When Governor of Benue state Samuel Ortom addressed a press conference, he spoke with so much fury and expressed his annoyance about the raging insecurity in the country which he blamed on herders and Miyetti Allah both of whom he said receive soft treatment from President Muhammadu Buhari, he blasted the Presidency, reminding Buhari that he was a President of all Nigerians, not just Fulani Herders.
His outcry, that he would not be slave to any Fulani person shows a typical example of the anger that exists in the country.
In another development, Governor Ikpeazu of Abia state noted for each Cow killed in his state, Herders receive 100,000naira, and this statement has created a lot of fuss with many persons accusing him of insensitivity. The concern of many is that the same Ikpeazu has not found it appropriate to compensate those who lost their farms or show same concern to those who lost their life in the process of the ongoing insecurity threat.
In this all ongoing rage, it is very worrisome that in a country that should have leadership, some set of persons are prioritized over the others. This amounts to why a law would be made banning AK-47 being carried around in the country and herders would have the liberty to carry same AK-47 round the county, this would make one wonder if they were above the law.
The body language of President Buhari has also shown that he has some soft spot for his kinsmen and is unwilling to take precisive decisions against them.
The situation of the country is more worrisome given the fact that efforts of some governors to protect their state has been made with unfortunate brickwall from the Presidency.
An instance was the case of Presidential Spokesman, Garba Shehu, who came out with a statement after the order of the Ondo state government asking herders who have not registered to leave the state forests and register, one would wonder who the Garba Shehu wrote that statement for, if it were for Fulani people or Nigerians as a whole.
It has gotten to a stage that role some governors hould be questioned. We are talking of people who cannot speak up to support their people. Eastern state governors for instance swallowed their tongue while watching their own kinsmen die from clash caused by insecurity and interest of the citizens in protecting the state from herders. It leaves one to wonder the kind of leaders would prefer to see their own people fall to bullets and not condemn such in the entirety.
If we can live anywhere, it does not mean we can kill people as we deem fit. The continual killings blamed on herders raises serious question about the willingness of President Buhari to keep the country together. It then begins to put fear into us as citizens of the country at home in diaspora that e are unsafe in our own country.
One would assume that the President does not really know what is going on in the country but it would be a big offence and sin against Nigerians, if he does not know; the only logical conclusion is that he knows and he only chose to rub the back of criminal herders by not taking precisive decisions.
The President must act fast and avoid cases of people rising up to defend themselves as we have started seeing in some parts of the country. This is inevitable as when the government fails in its responsibility, the people take up such responsibility and defend themselves from incursion and death. Nigerians deserve to live and that right must not be taken away.
This is high time that traditional rulers come together especially in Igbo land and stand against the killings continually ongoing. We must understand that we can afford to watch things deteriorate and we must ensure citizens are alive, the government has failed but institutions must not fail us.
It is very pitiable that when politicians seek votes, they promise heaven and earth but when the time comes for them to act they fail in their responsibilities, the first duty of any government is to safeguard it’s citizens, any government that fails this responsibility has failed it’s primary and core duty to the citizens which then begin to raise questions on why the country spends so much but cannot still assure the people of their own safety even on their ancestral land.
The government is quick to clampdown on genuine efforts of independent citizens when they have failed to discharge same duty.
As someone in diaspora, i am particularly disgruntled at the situations back home and feel disappointed at our representatives.
We cannot die in the hands of people because their kinsman is in power, enough is enough.
Boniface Ihiasota is the Publisher of EXCEL MAGAZINE INTERNATIONAL and Chief Execuitive Officer of EXCEL GLOBAL MEDIA GROUP
He writes from USA
