INSECURITY: Southwest No Longer At Ease With Governors
THE people of Southwest Nigeria are not only seething with anger, but also picking up stones. Piqued by pain and anguish, their blazing eyes are trained in the direction of the governors of the region’s six states: Dr. Kayode Fayemi ( Ekiti), Seyi Makinde ( Oyo), Gboyega Oyetola ( Osun), Rotimi Akeredolu ( Ondo), Dapo Abiodun ( Ogun) and Babajide Sanwo- Olu ( Lagos).
The governors’ ‘ safety’ depends on how far they fare in tackling the growing insecurity in the region, especially the increasing menace of killer herders. Already, on individual basis, the governors are being evaluated according to what they have done to ensure security of lives and property in their various states, particularly over the excesses of armed ‘ local and foreign’ herdsmen.
From 2015, when President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office on the platform of All Progressives Congress ( APC), the general impression is that Fulani herdsmen, from the same ethnic group as the president, began to put up the air of superiority. In their arrogance, they espoused the right to graze their cows in any part of the country.
It was alleged that one of the factors that emboldening the Fulani herders was the easy access they had to lethal weapons, mainly AK47 assault rifles and ammunition. With those instruments of coercion, the herders were wont to attack their host communities as well as perpetrating crimes like kidnapping, banditry, rape, vandalism of farmlands and even brazen murder of innocent citizens.
Furthermore, as their kinsmen occupy major strategic security positions at the federal level, as well as the lax manner with which the federal security agents address the excesses of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria ( MACBAN), the herders on several occasions claim responsibility for many attacks on their host communities. All these combined to explain the escalating herders propensity to foment violence and crime. This has become worrisome across Yoruba land.
Toll On The Zone
Previously regarded as the most peaceful region in the country, the Southwest zone has literally been crippled by the destructive and murderous activities of armed herders. The toll is heavy on both material and loss of lives. For instance, few years ago, Fulani herders were accused of murdering the daughter of the leader of apex Yoruba sociocultural group, Afenifere, Pa Reuben Fasoranti, in Ondo State. Although Akeredolu was campaigning for his reelection, he was accused of not being proactive on the issue of security. The criminal tendency of the herders continued to loom large in the zone, amid speculations that Yoruba spearheaded the rejection of Federal Government’s proposed cattle colony for grazing across the country.
In Ondo State, a senior monarch and his son were abducted and killed. Recall also, that a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation ( SGF), Chief Olu Falae, who is also a leader of Afenifere, was kidnapped in his farm by armed herders. Huge ransom was paid to secure his release. Yet, the Federal Government takes no significant action. The unfortunate development continued to permeate Yoruba land to the extent that at a point in Ondo State, when some natives engaged the Fulanis over some attacks, the Federal Government was swift to arrest Yoruba.
It took several media criticisms of the security agents, especially the police couple with the bad image the development portrayed
the Buhari administration before the arrested victims were released.
Amotekun Initiative
The story was the same in Ogun, Oyo and Ekiti, even as Lagos State was not spared. As the worsening state of insecurity increased, many Yoruba farmers were displaced from their farmlands and communities. This forced the governors to resolve to regional security outfit, which they code- named Operation Amotekun, which was aimed at securing the life and property of the people in the face of herders’ attacks in 2020. Surprisingly, the Federal Government reacted swiftly and condemned the regional security outfit, claiming it did not only threaten the unity of Nigeria, but also breaches the Constitution.
The murder of one Dr. Fatai Aborode in Ibarapa, Oyo State, came as a defining a moment and roused the people’s anger. It did not take long before some stakeholders in Yoruba land, particularly those of the major opposition Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) accused the APC governors of playing Ostrich game with the security of their people on the altar of politics and loyalty to the APC’S controlled central government.
In January 2021, Akeredolu having secure his re- election issued a quit notice that all herders should vacate the State’s Forest Reserves on the ground that security reports indicts them for major crimes in Ondo. The murder of Dr. Fatai Aborode in Oyo State by suspected herders also triggered local resentment against the governors, whom they accused of treating the criminal herders with a kids glove. The incidence led to violence reactions against the Hausa/ Fulani community in Oyo State leading to the displacement of many headers. But, following the quit notice of Akeredolu, the north rise in objection especially the Presidency, which claimed that the Ondo State governor has no right to issues a quit notice to any Nigerian in any party of the country.
Specifically, Governor of Bauchi State, Bala
Mohammed vilified the Southwest governors, just as he declared that the Fulani herders have the right to carry arms and ammunition for self- defense. He however failed to speak on the activities of the herders. In similar vein, President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan also accused the Southwest governors of inciting their people against the herders in Yoruba land. Consensus Of Criticism
Reacting on the wherein the Southwest governors were accused of not doing much or nothing to protect their states and the disposition of the northerners that the governors are the ones inciting their people against the herders, prominent Nigerians Yoruba leaders, who spoke with The Guardian warned that the country it on edge and something urgent and critical must be done to address the situation.
In his remarks, a former lawmaker who represented Ogun East in the Senate during the Second Republic, Otunba Olabiyi Durojaiye said leaders and stakeholders’ in Yoruba land must be cautious of what they say because the matter is a not a media issue.
He said those contending with us are strategic and we need to be careful on what we do instead of vilifying our governors or exchanging arguments among ourselves.
He also admonished the leaders of the region that the solution to the herders menace in Southwest must not be politicized. He stressed: “This is not about politics. If we are not aware the Yoruba land is in danger, then we need to rethink. We are in a mess.”
In another reaction, former Military Administrator of Ondo State, Chief Olabode George said it is time for the Yoruba Nation to take two- steps backwards and then rethink, saying, “Otherwise it is obvious that we have been encircled.” According to him, “It is better we dialogue than to settle for war.” George, who is also a former deputy national chairman of PDP lambasted the leadership of the ruling APC
and also accused them of playing politics with the lives and property of Nigerians.”
He said since Lawan, Governor Mohammed and the southwest governors are from the same party, except Makinde, who is a PDP member, “I don’t know why they cannot dialogue and resolve the matter instead of passing negative comments. The fact is Lawan and Bala are not here to have the feel of what the governors are facing and how their people perceive them ( governors). They sat in e north and making uncomplimentary comments.”
George said it is imperative of Governor Fayemi, who is the chairman of the governors’ forum to call a meeting to discuss the challenge. “What are NGF and the Economic Management Team doing about the matter or does that mean APC has so disintegrate that they do not talk again at the expense of the security of Nigerians?”
He said as long as the herders have their cows and the Southwest is where they could get food they will continue to bring their cows here to feed “this is where it is necessary for the current leaders to have the political will to resolve the issue. For instance, when we have nine out of the 11 security managers of the country are from the north, this type of crisis cannot be resolved.”
George also advised the Southwest governor against negotiating with the herders. “This is an insult and they should not continue otherwise the governors would be giving the criminal herders boldness to continue terrorizing the region. Our governors should rather pay more attention to fortify the new security initiative, Amotekun and empower it to fight crime and criminals in their zone”
The PDP stalwart added that the challenges confronting Nigeria is a pointer to the fact that we need to restructure of governing system.”
He however said under no circumstances should the Federal Government or any state governor pad foreign herders, who misbehave or threatened Nigeria’s security at the back. We should rather deal with them brutally.”
The Secretary General of Yoruba Council of
Elders ( YCE), Dr. Kunle Olajide, who aligned with those who claimed that Southwest governors are not doing enough to fight said what is facing Yoruba land at present is essentially dangerous. “Foreigners coming to our land to harass us is unacceptable and we need not to negotiate with them at all. Speaking in similar direction with Otunba Olabiyi, former Governor of Ogun State, who is also the chairman Constitution Drafting Committee of APC, Aremo Segun Osoba refused to speak publicly on the matter. He noted that this crisis is strictly a security matter of which strategy, plans and actions cannot be a public discussion, the former governor said, “Since I am in direct contact with all the parties involved, it would be unfair of me either to myself or to the governors to start discussing on the pages of newspaper.”
The former Managing Director of Daily Times Newspaper added that it is painful Nigeria is currently being ravaged with this nature of insecurity “but we shall overcome it.”
Taking his contribution on the way out of the imbroglio and whether it is ripe for the Yoruba should embrace the option od self- defense, a former Minister of Defence, Dr. Olu Agunloye said it was a pity that the governors are being blamed or accused at home of not doing enough just as they are also being critcised by their northern counterparts from the same party of inciting their people against the Fulani herders. According to him, “This is expected when a society has suddenly found itself face to face with unwarrantable crisis. In fact, some of the Yoruba leaders are also attacking themselves and looking for the traditional “omo- ales” ( bastards) amongst themselves, which need to be dealt with first before facing the real enemies. There are, indeed, anger, anxieties and inconsistencies in the land. The current actions and counteractions show some level of incoherence and unpreparedness in the face of premeditated attacks and unfolding political conquest plans.
“It has therefore become imperative for the Yoruba nation to deploy all resources within the land to galvanise a meticulous Defensive Action Plan ( DAP) complete with strategies, schedules and schemes to protect the commonwealth and future of Yorubaland. This will have to be led by the governors acting as ‘ Chief Operating Officers’, not Chief Executive Officers and select Yoruba leaders and traditional leaders as the ‘ Governing Council’.”
Agunloye added that the well- articulated and focused DAP will be an all- inclusive synergy programme, which will recognise the peculiarities of the Southwest geopolitical zone and galvanise all the human and materials resources and talents within the zone to coordinate formal and informal security forces. “The latter will include Yorubakoyas, Agbekoyas, Oodua People Congress ( OPC), and the courageous Sunday Igbohos in the land as well as others who are just as potent but less famous. The Governors will assume full powers as both Operating Officers and Security Officers in their respective states. The operational mode of the plan will need to extract maximum support from the Federal Government and the Presidency to engage and disengage all manners of bandits and criminals from the zone.”
He noted that to achieve optimisation, the plan, through the actions of the governors must rekindle the Amotekun spirits in the hearts and souls of all the people in the land, liaise with other geopolitical zones especially, adjacent South- South and North Central Zones, and recognise that at the brink of civil war or disintegration, there is no time for politicking, self- aggrandisement, personal ambitions or self- interests.
Agunloye was miffed with the position of the Senate President and Governor Bala on the matter. He said, “Their positions reminded me of that old saying that “by their words you shall know them” which is apt in this case. Governor Bala is however, very correct that AK47 is at the centre of all of these unrests and violent crisis in Nigeria. It is so either as a weapon or as a figure of speech. The bandits use AK47S to protect selves and to attack others and they have continued to do so with all impunity; and, worse more, in an environment which forbids law abiding persons from carrying AK47 or barrel shot guns. The position of His Excellency may also support those who argue that the Presidency or National Security Council has encouraged or turned a blind eye on dangerous criminals who carry AK47S.”
He said it was sad that at trying moments, which beckon on leaders to rise to the rescue, some prominent leaders, not limited the North, or to the Governor of Bauchi or Senate President, have not found their voices toward how best to reverse the dangerous descent towards imminent plunge down the cliff. It may also be reasoned that those who criticise the Southwest governors or accuse them of fomenting crisis may be simply ignorant or deliberate in their attempts to hide the real reasons behind the incessant civil unrests or trying to cover up the shortcomings of those charged to guarantee peace and security in the land.
THE issue of cattle herders bearing sophisticated weapons like AK47 in place of their traditional sticks, while herding their animals has become a platform of dissention and diatribe between Bauchi and Benue states governors, Bala Mohammed and Dr. Samuel Ortom.
The war of words between the two governors did not respect the fact that both leaders are prominent members of Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP). But, apart from their common political platform, the two governors belong to disparate geopolitical zones.
The geopolitics and economic systems between the two zones have helped to pitch the two governors against each other. While Ortom’s people are mainly subsistence farmers, Bala’s mainly Fulani ethnic nationality occupies themselves with animal husbandry, particularly nomadic cattle rearing.
As the Fulanis trek alongside their animals, they are faced with vagaries of bush life, including attacks by cattle rustlers and marauders. To preserve the safety of their herds and the bottom- line of their trade, the herders graduated from wielding sticks to arms bearing.
From protecting themselves, the Fulanis gradually evolved to attackers, even as they unleash their cattle on farmlands and crops, especially around the lush green Benue valley. With time and change of political control of the country, the clashes between farmers and herders became a source of socio- political recriminations.
Arms Proliferation
Underlying the resort to self help by the herders, is the complex mix of historical allusions to land grab plots and economic despoliation of host communities with which the Fulani herders come into constant contact.
Over the years, prominent Nigerians and international bodies have called for the criminalisation of the killer herdsmen, who have continued to clash with farmers. In a report it published in December 2018, Amnesty International ( AI) disclosed that in 2016, 2017 and 2018, a total of 3,641 deaths were recorded in bloody communal skirmishes between nomadic herders and farmers.
AI Nigeria’s Director, Mr. Osai Ojigho, had explained, “Our research shows that these attacks were well planned and coordinated with the use of weapons like machine guns and AK- 47 rifles. Yet, little has been done by the authorities in terms of prevention, arrests and prosecutions, even when infor
mation about the suspected perpetrators was available.
“The root cause of this conflict has nothing to do with religion or ethnicity; it is largely about land and access to grazing. But, in some places, because of the failures of the security forces, competition over resources is used as a pretext to kill and maim along ethnic or religious lines. The conflict has also been dangerously politicized by some state government officials, who have inflamed tensions by embarking on a blame game along political party lines.”
However, Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, believes the Nigerian government’s failure to secure nomadic herders from cattle rustlers forced the herdsmen to pick up AK47 for “self- defence”. Mohammed, who made the remark while presenting a keynote speech during the 2021 Press Week of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists ( NUJ), said his Benue State counterpart, Ortom was using the media to create a wrong impression about the herders. He spoke on the theme: “The Role of the Media in Promoting Peace in Nigeria”.
The governor insisted that Ortom’s was the chief instigator of the profiling of Fulani herders, remarking, “My brother and colleague, Governor ( Samuel) Ortom, started all these. If you don’t accommodate other tribes, ( remember that) we are also accommodating your people in Bauchi and other places.
“The Fulani man is practicing the tradition of trans- human, pastoralism, he has been exposed to the dangers of the forests, the animals, and now, the cattle rustlers, who carry guns, kill him and take away his common
wealth, his cows, he had no option than to carry Ak- 47 and defend himself because the society and the government are not protecting him.”
Mohammed’s position was greeted by a mixture of nationwide condemnations and applause from different parts of the country. But, the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, who had enacted the Anti- open Grazing Law; and whose state is one of the badly hit by the attackers, had a different view. Pained by the killing of 72 worshipers on New Year Day, January 1, 2019, Ortom looked back in anger, noting, in allusion to Mohammed’s declaration, that “it is unfortunate that those who are trusted with the people’s mandate and should ordinarily uphold truth and justice have chosen to mislead the country.”
Speaking through his Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase, the Benue State governor warned that leaders should be cautious and retrace their steps, which he said are capable of leading the country to anarchy.
Then featuring on Channels Television’s
Sunrise Daily, Mohammed rationalized his stance, stressing that his comments on the usage of weapons by herders was but a figure of speech. He argued that Nigerian forests constitutionally belong to every Nigerian, who needs no permission to live in Ondo and other forests. He also warned against profiling herders as kidnappers, bandits and killers, noting that the Nigerian government should be fair enough to the herders.
Trigger Words
Prodded by Mohammed’s ratiocination, Ortom addressed a press conference in
Markudi. He said he has been receiving threats to his life, adding that Bala Mohammed should be held accountable should any untoward thing happen to him. “I am beginning to think that my brother, the governor of Bauchi State is part of the terrorist Fulani organisation that is terrorising this country.
“Why do I say this? This is the same governor who took the oath of office to protect the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This constitution does not leave room for allowing foreign herdsmen to come in without valid papers,” Ortom stated. The Benue chief executive further asked herders to obey the law of Benue State or relocate to Bauchi, where they can be allowed to carry AK47.
The war of words cascaded. Various individuals and groups came in defense of Bala and the state. Deputy Speaker, Bauchi State House of Assembly, Hon Danlami Kawule said: “Benue State Governor needs to apologise to Bauchi indigenes over his comments because we are not terrorists and our governor is not. We are not happy about what he is saying, that ‘ if you cannot follow Benue laws go to Bauchi and pick AK47. What does he mean? That’s an abusive word. This is simple way of calling the good people of Bauchi State terrorists. This is coming from a man who was the first man to empower terrorists. He bought guns for them.”
Kawule asked Ortom to tender his apology to the people of Bauchi State, even as he urged the Benue governor to put the unity and security of every citizen first in line with his oath to defend the unity of the country.
Similarly, Arewa Youths for Peace and Development berated Governor Ortom for calling his Bauchi State counterpart a “terrorist”. Chairman of the group, Alhaji Salihu Magaji Mohammed said every one in Nigeria knows Governor Bala as a nationalist renown for his defence of the masses and the oppressed.
Meanwhile, Mohammed challenged Ortom to show evidence of his plans to kill him. In a statement, media aide to Governor Mohammed, Mukhtar Gidado, said: “One of the main attractions of democracy is the freedom of speech, which we relish very much in this country. That is why anybody can rise and make any allegation as they choose. As the legal dictum goes, he who alleges must prove. So, if Governor Ortom is not playing to the gallery, we challenge him to substantiate his claim, that Governor Bala Mohammed is in cahoots with anybody to kill him ( the Benue State governor).
Diri’s Détente
PERHAPS, roiled by the trigger words between the two brother governors, their Bayelsa State counterpart, Douye Diri arrived Bauchi last Thursday. He urged the two governors to cease- fire and embrace peace in the spirit of brotherhood. Diri stated: “On the ragging current issue between two brother governors of the same party, may I seize this opportunity to advise and call on both of you who are members of our great party to please cease further actions and reactions on the burning national security issues.
“May I also use this opportunity to call on our party to immediately intervene and resolve whatever issues that are yet to be resolved amicably as a party and as brothers. Let me as well call on the chairman of the PDP governors forum, our able chairman who has been doing very well to also please immediately intervene and not allow this conflict to grow beyond what we have already seen. It is very disturbing to read on the pages of newspapers about two gentlemen who mean so well for their states and who are doing so well in their states to be engaged in this issue on the pages of newspapers.”