To start with, it came to me as a monumental surprise when I saw it in a trending news that the presidency absolves the president of all connections with the recent killings in Benue state. It should be stated clearly here, that the safety and security of the nation is a direct responsibility of the government.
Should there be an oversight by his Excellency, he must recall that one point of campaign through which he came to power is the confidence we preached in convincing the expectant voters that we had fearlessness in his military experience as the then contestant ‘General Mohamadu Buhari’. Been a notable personality and ranked military officer in his days, hopes were high on his ability to curb the then ravaging insurgency.
With the country still in fear of the restive situation of security due to threats from the tagged terrorists and national vandals, it’s a blow on the wound to realize that this government appears to turn deaf ears to the gruesome massacre by the so called Fulanis whose group are yet to be tagged bad.
These Vikings are on a move of destructive crusade. With a facade of cattle herding, they invade, kill and destroy hundreds of lives in various parts of the country, dominantly in the northern region. This wouldn’t be the first time of such annihilative act but it appears to be grown and unchecked as it is getting rampant and obviously unattended.
This baneful act of carnage and murder is expected to be met with a fierce force, but the otherwise seems to be the case as it appears the president is considerate of some abstruse reasons before taking an entrammel step to stop the extirpation.
Quite unfortunate it is that the issue has blown into an issue of religious and ethnic contention, of course, a stitch in time by the federal administration could have saved nine.
As a Nigerian, we are quite confused and if there be answers, there are many unanswered questions which includes
- Who are these killer herdsmen and why are they surfacing so violently? Perhaps they’ve just being empowered?
- We know there are more than a score herder tribes in Nigeria, which of them needs the suspicion?
- Of course we admit they have to find greener pastures for the cattle and may have to migrate south, but isn’t this climate a yearly occurrence? Are we experiencing such seasons for the first time in Nigeria? If not, why are we experiencing these wreckage and subversion so much now?
- What has become of the northern Nigeria grazing reserves and stock routes as being identified under the colonial rulers? Are they missing or intentionally neglected to stir this ominous commotion?
- These people are going unbridled and more daring as to attacking and killing two officers of the Nigerian Police Force, obviously reducing the civilian security by two. If the lives of the common citizens are not enough to swing the sword, isn’t the lives of the forces worth the call?
- By the way, what is the relative contribution of these herders to nation’s GDP? Is it worth these lives?
- Perhaps they have a group or association like other vocation, are they registered as a body under the laws of the federation? Do we assume they are far above the law?
While we preach harmony and unity among ourselves here in diaspora, it’s an eyesore that our government at home finds genocide a crime of negligible magnitude, particularly from an earmark group that’s most times mistaken for the president’s tribe.
Mr President should realize that ignorance or delay in acting is not in any interest of the platform of the party, the welfare of the people nor the peace of the nation.
We frown at the manner the presidency is handling this ethnic cleansing and decimation, it’s a stain on us as sojourners here in other countries, it’s a stigma on this administration and an indelible blemish on the name of the president.
We scout around and watch over one another here in Spain, looking beyond ethnicity, religion, politics and other possible lines of division, which of course we believe all patriotic Nigerian will do in diaspora.
Insensitivity on a matter of national security can lead to tribal discrimination in the country which would of certain escalate and widen to the global family of Nigerians.
Nigerians in diaspora are despondent, good ambassadors of Nigeria in Spain are sad and bitter with this demoralizing development.
Nigerians in Spain and diaspora demands quick-witted action from the president on this matter of bothering interest, we urge him to take decisive and swift response steps towards the extermination of this act of inhumanity.
Amb. Stephen Ade Tella
Chairman, APC Spain Chapter
