Opinion
Elegy for Nigeria
Nigeria is constantly on a spin, the sweeping, whirling motion is a journey into a distant, tragic mist that has no clarity but certainly far from our desired destination. The country is on a cliffhanger preparing for a tragic plunge into hell.
Our politicians are a tragic curse which we have been unable to remove, demons we are yet to exorcise in spite of our religious sanctimoniousness, and faith- based zealotry. Sometimes, one begins to wonder whether we are not actually in Alice- in- wonderland situation, with nothing closer to reality in what we, as a people, are going through in the hands of our politicians. But then, when we pinch ourselves we come to the tragic realization that our sorry situation is no day dreaming but a harrowing reality brought upon ourselves by bad choices informed ruefully by fault lines.
Nigeria is built on myths
Nigeria’s foundation was laid on a set of myths and sustained by it. And until we throw the myths overboard, we will continue on a journey without motion. Whether we believe it or not, It’s the self-serving interpretation of these myths that our politicians use to defraud us from time to time . And because myths have aura of sacredness, invincibility and downright fraud , the treacherous political class live off it, forcing us to accept their own “interpretation” of the myths.
The first myth is the assumption of the stupidity of the electorate – and by extension – the people.
Nigerian politicians tend to hold this view. While there’s no valid empirical evidence scientifically proven for this view, the behaviour of the Nigerian people since independence tends to lend credence to the validity of this viewpoint. I have always stressed that our people’s behavioural pattern defies the analysis of political science, sociology and psychology. Ours is a unique experience that has no parallel anywhere. Nigerians can take any nonsense from their rulers with religious equanimity, and sheepish submission without as much as a whimper.
Tragically another layer of their oppressors – the so called religious leaders- always on the side of the oppressors covertly by their backdoor dalliance with them are always on hand to admonish them to take their grievances of bad leadership to God. The mere fact that we secured our independence without bloodshed has psyched us up for submission to anything that comes our way no matter how unpalatable.
We tend to forget the admonition of the great Fredrick Douglass that oppressors will never willingly give up oppression unless they are forced to do so. So, the myth of our sheepish stupidity and susceptibility to political manipulation by politicians is correct.
The Fulani herdsmen question
One (Jilomes, 2016) wrote: ” I do not believe in the superiority of one tribe over another, nor do I ascribe to the fallacy that a tribe can be so inherently evil that no good person can be found in it. Nevertheless, for some time now, the Fulanis have made the news headlines their virtual home, effectively becoming inglorious pains in the longsuffering asses of other Nigerians.
“A part of the title above is eponymous with a centuries-long debate concerning the Jews. “The Jewish Question” has spanned several debates and treatises involving Bruno Bauer, Karl Marx, the Nazis, and a host of intellectuals and ignoramuses. Whereas the eponym concerned the political emancipation of the Jews, a minority in the countries in which they lived, this article goes in the opposite direction. The Fulanis are neither a minority, nor in need of political emancipation. Rather, what this “industrious” group needs is the will to move into the present. Despite the power and influence wielded by the Fulani, by their actions, they obviously are lost in time, frozen in centuries past when invaders appropriated land by mass killings of such land’s owners.
“From Agatu to Ondo, Plateau to Enugu, Kaduna to Delta, a group has made it a point of duty to leave footprints of blood. The “Fulani Herdsmen” have been so effective at destruction that they have been named the world’s fourth deadliest terrorist organization, responsible for several lives ended gruesomely. Unlike ISIL, Boko Haram and Al Shabaab, this infamous group has achieved pole position without a “formal” leader nor organizational structure. The nearest semblance of an organisation is the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, the umbrella body that represents the interests of the nomadic cattle rearers.
“The Fulani Herdsmen are 21st century nomads whose lives primarily revolve around cows. They move their cows from North to South in search of grass. While the herdsmen roam about with cows, the Fulani Elites, of which most Northern Emirs are the most notable, hold the reins of power in Nigeria as part of the Hausa-Fulani hegemony. The elites ensure that the herdsmen are untouchable by the Nigerian state, allowing them to move about without restrictions across bushes and farmlands. In their magnanimity, the herdsmen have made it extremely easy to apply for their murderous wrath—simply complain when their cows destroy your crops. Unchecked complaints and resorting to self-help to chase away the herdsmen is the trigger for the increased violence being witnessed.
“In addition, several armed robbery incidents in the northern region are allegedly perpetuated by caring Fulanis. Let’s now focus on my claim that the Fulanis are trapped in the past. It’s time to corroborate the claim.
Why do I say the Fulanis are trapped in the past? First, I’ll point to their nomadic culture. In the 21st century, cows grow fat in ranches, never littering the roads with dung, not constituting public nuisance on roads designed with humans in mind. Humans drown in processed cow milk, and eat beef until their breaths smell of beef. Yet, they do not see, nor encounter the cows whose products they happily devour. However, for the time-trapped Fulani herdsmen, “as it was in the beginning, so it is now, so it ever shall be, world without end”. Their grandfather’s great-grandfather took cows from place to place. Therefore, they must junket with their cows in tow. If this isn’t symptomatic of a mind-set lost in the past, I doubt that a better example can be found.
Another reason for my claim is summarized in one word—education. Although Nigeria’s literacy rate pales in comparison to developed countries, the rest of Nigeria “has hope” when they look at the Fulanis—herdsmen that is. The Fulani elites, represented by persons such as the former CBN governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, are well educated. However, the nomadic herdsmen neither see the importance, nor have the time for formal education. Their illiteracy is worsened by the fact that they come from a part of Nigeria where some see western education as an evil to be avoided. To this end, the nomadic school initiative of the Nigerian government has not seen much success. By avoiding formal education, the Fulanis remain in a pre-colonial era, which sounds a lot like the past.
Third on my corroboration list is the resort to violence and disdain for non-Fulani lives. There was a time when one race felt superior to another, and so attacked the latter to emasculate them. In that era, some people were seen as sub-humans, fit only for slavery. The world has moved to an era where equality is preached. However, the Fulanis still live in the past. This is a group reputed to believe in a “born to rule” delusion. From their violent actions, it is clear that cows are more valuable than human lives. This group is ready to slaughter a community of oxygen-breathing humans over a missing cow. Since they see non-Fulanis as being beneath them, their proclivity for violence is understandable. Their huge egos are bruised whenever a bloody farmer complains that a glorious cow ate unworthy crops. In fact, the farmer ought to be happy that in his unworthy state, his crops were found fitting for noble cows. The Fulanis still maintain an archaic concept of “honour” that tells them that faults cannot be forgiven. Any offense must be responded to with violence.
Finally, let me tender their disdain for civilized laws as a reason for my claim. The laws say no unauthorized possession of weapons, no murder, no looting, no raping, no desecration of human rights. To this infamous group, they are beyond the purview of laws—except laws declared by them, such as “all lands belong to us”. This disregard for laws is further shown by their belief that because their kinsman is the president, all laws are subservient to them. This explains the increased frequency of Fulani attacks since Buhari became president. Their behaviour is a vestige of a past when members of aristocratic families were not subject to laws for which common people got punished. Our dear Fulanis still think they live in those times.
Let me be clear on one thing! There is nothing nostalgic about the behaviour of the Fulanis. They do not “wish” they could return to the past. They believe this is the past! In their minds, 2016 seems like a time preceding the 1800s. If this was a law court, I would humbly bow and say, “My Lord, I rest my case”.
The question is why do successive governments tolerate the murderous overbearing attitude of these nomads who kill, destroy farms and commit a lot of abominable things with impunity and actually live above the law of Nigeria? Why do the rest of the country cringe before them?
Numerically the Fulani as a group is estimated to be around 7 millions, even in Northern Nigeria, they are a minority. The answer has historical dimensions.
The answer has historical roots. It’s highly rooted in the potency of idealogies. Dangerous idealogies when repeatedly hammered on with zeal no matter how fallacious morph into truth and enter the psyche of the people.
In 1804 Uthman Danfodio Jihad, the Fulani positioned themselves as vanguard of civilization, civility, education and administrative genius who had come to bring light to the blighted Hausa kingdom steeped in idolatry and backwardness. The weapon for this proselytizing political mission was Islam. The Hausa were made to believe they were inferior. This is the origins of the dangerous class strafication in Northern Nigeria with the Fulani at top of the pyramid and the Hausa and others at the bottom. Thus a stage was set for feudalism. To cement this, the Islamic emphasis on submission to the will of Allah found interpretation among the new Fulani oligarchy who enjoined others to accept their social station in life with equanimity and submission.
That was how the Hausa were tamed into submission to these days.
Having emerged victorious in the contest of ideas, the British foisted the leadership of this tiny minority on the rest of Nigeria through a mixture of subterfuge and political pragmatism for their own selfish economic interest.
To this day, the myth of the Fulani invincibility has not been broken, for many ethnic groups have already accepted defeat in the hands of the Fulani, even before the battle of emancipation begins.
On the side of our politicians, the fear of the Fulani is the beginning of wisdom. For political correctness – since politics is in the eyes of our rulers are more important than human life – they will always look the other way as the herdsmen pillage various parts of the country. They are the gods that demand worship from politicians, a demon that rather than being exorcised must be propitiated.
The myth of corruption
Corruption is anchored on the fear of tomorrow – let me take as much as I can today- for I don’t know whether I will have opportunity again. The premise for this notion is the hostility and downright apathy of the system for its citizens. There is no planning for citizens, public office is not for service delivery to the people, but for personal aggrandizement. Nigeria is seen as a big cake to be shared by the elites, and the common people are seen as fringe elements who are in serfdom and can only rely on crumbs when it comes.
It’s the myth of uncertain tomorrow that fuels corruption such as theft of public till, nepotism, cronyism, tribalism and favouritism.
Until the system accommodate the people, think of their interests, the country will continue to fumble and wobble into the brink.
The myth of inviolability of our unity
There’s a fraud called indivisibility of Nigeria. It’s a big fraud used by benefitting politicians. Contemporary experience has shown that if we can no longer build a consensus on how we want to relate, it’s much better to go our separate ways. The split up of Ethiopia and Eritrea and other countries has put a lie to this claims.
As Obinna Ezugwu once said “This country should really not exist. A country that cannot reach consensus that white should be called white and black should be called black has no business being a country. We need to bust this myth. We can not continue like this.”
Our politicians, including the current actors on the political stage stand for nothing but personal interest. That’s why the ongoing program in different parts of the country perpetrated by herdsmen mean nothing to them.
As Mr. Richard Mammah once noted “Opportunism is when you stand for nothing but your personal, selfish interests.
And tragedy is when others continue to believe there is yet a method in your open, opportunistic conduct.”