RUGA: THE END GAME

RUGA: THE END GAME

A FULANI HERDSMAN

When southern and northern politicians talk about nationalism, patriotism or the Nigerian state, it is very important to understand that the two groups are not speaking of the same thing. Northern politicians, especially what is generally referred to as "core north" or Hausa/Fulani usually think Nigeria begins where their interest is taken care of and ends when such interests are threatened. They also understand the politics of numbers and methods of dominance far more than the rest of the country. The north, with active British help, consolidated its power structure shortly after the country's independence. This has made the "north" the dominant socio-political power in Nigeria. The RUGA issue, which should have been a strictly private economic affair under state and federal regulation, has become a potential reason for social upheaval - because the economic survival of a predominantly northern (Fulani) anachronistic tradition is being imposed on the rest of the country.    

All over the country, the activities of so-called Fulani Herdsmen have resulted in killings, kidnappings, farmland destruction, rapes, wholesale genocide, and territorial annexation. The suggested establishment of whole towns (including schools and hospitals) to accommodate what is essentially a personal business in every state of Nigeria is suspicious. The president appears to be a major advocate, or at least a willing enhancer of this unscientific imposition. Traditionally, leaders from other parts of Nigeria have proven totally incapable of any meaningful opposition to northern designs on Nigeria because they lack a cohesive and focused raison d'être. Southern politicians are for the most part, crippled by internecine mischief and a propensity for self-defeating compromise with northern powers when the price is right.

When the idea of establishing Fulani settlements across the country with financial help from government was proposed, many were against it. This was because of Fulani Herdsmen antecedents in the country - their violence, hegemonistic tendencies and brutal suppression of indigenous populations that stand in their way. High level opposition to the idea of Fulani settlements (RUGA) came from a few southern politicians and pundits who did not quite trust the government's motives. The question is why government was either silent or flippant about the murderous actions committed by herdsmen over the years and then suddenly proposes the establishment of Fulani "towns" within each state of Nigeria to ensure "peace".  The RUGA initiative appears to be a well-orchestrated ultimate goal of the present government. They obviously condoned Fulani attacks on innocent lives across the country to ultimately justify RUGA establishment in order to help "solve" the security situation. The RUGA initiative was finally "suspended" due to an unprecedented outcry from Nigerians who saw the dangerous traps non-Fulani citizens were being led into.

It has however become customary that when the north fails to get its wish, it tends to try making life difficult for other citizens of the country. In the RUGA case, leaders of the Fulani arrogantly gave a sitting government 30 days to rescind the suspension of RUGA or face "dire consequences". Now, if a group other than Fulani had uttered those threats, the army would be mobilised to crush it. If it was IPOB (a pressure group from the southeast) for example, the military will come up with ideas to intimidate, imprison or kill people that are peacefully protesting. The general outcry against the establishment of RUGA projects in the southern states of the federation discouraged any compromise by some of their fence-sitting governors.

Given the myriad problems facing Nigeria, the apparent importance accorded Fulani settlement is unsettling. Ignoring or being flippant about the rights of other Nigerians to life and livelihood while promoting traditional cattle holding is unacceptable. The citizenship rights of Nigerians cannot be equated to cattle rights, no matter who is raising them. From the utterance of ultra conservative northern leaders, Fulanis apparently think they have exclusive rights to land across West Africa. Nigeria is particularly prized because of the Hausa/Fulani socio-political dominance that guarantees control of the country's resources. Professor Wole Soyinka recently said that the present government of Muhammadu Buhari, does not have what it takes to govern Nigeria. While this is a correct assessment, the goal of the northern oligarchy has never been to run a country but to run after selfish interests at the expense of the country. Except in very few cases, the north has always had its way while the rest of the country have their say or play dumb for crumbs.

jrotimibgood@gmail.com

Senator Abbo: A Depressing Spectacle

Senator Abbo: A Depressing Spectacle

SENATOR ABBO

Senator Elisha Abbo, a couple weeks, back found it irresistible to assault a mother in a sex toyshop while he was drunk. The video, which received wide circulation in the media, was sad to watch. In a single video, an observant citizen can see all that is wrong with Nigeria.

First, there is the inebriated representative of the state (a senator no less), then a police officer, who is supposed to protect the people and common citizens trying to make ends meet in their place of business. The senator, hiding behind the royalty that the country's leaders have become assaulted a nursing mother in full public view for daring to calm a belligerent situation initiated by him. After shamelessly slapping the hapless woman around, Abbo then ordered his police orderly to arrest her on the spot for a crime that is still unclear. Maybe she forgot that mortals don't speak when gods are throwing childish tantrums.

If you are reading this as a Nigerian, it is evident that the value of your citizenship may depend on the whims of a state official backed by force and not the constitution.  The story of the assault by senator Abbo clearly shows that our lawmakers are some of the most lawless groups in the country. These political misfits are aided by policemen, soldiers and the interpreters of the law to destroy what little rights the constitution guarantees citizens. The clear reason why there is so much banditry, robbery, kidnappings and sundry crimes in Nigeria is simply this: our leaders do not care and law enforcement officers think only of survival, not protecting the people. In fact, evidence suggests that crimes in the country are aided and abetted by law enforcement while state officials turn blind or drunken eyes. The state is silent or languid in combating crimes unless it affects officials directly, or their expatriate business partners. Because they are concerned about survival, law enforcement tends to protect and do the biddings of the leaders at all costs as uniformed thugs and area boys for simple bread. Protecting society does not bring in much so they extort the people and sometimes kill or maim those who refuse.  

When arresting ordinary citizens, especially if carrying out orders from "above", the Nigerian police are at their worst best because they know the victims are totally helpless. But when asked to do the real job of policing the society to reduce crimes, complaints about salaries and lack of weapons surface. The only weapon lacking in the arsenal of law enforcement in Nigeria is integrity not surface-to-air missiles or military grade assault rifles. With integrity and dedication to a just society, most miscreants will look for other jobs rather than risk arrest and jail. But a just society where our lawmakers are not gods is inimical to the ego of our leaders at various levels of society. They need orderlies, guards, errand boys, enforcers and sirens to survive and feel relevant in a royalist society such as ours. Because of the utter disregard for the rights of common people in Nigeria, it is easy to see why there are no good roads, dependable electricity supply, well-funded primary education, healthcare and infrastructure or equal right and justice before the law. Politicians are versed in the art of tokenism to win elections and feeling good about themselves for providing what is a right (not privilege) of the people.

What happened in that shop last week is a microcosm of what the citizens of Nigeria endure everyday while trying to make a living in a moribund country. But any hope of Nigeria's renaissance and progress hinges on protecting people such as that nursing mother and making her feel she can live and contribute without fear to a country currently ruled by drunk lawmakers and pitifully subservient law enforcement officers.

jrotimibgood@gmail.com

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PMB: A General On Paper

Nigerian Cabinet Meeting Picture

 

In the chequered history of Nigeria, there has never been such an egregious assault on national security such as obtains currently in the country. Buhari campaigned on the promise that he would be different from his predecessor by tackling the security problems facing the country and dealing with corruption. But on both scores Buhari has failed woefully. The reason for this failure is simple: the current president of Nigeria is neither a patriot nor a nationalist; he is even less of a soldier.  In fact, the man has no real vision other than promoting an obdurate religious, ethnic and cabal-dominated irresponsibility against the Nigerian state where Hausa/Fulani oligarchical agenda of dominance of the middle belt and southern states of Nigeria is de rigueur. 

Buhari has been the most ill-prepared and ill-suited head of state to date. He does no justice to his profession as a soldier and his bigotry is so obvious that those who follow him do so for selfish reasons. Without the energy or dream of a Nigerian renaissance, it is easy to see why a vicious self-interested cabal has taken over from a president who spent nearly half a year in a foreign hospital but still thinks he is president of a sovereign country. Without equivocation, Buhari does not have what it takes to lead almost 200 million people in this century and his continuous occupation of the office of president may not be divorced from the fact that Nigeria operates on political autopilot that is dominated by ethnic, religious and military apologists. Leaders, both elected and appointed throughout the strata of our national life maintain these existential paradigms. It has been difficult to change the narrative because since our paper independence the current national ethos and leadership have danced (with benefits) to the beat of the world neo-liberal and neo-colonial superstructure.

Boy Scouts have a motto: "Be Prepared".  But a soldier of Buhari's standing (or sitting) certainly has not acted prepared as a "General". He gives the idea of a "quota General" a new meaning.  He is always languid to constitute his cabinet and when he manages to accomplish this elementary task, nothing extraordinary is accomplished. But the "cabinet", filled with praise singers and disinterested courtiers tell Nigerians how fortunate they are to have such an incorruptible leader. They say this with such gravitas as if Nigeria's leaders are expected to be corrupt and Buhari is a god-sent exception. But the fact that corruption and lack of accountability still goes on under his leadership means that corruption has an unquestionable Buharic subtheme. You are corrupt if you oppose the government but angelic if you help propose its most harebrained ideas.

On the question of security, how do you explain the sacking of military bases by a "degraded" Boko Haram who now supposedly attack "soft" targets? Even if the government is given the benefit of doubt; are soft targets not Nigerians? Are soft targets so expendable that a clueless former "General" is okay with jaded, incoherent, interlocutions while most communities in the country daily fear for their lives? Herdsmen killings, faceless banditry, kidnappings, genocides and mass rapes have rendered communities vulnerable, resulting in millions of internally displaced persons - without a formal war. And yet, we have one of the largest standing armies in Africa. But unfortunately, some members of the Nigerian army consists of ill-trained, criminal and morale-deficient buffoons who are quick to brutally suppress or kill civilians while going to extremes to avoid defending the Nigerian state. 

When there are protests in the South East of Nigeria over the inequities apparent in our polity, the army carries out "operations" against peaceful protesters. These "operations" invariably leads to massacres of innocent Nigerians. Today, a big chunk of our national wealth goes to subsidize the army without tangible achievement in ensuring national security. Because of the unstated agenda of total dominion of the central parts of Nigeria who are not of the Hausa/Fulani stock there is evidence that members of the army and police contribute to violence in these areas by inaction when minorities are being attacked and helping to suppress self-defence.  It is also evident that Boko Haram could not be this powerful and seemingly invincible without some support and a hidden agenda that necessitates their existence by the northern elite (both civilian and military) and their foreign backers. And they do have an enabling "General" in PMB - a perverted ethnic and religious jingoist who has voiced his support for Boko Haram in the past while condemning government action against the sect.

In the eighties, Buhari described Nigeria as a '…a great country in chains". In this decade, Buhari has bound the country with stronger chains and thrown the nation into solitary confinement. In a genuine democracy, the failure of PMB to manage the security challenges in the country was enough to derail his second coming. How can a former "General" preside over the travesty the present Nigerian security apparatus has become? PMB is a symptom of our collective herd-mentality where intelligent and deliberate evaluation of the country's progress is stymied by selfish ambition, coupled with ethnic and religious emotionalism.

jrotimibgood@gmail.com

Elections Under Force

A Voter Casts Her Vote in Nigeria's Election

It is quite clear that the elections currently going on in the country has nothing to do with taking the country to the "next level", bridging the gap between rich and poor or better governance. The clear desperation of all concerned shows that the country will not fundamentally change its trajectory from a failed state to an egalitarian and progressive one. 

Nigeria is still an unapologetic plutocracy and the will (if they still have one) of the people is ruthlessly gaslighted through shameful impositions orchestrated through monetary inducements and thugs who masquerade as security forces. And the tragedy of the whole scenario is that the people are active participants in their own oppression. In fact, the rather psychotic tendency of Nigerians to live vicariously through their leaders is legendary. They will risk their lives for "oga", some potentate or someone they consider a benefactor without counting the ultimate cost because of the immediate pecuniary advantage. The rulers get away with misrule mainly because the majority of people in Nigeria do not enjoy any form of stability in their lives and no matter what issues you consider in the form of basic index of human needs, most Nigerians are in dire desperation and willing to sell their souls in order to survive.  

What many overlook is that the nation or its geographical area was subjugated and its future mortgaged more than a hundred years ago. What happened at independence was simply a renegotiation of the original agreement between our leaders and the real masters of the country. The agreement was that the country should have the semblance of self-governance but with extremely weak or non-existent institutions that could accelerate its evolution into a self-sufficient and progressive entity. Though beneficial to the ruling class, this arrangement has challenged our effort at becoming a real nation. For example, how could an organization saddled with conducting elections be as ill prepared as INEC despite the nauseating resources at its disposal and the fact that this is not the first election it is conducting? Postponing elections have become a national pastime without national protest. In fact, some of the most vociferous comments about the fairness of our electoral process are from outside the country. When American and European politicians or their surrogate institutions hover over our elections as "observers" and "approvers" of the legitimacy of our electoral process it is time to question our so-called independence. But don't be fooled. These angelic foreign powers have no iota of interest in our "national development", they care only about one thing - their political and economic interests. Just see how much care they have had for the Congo since its "independence".

The way Nigeria's leaders treat citizens during elections is a study in the absolute contempt they have for those whose permission they need to govern.  Citizens abandon their personal comforts to stand in the sun, rain or cold for hours (sometimes the whole day) in order to perform a civic duty without the guarantee of coming back home alive. Elections have become a theater for the demonstration of self-hatred that is at the heart of the African tragedy. They keep the people in the dark as to who really has the power to change Nigeria. They do this by enforcing a strict and ruthless hierarchy that is maintained by keeping the majority poor, ignorant and uneducated. It is from this army of disenfranchised horde that the political class recruit into their brigades of shame. These thugs have become the bane of our political ascendancy.  Electoral violence never affects the leaders, only the pitiable and ignorant electorate. The day Nigerians wake up to the fact that their leaders are paper tigers who cannot last more than a couple of weeks at the onslaught of "people power" the country will change.

The current process of voter registration, card collection, card readers, accreditation and voting is an egregious citizen-abuse. It is too cumbersome and time wasting to participate in Nigeria's electoral process. The fragility of the system is so obvious that only a ruling class bent on maintaining political instability and a manipulatable, corrupt electoral process at the expense of the progress of the nation will continue with the current electoral process. 

The current president of the country has had the chance of signing a new electoral bill into law but failed to do so. The current electoral process ensures that the ruling class continues to be the beneficiary of a warped system that is an encumbrance to a hapless and obviously ignorant electorate. 

JR can be reached at jrotimibgood@gmail.com