On Sunday morning, the 14th day of February 2021, a day that is annually celebrated as the day of love, I woke up to sad news of hate-motivated killings in the commercial town of Shasha in the ancient city of Ibadan, Oyo State. In what was widely reported to be an altercation between two people, a Yoruba cobbler and a Hausa cart pusher, which resulted in the death of the Yoruba man, the situation soon degenerated into a cycle of revenge killings by members of the two ethnic groups.
In the ensuing orgy of violence, an angry mob of the host Yoruba community, in a bid to avenge the death of their brother at the hands of his Hausa killer, attacked the Hausa in the Shasha market, killing, burning and destroying their properties and merchandise of mostly perishable agro-produce. By the end of the carnage on Saturday, which left about 10 people dead, the famous Shasha market had been reduced to rubble of burnt buildings and charred bodies of livestock with thousands of displaced members of the Hausa community taking refuge at the residence of their leader, the Sarkin Shasha.
The killing of Hausa traders and artisans in the Shasha area of Ibadan and the destruction of goods and properties as well as their displacement from their homes by an irate Yoruba mob is condemnable in its depravity and barbarism. This is even more painful when one realises that Hausa traders and artisans are among the most hardworking, peaceful, honest, God-fearing and humane Nigerians to whom crime and criminality is almost alien. Criminal activities such as armed robbery, kidnapping for ransom, banditry and forceful land grabbing are generally not associated with Hausa people or their cultural occupation. Hausa people from northern Nigeria do not usually live in the forests of their host communities in the southern parts of the country but settle in towns and villages in the midst of their fellow countrymen by legally acquiring land and other properties to transact their legitimate businesses.
For a group of people known to be generally law-abiding and often seamlessly integrated and assimilated into their host communities, adopting the language of their new environment, respecting the norms and customs of the people and for several generations strengthening the bonds of community through of a network of inter-tribal marriage, the violent attacks on the Hausa community of Shasha is an inexcusable crime that is motivated by a misdirected form of ethnic hatred. The altercation between a Hausa cart pusher and a Yoruba cobbler, which resulted in the death of the latter, was an isolated case of criminal offence that had nothing to do the entirety of the Hausa community of Shasha, and, rather than embark on revenge killings on innocent and defenceless people, the culprit should been arrested and subjected to due judicial process of trial, conviction and sentencing in compliance with relevant laws of the land.
Despite my sadness over the unfortunate orgy of violence that was visited on the Hausa community of Shasha, it is quite heart-warming the way and manner the Yoruba political leadership of the South-West region has responded by rising up to the occasion to deal decisively with unwarranted aggression of some of their irate kinsmen. Taking the lead was Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, who unequivocally condemned the ethnic violence in Shasha, a place he described as melting pot of Hausa traders from the north of Nigeria and their Yoruba brethren from South-West and cautioned against individuals taking the law into their hands. He also preached unity and called for peaceful coexistence between Nigerians, irrespective of ethnicity, religion or geography of origin.
In the words of Vice-President Osinbajo, “When a disagreement arises between individuals or a criminal act is committed by one against the other, we must ensure that we see it for what it is, a criminal act, which must be punished according to law. Not an ethnic conflict. Every Nigerian has a constitutional right to live, work and enjoy their lives in safety and peace under the law. It is the duty of government through the police and other law enforcement agencies to arrest and prosecute any person who commits a crime against a citizen of this nation. It is the role of the citizen to assist the police to identify the criminals.”
While taking his turn to condemn the mayhem in Shasha, which he described as strange to Yoruba values, the governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, who is also the chairman of the South-West governors’ forum, specifically addressed his message of condemnation to his Yoruba kinsmen when he said, “As governor of Ondo State who doubles as chairman, South-West Governors’ Forum, it becomes very compelling for me to address all residents, in particular the Yoruba-speaking people of our dear region, as regards recent happenings bordering on security. Without doubt, the situation we have found ourselves as people is most despicable and contends violently against, and abhorrently at variance with, the values and hospitality for which our people are known. We have been known for thoroughness. We have identified with legality over the centuries; and our ethos as a civilized breed of people is such that we do not identify with lawlessness, not even illegality’.’
Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, equally condemned the mayhem and has been on top of the situation by mobilizing security agencies to the scene to restore law and order after imposing a curfew in the Shasha area. And 24 hours later, Governor Makinde, in company with Governor Akeredolu, was in Shasha to address the people of the area with a message of peace and unity, while promising to compensate the material losses of the victims of the mayhem.
In the words Governor Makinde, “Please, I want you to listen to me clearly. You cannot resort to self-help to solve the issue on the ground. All of you who are here are doing business with one another in one way or the other. The last time I came here, about six weeks ago, some shops belonging to Hausa and Yoruba people got burnt. So, you have been living together peacefully and all I am pleading to you is, no matter what is making anyone angry, we will solve it with patience. I was reluctant to declare curfew here because I feel the economic wellbeing of everyone here is important, and because this is where you get what you use to feed yourselves. I will engage with your leaders this evening.
“One thing is, if you allow those who don’t have anything to lose here to blow this matter out of proportion, no one will be able to say where the crisis will end. By the grace of God, I pray we don’t lose any more lives. We must not lose any life needlessly anymore. What the government will do to ensure that those whose houses, shops were burnt, we will rebuild immediately. But please, I beg of you, let us stop fighting with ourselves.”
The Shasha mayhem has once again brought to the fore the deep-rooted animosity and distrust between members of the various ethnic groupings in Nigeria. A Nigerian federation that is structured along ethno-geographic fault lines has inevitable resulted in a dichotomy between indigenes and settlers, which renders Nigerians residing outside their places of origin as outsiders inside their country.
The forceful eviction of the Hausa people of Shasha from their shops, sheds and homes is not only dehumanizing but takes away the pride of fatherhood from their men and pride of motherhood from their women. Most significantly, it takes away the innocence of the young children of Shasha who until now saw themselves as one people and part of the larger community of humankind.
Six decades after independence, Nigeria remains a primitive country of indigenous tribesmen, which has not evolved into a nation of citizens where a Nigerian can be Igbo and Kano, Ibibio and Ekiti, Hausa and Oyo, Yoruba and Anambra, Kanuri and Bayelsa and Ijaw and Borno.
Until Nigeria evolves into a nation of citizens, the most populous Black country in the world will remain at the bottom of the pyramid of human evolution, where life is nasty, brutish and short.