by Farouk Martins Aresa,
We were thinking Boko Haram, IPOD, IBB and Tinubu were going to plan or see the downfall of Buhari like Babangida did in 1985. Many of us have been anything but right so far. Then came foreign allocation shortage, the fuel crisis and Nigerians still crave tightly unto foreign products. Amazingly most Nigerians have given Buhari the support and encouragement he needs during this one-year honeymoon period. Even Devaluation has boiled down to a political debate.
Calling on Buhari to take action in the interest of national unity is not only appropriate, it is the best gesture to prevent further violence that may degenerate into chaos. What is clear is that people are not going to lie down and play dead in their own communities. They will fight back if nobody comes to their aid. People see complicity where the real owners of the cattle are the rich and powerful who see other’s land as God’s and nobody’s land. Except their land is sacred.
It is Fulani, the world’s second deadliest terrorists after Boko Haram that have proved difficult for Buhari’s Government to curb. There is a historical reason: Buhari is a Hausa descendants of the rulers of the great Empire of Songhai and other civilizations. These are proud sons of Hausa usurped by Fulani. Without claims of descendant from Usman Dan Fodio, Hausa are not worthy of any majestic post. As usurpers of great Hausa kingdoms, Fulani are inoculated against sins.
What we have been witnessing is the vestiges of the violence of Usman Dan Fodio that came in peace only for him and his supporters to emerge like the Trojan horse enticing the support of our Hausa brothers and sisters, capturing their ruling houses and now moving Southwards. Their mayhem, without abatement on Hausa farmers, Jos and the surrounding areas went for century. The Hausa suffer in silence but their Middle Belt and Southern brothers will not.
If Buhari is the Messiah almighty Allah has sent to deliver West Africa from the menace of these bloodthirsty terrorists, so be it. He must not shirk in his responsibilities. No Hausa man can aspire to any position of substance in the North without claiming some genealogy to the same Fulani marauders that destroyed their civilized way of life. Buhari must break out of this yoke.
Yet most of these Fulani terrorists clad themselves in the cloak of peace loving Hausa, married their ladies, speak their language while recruiting their children to die for causes that do not elevate talikawa status as the least educated, the most maligned and impoverished people in Nigeria. While they steal and loot the country dry with their Southern brothers and sisters, they leave crumbs as sarah; of which we are supposed to be grateful and sing their praises.
Here we are, looking for ways to be self-sufficient in agriculture since a hungry man is an angry man. But facing the constant menaces of Fulani herdsmen through murders, kidnappings, rapes with silence from constituted authorities that are sworn to enforce law and order, encourage passive action like boycotting their cattle in the local market; or active action to fight back. We have complaints from some localities that those resisting terrorists on their farms disappeared.
Buhari has promised to face any threat to Nigeria the way he is dealing with Boko Haram. He must deliver on this incessant Fulani terrorist’s threat. It is obvious in this day that it is not about cattle or religion but about impunity to use Hausa brothers to capture slaves as if we still live in the past centuries. No African religion is so hungry for converts that blood must be shed in order to conquer. Indeed, African religions are so peaceful other religions take advantage.
Justice must not only be done, it must be seemed done to be fair and transparent to all peace loving individuals in a civilized community where everyone lives and let live. Misunderstanding, impunity and outright disregard for the rule of law and order create a community championed by a double-headed hydra. It deals ruthlessly with one group and closes its eyes to the atrocity of others. Buhari must not make past mistake of allowing the well connected to flaunt orders.
Here is a man his country men are praising for bringing sanity into the War Against Corruption, yet there are distractors left and right trying their possible best to sink the boat before we have a chance to rescue the Country from the hands of vultures, vagabonds and many that want the children of Africa back in chains. Terrorists cannot disguise as cowboys or cattle herdsmen.
Environment reforestation of the encroaching desert that may turn into barren wasteland has been preached and ignored for too long. Arab countries situated in the deserts have been able to claim back some of the desert and even established ice play ground for recreation. But we go to Niger and Chad further north and buy flowers to plant in Lagos and grass to start establishing ranches, not where it is needed all over the North but in the South to claim what is not theirs.
After all developing ranches all over Nigeria if each localities so choses is not a bad idea in itself, but it has to be their priority. No one can dictate grass ranches instead of yams, cocoa or palm oil because herdsmen want to wonder away from home. The same labor can be used on their ranches at home. More governors need to speak out against appeasement with people’s farms.
In the 21st century, people should be wiser. Reward in heaven, unmanageable virgins on earth, individual power grab veiled in ethnocentric sentiments and caste system are not enough to secure our loyalties. While other people space themselves between work, recreation and war on little people; we are constantly fighting over frivolities. The time we should be exploiting for discoveries, reflections and invention, we energize it on wasteful use of brainpower.
We then ask, how come others are ahead of us? They are not. Our time is spent on different priorities. Those of us that are able to space our efforts differently in a secured environment performed better against all odds. Buhari cannot wait until Fulani impunity degenerates into war.