Gbemiga Olakunle
“Jonathan should resign if he has no solution to the violence being unleashed on some parts of the country” – Nasir El’Rufai.
The above quotation was allegedly credited to Mallam Nasir El’Rufai, (now the Governor of Kaduna State). This salvo was reportedly fired at the immediate past Administration of the former President Goodluck Jonathan when the administration was confronted with myriads of security challenges; and notable among such challenges was the Boko Haram insurgency which the current Administration is still fighting today even though the capacity of the deadly sect to inflict collateral damages on lives and property has been drastically weakened and downgraded.
The above quoted outburst credited to the outspoken Governor of Kaduna State could be justified in the light of Boko Haram exploits that have claimed much of the landmass of the Local Government Areas in the Northeastern part of the country, especially in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States. The insurgents even went as far as declaring their captured areas as a caliphate where they hoisted their flags and started to collect taxes, levies/tributes from the traumatised residents. In the days of the former president, Goodluck Jonathan, the Boko Haram insurgents who were Islamic fundamentalists or Jihadists spread their tentacles to the North -Western and the Middle-Belt parts of the country.
As a matter of fact, the Islamic terrorists launched at least seven suicide bomb attacks within the Abuja Federal Capital Territory and neighbouring states with several causalities and loss of property in millions of naira. In fact, they were so daring in their attacks that they launched attacks on the headquarters of the Department of State Security (DSS) located within the vicinity of the Presidential Villa on two occasions in futile attempts to rescue some of their members who were in the custody of the DSS then. And of course, the shock waves reverberated and shook the occupants of the Presidential Villa and the State House then. To say the least, the then Administration was really overwhelmed and yet the man at the helm of affairs then refused to receive help from foreign powers like America, even when it was offered on a platter of gold. The former President was still referring to the Boko Haram insurgents as his brothers until he was almost sacked and uprooted from the seat of power in Abuja.
Apart from the issue of monumental corruption in high places which seriously plagued Jonathan’s administration, the former president’s inability to decipher and get the right clues on how to tackle Boko Haram led to the downfall of his administration as the then opposition party, All Progressives Congress (APC), capitalised on these obvious weak points to outsmart him and unseat him from power.
But has anything changed now, security–wise? We doubt it, as your guess is good as ours. As a matter of fact, as it was in the days of the former President Goodluck Jonathan, so it is in this present administration in terms of security challenges even though the government has been doing its best to curtail and manage the ugly situation. If anything has changed at all, it is the change of batons from the hands of Boko Haram insurgents to Fulani herdsmen assailants who are busy wreaking havoc across the country. While Boko Haram’s capacity has been downgraded, the Fulani herdsmen assailants seem to have upgraded capacity to unleash terror on anyone or group of people who dares to question their efforts to annex or colonise the lands of their host communities nationwide.
For the past decades, if not centuries, some of these host communities have learnt to accommodate and tolerate the excesses of some of the Fulani herdsmen popularly referred to as the Bororos in the South -Western part of the country. But, gone are the days when the Fulani herdsmen used to settle their quarrels amicably with their host farming communities, especially when their cattle strayed into farmlands and allegedly destroyed crops. Such disputes used to be settled sometimes without the intervention of the community heads. But nowadays, the peace loving Fulani herdsmen of the olden days have suddenly become thorns in the flesh of their host communities; sometimes, with unprovoked attacks on their victims.
It was in the aftermath of these ongoing Fulani herdsmen attacks that the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo-led Committee comprising of ten governors was constituted to find a lasting solution to these incessant clashes between the suspected Fulani herdsmen and the crop farmers. But, it was not made clear whether it was the decision of this committee when the Vice President directed that there should be more military presence at the hot spots. If this presidential order is aimed at forestalling the breakdown of law and order between Fulani herdsmen and farmers, it is okay and welcome. But, if the order is aimed at checkmating reprisal attacks after some assailants must have unleashed surprise attacks on their victims in their unguarded moments, then this presidential order may need a review. Already, the military and, indeed, the rest of our security agencies are overwhelmed by not less than 13 categories of criminal activities ranging from Fulani herdsmen menace, Boko Haram insurgency, kidnapping, armed robbery, cultism, just to mention a few. And so, the military cannot be everywhere at every time to prevent certain unprovoked attacks from the Fulani herdsmen since these herdsmen are found in every nook and cranny of the country. And so, for the Presidential Committee on Fulani herdsmen/Crop farmers crises led by Vice President Osinbajo to succeed, it should take the bull by the horns and proffer a holistic political solution to the problem.
In our own candid opinion, the way out of this impasse that is occupying number one position on the list of security issues that are threatening the security of the country, is cattle ranching and not colony. The Presidential Committee should, therefore, adopt and recommend cattle ranching so that the rising political/security tension that is shaking the President’s second term ambition or re-election bid in 2019 can be doused. If there is no hidden agenda or vested interest in certain circles, cattle ranching is the way out and it is the consensus of the greater section of the Nigerian electorate to which this government is answerable. To do otherwise may be akin to courting low rating and poor performance of President. Buhari in the 2019 general elections. We hope the relevant authorities and stakeholders are listening. “You will know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”, say the Scriptures in John 8:34,KJV. But, this known truth or revealed truth needs to be acted upon before it can do its work of freedom.
Olakunle, General Secretary, National Prayer Movement, writes via [email protected]