Time to Sack Hazardous Dan-Ali
I am deeply worried about how this man called Mansur Dan-Ali, who happens to be Nigeria’s defence minister, has been going about his demand for grazing land for his kinsmen. In this modern era of ranching, he wants grazing lands and grazing routes for Fulani herdsmen across the country, and stresses it with so much impunity. Dan-Ali, despite his critical portfolio, does not give a damn, no matter whose ox is gored. He has refused to accept that nomadic cattle nurturing is an aberration in any modern society. As a result, this minister has been making all sorts of retrograde moves in support of open itinerant grazers. Dan-Ali, without gauging the mood of the country, persistently makes volatile statements that embolden the killer herders. This is hazardous for mother Nigeria.
The other day, our defence minister was all over town, running his mouth about the need to suspend anti-open grazing laws in Benue, Taraba and Ekiti states, while also demanding for safe routes for herders. He had earlier advised the nation’s Security Council, presided over by President Buhari, to stamp out this pragmatic law. This is even after the National Economic Council, presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, had endorsed ranching. Dan-Ali pretends to be unaware that the 1999 Constitution empowers state Houses of Assembly to make laws for the good governance of their states. He is shamelessly ignorant that states are empowered by the Land Use Act to take ownership and management of land resources and wants the federal government to dabble into state affairs.
Killer herders, motivated by Dan-Ali and his likes, are still wreaking havoc across the country. They have slaughtered thousands of Nigerians, unhindered. From Kaduna, to Benue, Nasarawa, Taraba, Kogi, Zamfara and Enugu, it has been tales of massacres. In fact, in Benue State, the killer herdsmen control some local governments like Gwer West, Gwer East, Logo and Guma. Guerrillas protecting herdsmen roam freely unhindered by security agents. Patriots must not wait for Dan-Ali and his likes to set the country on fire before screaming.
It is heartwarming that patriots are already tackling Dan-Ali and his principal, Buhari. This has to be sustained until this clannish defence minister is sacked. Senator Barnabas Gemade’s reprimand was appropriate. He said: “This is not the first time that we will hear this kind of absurd statements coming from no less a personality than the Minister of Defence. If a Minister of Defence is calling for anarchy, where else can we find peace? We understand that the minister comes from Zamfara State and I wonder if all the killings in Zamfara that are almost equal in number with the ones in Benue, are also as a result of the anti-open grazing law.
“If by his own experience, the killings in Zamfara have nothing to do with the antiopen grazing law, why does he believe that the killings in Benue and Taraba are because they enacted the laws? While we are looking up to the government for protection, and indeed looking up to the security agencies for protection, we get so dismayed by the attitude of those who lead these security forces.”
A coalition of socio-cultural groups in Benue State, comprising the Mdgzou U Tiv, Idoma National Forum and Omi’Ngede, wondered “how a supposed educated and professional soldier will call for the suspension of an act of parliament in a democracy.”
The group added: “We are tempted to deduce from the utterances of Dan-Ali that he does not understand or he is not familiar with the letter and spirit of Nigeria’s constitution, which he swore to uphold. He should help himself to be abreast of the document before making statements or suggestions. It seems to us that Mansur Dan-Ali imagines that the current democratic dispensation is a military rule where decisions are taken unilaterally.”
The spokesperson for the apex Igbo group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Prince Uche Achi-Okpaga, believes Dan-Ali is suffering from “political malnutrition because of his military background, and thinks that his pronouncements are law, without recourse to the legislative process.” I concur.
Dan-Ali’s utterances amount to an assault on our oneness. We must rise and put pressure on Buhari to sack Dan-Ali in order to protect our fragile unity. This is one man his government can as well do without. Dan-Ali should return to his native Zamfara and lead the war against bandits ravaging the state.