Nigerians detest dull moments. They hate it with passion. They strive hard to keep it at bay, at a reasonable distance. We are a lively people, not minding the unending odds.
And #Loriiro is it. The new craze in town. By the way, “Lori iro” are Yoruba words. Interpreted: Built on falsehood, or, simply, falsehood. That is what #Loriiro represents.
It is very appropriate at this critical moment. Everything, particularly from government, is built and anchored on blatant falsehood. Ours is a perpetual delusion and illusion. Great pity!
Instead of facing stark realities, we gloss over them with reckless abandon. High government officials tell unthinkable lies in private and in public. Shamelessly, without thinking twice. We chase shadows, showcase deceit. Such is our collective lot.
Surprisingly, one of them just opted out. He actually stood up to be counted. He selected to be different. And he did it in an astonishing manner.
It was a top secret he would not want to divulge so carelessly. He was biding his time, waiting for the right moment to strike. And very meticulous about it.
He was convinced, it needed to be handled with utmost care. He knew it was an Herculean task. A matter of life and death. He could be right.
One thing was sure. The undercover must be uncovered. Government’s own #Loriiro needed to be punctured. And it must not to be too long. Already, immense damage has been done, pains and agony inflicted. Now, the truth must be told.
Abubakar Kawu Baraje was determined and resolute. He chose the path of honour, though belated, to risk all damnation. What they shrouded in secrecy, he defied to reveal, ignoring the “costly” consequences.
He was once with them. How? Baraje was chairman of the breakaway faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The arm teamed up to form the nucleus of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Together, they won the 2015 general election.
But things fell apart in the build-up to the 2019 elections. The faction parted ways with the ruling party and returned to its root, PDP. He was deeply involved. He was privy to the heavily coded and vehemently guarded secret in 2015.
See where Baraje is coming from, and why he was ready for the kill? Don’t blame him. Politics is a game of intrigues and manipulations. It is even “dirty” in this our strange clime.
Baraje put that aside recently in Ilorin, Kwara State. He decided to flow with the people. The atmosphere was conducive for such. And he grabbed the opportunity with all the strength in him. He dared not waste it.
Good enough, he was marking his 70th birthday. So, it was his day, and he seized it. He made maximum use of it. Who would not?
He made a lifetime confession. He lay bare all the behind-the-scenes moves that won victory for the APC in 2015. The very clandestine activities that brought the ruling party to power.
All the evil things they did against us to get to power. He could not hide any: “We invited foreign Fulani from Sierra Leone, Mali, Senegal, Niger and Chad to win elections in 2015.” He just kept on admitting, ranting, blabbing, babbling, et cetera.
He was neither forced nor compelled. But guilty conscience did the magic. And we are extremely grateful to God for a time like this:
“The responses of Sunday Igboho to the herdsmen menace were necessary because the Federal Government failed in its principal responsibility to secure life and property.”
He would not keep quiet: “We are not asking the right question on how the same Fulani we have been living with suddenly turned out a menace. We also must ask how they had access to their guns.”
Keep on spilling the beans: “The security agencies have not been open about the nature of the problem. They have made arrests. Why haven’t they told the public who the terrorists are?
“The Fulani causing security problems in the country were brought in to help facilitate victory in the 2015 elections.
“After the election, the Fulani refused to leave. I and other like minds wrote and warned those we started the APC with that this (present insecurity) was going to happen, but nobody listened.”
The evils men (and women) do now live graphically with them. They hunt and haunt them. Such is the case with Baraje and his ilk.
His voluntary narratives remained a huge and guarded rumour in the public space until he spoke. Since nobody was bold enough to fault him, not even indirectly, we take it as the gospel truth.
He effectively made a mess of government’s own version of #Loriiro. So, this monster wrapped in killer Fulani herdsmen, banditry, kidnapping, et al, was intentionally created by our so-called own leaders, rulers who craved for power by all means? Now that they have got it, they are ruining us. SAD!
No one is talking to us about Baraje’s exposé. They simply elected to keep mute, deaf and dumb. They opted for #Loriiro. They did not care a hoot if our ox was gored or brutally bruised. That is the comfortable and convenient option for them. If only for now.
In a normal, humane and urbane society, Baraje ought to be under serious interrogation; drilled for more useful pieces of vital information. But they would not attempt it. That would be suicidal and they are aware.
Instead, they chose to pretend that a Baraje never existed. That he was not saying anything worthwhile. The relevant authorities feigned to look the other way. Because they are deeply involved, they prefer to chase shadows. #Loriiro is it!
Then, they began to churn out weird narratives: Why the killer Fulani herdsmen MUST carry AK47 rifles; that we have offended the bandits. Sure? They rant on and on endlessly. All boiled down to #Loriiro! The message is not lost on us. Baraje spoke the gospel truth.
Prof. Niyi Osundare nailed it all. He wrote President Muhammadu Buhari a second time in 17 months:
“The cow, that four-legged, two-horned, long-tailed, absolutely innocent animal, has become Nigeria’s casus belli, mooing metaphor of a planless, dysfunctional country, waiting for another bout of absurdity to push her beyond the brink, and plunge us all into avoidable catastrophe.
“Big wars are often caused by thoughtless little issues.” I align. A government that cannot successfully manage a mere cow can never manage its people.
Worst still, they are desperate to make us all cows in the guise of one obscured and outdated culture and tradition. Don’t they have culture and tradition in climes like Ghana and South Africa? Yet, they ranch. They abhor reckless open grazing of cattle.
Even the ridiculous! See the warped thinking of a governor, Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State: That the Fulani herders “wander” in the forest “without access to electricity, pipe-borne water, good roads and hospitals.”
That is a matter of choice. Nobody denies them access to these amenities, if there are any. If you want to live like human beings, then change your evil way of life. Oh, yes, from open grazing to ranching. They must stop behaving like beasts.
We need plenty of Baraje and none of #Loriiro. The more Barajes, the better for us. That’s the best way to go.

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