FULANI HERDSMEN: NIGERIA'S UNIFYING FACTOR

I am not so much a fan of movies especially when the story line is predictable. My friend and I were bored one day at home and I had resolved to quit alcohol so the idea of a bar was ruled out. I do not trust myself as I could easily fall prey to the temptations of the bottle. When we got to the cinema, we settled for a movie I cannot recall. Next thing was I heard people laughing so hard and the noise was so deafening yet I could not catch the joke. That was the moment I realised that I had been sleeping comfortably and the movie was seeing me instead of the other way round.



However, there are some movies that I can never be caught sleeping while they are playing out and yes they are Nigerian movies. With lots of storylines that are rarely predictable and unbelievable, one cannot help but be edgy. Recent events in Nigeria are some of my best movies not because they excite me but because they astound me. There are only few phenomena that unite Nigerians irrespective of their tribe or religious belief. And one of it is football. When any of the National teams are playing against a rival country’s national team, we do not care to know the tribe or religion of the individual team members, all we care about is that they are Nigerians.



Nigerians have always been conscious of tribe and religion no matter how united we claim to be. Yes we know we claim “Unity in Diversity” but it is hardly the truth especially with the zoning formula in some political quarters. Federal character commission is not helping matters even though the present administration has ditched it and has favoured a certain region in terms of appointment. I only wish for the best man to get the role that suits him best irrespective of his background as long as it is not tainted with a dark past.



One more thing that has really united Nigerians is the menace of the Fulani Herdsmen which the presidency is playing lip service to. Nigerians are undivided in the cry against the evil perpetrated by these men who claim to be our brothers but seem to be more like our slave masters than fellow countrymen as they have proven to be above the law and untouchable. Some months ago we were witnesses to the efforts of the federal government quashing the proscribed secession group Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) who were mostly made up of unarmed men and had yet to fire a single knock out not to talk of arms and ammunitions. The members were known to only carry sticks and in a worst case scenario, machetes. The military was mobilised to put an end to the activities of the group and this was done successfully under two weeks. While I am not a fan or supporter of IPOB neither do I buy into the ideals of the group, truth must be told that they did have salient points in their campaign but I fault the process employed by the promoters.



If the federal Government of Nigeria could achieve the feat of quelling an ideal, what makes it so tough in tackling the menace of the herdsmen. The carnage they have caused is enough for them to be branded as international terrorist and with the cry of the masses, the president is yet to deem it fit to call them to order and effect arrests. Nobody has been held accountable for their atrocities. How do they come about their ammunitions? Who trains them ion the use of weapons? Where are they trained? Who owns the cows? I know very well that those herdsmen do not own the cows and it is possible the owners of these cows are the sponsors of these messengers of death.



With one voice, Nigerians are crying out for a solution to these scourge. With an unshakeable voice we are condemning their activities and the lackadaisical attitude of President Muhammadu Buhari. Share your thoughts by commenting.
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