The Ondo State Government a few days ago purportedly ordered herders in their midst who are of Hausa/Fulani extraction to leave its territory at once. But it turned out after a number of engagements which included the Nigerian Governors Dorum that the Government had announced regulations expected to streamline grazing.
The Government disclosed that the position it took was sequel to the unlawful actions of the herdsmen and accused these herders and their associates of engaging in acts of brigandage, rape, arson and murder.
A group of young men, alarmed by what they see as threats to peace and stability in the Western region as a result of the behaviour of the herders swung into action in a bid to enforce what they perceived as the-go-home order announced by the government.
Incidentally, the steps taken by both the state government and the youths who rose in defense of their territory, are coming against the backdrop of growing insecurity in the country, particularly in the North where restiveness and acts of insurrection have become too commonplace.
Nowhere in Northern Nigeria is safe at this time. From Taraba to Zamfara, Katsina to Nasarawa, Kaduna to Gombe, the story is the same. The blood of the innocent is being wasted as violence grows in leaps and bounds.
Killers are on rampage as pro – Islamic dissidents such as Boko Haram wage a bloody war against a once peaceful nation. Security organs, from the run of events, appear to be incapacitated and unable to restore law and order to that part of the country.
In the East where the appeal for the restructuring of the country is loudest, there is an agitation for the rebirth of Biafra, especially by youthful Igbo elements. The demand banned in Rivers State, a state in the South South geopolitical region, has been responsible to a large extent for pockets of violence and murder.
Infact, Governor Nyesom Wike last year accused Biafran separatists of attempting to turn Rivers State into a battleground under the guise of the #End Sars protest and accordingly proscribed the activities of the group. Wike similarly ordered security operatives to cleanse Oyigbo of trouble makers.
Most Igbos have remained unhappy, following the intervention of the Rivers State Government, with some of them alleging that Governor Wike has the blood of Igbos on his hands.
But a great majority of Rivers people are however happy that the Rivers State Government was able to stop a full scale confrontation between Igbos and Hausas resident in the State.
Whereas concerns about the alleged activities of Hausa/Fulani herdsmen are not as rampant in Rivers State, they are in Edo and Delta.
So far, the nation’s Western flanks have remained largely peaceful. This situation has guaranteed the flow of investments, development and growth in the Lagos, Ogun, Oyo and Ondo axis.
It has similarly attracted other Nigerians of different ethnic extractions to the former Western Region who are in search of greener pastures.
Somehow, matters are beginning to spiral out of control. The West is under threat. Unable to entrust their security to the security agencies, they have set up a security outfit. Omotekun, to take care of the protection of the entire West.
They have equally volunteered funds that would be required for the equipment of the local security outfit which is entrusted with the defense of the former Western Region.
While the Nigerian Police has called for caution and appealed against people taking the law into their hands, a body comprising of cattle breeders, Miyetti Allah has weighed in, in an attempt to persuade governors of Western states to halt the expulsion of Hausa/Fulani cattlemen from that geopolitical zone.
While we salute all who are at this time searching for a peaceful resolution of all problems plaguing the country, we think that events that are playing out are indeed worrisome. It aptly demonstrates how irresponsible most Nigerians have become; and how intolerant of one another we have grown to be in this country.
From a herders – farmers confrontation in the Middle Belt which created so much tension and led to the death of several law abiding Nigerians, a looming crisis has been allowed to snowball into a festering sore in the South West to the extent that herders have been ordered to exhibit a little more caution in the way they conduct their activities in parts of the West.
And we think that some of the problems that are arising would have been avoided if all those who are crisscrossing the country as cattle rearers were clearly admonished to respect the boundaries of others and asked to refrain from staking unnecessary claims in geographical areas that are outside their own.
Accordingly, we put the blame squarely where it should be – on the shoulders of the Buhari administration. Under its reign, a new kind of cultural adventurism pioneered by suspected agents of the Hausa-Fulani oligarchy has been born and sustained.
It must be said and clearly too that the era of conquests when rampaging knights and Jihadists roved from place to place is over. The world lives under a set of laws which regulates the conduct of every one and everything. Those who live under the illusion that there are territories to take by force and persons to enslave or kill should think again.
Having said this, we appeal to all Nigerians to join forces with the Federal authorities in bringing to an end, the spate of killings and unrest that threatens our common unity. We state emphatically that insurgents have no respect for tribe, religion or political party.
They are agents of social and economic destabilization who must be stopped at all cost by the people whose lives are being put at risk. All hands must be placed on deck in order to support the Army and the police through the provision of accurate intelligence.
Afterall, those who are making our lives a living hell reside in our midst and so should be flushed out before it is too late.
Finally we urge President Muhammadu Buhari not to spare the rod in his effort to protect the unity of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Nigeria must remain one indissoluble whole. To achieve this goal, the system must eschew nepotism, discourage tribalism in its handling of Nigerian affairs and bring everyone together.
If the need for state police exists, the President should do all in his power to allow its evolution now that there is glaring evidence that the security forces are being overstretched.
The devolution of powers which allows the establishment of State Police and other structures is a critical element of a federalist state.
At this stage in the history and evolution of our country, we join forces with all those who asking for the creation of state police outfits. Such an arrangement would help reduce crime as well as the wanton killings that are taking place and bring security architecture closer to the doorpost of the people.
We are happy that the NPF has encouraged the idea of community policing. Some of those trained by the police have already passed out. The country must therefore come to terms with the need to allow states to establish their own police force.