Sir: Those who are abusing the former president, General Pa Arẹmu Ọbasanjọ (OBJ), for telling some home truth to the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (GMB) have come to realise that they have some other persons to abuse in favour of GMB, even though nobody seems willing to abuse the Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wọle Ṣoyinka who, among others, supported the obvious fact that the Nigeria of GMB is in shambles.
Sometimes not everybody finds it easy to decode everything written by Pa Soyinka, for no fault of his. If you put side by side what OBJ and Soyinka wrote and the message that General Pa Alani Akinrinade sent to GMB through General Tukur Buratai, the Chief of Army Staff when the latter visited Oṣogbo, the Ọṣun State capital, you will see the same thing in different modes. He (Akinrinade) wrote inter alia:
“Please, grant me the indulgence to mention to him (GMB – emphasis mine) one or two matters that throw me into distress because of my association with him. The first is this pervasive belief that he is an ethnic bigot, an irredeemable religious fundamentalist, that he firmly subscribes and promotes the possibility of his ethnic Fulani to take over the country, the reason he does not interfere in curbing the brigandage of the Fulani herdsmen, that he has performed woefully in the fight against the terrorist Boko Haram and that he cannot rise to the occasion when it comes to reflecting the heterogeneous composition of our country when it comes to appointments to sensitive positions in his government. These are difficult matters that cannot be addressed in the abstract. The whole buck stops on his table.
‘‘We are regaled every day with blood-chilling stories of killings and pillaging of villages, sometimes towns in the North and Central parts of Nigeria and of recent talks of impending massacres and intensification of kidnapping coming our way in the southern states and the main protagonists of the disturbance are the Fulani herdsmen. Sometimes we are told that they are Fulani mercenaries from outside Nigeria being sponsored by our Nigerian brothers. The situation is so dared, that in collaboration with unexpected bad weather this year, a famine is imminent. We hear we are already borrowing grains from the ECOWAS countries, the immediate result of farmers being forced to abandon their farms. I suggest to him to read the riot act to the Fulani herdsmen, that it is not acceptable for any foreigner by whatever name called to enter our country illegally and molest our people. They are not welcome. We should not, by mistake of omission or commission allow our people to degenerate to self-help. It is a sure road to anarchy and perdition, which will not go away.”
Insecurities in Ekiti State and other parts of the southwest, and I began to wonder about the Àmọ̀tẹ́kùn security outfit. Kwara State people are complaining about insecurity. Which part of Nigeria is not plagued by insecurity? The Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum, is just lamenting: “Boko Haram is recruiting our children.” As that is the case, the sixth year into GMB’s presidency, why does Babagana not embrace Boko Haram and tell GMB to take it or resign? Why are Nigerians not telling GMB to give peace a chance or resign? Umaru Musa Yar’Adua died after starting the fight against Boko Haram. Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan squandered his own four years. GMB is in the sixth year! You want to annihilate Nigeria or what?
Prof. Ọlọ́jẹ̀ẹ́dé Oyeniran Abíọ́jẹ̀ wrote from University of Ilorin.
