DEATH THREAT (1)

You see, I have used my facebook wall to call out at least two 'men of God' who say political stuff that I consider prejudicial and inappropriate for the office they occupy. I have done it before and I will do it again.

No one can tell me stereotyping any group or ethnicity is the ideal response in Nigeria considering our history and volatility. Telling people to spill blood, behead people or simply making accusations based on conspiracy theories cannot and I repeat cannot be justified. I have heard sermons or parts of such since before 2015 which have been based on fake news and propaganda.

Christopher Wylie of Cambridge Analytica blew the whistle earlier this year on how his group sought for hacked material on President Buhari's health status for representatives of the previous administration. In his testimony to a UK parliamentary committee, he mentioned how they provided a canadian firm: Aggregate IQ with violent video content to distribute in Nigeria' cyberspace aimed at intimidating voters. He said they had throat slits, burning bodies, hijabs etc all to convince Nigerian voters that it was cool to be anti-Islam for that election but what some people still believe till 2019 is that Buhari was the one with the propaganda.

I have seen supposedly cerebral individuals talk about the rallying call to Fula people worldwide to approach Nigeria and reign. The Fula people they say have their origin in Futa Jallon, Guinea and have been unable to dominate there so they moved all the way to Northern Nigeria where they have found refuge. What they fail to mention is that there are at least four countries in West Africa where a Fula individual presides or jointly presides but that won't be sensational enough. There is just something special about Nigeria that the west coast nation of Guinea and the Futa Jallon highlands doesn't have.

We are constantly reminded of what Usman Dan Fodio did in the 1800s which was halted but has somehow resumed. The spirit of Dan Fodio lives on and some people probably believe it is now upon the 75 years old Buhari and herdsmen who some say he funds. What is certain about Nigeria is that we have many tribes that have stood the test of time. An age of savagery could not wipe them out or subjugate them (we must acknowledge that kingdoms were subdued by Dan Fodio's movement) but civilisation appears to have brought along the fear of domination. This I find perplexing.

Nigeria has experienced numerous episodes of severe conflicts and bloodshed especially since the return of democracy in 1999. I won't go into mentioning Yelwa, Kaduna, Langtang, Jos, Dogo Nahawa, etc because it is now an offence in Nigeria to talk about the past; some consider it as an exhibition of a subhuman state and a lack of empathy so I will let it slide so I am not misunderstood. One of such unfortunate events happened on the 23rd of June 2018 in Plateau state which had otherwise been relatively quiet for the past few years when compared to what neighbouring Benue state experienced for extended periods.

Like most recent conflicts in Nigeria, this one was quickly tagged as the activities of Fulani herdsmen. For someone like me, I do not like this hurried descriptions even before investigations are done. If I am correct, the newspapers were already buzzing the next day with a report that Miyetti Allah had somehow taken responsibility by acknowledging it was a reprisal attack for lost cattle. Governor Ortom of Benue was reported in the Vanguard newspaper joining others to ask for the arrest of the Miyetti Allah spokesman who repeatedly denied that he gave the quotes published in the tabloids.

This Miyetti Allah spokesman Ciroma, represents the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders' association MACBAN. The group is the one Ortom had praised for cooperating with his state's anti-open grazing law (or whatever it is called). Ortom had (he still did in a Channels TV interview a few days ago) repeatedly accused the other Miyetti Allah group Kautal Hore as the culprits in just about all the Benue clashes except the ones he claimed without any investigations were the handiwork of a Benue indigene Gana. MAKH have repeatedly denied involvement as claimed by Ortom and I wonder if we should not grant them fair hearing.

The MACBAN Plateau state chairman granted an extensive interview a few days ago and one online newspaper gave a completely inaccurate headline of the content of that story. Nura Abdullahi mentioned that he is Fulani but an indigene of Plateau state. His opinion of the events of the 23rd of June was that it was his people who were actually at the receiving end on that weekend. He reeled out the names of villages where attacks on Fulani and their herd had taken place in the past and recently and accused some Berom people and other locals of attacking them. He denied the involvement of his people in the attacks but that is his opinion. Should we deny him or his people fair hearing because of prejudice?

When one asks that we are cautious about how we react to the cycle of violence and weigh all arguments, one is quickly brandished as a sympathiser of blood thirsty, privileged terrorists. One is seen as a mere defender of government and any attempt to try to explain that pushing a one-sided narrative helps no one is quickly met by a barrage of insults and curses. Should we deny that the much vilified Fulani have not suffered incredible losses on the Plateau cattle or not? The Human Rights Watch have detailed documents on past clashes in Plateau and Kaduna state especially and many of the stories therein are too gory to mention here. These events have hardly been confronted with justice and only get to have repeat performances from time to time. It is folly to keep saying the muslim incumbent is the one killing people when we had far worse cases under Christian presidents. We need justice urgently and that is a legitimate demand.

JOA3072018