A Time To Decide

Just a few days ago over 300 people were killed by well-armed Fulani herdsmen in Agatu, Benue state.

Throughout the country Fulani militias and herdsmen are wreaking havoc and are slaughtering their compatriots for one reason or the other.

Worse of all is the fact that our Fulani-led Federal Government and our Fulani-led Armed Forces are killing thousands of young igbos in the east simply because of their support for Nnamdi Kanu and their call for the establishment of the independent sovereigh state of Biafra.

As all this is going on our economy has ground to a halt and the war against Boko Haram and islamist terror is still raging.

Today Nigeria has the dubious distinction of having within its borders the first and the fourth most deadly terrorist organisations in the world according to the Global Terror Index.

People are being slaughtered, abducted, pillaged, kidnapped and raped all over the country on a daily basis by the same group of vandals and heartless beasts simply because they believe that their own is now in power and that they can get away with it yet no-one appears prepared to do anything about it or call a spade a spade.

In the light of all these facts the question on everyone’s lips is what is to be done? We all hope and pray for peace and unity in our country but judging by the way things are going perhaps the first question that we have to address is whether we really have a country at all and, if we agree that we do, whether it will or can remain united and as one for much longer.

The rise of radical islam and the use of terror to achieve the objectives of those who espouse and believe in it has changed the world forever. Our country cannot be exempted or left out of this. We have changed forever as well and things can never be the same in Nigeria again.

Those that are in power in our country today appear to have a soft-spot for the terrorists and for reasons best known to himself our President has simply refused to condemn the murderous activities of the Fulani herdsmen and militias.

This is probably because he is, and has been for many years, the Life Patron of the Fulani Cattle Rearers Association: which is the umbrella organisation of the Fulani herdsmen and militias.

Then there is the sad and pitiful case of Ese Oruru in which the Fulani Emir of Kano played an unspecified and unclear role in the abduction, forced islamisation, rape, torture and kidnapping of a 14 year old southern christian girl whilst our security agencies turrned a blind eye to the whole thing and refused to rescue her for months.

It has been alleged that the girl was kept against her will at the Emir’s palace and that one way or the other she was used as a sex slave and she came out pregnant. Despite all this the police have refused to pick him up and compel him to answer the necessary questions that could have cleared the air.

All this because “his” people are in power and they believe that thay can get away with anything and everything, including pedophilia, slavery and, in many cases, murder.

Nothing reflects the degeneration to which our country and our values have been subjected to better than this.

It is time for us to do what we must do to save our country and if those that believe that they own it refuse to be reasonable and fair to the rest of us, perhaps we should consider the possibility of redefining her.

The Nigeria of today reminds me of Yugoslavia before its civil war and breaking up into five separate countries. We are living in very dangerous times.

The Fulanis are like the Serbs of old in Yugoslavia: dominating, cunning and relentless. They have their own ethnic and religious militias and they are also fully in power. The only difference is that the Serbs were christians whilst the Fulani are muslims.

They both used their religious faith to muster support and effect their purpose. One day though the yoke will be broken and we shall be free.

I conclude this contributiom with the following words which I believe are prophetic.

O ye sons of Futa Jalo and ye daughters of the Vulture mountain and bitter waters: your princes and kings shall be exposed and brought to heel and you shall pay a heavy price for your oppression, wickedness and many sorceries.