They put ‘fulanisation’ on Obasanjo lips

Sir: I appreciate Taiwo Adediran for his analysis and regret that the massive carnage and economic destruction of Nigeria, 2009 till date are overlooked by some Nigerians. Look at a situation where someone who was struggling to become Nigeria’s President, Sule Lamido, sees nothing wrong with the Fulani herdsmen terrorism, apparently because he is himself a Fulani like the President, General Muhammadu Buhari (GMB), who adds protection of the Fulani herdsmen terrorists to the unjustifiable war against Boko Haram. What was the justification for attacking Boko Haram in the first instance? That is the question begging for answer in my research. Look at a situation where the former President, General Olusegun Obasanjo (OBJ) is criticized for saying government should have found something like stick and carrot approach to solve the Boko Haram crisis, rather than ravaging human lives and economic resources, 2009 till date. I hate the idea of generalisation about international insurgency, because there are too many countries without insurgency. Boko Haram was alive during the presidency of OBJ, yet Nigeria was not attributed with insurgency. It all started when the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua (a Fulani Muslim) succeeded OBJ in 2007, and by 2009, he had demonised Boko Haram enough, and time was ripe for him to attack an Islamic sect-community of men, women, and children that did not attack anybody until attacked. Yar’Adua got the Boko Haram leader, Mohammed Yusuf, executed extra-judicially in Police custody, together with some of his followers, handcuffed and leg-chained, presumably because there was no justification presentable in court of law. Yar’Adua himself died in 2010, and his former deputy, Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan, who became the Acting President, like Yar’Adua abused his presidential powers to attack Boko Haram, he abused his own powers to truncate rotational presidency and compounded the Boko Haram crisis.

Jonathan aborted all efforts to get him to seek peace, rather flexing muscles. He was un-appalled by carnage and economic destruction of Nigeria, and undeterred even by the abduction of about three hundred Chibok Secondary School girls by Boko Haram. Like GMB is doing, Jonathan was listening and looking up to the world powers, America, UK, China, and the rest of them seeking to sell warplanes and sophisticated weapons to boost and sustain their own economies. How did Yar’Adua and GMB put Islamisation and Fulanisation on the lips of OBJ? It is easy to see for anybody who cares to see that the war against Boko Haram was motivated by Fulani Islamic imperialism, championed by the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), which interests, rather than Nigeria interests, Yar’Adua and GMB represent.

Jonathan, on the other hand, bought the loyalty of the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), which completed the cycle of Islamisation and Christianisation of Nigeria politics, but the real fan behind insurgency in Nigeria is Islamic imperialism. GMB put “Fulanization” on the lips of OBJ when he ordered that ranches must be created with public funds for the Fulani herdsmen throughout Nigeria. And because Benue state wanted to enforce anti open grazing law, the Fulani herdsmen terrorists descended into their most brutal killings, and the Police Chief, under the Grand Commander of Nigeria’s Armed Forces, GMB, said any state who did not want open grazing should create ranches for the herdsmen. Where did OBJ go wrong? How can you convince someone who says the day is yet to break even though the sun is up? (Apology to Motẹ́wọ́ọlá, a Yoruba traditional singer from Ado Awaye, Oyo state, Nigeria).

Prof Olojeede Oyeniran Abioje wrote from University of Ilorin