FEATURE ARTICLE
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Saturday, May 22, 2021 |
[email protected] UK |
“The one who treats me well is my leader, the one who treats me cruelly is my enemy” ancient document
feel no joy that Nigeria is exactly as I imagine in 2012, when I wrote Nigerians wake up hell has come home. https://nigeriaworld.com/feature/publication/eke/022912.html
Nine years ago, I could not envisage that a government which would set out to be cruel to some of the citizens on the basis of ethnicity and religion would emerge in Nigeria. A government, which would ignore real terrorists and manufacture imaginary terrorists and devote state resources to eliminating them, while allowing real terrorists to continue to commit crimes against humanity, simply because the terrorists share the same ethnicity and or religion with the head of government. A prejudiced government that deals in lies, unable to reject flattery and incapable of treating the citizens with dignity. A government that cannot rise above prejudice, which persecutes the wise and courageous. A government of looters, Bandits, extremists, ethnic nationalists and terrorists. A government which uses common resources to wedge war against ethnic nations in pursuit of sectarian objectives. A government that does not reflect the Nigerian ethnic and religious diversities in its appointments. Today, Nigeria has a government that has lost its way with a military, which takes joy in conducting military operations and showcasing its strength against the weak, vulnerable, innocent and unarmed defenceless citizens. A military that takes joy in extrajudicial killings of citizens and display of disproportionate force against the weak. A government that panders to the real enemy(Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen terrorists) and uses cruelty and aggression to prevail over non-aggressive citizens and groups like IPOB responding to the government’s failure to govern for all. A government that is subjecting an ethnic group to collective punishment because of the activities of a few aggrieved individuals. The result is what we have in Nigeria today, an institutionalised gang rule that does not value human lives and has no regards for justice and equity.
A government, where power has been concentrated mainly in the hands of Fulanis and Muslims from the north and being used to subjugate, exploit, extort, humiliate and marginalise non Muslims and Southern region. At a recent National Family Security Council meeting in Abuja, those present who made decision about south East were northerners who are Muslims. 1. Muhammadu Buhari, 2. Boss Mustapha, 3. Ibrahim Gambari, 4. Babagana Monguno, 5. Abubakar Malami, 6. Bashir Salihi Magashi, 7. Ibrahim Attahiru, 8. Awwal Zubairu, 9. Usman Alkali Baba, 10. Yusuf Magaji Bichi, 11. Ahmed Rufai Abubakar. All these people share nothing in common with the region of the country where they are making decision about. This cannot be acceptable in a multi ethnic and multi religious country. These are the people who agreed the new security measures for South East, which includes shooting at sight order, demolishing houses of people and using any force necessary. This is a declaration of war against a region by the government. One is forced to ask What right Buhari has to treat the rest of Nigeria as estate of Fulanis? What right has Buhari to subject Igbos in Igbo land to unjust, unlawful, cruel and wicked treatment? The sad and disappointing aim of the current Nigerian government seems to be to ensure the supremacy of Islam and northern domination. Under Buhari, the mantra of Nigeria unity, has become a smoke screen for pursuing fulani centric and Islamic objectives Under Buhari, Nigeria has muffed into an absolute state, where the institutions have become shells and unable discharge their constitutional duties without executive interference and incapable of holding those in power to account. Nigerian army is now practically a northern army. The army send ill-equipped soldier from the south to fight Boko Haram in the north, while well equipped homicidal Islamist soldiers from the north are sent to occupy the south. This is the reason why the Nigerian army has refused to publish names of soldiers killed by Boko Haram.
More worrying is the federal government blatant engagement in ethnic warfare against Igbos by the military occupation of Igbo land and the use of agitation by IPOB as excuses for the crimes against humanity the police and army are perpetrating in Igboland. Under Buhari, a fulani, all the other ethnic groups in Nigeria have become preys to the Fulanis. Fulani terrorists are on rampage looting, kidnapping, killing and burning villages, without the government responding the way any honest and sincere government would under similar circumstance. At the same time, the Buhari Fulani government, deny the right of people to carry arms to defend themselves against armed fulani terrorists. Instead, the government has been busy trying to pass unjust law to disposes people of their ancestral land and give them to Fulanis. This is what is destroying trust in the government of Nigeria, faith in one Nigeria and fuels the worsening ethnic nationalism. In Nigeria of today, it is no longer one’s productiveness that counts, but one’s religion and ethnicity. The government has also intensified the use of force to establish rationality, when it could have been encouraged by acting lawfully and justly. All these describe the state of Nigeria and the experience of some people who call Nigeria their country. They are signs of a failed leadership and no failed leadership has the support and confidence of the people. Nigeria under Buhari has become a country of war lords, bandits, emperor governors, looters, moochers and kidnappers. Life has become cheap, truth and justice are dead and, force is the only currency. What we have in Nigeria today under Buhari is the epitome of bad governance. Buhari’’s government is a government that is adept at getting things wrong and committed to doing things the way no sincere, fair and insightful government should. It says one thing, that the Buhari government is a cruel and unfair government incapable of governing by humanity and justice.
From Buhari’s nepotistic appointments through his Fulani and cow-centric policies; to his pursuit of vendetta against Igbos by the unjust labelling of IPOB as a terrorist group, the use of unwarranted and excessive force to intimidate Igbos and the carrying out of extrajudicial killings of Igbo youth labelled IPOB members: Buhari is actively giving vent to his prejudice against Igbos the same way Hitler did towards Jews. Buhari is doing the things that destroy nations and laying the foundation for intractable conflict in Nigeria. His actions and body language say one thing. Buhari is incompetent and lacks the necessary knowledge, experience, and sagacity, which the office he was desperate to capture demands. Particularly in a multi ethnic and religious diverse county like Nigeria. Buhari may be a good soldier, which requires him to give orders which are obeyed, no matter how ridiculous and wrong, but at governance, which requires wisdom, sensitivity, reason, strategic thinking and understanding of justice as fairness, Buhari has proved to be unfit. Buhari has allowed both his religious and ethnic prejudices to take over his judgement and his pursuit of Fulani-centric and Islamic agenda has imperilled the unity of Nigeria and threatens the continuing existence of Nigerian as one county. Buhari is like a boy who demanded a piano and then got one, only to realise he had neither studied music nor learnt how to play the piano. Buhari sort power for many years. He first took it through Military coup and made a mess of it. Then, his obsession with power drove him to seek it democratically. When he finally got it, he forgot that he was not elected to turn Nigeria into a promised land for Fulanis. Instead of seeing himself first and foremost as a Nigerian, he saw him self first as a fulani and second as a Muslim. Once in power, he revealed his true colour by his 95% and 5% statements. He has spent his time in office aiding the arming of Fulanis to intimidate Nigerian ethnic communities to cede their land to them.
In five years, Buhari has taken Nigeria back 100 years by his pursuit of sectarian objectives and ethnic vendetta. He has turned Nigeria into a hunting ground for Fulani and Islamic terrorists. By his action, Buhari has destroyed the very thing which has allowed Fulanis to flourish in different parts of Nigeria, trust and goodwill. I cannot imagine any community in Nigeria trusting Fulanis to live amongst them, knowing what they have done in the last 5 years and how many innocent blood they have shed. I fear, Nigeria is entering decades of conflict as Nigerian ethic communities prepare to fight the attempt by Fulanis to impose themselves on all. Yes, it is in our best interest to preserve Nigeria. However, Nigeria must not be kept together for the benefit of terrorists, looters, moochers and extremists. Our Loyalty to Nigeria should not mean blind obedience to an individualist state, hijacked by ethnic irredentist and Islamic extremists, but must include the duty of conscientious protest and commitment to justice and equity to all, irrespective of religion or and ethnicity. This is why I raise my voice against the destruction of Nigeria and urge the Buhari government and all aggrieved parties to sheathe their swords and seek a negotiated settlement.
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