Even the Fulanis themselves are not helping matters. Reports have it that they have invaded some parts of Imo State. The impression they are giving is that they are incapable of embracing civilisation and that they are ready to become landowners by fire by force even far from their places of origin. No civilised person would want such interlopers in their vicinity.

    Although Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) said it was still studying the government’s suspension of the Ruga policy, some northern youths are said to be threatening fire and brimstone if the Federal Government did not revert to it within 30 days.  It is difficult to blame them because that is part of the consequence of the seed of illiteracy and ignorance that the political elite in that part of the country has sown and indeed nurtured over the decades. We have always known that it was a matter of time for this to manifest. As I said in some earlier articles on this same page, the rest of the country is now bothered because those uneducated youths are not restricting their ignorance and impunity to the region that denied them education, and, by extension civilisation which would have opened their eyes and broadened their horizon to know that there is what is called fundamental human rights and that where one man’s rights start; another man’s begins. Where herdsmen’s rights stop, farmers’ take over.

    With this kind of threat from such youths, President Buhari would have a herculean task reining them in. So, he would be torn between doing their bidding and doing the bidding of those who rejected Ruga. It is difficult to see how a government that has not been able to achieve much in its first four years would now have the peace and presence of mind to concentrate on giving Nigerians democratic dividend with this kind of storm in a teacup that the government has elevated to the front burner of national discourse. But that is the cul-de-sac the president brought upon himself. It is all well and good if he is able to get out of the self-inflicted dilemma. But, as many commentators have said, President Buhari is not the first Fulani to rule Nigeria. So, he should ask himself why the Fulani are now becoming an issue in his time. This is why I said those who advised him on Ruga might have done it deliberately to box him to a corner. If he was not party to the idea, then he should by now have realised that the issue was not properly thought out.

    Herdsmen, whether Fulani or Yoruba or Igbo who feel they can drive others away from their ancestral lands must be daydreaming because I do not see any ethnic group simply abandoning their God-given territories to some lawless marauders who believe that cattle are more important than agricultural produce or even human beings. No one with a thorough grasp of history would give the Fulani such mileage in Nigeria. So, only a government that is prepared to be Nigeria’s undertaker would insist Ruga is the way out of farmers/herdsmen’s clashes.

  • Fatoyinbo’s rape scandal, Senator Elisha Abbo’s assault, RUGA suspension, others top this week News

    This week recorded series of trending news stories across various media outlet which was made up of controversial happenings and apparently, the social media was agog drawing unending backlash, criticism and other reactions.

    In light of the recent controversies surrounding these stories, it is noteworthy to mention that social media platforms played a very important and vital role in addressing these issues.

    In a nutshell, the Biodun Fatoyinbo’s rape scandal, Senator Elisha Abbo’s assault, RUGA settlement suspension by the federal government, social media shut-down and other controversial news dominated the socio-political discourse this week. The Nation brings you a brief round-up of the major stories this week. Alao Abiodun Reports

    Biodun Fatoyinbo’s rape scandal

    The sexual allegation leveled against the senior pastor of COZA, Biodun Fatoyinbo, by Busola Dakolo, wife of Nigeria’s popular musician Timi Dakolo has continued to generate heated controversies this week.

    Busola Dakolo accused the cleric of raping her when she was still very young.

    Busola, a mother of 3, in an interview with Y!Naija, explained how Pastor Biodun allegedly tried to have sex with her in his matrimonial home when she came to assist his wife at the time she delivered her first child.

    Timi Dakolo had accused Fatoyinbo of taking advantage of women in COZA, and leaving them emotionally broken afterwards.

    Another woman, a former staff of Biodun Fatoyinbo, also came out to detail how he raped her when she worked with the church as a legal guardian to Fatoyinbo’s children in a foreign country.

    The woman who spoke anonymously in an exclusive interview with Chude Jideonwo, co-founder of Red Media said the pastor raped her in 2017.

    The flamboyant pastor trailed by murmurs of sexual impropriety and abuses of power in his conduct with his members for years, most famously in the 2013 scandal where a female member of his church revealed an affair with him.

    Fatoyinbo however announced on Monday that he would embark on a leave of absence in light of the rape allegations made against him by Busola. stepping down from his position running one of Nigeria’s fastest-growing Pentecostal churches, the Commonwealth of Zion Assembly, since the allegations against him emerged last week.

    Protesters stood outside different branches of the Commonwealth of Zion Assembly, holding placards which read: “Thou shall not rape.”

    The combined outrage across social media created by strong, impassioned responses caused the actions to take place.

    Senator Elisha Abbo’s assault

    In another news revealed this week, Senator Elisha Abbo, lawmaker representing Adamawa-North senatorial district, was caught on camera physically assaulting a woman at an adult toy shop in Abuja.

    Abbo, who is believed to be the Nigeria’s youngest senator, was caught hitting the woman after she begged him not to assault the shop-owner whom the lawmaker accused of insulting him.

    It was gathered that the assault occurred on May 11, a month before he was sworn in on June 11.

    The assault was reported on May 14 at the Maitama Area Command Headquarters on Nile Street, but the police told the victim to go look for the Senator’s telephone number or they would not be able to do anything about it, Premium Times reports.

    According to witnesses and sources, Abbo had entered the shop at about 6:00 p.m. on May 11, a Saturday accompanied by three young women to purchase adult toys.

    However, shortly after they began shopping for the toys, one of the three girls brought in by Mr Abbo started throwing up.

    She vomited multiple times, prompting the shop-owner to remark that the woman should have vomited outside and not inside her shop, especially since she was not a child.

    The senator, who was said to be agitated by the sudden illness of one of his girls, was said to have accused the shop-owner of poisoning the store’s air conditioner.

    The shopowner’s argument that if the air conditioner had been contaminated others in the shop would have also taken ill further angered Mr Abbo.

    It was gathered that the assaulted woman, who is nursing a child, was taken to a hospital, where she was treated for eye inflammation and other injuries she sustained during the attack.

    Senator Abba was reported to have threatened to deal with the shop owner if the footage of his violence ever surfaced.

    The victim and her lawyer were said to have demanded an apology from Mr Abbo. They also want him to settle the medical bill and desist from further threats of physical harm against the woman.

    However, he has apologized saying he had learned from the incident and pleaded for forgiveness from the Senate, his family and citizens who might have been offended by his actions.

    “It is therefore with deep sense of remorse and responsibility that, I, Sen. Elisha Abbo, profoundly apologize to all Nigerians, the Senate, the People’s Democratic Party, my friends as well as our mothers, the Nigerian women,” he said in the video.

    RUGA settlement suspension

    As reactions continue to trail the suspension of RUGA settlement, President Muhammadu Buhari has succumbed to pressure on Wednesday by suspending the controversial Ruga settlement scheme, designed to settle the Fulani and their cattle on acquired land across states in the federation.

    The suspension was announced in Abuja after governors representing the six geopolitical zones of the country met with Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    The Chairman of the National Committee on Food Security/Herders/Farmers Conflicts and Governor of Ebonyi State, Mr Dave Umahi, disclosed the government’s decision to journalists after the meeting.

    Besides Umahi, others at the meeting included Plateau State Governor, Mr Simon Lalong; Governor of Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu; and the Deputy Governor of Adamawa State, Mr Martins Nasir.

    Umahi explained that the controversial Ruga policy was not consistent with the National Livestock Transformation Plan, which was earlier deliberated upon and approved by the National Economic Council. Osinbajo is the Chairman of the NEC.

    Controversy had trailed the project since it was announced in June. While some governors welcomed it, others had said it could lead to more attacks on communities.

    Wole Soyinka, Nobel laureate, had also opposed the policy, saying it could spark off an explosion.

    Social media shutdown

    On Wednesday, there was a worldwide social media shutdown which raised fears in the mind of the users.

    Online monitoring service DownDetector reported that the outage began at around 1200 GMT on Wednesday and affected Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

    According to DownDetector, thousands of users around the world were reporting outages, with Europe and North America most impacted. Individual users and businesses were affected.

    #Facebookdown and #Instagramdown trended on Twitter as users around the world reported these apps were not functioning.

    Supreme court upholds election of Osun governor

    The supreme court has upheld the victory of Gboyega Oyetola, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Osun governorship election.

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Oyetola winner of the election after a rerun in September 2018.

    Dissatisfied with INEC’s declaration, Ademola Adeleke, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, filed a petition at the tribunal and he was declared winner of the election but Oyetola appealed the verdict of the tribunal.

    In May, the appeal court gave judgement in favour of the APC candidate. The court had set aside the entire proceedings of the tribunal, saying the panel was not well constituted.

    Delivering the majority judgement on Friday, Bode Rhodes-Vivour, a judge, held that the appeal court was right to set aside the entire proceedings of the tribunal.

    Rhodes-Vivour said the failure of J. Obiora, a member of tribunal, to attend proceedings on February 6 rendered the judgement a “nullity.”

    The judge also said the certified true copy (CTC) was not signed by Obiora.

    “It affected the proceedings. The appeal is dismissed,” he said.

    Giving the minority judgement, Kumai Akaas, a member of the apex court’s panel, said a judge does not have to sign a certified true copy (CTC) of a judgement before it is valid.

    “There is a precedence. The judge does not need to sign CTC of the judgement,” he said.

    Five of the seven judges on the apex court panel agreed with the judgement which favoured Oyetola while two disagreed.