This column has not paid much attention to the government of Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Governor of Enugu State, since May 29, 2016 perhaps because the man fondly called gburugburu by his admirers is less hawkish than his predecessors. Indeed, I have heard many say that he is a friend to all, and that explains his fond name which can be approximated to a ‘A Man of the People’. Well, I know that the protagonist in that Chinua Achebe’s fictional work, is not a character any Nigerian politician would openly embrace; so I take back my interpretation, more so now that the governor and the state he governs has been thrown into mourning by their bloodsucking guests.
But before the so-called herdsmen brought their killing prowess into Enugu State, I came closest to writing on Ugwuanyi’s performance in office few weeks ago following the Enugu Investment Summit – tagged – Beyond Oil: Fostering Inclusive Economic Growth and Sustainable Development, organized by Ike Chioke and his OGANIRU group. The conference according to Chioke, a member of the state economic advisory committee, was organized to “highlight Enugu’s prospects as a business destination while exploring the state’s potential in a wide range of industries.” Judging by the quality of the attendees and the philosophy behind it, I guess it can be described as a modest achievement. This column had in the past advised the south-east governors to coalesce and organize a common economy devoid of partisanship.
So, while congratulating Governor Ugwuanyi, Ike Chioke and their team for the re-awakening, there is the need for them to expand the horizon to include other south-east states if the zone wants to spectacularly succeed despite the debilitating odds fostered by the misguided federal system that we ape. While awaiting the joint ventures, if I were Governor Ugwuanyi, I would concentrate my effort on nurturing agriculture and agro-allied industries considering the potential advantages the state has in this area. With adequate incentive, investment and organisation, the state’s Gross Domestic Product can be doubled in a few years if rice, cassava and yam farming is successfully promoted.
As the Governor probably knows, the south-east’s fertile belt stretches from Adada through Olo, both in Enugu State, all the way to Anambra state and beyond. Sometimes I imagine the potentials of small scale industries, processing rice, yam, cassava, rice flour, yam flour, cassava flour and canned varieties, all along that fertile part. Still talking about agro-allied industries, I earnestly wish that Governor Ugwuanyi would resuscitate cashew farming, production and processing which is concentrated around Oghe and its environs.
Should the Nigerian political elite, decide to release our dear country from the centralized vice-grip, and allow the decentralization of the modern factors of production, Uwuanyi and other governors of the zone can jointly produce the much-needed electricity, to power the farms and industries; develop a complementary rail line and other infrastructure, for the movement of the work-force, the produce and products, for local consumption and export earnings. But of course, the modern factors of production, like electricity and the rail line, are the exclusive preserve of the federal government and until the misguided elites across the regions come to their senses, state and regional economies and the attendant social security would remain a mirage.
But it appears the modest efforts of Governor Ugwuanyi to chart a new economy for Enugu State would also turn a mirage should the bloodsucking herdsmen be allowed to fester unhindered by the failing Nigerian state. Barely few days, after showcasing Enugu State as an investment haven, Governor Ugwuanyi led another delegation to weep at the scene of a catastrophe, planned and executed by those who are supposedly doing business in his state. The people of Ukpabi Nimbo, who had their men, women and children slaughtered, for no cause at all, must be wandering at these wicked and malicious visitors who feed on their farms, their blood and their property.
As Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, publicly wept, many Nigerians, including this writer, wept with him. As the Nigeria in many Nigerians die slowly, the accused Fulani herdsmen, have vowed that no force can stop them from feeding on the lives of their fellow countrymen for all to have a country. For these terrorists who pretend to be herdsmen, the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria allows them unfettered access to roam the countryside, sucking the blood of others, as the price for nationhood. Without his saying so, the governor was obviously crying at his helplessness despite the false robe of the state’s chief security officer that he wears.
Before him, Governor, now Senator Jonah Jang had cried at similar helplessness, when Plateau State was turned to a killing field, by similar strange visitors. Not long ago, former Senate President, David Mark had cried like a baby over similar mindless killings in Agatu, Benue State. There again, Senator Mark was helpless, despite his pretensions to a high office, as representative of his people. Over that same issue, the present Governor Samuel Ortom, like his immediate predecessor, Gabriel Suswan, had ran to Aso rock, in such a terrible haste, crying over his helplessness. Before the people of Ukpabi Nimbo community were mindlessly killed, they were put on notice. According to one George Ajogu, their spokesman, “Because we lack security, the Fulani come here and tell us the land is theirs. They tell the farmers to kneel down and they rape the women in front of their husbands”.
This column had on March 8, taken a hard knock on the emerging cruelty of the Fulani herdsmen in Agatu, among other issues, in an article titled: Authority to rape and maim. One reader had reacted angrily, prompting my apologies, even when I considered my premise, which is, the urgent need for President Muhammadu Buhari to speak truth to the herdsmen, despite his filial relationship with them. Unfortunately, it took the lives of more 48 men, women and children, murdered in cold blood, to attract the attention of the President, and the federal executive council that he controls. Worse still, Mr Ugwuanyi has also publicly asserted that he alerted the federally controlled security agencies in the state, yet the Nigerian state allowed this cruelty against the people of Ukpabi Nimbo.
Now that the President has reportedly given a marching order to the national security agencies, let’s hope that they would bring the perpetrators to account. I hope that those who are in charge of our failing state would appreciate the enormity of the challenges ahead. To underestimate the grave danger posed by the blood-thirsty herdsmen is to chisel at the very foundation of country. The generation which has lost loved ones in Nimbo, Agatu, and other similar communities may have been lost permanently from the Nigerian project.
Indeed, any person who is not appalled by the share audacity of the so-called herdsmen and is not fearful of the apparent incapacity of the Nigerian state to protect its citizens from them is an incurable optimist. Should the federal government continue to give these murderers kid-glove treatment, the fearful Boko Haram terror organization may as well hide under it to maim, kill and destroy, knowing that they are untouchables.
