When sane men from the north insinuated that the sponsors of banditry, Boko Haram and kidnapping are among the northern elites and serving governors; they called for their heads. They harassed them with the state apparatus. But the weevils remain undaunted; they use every occasion to throw spanners to the wheel of progress. They are loquacious in reeling out hegemonic statements that are capable of uprooting the very foundation of our country. With their unguarded utterances they heat up the polity. They diminish the little trust that remains in our body polity. They cannot distinguish between political lining and nation building. They claim to have the monopoly of knowledge and power. But no matter how long the time of waiting, twenty years will become a tomorrow to arrive at.
It is very unfortunate to say that Nigeria has never been this disintegrated not even during the Civil War era. During the thirty month Civil War Hausa/Fulani boasted of friendship with the Yoruba. Yoruba fought on the side of federal army. Today, nobody trusts anybody in Nigeria. The criminal Fulani herdsmen kill, maim, rape and kidnap with impunity. What makes it worse is that the federal government sees nothing wrong in their actions. Till date no Fulani herdsman accused of crime has been prosecuted. Instead the Southerners who go on peaceful and constitutionally backed protests are hounded in detentions. If a Southerner carries Dane gun he is arrested but it is the birthright of Fulani herdsmen to carry the sophisticated AK-47 rifles. That was the position of Mallam Bala Mohammed, Bauchi state governor.
“When paupers die no comets are seen but the heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.” Killer herdsmen and their cohorts are being protected while the same government unleashes terror on innocent citizens that it swore to protect. The government knows the criminals only that it has chosen not to arrest them. The middle man between the government and the bandits is Sheikh Gumi. Arrest Gumi and banditry will end. What about Madam Boko Haram? The first step to solving a problem is by identifying its root, its cause. A friend to a thief is a thief! Our military personnel die mysteriously each time they attempt to swoop on the criminals in their hideouts. When Governor Matawale of Zamfara state claimed he could name the influential people sponsoring banditry in his state, he was ignored. A serious government would have confidentially inquired from him who those sponsors are and take action against them. Or is it the hand of the government itself? Also Doctor Mailafia Obadiah’s claim would have most probably led to the end of Boko Haram if he was asked by the authorities to name the governor(s) sponsoring these dreaded men of horror. The government chose to arrest and to detain him instead.
The most disheartening is the fact that the president doesn’t talk, why he chooses to send his aides to respond to such sensitive issues leaves much to speculation of a Mannequin. Buhari is not the oldest leader in Africa nay the whole world. Nothing is working under his watch. When we clamoured for ‘Change’ in 2015 we failed to add ‘POSITIVE’ to it. Now we regret embracing ‘Change’ because the change we got has not been a ‘POSITIVE CHANGE’ needed to enhance the living standard of the people. Our economy has become worse as our currency is a mere paper in the continent of Africa not to talk of greater economies of the world. Where is the pseudo-giant of Africa? An average Nigerian cannot afford two meals in a day. Nobody is safe. Many schools have been forced to close in the north as a result of kidnapping. A nation that does not educate its youth is only beckoning to militancy and underdevelopment. Collapse of education is the collapse of a nation. Recall that but for the insistence of the South West, Nigerian candidates wouldn’t have sat for the 2020 West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE).
In spite of the lethargy of our economy, we are constructing rail line to Niger Republic. More insulting to the citizenry is the statement credited to the Minister of Transportation, Honourable Rotimi Amaechi that he had to beg the Nigerien government before it agreed to allow us construct rail line to Maradi, Niger Republic. It has also been alleged that more than four million Chadians have obtained Nigerian National Identification Number (NIN). One is quick to believe it because about five governors from Niger Republic attended the presidential rally of APC in Kano before the 2019 presidential election. That is the deceit in the population figure of the north being claimed by Mallam Abdullaih Ganduje of Kano state. He recently fussed thus, “It is a glaring fact that Northerners occupy over 80 per cent of Nigeria’s population and that is primarily why other minority tribes like Igbo and Yoruba should respect them”. This grandiloquence does not fly in the face of reality. Today, the middle belt people are identifying themselves. It is a fact that the Fulanis are nomadic in nature with no permanent place of abode. The invitation and subsequent integration of Nigeriens, Chadians and Cameroonians in the north lay credence to this. The North does not need such twaddle now instead the federal government under a Fulani president should work to end the backwardness of the north in all spheres of life. It should use all the administrative acumen in its arsenal to bring back those in captivity of Boko Haram, bandits and kidnappers most especially the ‘Chibok 112’ and Leah Sharibu. The insect that destroys vegetables lives in vegetables. The US government has just placed a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under Terrorism watch. The implication is that there is no end in sight to insecurity in our land.
But we need to reiterate that a king whose reign brings prosperity the subjects will never forget and in like manner a king whose reign is full of blood will remain indelible in history. If Nigeria breaks today posterity will neither forget nor forgive General Muhammadu Buhari. Because the country is moving to the brink of disintegration. Governments at all levels need to be guided by the motto of Ajayi Crowder University (ACU), Oyo; it says “Scientia Probitas”-Knowledge and Probity.