Part I of this work which featured in this opinion page on 8th February 2021 explored the natural forces in favor of the Ideal State (as I wish to call it); the concept of people taking their destinies in their hands. It gave reasons why all academic philosophies including that propounded by Thomas Hobbes which sought to usurp the powers invested on the people by God cannot survive as a valid system and social order for the administration of the human community.
The concept of the Ideal State propounded by me as against the reverse condition of the Hobbesian state is indeed the truest form of a democratic, civilized, modern state, governed by the rule of law but safeguarded by the powers of the people. I did also say that the concept of the Ideal State which has, from the pristine time been the bailout formula for all enslaved peoples, is most needed in modern societies where the excesses of governments are becoming rampant. As compared with the Hobbesian state, the Ideal State seeks to check the selfishness of government functionaries and in so doing, limits the excesses of the government.
No doubt, mine is a paradigm shift from the conventional application of the rights of people, but in proposing same, I have taken cognizance of the true nature of freedom endowed on man by God which has gradually been eroded by constituted authorities.
This second and concluding Part looks at the peculiar problems of Nigeria. For the reasons expounded in Part I, the ongoing successful trend of community policing across Nigerian towns and cities is a positive and welcome development.
The development, specifically in Igangan, Oyo State was a very good one and it should be replicated and sustained across Nigeria to flush out kidnappers and other miscreants from the hinterlands. Rather than discourage this trend, the security agencies of the government domiciled in every community should encourage a synergy between the security agencies and the inhabitants of every community across Nigeria to police their communities.
The natural process of utilizing the superior power of the people over the borrowed power of governments has always been employed by different people across the world from the pristine time as the last resort to assert peoples control over their elected governments.
The use of this superior power is usually discouraged by the elected governments whose excesses it seeks to curtail. To discourage its usage, people who are genuinely and patriotically motivated to effect changes and cause progress from the retrogression, retardation, and redundancy of absolute, fascist, and dictatorial governments such as Mr. Hobbes recommended, have always been saddled with the charges of arson and treasonable felony and are eventually visited with summary execution, when they fail in their bids to “unconstitutionally” replace incompetent governments.
As if Nigerian communities and their traditional hunting crews were dazed in the fear of the Fulani herdsmen, the communities forgot to do the legendary reconnaissance missions and intelligence gatherings for which African communities were known in those years when a community would wake up, break loose and decide to overrun and enslave its neighbor.
As a matter of fact, the present forceful occupation of parts of Nigeria by the Fulani herdsmen, an ethnic nationality that approached the shores of Nigeria in 1804 inviting all their brothers along the Sahel region to come over to Nigeria and engage in a lucrative kidnapping and ransom-paying business, is worse than the ancient ways by which communities were forcibly overran by their neighbors.
Reason is that in the olden days, the community which struggled to overrun and enslave you would be your neighbor and your long time enemy, who, most probably has been disputing certain parcels of land with your forefathers.
In the present day Fulani occupation of Nigeria, the ethnic nationality who seizes your land and resources is an enemy from a distant land in an expeditionary conquest and enslavement such as, and, reminiscent of the type employed by Rome to overrun other countries of the World during the Roman imperialism.
To prove that the hunters of the communities where the Fulani herdsmen hold sway can actually sack them from their forest hideouts, it was reported in the “newsexpressng.com” on Sunday 31st January 2021, that hunters rescued the wife of the PDP Zonal Chairman and others from kidnappers’ den in Kogi State. What are other hunters across Nigerian communities waiting for?
As a traditional role in defence of their communities, hunters across the communities in Nigeria should brace up and face the challenges of the Fulani herdsmen-kidnappers in their communities. The members of their communities both in the cities and the Diaspora are ready to support them, as shown by the poll of fund in favour of Mr. Sunday Igboho for his gallantry in south West Nigeria.
There is no way such herdsmen will know the terrain better than the hunters who are sure to have been better acclimatized both with the seasons, the environment and the terrains. When this last-resort opportunity has been explored, Nigerians will then know if truly, these herdsmen farm destroyers and kidnappers have the backing of any constituted authority. Nigerians will also know the personalities behind that constituted authority and what their agenda may be. Not until this has been done, every thought being presently held by Nigerians are speculations.
A woman lawmaker in Gombe State Aisha Dukku was quoted to have said that “God created herdsmen to value cow more than human lives” I disagree with the lawmaker on the ground that God created everything including man, but gave man exclusive right over his “will” and control over his thoughts and actions.
These herdsmen, through a swapped and skewed approach to life that is obviously against the wish of God got obsessed with their cows and ended up being paranoid in their qualification of their cows above human lives.
Mahatma Gandhi did say “Watch your thoughts lest they become your actions; watch your actions lest they become your character; watch your character lest it becomes your destiny”
The anti-social behavior of the Fulani herdsman is the product of the long period of incarceration of his sense of humanity as he has legendarily been isolated from human community, preferring to feel at home in the bush with his cows and imbibing the beastly nature, then being with human beings in human communities.
God did not create them from the beginning that way, because the God I know, understand and worship is an all-loving, all-merciful and ever-caring God who created man in his own image. The image those people bear is far from being the image of God.
People keep pets not only the common place ones as dogs and parrots, but also the wild ones such as owls, lions, crocodiles, etc. Some of these pet keepers, demonically possessed – mostly women, fall in love with their macho dogs and even share beds and indulge in some intimacies and other obscenities with their pets.
There is nothing wrong with the Fulani herdsmen whose cows have become both their pets as well as source of livelihoods in loving their cows, or even if they desire, being engaged in amorous relationships with their cows as some other pet keepers who are demonically possessed do.
What is wrong is elevating the lives of those cows above the lives of human beings as to destroy human lives and set communities ablaze whenever and wherever they believe that their livestock is in danger.
The second thing that is wrong is that the government has allowed the menace of the Fulani herdsmen to linger. This is tantamount to incompetence on the part of the government. Why did the government refuse to address this issue of herdsmen across Nigeria? Recall that the herdsmen menace started when they grazed their cows with cash and food crops in people’s farm. People complained but the government did not act. When people began to chase them away by poisoning their cows, they became more audacious by sacking people from their farms and taking complete control of those farms.
People resisted this by fighting back when the government did nothing and the herdsmen discovering that the government was complacent, silently giving them support by looking the other way, resorted to total mayhem by killing people, raping women and indulging in sundry criminalities. The herdsmen further graduated to more vicious crimes, leaving the farm lands and entering the villages to sack people from their homes and burn their houses.
And the government still kept quiet! To add salt to the peoples injury, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), the umbrella body under whose auspices the Fulani herdsmen operate and to which the President of Nigeria is the Grand Patron, usually come up to make some announcements and issue threats in defence of the herdsmen and against the people whom the herdsmen have left their own homes (if they had any!) thousands of kilometers in Northern Nigeria (or Niger Republic!) to meet in Southern Nigeria – wait for it, in the interiors of the peoples farm! This is most annoying, and I knew that in Igbo tradition and custom, it is not a crime to kill somebody when in self defence; you guard yourself against being killed in your home. It is actually regarded in Igbo tradition and culture as cowardice for not to have done that.
Having been sensitized and taken in by the opulence of the Southern Nigerian communities against the poor North, these herdsmen now understand not only cows, but also the use of millions of Naira. With this understanding, they have gone beyond chasing and killing the farmers to kidnapping Southern elites from whom they intend to and always extort millions of Naira from.
The executive governor of Kaduna state, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai was quoted to have said that it is difficult for a Fulani kidnapper who hitherto earned ₦100,000 per annum by rearing his cows but now earn several millions of naira in the new found business of kidnapping to abandon his new business of kidnapping.
This is a collaboration of my submission, that this growing and successful trend of community policing across Nigerian communities must be sustained to flush out these Fulani criminals from Southern Nigeria.
I am aware that some threats are being made by some elitist Fulani groups and some youth organizations. Never mind. They will soon find out that the water level is rising almost beyond their neck. They will make a mistake to still believe that a Northern Nigeria – vexed conquered people who will not hesitate to embrace their freedom, exist, who will assist them ride over the storm when it does appear.
Nigerians had alerted the government of the heavy arms and ammunitions, AK47 guns and other sub-machine guns brandished by the Fulani herdsmen. The government did nothing; rather it was busy mopping up what is called illegal arms from Nigerians across the country through the orders issued to the Nigerian Police Force.
The scenario looked scary and the complacency and/or complicity of the government and its security agents in all of these were not hidden both to Nigerians and the international community. Then the bubble busted!
Having been pushed to the wall, the people resorted to self-help and with the self-help, the government has suddenly discovered itself as the drum beats of reprisal attacks and wars are being beaten by some government agents, Northern elites, and youth organizations who had kept quiet for more than ten solid years as the Fulani herdsmen killed and maimed Nigerians of other ethnic nationalities across their quiet homes.
In the days of yore, external invaders in Igbo land were quickly and summarily taken care of at night by men while the women and children were asleep. All the male participants in the nocturnal strike action were put under oath of “Amadioha” immediately after the defensive strike before dawn, and the Igbo’s will normally say “Ala eriela ha” (they have been swallowed by the land). Such actions permanently remained top secrets which the Igbo communities used to protect themselves from external aggression. The reader may want to know why nobody has ever conquered any part of Igbo land since the beginning of the known history of the Igbo ethnic nationality.
Many books have been written on the reason why the Igbo ethnic nationality has never been conquered by any group of people in known history. One of such books is titled: “They Live Before Adam: A Prehistoric Origin of The Igbo (The-Never-Been-Ruled)” by Prof. (Mrs.) Catherine Acholonu-Olumba. In this best seller 500-page book, Prof. (Mrs.) Catherine Acholonu-Olumba examines the ancestral origins of several tribes living in the West African sub-region including the Igbo of Eastern Nigeria to prove that these tribes (many of them like the Igbo) have been existing in their locations way back about 1800 B.C) and managed themselves and prospered in modest yet elaborate civilizations before the so-called Western Civilization touched the shores of Africa.
Let me quickly add that it was sacrilegious in Igbo land in the days of yore to be defeated in war in your home ground by a visiting enemy. The Igbos preferred to commit mass suicide for this reason than allow them to be taken into slavery. This type of bravery is still exhibited by Igbos today.
I know and I am sure that such customs and traditions exist in Bini kingdom where I married and may be some other ethnic nationalities across Nigeria who are known not to be docile. So, the question is: have these ethnic nationalities forgotten themselves?
To make sure that I understand the situation well, I made phone calls across the country to all the cities in Nigeria where I have lived before and still keep friends, and the information I get is that all our Northern Nigeria brothers who have been living in these places, for example, in Onitsha where I was born, and in Benin where I married, are still there and doing their legitimate businesses.
Nigerians heard of the story of the Fegge Divisional Police Officer and how he taught other police officers across the country a lesson in ethnic syncretism during the #END SARS campaign.
The Fegge Police Station, is a three-minute walk from where I was born more than sixty years ago. There is nobody in Fegge that does not know that good man, a Northerner that understands how-to live-in peace with his host community.
Apart from the fact that he speaks Igbo, and belongs to Igbo meetings, being well-accepted with his family in Igbo land, DPO Haruna has so many other things in common with the Igbos and I am sure he will retire from service and decide to live in Igbo land with his children marrying Igbos. Needless to say, that like the Igbos, he will be stupendously wealthy with assets that will include some of the sprawling four-storey buildings in Onitsha.
I have said something about Northerners in the midst of other ethnic nationalities in Nigeria, including DPO Haruna, who are actually living with their host and doing their legitimate businesses like the southerners living in the North are doing their legitimate businesses, to prove that Fulani Herdsmen marauding Southern Nigeria, are criminals.
What are they doing in the bushes? The Fulani should ranch their cows because Igbos and the members of other ethnic nationalities in Nigeria rent shops and offices from Fulani wealthy Alhajis to do their businesses. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. No law that allows the free use of people’s resources to promote a private business can work in Nigeria; otherwise, the government will be courting troubles which it will not be able to contend with. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Why are they hibernating with heavy arms and ammunitions, periodically perambulating on the guise of herdsmen, if they do not have an ulterior motive of summary occupation? It is only animals that live in the bush. Why are the Northern Fulani elites sounding drum beats of war when residents of Nigerian towns and villages decided to deal with the criminals harassing them? Do they want people to keep quiet till they are completely annihilated? Some people must be jokers!
A criminal is a criminal. It does not matter that he comes from the East, West, North or South. As far as I understand, Mr. Sunday Igboho and people like him in Nigeria are interested in routing out the criminals in their midst. If these criminals happen to be Fulani or any other ethnic nationality in Nigeria, then it is a pity in Nigeria.
Recently, the highest placed Muslim and leader of the Fulani ethnic nationality in Nigeria, the Sultan of Sokoto, obviously after his inquiries admitted the preponderance of the youths of Fulani ethnic nationality in kidnapping across Nigerian cities and towns. This much the Sultan said when he made it public that out of every ten kidnappers in Nigeria today, seven are youths of Fulani ethnic nationality marauding as herdsmen.
I salute the Sultan, an eminent former Military General whom I have perused his record as a military officer, for his courage of speaking out honestly as the father of the Fulani ethnic nationality in Nigeria. Not all fathers will have the courage to tell their children that they have erred. By his honest statement, the Sultan has exonerated himself of all personal blames, the same thing Eli, who perished with his children in the Holy Bible refused to do.
In this historic pronouncement of the Sultan which I am sure will jack up the Fulani elites to engage their youths in legitimate ventures, I have to differentiate between an institution and a personality. Nigerians may not have any bad feelings about the retired Brigadier General but they may have some grudges about some of the things which the institution he represents will want him to do. In the case of the herdsmen kidnappers, the Sultan dared what the people he represents will think, before saying the truth.
As a matter of fact, now that the Sultan has exonerated himself, the international community and Nigerians will hold this government and some known Fulani elites and youth who have been threatening fire and brimstone responsible if an ethno-religious insurrection comes up in Nigeria.
I have a second wild thought which may be made plausible by the complacency of the government in the Fulani herdsmen prolonged saga. This wild thought is the inevitable feelings that some people in government may have the desire to levy war on some sections of the country by using the herdsmen kidnappers to incite the people they want to conquer militarily, the way they feel that they have conquered Biafra. The South West should observe what is going on as some people may be tempted to conquer them militarily.
It is an ancient strategy of war that has become obsolete that Princes of the kingdoms during the Dark Ages who needed to annex the territorial land mass of their neighbors will incite them so that they present resistance that will eventually lead to their conquest and the annexation of the land mass which had been the ultimate desire and target of their aggressor.
In the present Nigeria circumstance, any so-called reprisal action against Southerners in the Northern part of Nigeria will spell doom for Nigeria because the South West and other parts of Nigeria are only interested in chasing out criminals from their regions. I repeat, any wholesale attempt to sack or harm Southerners living in the Northern part of Nigeria will lead to the profiling of an ethnic nationality in Nigeria and because even the indigenous Hausa people and the people from the North Central part of Nigeria have been sensitized to the centuries-old injustice meted to them by the Fulani, this development will not end well for the Fulani in Nigeria. They would, though initiate desperate efforts to make the struggle look like a religious one because they are at the helms of affairs of the religion of Islam.
The President should quickly reverse the present descent to the abyss, not by keeping quiet watching, but by using the opportunity he presently has to teach some members of his tribesmen to stop reaping where they did not sow. There is a limit to the abuse the members of other ethnic nationalities in Nigeria can take from the Fulani and events across the country so far have shown that we have just gotten to that limit.
Is there any grand plan as part of the hidden agenda to incite Nigerians of other ethnic nationalities to respond so that a reprisal action will follow up against Southerners living in Northern Nigeria? Why is it that most of these Fulani herdsmen-kidnappers who are brandishing sophisticated weapons across Nigerian cities are from other countries of the West African sub-region? Is there an agenda to forcibly convert Nigeria to a modern Fulani State?
The silence and complacency of the government who ignore the cries of Nigerians as they shout about the blood-letting and menace by the herdsmen-kidnappers is ominous and looks like a conspiracy. If the activities of the herdsmen-kidnappers are not covert operations by a constituted authority to conquer Nigeria and Nigerians militarily, who supplies those herdsmen kidnappers with sophisticated weapons? How do they get these sophisticated weapons across their locations scattered around Nigeria through Federal roads which are supposed to be manned by Federal security agents? People who think that they can conquer Nigeria militarily in this day and age are playing with fire.
Nigerians must begin to revisit some of the statements of Obadiah Mailafia. Mailafia did say that arms and ammunitions were being ferried by helicopters across some locations in Nigeria occupied by the bandits while Nigerians were locked down for the Corona Virus pandemic. He also said that there is actually no difference between the herdsmen, the bandits, the kidnappers and the Boko Haram. Nigerians who have undergone the gruesome experience of kidnapping have also confirmed Mailafia’s statement.
You cannot beat a child and ask him not to cry. It is wicked. In defending themselves from criminals, Nigerians did, and are doing what they should do to check the excesses of the activities of criminals in their midst. Unless the government henceforth participates in routing out the Fulani herdsmen-kidnappers from across Nigerian villages, towns and cities, Nigerians will have no other option than to believe that something is “Fishing”. I advise that Nigerians should get ready, and so be prepared for the worst case scenario which could be anything. No pretenses!
But like I advised earlier, the President should make hays while the sun shines to save both his tribesmen and Nigeria because, inspite of the threats by some Fulani elites and youth organizations, Nigerians will for once have an opportunity to take their pound of flesh from an ethnic nationality whom they have multiple evidence to prove that that ethnic nationality is responsible for their impoverishment.
The people have spoken and the government should do nothing to sabotage the present successful trend of community policing across the country but should embrace and follow it with restructuring Nigeria along the six regional lines of the present six geo-political zones.
Vox Populi, Vox Dei!
ABUCHI OBIORA
abuchiobiora @gmail.com
FOR:
Global Upfront Newspapers.
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