Still on Amotekun, et al
“....... WHETHER IT’S HERDSMEN, BOKO HARAM INSURGENTS OR PLAIN OLD CRIMINALS, ONE THING IS CERTAIN - THE PEOPLE NEED MORE PROTECTION, AS THE SECURITY AND WELFARE OF ALL THE PEOPLE IN NIGERIA (NOT JUST FULANI HERDSMEN AND PEOPLE OF THE NORTH EAST), IS THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF GOVERNMENT ....... ”
The MACBAN Secretary’s Interview
Last Monday, I watched a clip of an interview with the Secretary of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, and I was more than disgusted by his utterances. While I’m am ardent believer in freedom of expression as guaranteed by Section 39(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended)(the Constitution), as I listened to him spouting what, sadly, I can only refer to as nonsense, I wondered whether it is wise to give people like him airtime to mislead and inflame the public, especially with the false, baseless, divisive and senseless allegations, which he made against the South West security initiative, Operation Amotekun.
The Secretary of MACBAN claimed that, Operation Amotekun is a South West militia, established with the sole purpose of annihilating the Fulani Herdsmen in that territory! So, what should all non- Northern Nigerians say about the Police, Army, Air Force, EFCC, DSS, NSCDC and Ministry of Police Affairs, majority of Nigeria’s security agencies which are headed by Northerners, contrary to Section 14(3) of the Constitution? Should we then conclude that, the Northerners want to annihilate all the other regions in Nigeria?
My friend was still re-narrating to me last weekend, her terrible experience on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, where in broad day light at about 12 noon, Fulani armed men attacked a whole batch of motorists travelling to Ibadan, made them lie down flat on the road, and robbed them. She said one of the robbers threatened to shoot and kill her, if the money he had stolen from her wasn’t the complete amount she had said it was. Should such criminals be left to run amok and terrorise the populace, if the Police is not doing enough to curtail their activities, because the perpetrators may be members of MACBAN or they may be Fulani? Is not offending the sensibilities of MACBAN, more important than the security and lives of the people in the South West? If Mr MACBAN Secretary knows anything about the Yorubas, he should know that they are a very peaceful tribe, even described by the Guinness Book of Records, as the tribe that enjoys partying the most in the world! They must have been pushed to the wall, thereby constraining the South West Governors to launch this initiative. Nigeria is under-policed. In 2017, the former Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris Kpotum, stated that we require an additional
155,000 Police personnel, to meet the desirable ratio of 1 Police man to 400 people.
Ignorami
While I believe that it is not just demeaning, but a waste of my time and limited space, debating with ignorami who proudly showcase their myopia and tribalism to the world on international media, I am constrained to make a few comments. First is that, the Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF) and (Fulani) Herdsmen bear firearms, while the so-called baton of the Hisbah, can only be referred to as “gbongbos”, which are bigger and more lethal than ordinary batons, as you can see from the photos on this page. To claim that the Operation’s objective is to annihilate Fulani Herdsmen, is rather premature, since we don’t even know what kind of weapons the Amotekun people will bear. If they are hunters, they probably already have dane guns which they use as tools of their trade to hunt animals in the forest, which they didn’t just acquire for the purposes of this Operation.
Second, the Constitution which is the grundnorm, provides unequivocally in its preamble and Section 17(2)(a), that all Nigerians are equal/have equal rights. That being so, what is good for the goose is good for the gander or what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, meaning, everyone should be treated the same way, that is, if the JTF, armed Herdsmen, Hisbah et al exist, so must Amotekun. Were the Yorubas or any other tribe consulted, when the Hisbah and JTF were established? Was the permission of the other regions sought, when the Herdsmen started bearing firearms? The Secretary of MACBAN sounded almost like the Americans who possess nuclear weapons, but do not want anybody else to have them! The issue of disarmament must be ‘quid pro quo’ - everybody must destroy their weapons, for there to be effective disarmament. One person cannot keep his, while policing everybody else to destroy theirs. The apprehension that MACBAN has about Amotekun, interestingly, is exactly what is playing out in reality - the Herdsmen are killing villagers and farmers all over the country with gusto and aplomb, destroying their farms in a bid to unlawfully graze their cattle. Until Hisbah, armed Herdsmen and so on are disarmed and disbanded, Amotekun must stay. People in the South West, also require protection from their attackers, whoever they may be.
From my childhood up to recently, we have always co-habited peacefully with the Herdsmen. Nobody is saying that, all Herdsmen are destructive, violent killers. I even have a friend Yinusa, a Herdsman who also diversified into ‘suya’ selling. Yinusa would never, hurt a fly. However, in recent times, unlike Yinusa, many Herdsmen, have deliberately started to carry firearms, in order to be able to wantonly trespass on people’s farms to graze their cattle without facing any resistance, killing and maiming those who oppose their intrusion and invasion. See the case of The State v Haruna Usman, in which a 17 year old Herdsman stabbed one Happy David to death in Kogi State, when the deceased warned him about grazing his cattle on his parents’ farm, because the crops had been sprayed with insecticide which could be harmful to his livestock. Usman was found guilty of culpable homicide contrary to Section 221 of the Penal Code, and sentenced to death by a Kogi State High Court.
I therefore, salute the South West Governors, for standing their ground. Whether it’s Herdsmen, Boko Haram insurgents or plain old criminals, one thing is certain - the people need more protection, as the security and welfare of all the people in Nigeria (not just Fulani Herdsmen and people of the North East), is the primary purpose of Government (Section 14(2)(b) of the Constitution).
‘Kwarrapsion’
So much for the fight against kwarrapsion (corruption)! According to Transparency International (TI), Nigeria’s rating dropped from 144 in 2018 to 146 out of 180 in 2019 on the Corruption Index. According to Presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, the TI rating (which was celebrated by Nigeria when she went from 148 in 2017 to 144 in 2018), is now conveniently unreliable, and may even have been contrived/orchestrated by the opposition, since it was gathered from third parties! He stated that, TI/the 2019 Index (I’m not sure which) is also trying to disparage the Government. I think that, this Government is suffering from acute paranoia and persecution syndrome. Don’t you?
While Garba Shehu may be stating true facts (I cannot confirm them), that it is no longer business as usual, in that Government officials cannot just brazenly loot the Nigerian treasury and steal billions as they did during previous administrations, it would do the Government good to consider/examine some of the other markers which may have resulted in that worsened TI result, instead of making a mockery of themselves, by running down something that is world acclaimed and accepted, grasping at straws and faulting their methodology etc - markers like gross election malpractice in the 2019 elections, lack of electoral reform, sometimes strange judgements handed down by all levels of the Judiciary, opaque methods of making Government appointments, tribalism and nepotism and so on. Corruption is not just about direct stealing, while the measure of the success of an anti-corruption drive, is not only about the amount of stolen loot that is recovered (as this administration seems to believe). It goes beyond that.
Coronavirus Infection
I hope that the Minister of Health in conjunction with all State Commissioners for Health, are being proactive and taking measures to ensure that, the deadly Coronavirus Infection does not infiltrate Nigeria from China. Section 17(3)(d) makes it a policy of Government, to ensure that there are adequate health and medical facilities for all persons. Nigerians go to China every second, likewise, there are many Chinese people resident in a Nigeria. People coming into the country from China, must be checked the way it was done during the Ebola epidemic. Exclusive medical facilities to treat infected patients, must be set up and put in place now, while medical personnel should be trained on how to treat patients, and at the same time, protect themselves from contacting the virus which is spread through coughing and sneezing.
Symptoms of the virus include, fever, chest pain, headache, sore throat, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties, and pneumonia (flu like symptoms).
People are enjoined to wash their hands regularly, especially after use of the toilet and coming in from outside, cover their noses and mouths when sneezing and coughing, thoroughly cook meat and eggs, avoid contact with people who exhibit flu like symptoms, and also avoid contact with live animals.